There were the obligatory somber tones, the meaningless “thoughts and prayers,” the demands from someone to do something.
For us, “do something” has come to mean “do nothing.”
I’m not blaming politicians for this.
I’m blaming us. Some of us, anyway.
I’m blaming all of us who always vote for candidates exclusively based on the letter before their names (R or D) and not what they stand for. I’m blaming those who refuse to vote, which is one way we can all participate in democracy and help change a badly broken system. I’m blaming the majority of Americans who pay meaningless lip service but could care less about what happened in Texas, Sandy Hook, in downtown Dayton’s Oregon District, and all of the streets smeared with the blood of innocents.
Is that harsh? No. Most of us have already forgotten about Buffalo. In another week, if we haven’t already, we will have forgotten about those fourth graders slaughtered by an AR-15 rifle. We’ll forget because we care far more about how much we pay for gas than little children dying.
Think about this: An AR-15 fires one shot each time you pull the trigger. That means this monster, who had barricaded himself in a classroom, did that to everyone there. I can’t imagine the fear, the pain, the panic that dominated the last seconds of those little lives. I can’t imagine the fear of two teachers who did everything they could to protect the kids but who died, too, because they were no match for those bullets.
We forget way too easily. A poll this week from the Associated Press shows a majority of Americans now think the United States should focus more on the economy here than on sanctioning Russia, meaning the support for our Ukraine policy is softening. I know there’s a strong “America First” crowd that believes we should focus on us and forget everyone else. The problem is, historically, that never works. We tried that strategy in WWI and WWII and it failed miserably. You can argue that the initial inaction cost us more in lives and money.
Standing up to tyrants and doing what’s right is expensive and painful. Wait until bread prices go up since Ukraine and Russia produces 25% of the world’s wheat and Russia’s blockade won’t let the shipments leave port. I can hear the screams now.
Gas costs more, inflation’s rising, and Americans want cheap stuff. These are the same Americans who don’t understand how the economy works, and how no president, Republican or Democrat, has any control over the market forces that drive us.
It doesn’t matter that no one understands. We’ll blame whoever is in power, and when the economy gets better (it will) we’ll go on to something else.
None of these dead children effect your life like gas prices do, right? Chew on that for a moment.
Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott are among those who were scheduled to attend an NRA event in Houston, just days after the killings. That’s not tone deaf. That’s shoving the gut-wrenching pain of death in the face of grieving parents.
Those who read my column know I’m a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. But I also believe in common sense gun regulations, as most Americans do, that would help prevent more death.
So the next time you vote for someone who makes promises but doesn’t keep them (I’m looking at you, Gov. DeWine); wants everyone to have AR-15s; or stays home because it’s too inconvenient to vote; remember those little slaughtered children and the role you played in it.
Ray Marcano is a long-time journalist whose column appears on these pages every Sunday. He can be reached at raymarcanoddn@gmail.com.
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