ROW 80 POST 41 – THE RISING OF A DARK NIGHT, PART 1

This title, as all my titles, is a deliberate play on words. Beginning with the tragic and horrific shooting at the Batman "Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado on July 20^th, 2012, we now have witnessed the bookend, at least I fervently hope, but I fear that is going to be unmet, at the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, where little schoolchildren were the apparent Big Bad, in what has become a depressingly, horrendously, all too-familiar script. 

Unfortunately, even the Batman can't fix this.

I hardly ever, ever write about current events. The fact that I feel compelled to do so, was driven by this one picture; this undid me. Not the Batman. But the Brinkers. I owe dadblunders much. He has been such a wonderful presence in my life. He and his family. They are a reminder of all that is bright and warm and hopeful in life. Families just as great as theirs were destroyed last night. Never, ever forget that. That's how this post came to be. Shame on me for ignoring all other tragedies of this ilk. Shame on me for not speaking out. For not thinking "it will never change." Of course it won't if I write and do nothing. It will never happen again.

Along with the ever-increasing body count, we also have the ever-increasing screeds and alarums coming from the nuts of the right-wing and the NRA, who keep insisting that NOW is not the time to discuss gun control. If not NOW, then WHEN? The last time, 3 days ago, was not the time. It’s never the time; it will NEVER be the time according to the NRA. 

In fairness, the NRA does promote gun safety and proper usage, but is tangled up with the usual gang of idiots, who vow to hang on to their weapons until they are pried from "my cold, dead hands." That time can't happen soon enough for me, if the recent carnage is any indication of their stability.

All the worn shibboleths are trotted out: “Great, when we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.” And, “Our 2^nd Amendment rights guarantee us the right to bear arms.” Fine. Terrific! But, I’m pretty sure, that as with ALL of our Bill of Rights amendments and the wide language employed deliberately, so that states’ interpretations could be employed, this did NOT mean, "let's use school children for hunting practice."

Let’s get real here. The 2^nd Amendment, like all of our amendments uses porous language, purposely to allow it to be used as framework to construct a tighter law. It does not mean, “Gee, let’s just use it to mean whatever the hell we want it to mean and fall back on it whenever we fuck up!” I’m talking to you, GOP and NRA. 

Just because you all think you look sexy as hell running around waving your Glocks and .387 Magnums doesn’t confer you with sexy, or power, or a big wang, either. No one is going to rape your dog or steal your kids. The fact that we have dead school children, CHILDREN killed DELIBERATELY makes no impression on you whatsoever? If I sound provocative, I mean to. I think it's time to bring it on and have a good old-fashioned brawl. Let's put aside polite discourse, since that's getting us absolutely no where and y'all are doing whatever the fuck you want to do anyway. 

I call bullshit on your stupid, neanderthal attitudes, GOP and NRA! Are you listening to me, you morons? You are a bunch of white, mean-spirited, lick-spittle, cock-sucking assholes. You take it up the ass for every corporation and big business concern going and you're too pussy-whipped to stand up and say "THIS IS WRONG!" It's wrong to allow the allow killing machines, i.e. Assault Weapons (side note: CT DOES have an Assault Weapons Ban, so fair is fair.)

Now, having said all of that, I have to put on my devil's advocate hat and state that, the barn door is open, the horse is gone. I realize that these types of guns are easily bought on the black market and through gun lords and once procured, there you are. Still, this illustrates the very point, I think  what I'm trying to state in my confuse-a-what style is this: just because the horse is gone, doesn't mean we burn down the barn. We need to figure out how to corral the horse; carefully. Careless got us into this mess.

But, aside from that; what kind of cold-hearted bastards are you, GOP and NRA, that you cannot put yourselves in the positions of these families who are grieving over their lost children, their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and weigh the costs? Are you that granite-hearted? Are you that alienated from the human family? Don’t you see your country is hurting? This affects all of us; we are all grieving and diminished by this tragedy and your response is “Oh, this isn’t the time to talk about gun control.” Then, tell me, when is it the time? When one of your sons or daughters dies by a gunshot? How about then? Is that the time?