Monterrey Park New Year’s Massacre
State Rep. Whoever stands there and the first thing out of this woman’s mouth is “I am shocked by this news this morning…” Holy shit, lady, you are an adult human living in the United States of America: how can you be shocked? Grow up! This ain’t nothing new. You are a servant to the public, but it doesn’t seem like you are fit to serve the public with that level of naïveté.
A man with a gun and the unfortunate few. We’ll send up prayers and talk to God
We’ll lose a little chunk of faith that the coppers can really protect and serve. But mostly we’ll block all that out with the TV talk of madmen, guns, and prayers.
Safety’s the real illusion and the human heart/psyche can only break so many times, but they shift the talk like Houdini. Sleight of hand. Distraction is the main course. We invite them into our brains without questioning them. The TV people. We’re all so eager to hear the gossip so we can put it in a box and differentiate it from ourselves. See? At least we’re not like that dude.
You know it’s just someone who lost their shit in a moment, right?. Or it had been brewing? Minor details. Unless it could be prevented with a kind of “Thought Police,” which you just know is coming to a town near you soon! Point is: He had a gun. Used a gun. We’re shocked. Send prayers.
“Give the talk and calm everyone down. I know you all need more, but there really ain’t no more to be had. Look how patiently I answer all your questions. Don’t I look official in my puffed-up uniform and flak jacket and sidearms. Yes, the crime scene is right next to the Police Station. Thank you for your question. We are a conducting a united interagency effort to apprehend the blah blah blah…”
Someone lost their shit. It happens. “Blah blah blah. Tune in 2 hours from now for a status update and more details…”
Most of us guard against it and check ourselves before we think we’re friggin’ Batman and lose our nut. But some don’t. Some can’t.
Sherriff So and So says, “It was not an assault weapon.” You can feel the disappointment in the reporter’s follow-up. “Was it an extended clip size?” Information not fitting into the narrative he obviously wants to tell.
Back to the Batman point. People get pushed too far. One too many insults or injuries. One too many debts. Whatever it is that breaks the dam, it done broke. Hurt is coming.
But when you act all shocked, send up your prayers to God, you subconsciously say, “Okay, my hands are clean and there’s nothing more for me to do.” And you are wrong on that score. Here’s why.
That God you pray to already answered and told you “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.” You must understand what drove your brother to that point. And if what ails him is endemic in a culture, our culture, then we must examine cause, look for patterns, hypothesize solutions.
But we don’t really do that. We get focused on the tool that did the killing, the gun, the bullet. Ballistics. Or the madman who did the slaying. How could he be anything other than a crazed lunatic?
How boring. And wrong.
First of all, there’s really only two sides to the gun debate, and throughout human history the argument that wins is that we can arm ourselves so we can defend ourselves from the tyranny of any intruder, however big or small, however foreign or domestic. I mean, that’s it.
If you’re on the side that says guns should be eliminated altogether, then you have a steep hill to climb. My take on humans, at age 55, is that if it is not a gun, it’ll be something. Best not to run around with the illusion of safety. Keep your head on a swivel, I always say. I ain’t going out like a bitch.
Those engaging in the “debate” about which guns, and how old a person can be, and background checks and blah blah blah are just keeping themselves busy and irritating the rest of us. Chasing shadows in an endless split-decision and never solve anything. Congratulations on your empire of dung. Idiots rule. You know it. I know it. They’re all bought and paid for, but we like to believe otherwise. You know, hooray for my side and all that.
Heck, even Roddenberry’s future had Captain Kirk and all personnel armed with phaser guns. There’s no money in Star Trek’s future, so one assumes EVERYONE would get equal armaments and training, which might be a good idea actually.
What got this dude’s chain loose? While we wait for that answer and the city-wide manhunt to conclude, contemplate this:
How close are you to losing your shit? To thinking, “Maybe I could actually get justice in this phony world. Supreme Court is corrupt. Cops are corrupt. All our jobs are in China. Stock Market is rigged. It’s not like anyone could actually stop me. All I really need is commitment.” Scary thought, enit? Oh, that dude is out there. We imagine Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket. Or the Joker. Maybe it is. But he’s probably more ordinary than that. Either way, his guardrails have gotten loose just inviting that chain to jump off the sprocket.
What would you commit to on that level. You’d have to be a serious loner, loony. Nothing left to lose type of scenario, right?? Some real Walter White shit, no? Most of us bravely say it is our family. We’d go rogue for our people.
Oh look, the POTUS has sent out his Tweet. Thoughts and prayers.
Anyway, is that it? Did he have no community? Lose his community?
The news has taken to the street to get the “man on the street” reaction. <insert face palm emoji>
I leave that shit on mute. Watched it once. Turned it off. Just waiting for the football game to start anyway. I did the same thing after 9/11. Turned it off. Waited for baseball to resume. My refusal to watch it more than once and my wife’s refusal to turn it off shaped who we became. The terrorists won. We divorced. Haha, joke’s on them. She wasn’t much of a wife anyway. (For those of you uncomfortable with that little piece of truth, maybe this will help. I was not much of a husband either. And we went on to become our better selves by being apart).
But seriously, how many times do you need to relive someone else’s tragedy? Be glad you’re alive and keep that head on a swivel. Who’s got next? Life will kill you, more likely than a bomb or a gun anyhow. Ground is hungry to be your grave. Best to get busy living. Just don’t do your living at the expense of a brother (or sister) from another mother.
And here’s the question that prevents us from having this conversation: Is there some way for every single human being to feel dignified enough, purposeful enough, connected enough to keep his wolf at bay? If you answer “no” to that question, then keep your head on a swivel and quit behaving like you are shocked and try and understand that God you pray to. Be a good human.
End today’s sermon.
