America, America, What Have You Become?

by | Jun 6, 2022 | Politics | 7 comments

I remember when, in about 2010, Republicans began putting pictures of assault rifles in their campaign advertisements. The response from most observers amounted to “Oh my god! That’s crossing a line.” Now every Republican from Lauren Boebert to Bo Hines brandishes an AR-15 at any opportunity. Their use of these death machines in campaigns for office in a democracy shows the extent to which violence has become a key component of the conservative mood in America. It’s also an outgrowth of one of our culture’s greatest–and sickest–pathologies.

The first surfacing of politicized assault weapons took place at roughly the same time that a severely schizophrenic young man massacred six people on a stage in Tuscon, Arizona. One of his victims, who survived but only with severe and lifelong brain damage, was a Congresswoman from the district named Gabby Giffords. The killer, Jared Loughner, had developed an obsession with Giffords and with her supposedly demonic use of language and “literacy.” In his violent derangement, he was the poster boy for red-flag laws.

But he kept his gun, and he killed with it. We all know how the story proceeds from here. Since Tuscon, mass killing in American schools, stores, movie theaters and churches has become a staple of American life. Dozens of children have been killed in three school-based mass killings alone. A functional society would take action to stifle this suppurating wound on our social body; but, of course, we do nothing but make it worse. Studies have shown that the primary policy response to mass shootings is to make gun laws more lenient, to shrink the territory on which private American citizens cannot bring weapons designed to kill people. We’ve embraced the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction for ourselves 70 years after President Dwight D. Eisenhower deemed it too risky to employ in the Cold War.

Ten years after the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the gun culture is more entrenched than it was when dozens of Connecticut children were massacred by a young fanatic with an assault rifle. The National Rifle Association spent more of its blood money electing Donald Trump than it had ever committed to a single presidential candidate. More and more states have abolished gun registries that had been established to help law enforcement solve gun crimes committed within the state in question. In Missouri, the macabre policy known as “Constitutional Carry” has led to a terrifying spike in gun deaths. Gun dealers are selling more guns than ever to private citizens, many of whom will use them to commit suicide or homicide. The pandemic was a boom year for the gun industry.

America, America, what have you become? The United States has always harbored violence in the darkest recesses of its soul. But we are no longer living in the days of Bleeding Kansas, the White Supremacy Campaign, or the Wild West. Now some of us know better than to allow a plague of gun violence to overwhelm the peace and the very lives of our people, including schoolchild after schoolchild gunned down in senseless killings. These atrocities are not limited by class, race or geography. Everyone must submit to violence so gun-worshiping racists and right-wingers can go abroad armed and dangerous.

North Carolina, of course, is by no means immune to this cultural blight. The Art Pope propaganda empire has produced chilling rhetoric since the latest explosion of gun-made carnage. In a headline so callous it shocked even such a hardened critic of the right as myself, one Pope writer queried, “Will we give up our gun rights for political expediency.” And the leader of one of Pope’s flagship organization was even more cavalier. “School shootings are unavoidable,” he blithely said. You know what? In a gun-worshiping society flatly unwilling to do anything to protect its children, he’s exactly right.

7 Comments

  1. cocodog

    Following WWII, citizens of this country returned from Europe and the South Pacific after having served in the military. There was a better than average chance these folks had killed fellow human beings using the various destructive devices of war. They watch men blown to pieces by weapons that were designed for this purpose. Very few of these had any desire to carry a weapon, engage in killing or maiming of their fellow human being. My father who served as a Marine never owned a weapon in his life after returning from what he witnessed and was a part. He just went on with his life raising a family, building a business and making every effort to respect his fellow man. But deep down he was well trained and experienced in the art of war and all that entails. The TV series “South Pacific” documented the carnage of those times.
    Today for the most part who do we see packing weapons, folks who had never had any formal military or police training. They usually suffer from lack of formal education and work at jobs where the supervisor is oppressive and suffers from the same issues.
    Society has nurtured and raised a few generations of folks who may have been bullied while in school, later the job and finally by a neighbor who believes he or she owns everything within eyesight of his or her property. Thats right, women can be bullies and oppressors. They usually work at jobs which requires them to interact with the public that gives them some degree of control over a customer. Some school personal play a role in developing the individuals likely to vent their frustrations by gun violence. Society has managed to create an environment where folks with antisocial and dangerous inclinations thrive.
    Several pundits have suggested that restoring compulsory military service may restore some degree of normality in society for both men and women. This could be done by adding two years to high school and making it mandatory for graduation. This approach has its issues for folks who may not have the physical ability or suffer from a learning disability.
    At least, we could start by restoring classes in government, to teach folks factual information our heritage and institutions like due process and social respect for their fellow human beings. Teachers should be trained to spot bullying or abnormal aggressive behavior to their fellow student. Above all do not ignore it, but not be charged with dealing with the problem on their own. There should be a group of experts that evaluate and address these issues in a fair and equitable manner, not just kick the kid out of school. Something must be done to turn this disgusting and dangerous part of our social behavior around. The parents of these kids that entrust government to educate should not be required to go through this again. If this requires taking dangerous weapons off the street, and other measures I personally agree and support it.

  2. Russ Becker

    As I recall, the shooter of Gabby Giffords was tackled and subdued when he had to pause to reload. He did not have mega-magazines taped together so he could keep killing without reloading. The easiest thing to pass may be a limitation on magazine size. Why does anyone who isn’t planning to be a mass murderer need more than 3 rounds in a magazine? If you’re a hunter and think you need more, I hope that you never hunt anywhere close to where I am.

  3. Kycowboy

    Andy Steven’s. Why do you need an AR-15? It is not for hunting. With its short barrel it would not be a good target rifle. No citizens needs an AR-15.

  4. Andy Stevens

    My AR-15’s (oh, gee, do I have more than one? Who’s asking?) haven’t killed anyone or anything. In fact, I keep a close eye on them waiting to see if they’ll act out on their own. So far they’re just sitting there….ready…waiting….still. When can I expect mine to become a “death machine?

    • AX

      They will become death machines the next time that you (or someone with access to them) has a temper tantrum.

  5. Joyce Ingalls

    It seems to me that the very ones who do not support gun control do not allow guns into trump’s rallies, the Capitol bldg., etc.

    • cocodog

      Trump’s only goals and concerns in life other than himself (his propensity to be worshiped for be possessed of qualities he believes he has and money) He careless less if folk’s runaround killing others or causing serious injuries. He just wants to hold the presidency and pass it on to his children.

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