So the banal, tired, maddening response from Republicans after another mass shooting is indeed offered out of an abundance of caution that they don’t piss off the NRA and a gun-loving base.
It’s not really about paying attention to mental health issues or protecting 2nd Amendment rights, or the bad influence of video games, because all these things, minus the 2nd Amendment excuse, exist in many other countries who don’t have near the incidence of gun violence we do.
One thing other countries do have is either an assault weapons ban or at least a serious background check, or both. And there are probably other factors in play in the U.S.- like living in a society where failure looms large, where we are distracted and isolated by so many things, always being fed a line about achievement and success and acquiring stuff.
Meanwhile, innocent people get butchered and all the Republicans can muster is the agonizingly familiar “thoughts and prayers” and “now’s not the time.” It’s glaringly obvious that there will never be a right time, so maybe it’s time, as Colbert suggests, that these waffling politicians’ non-committal responses become an issue in upcoming elections.
Sadly, there are already more guns than there are people in this country, but how can we stand by and let these horrors continue to happen, as if they’re just part of life here in wild west America?
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