Do Something
Yesterday, I was angry. On the heels of the mass shooting in Gilroy, which left three dead and many more injured, another twenty people, this time in El Paso, would not make it home from a simple shopping trip. Then I woke up this morning to the news from Dayton. And I thought, what comes after anger because I’m beyond that. Furious? Irate? I’m beyond those too. In fact, I’m beyond every one of the entries in Roget’s book. Then I thought as I often do, someone needs to do something.
Fortunately, the white house occupant (I will never be able to refer to that clown as a president), is “monitoring the situation.” That’s the new phrase that is immediately broadcast, often via Twitter, to create the impression that the occupant actually gives a fuck about whatever tragedy has just unfolded. It seems meant to convey an image of someone around a conference table (as opposed to the 7th hole), with a team of advisors, each with furrowed brows, discussing what to do. But the reality is, despite all the monitoring, whether from the golf course or the situation room, nothing will be done. Soon after the monitoring announcement, “thoughts and prayers” will be sent. Law enforcement will be praised. And in the end, nothing will change. But someone needs to do something.
To be fair, politicians on both sides of the aisle, spend a fair amount of time “monitoring” situations. They’re all good at the monitoring part. But they’re not so good at the action part. I can imagine them on a beach. Suddenly on the horizon, they spot a wave. This is not just any wave, it’s a tsunami and it’s headed right for them. “We’re monitoring the situation” they say, just before the giant wall of water crushes them (don’t worry, if we send them “thoughts and prayers” they’ll be okay). If only they’d done something more that monitor the situation. The fact is there is now a tsunami of gun violence in this country. We are way past the time for monitoring. We’re even way past the time for action. All of us should have gotten off that beach a long time ago. But we’re still there and that wave is crashing down on us day after day after day. Someone really needs to do something.
While the politicians are busy monitoring, the media machine will kick into high gear. Pundits will try to assign blame and depending on which network you watch, you’ll learn that gun violence is really a mental health issue, or perhaps the product of too many video games, or it could even be the result of a vitamin deficiency. Occasionally you might even hear one of the talking heads discuss the incredible proliferation of guns in what is supposedly a civilized country, the United States has 4.4% of the world’s population, yet owns 46% of the guns on the planet. In the end, it doesn’t really matter which channel you’ve tuned to because it all comes down to just talk and you know what they say about talk. Someone needs to do something.
Even when someone tries to do something, there is always someone else to block that something. The NRA spends a fortune to make sure that no gun legislation ever sees the light of day. Much of that money ends up in the pockets of politicians, who in addition to monitoring situations, are also monitoring their bank accounts. This year the House has already passed two bills aimed at improving background checks. Neither of those bills has even been taken up in the Senate because Mitch McConnell, one of the many politicians who is adept at bank account monitoring, has not allowed it. No vote, no hearing, not even a discussion. Someone has to do something.
But what is that something? You’d think that universal background check laws would be a common sense thing. If you pass the check, you can have your precious gun. There you go, your well “regulated” militia will be intact. Unfortunately even that is opposed by the gun lobby as well as many of the monitors. After the inevitable analysis of how a given weapon was obtained determines a background check might not have prevented the latest killing spree, that quickly becomes the justification for not passing laws. I certainly don’t know if any laws would have prevented the tragedies in Gilroy, El Paso, and now Dayton. But they might stop one tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. If a background check can save even one life, wouldn’t that be worth it?
We’re all on that beach. The tsunami is coming. Someone has to do something. So many families are grieving today because we’ve done nothing. How many senseless deaths, how many thoughts and prayers, will it take to make us do something. Like I said, I’m angry. Someone has to do something. This is what I’m doing. It’s not much but it’s a start. What will you do? Don’t sit on that beach. Write something, talk to your family, your neighbors, call a politician, do something. Do whatever you can. Just do something. Get off the beach before the wave hits and help stop the next one. All of our lives depend it on. And remember that no matter what you do, I will of course, be monitoring the situation.
