Contributors

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Anger, Hate, and Fear Come Home To Roost

GOP Congressmen felt the wraith of a psychotic yesterday in the form of one James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois. In ten gut wrenching minutes, Hodgkinson shot up a baseball field where many House reps were practicing for a charity game. At this point, the only fatality is Hodgkinson himself although House Majority Whip, Steve Saclise is still in critical condition after being hit in the hip.

As I suspected, the blame for this is being laid at the feet of the "hateful rhetoric" of the left. That's like the pyromaniac accusing someone suffering from pyrophobia of starting a fire. Worse, the relaxed attitude towards gun violence and total instransigence on enhancing firearm regulation lead to events like this every day. I'm reminding of the following verse from the Bible.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap ( King James Version of the Bible, Epistle to the Galatians, 6:7).

It was only a matter of time before some angry, nut job on the left easily acquired firearms and went after the folks who made it easier to do so. This guy would have never had the guns he did had Republicans taken steps over the years to restrict access to firearms. Under current law, however, he legally purchased the assault rifle used yesterday in the shooting. Rand Paul, who was present at the shooting, said were it not for the Capital police (trained, armed professionals), it would have been worse. I'm wondering if they will learn anything from this horrific event.

Sadly, I doubt it. What will likely happen is a call for Congressmen to arm themselves at all times. Or more about how liberals are all incendiary revolutionists bent on taking down the state. I've been saying for years that this kind of event is what will change the minds of those folks who don't recognize the reality of gun violence.

The reality of their epistemic closure tells me otherwise.

1 comment:

Nikto said...

The shooter had a long history of domestic abuse, assault and threatening people with firearms:

He was the foster father of at least two girls. The first, Wanda Ashley Stock, 17, committed suicide in 1996 by pouring gasoline on herself and setting herself on fire after a few months of living with the Hodgkinsons, the Belleville News-Democrat reports. The Hodgkinsons gave an interview to the paper after her suicide, calling her a “very practical, level-headed girl.”

In 2006, he was arrested for domestic battery and discharge of a firearm after he stormed into a neighbor’s home where his teenage foster daughter was visiting with a friend. In a skirmish, he punched his foster daughter’s then 19-year-old friend Aimee Moreland “in the face with a closed fist,” according to a police report reviewed by The Daily Beast. When Moreland’s boyfriend walked outside of the residence where Moreland and Hodgkinson’s foster daughter were, he allegedly aimed a shotgun at the boyfriend and later fired one round. The Hodgkinsons later lost custody of that foster daughter.


He was exactly the kind of person who should not have access to firearms because they have proved they aren't capable of controlling their tempers. But Republicans don't want to keep guns out of the hands of people like this, out of some delusional idea that owning guns is an inalienable right, no matter how violent and angry they have proved themselves to be.

The real problem is that the cops and the courts give angry white men a pass when they assault their families. They have all the sympathy in the world for violent old white guys, but rail on endlessly about how lawless and violent African American youth are.