Dark Times

Gaza medics in identifying clothing approach wounded with their hands raised, but get shot anyway. You can contribute to support unarmed civilians being attacked by Israel's military here at Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Besides being overwhelmed at work and at home, I'm struggling this week with the darkness that seems to be closing in worldwide. It's hard to say which I'm more troubled by: Israel's slaughter of unarmed civilians at the Gaza border while kleptocrats partied in Jerusalem; U.S. warmongering against Iran; or confirmation of a known pregnant woman torturer to head the CIA. 

Yesterday there was another mass shooting at a high school, this time in Texas. The NRA, the enforcement arm of kleptocracy that keeps us all fearful, took time out from harassing teens who've survived school shootings to put convicted felon Oliver North at its helm.

Families began being ripped apart at the border as migrants fleeing violence in Central America attempted to cross over to safety. And, needless to say, the ongoing bad news of weapons corporations using taxpayer funding to lobby elected officials for tax breaks on top of the already gargantuan military budget with its attendant austerities for the people -- rolled on.

Then there were the small discouragements: all my postcards to Kings Bay Plowshares anti-nuclear activists were sent back rather than delivered. This small cruelty to the activists was expected because other correspondents had posted photos of their undelivered regulation post office issue postcards earlier in the week. I know that my first batch of postcards a few weeks ago were received, because I got replies from several of the conscientious objectors to nuclear warmongering. They were all arraigned last week and if they care to can post a $5000 bond and submit to house arrest with ankle monitors pending their trial. You can contribute to their bond fund here.

I've said before that I write this blog to keep my head from exploding as I attempt to process the bad news of our times.

Clearly, I should spend more time reading my friend Cecile Pineda's newsletter which always ends with a Roses Among Thorns section sharing encouraging, uplifting, hopeful current events. Thanks, Cecile, for your pinpoint of light shining in these dark times.

Assigning Blame For #Alexandria Shooting To Corporate Press, Liberals and Democrats -- But Not To NRA?

Another angry white man with a gun strikes terror into the heart of our country. Photo: LA Times

Before I had a chance to finish this unusual post made of tweets about the latest mass shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, it was no longer the latest mass shooting. A gunman in San Francisco shot up a UPS facility later in the same day. Was he also angry about Republican legislators trying to cut his health care? Was he also hyped up on alleged calls for violence emanating from faux leftists like Bernie Sanders? Or secretly working for antifa?

Violence with guns is a dead end game. Even if I thought it was morally justified to kill legislators poised to destroy the Affordable Health Care Act -- which I don't -- it is terrible strategy in an era when the powerful have weapons that can literally destroy life on the planet.

I've noticed the uptick in violent language and calls to action from the many fractured pieces of the body politic since the ascendance of the demagogue with bad hair. A horrifying sign of the times.

The Los Angeles Times quoted a member of Congress following a security briefing: “Everyone’s getting a bunch of death threats right now,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.)

Fight back by remaining civil, respectful, and compassionate for all sentient beings even as you struggle for human rights like health care. Fight back by recognizing that if we live by the sword, we must die by the sword. Fight back by withdrawing your support from the system of capitalism masquerading as democracy, a system that is killing us all.

Alexandria Shooting May Signal Future Civil War in America https://t.co/UiVMXgUC5d pic.twitter.com/WVB8YFyvbg

— The Christian Front (@TCFront) June 15, 2017

When you call Republicans "Nazis" & have nightly mock executions of Trump being murdered in Central Park, this was inevitable.#Alexandria

— David 🦇 (@SantaCarlaDavid) June 14, 2017

Rhetoric obviously has an affect on perception. The Libs have been advocating "resistance" and violence. Now we see the result. #Alexandria

— Frosty (@politicofaux) June 14, 2017

The left are violent, intolerant, and dangerous. Alexandria was a direct result of celebs and media glorify the assassination of Trump. Sad.

— CJLango (@CJLango) June 14, 2017

Republicans calling for unity after #Alexandria attack. They still don't realize you can't unify w/traitors. Democrats seek to destroy.

— William Paxton (@Truthseer1961) June 14, 2017

Was the shooter #Antifa in Alexandria?

— EpicOverKill (@Epic_OverKill) June 14, 2017

Alexandria Steve Scalise Congressman

A strong supporter of the Second Amendment Earned a A+ rating from the NRA Congressman Scalise shot! pic.twitter.com/41xmujWZ8Q

— Randy (@__R_A_N_D_Y__) June 14, 2017

Virginia:
No background checks
No registration
No permit req’d for concealed carry
Open carry state

Wanna debate now @GOP ?#Alexandria

— TheUnsilentMAJORITY (@The_UnSilent_) June 14, 2017

Here's a poem entitled "America is a Gun". pic.twitter.com/RTwWbUtuc7

— Brian Bilston (@brian_bilston) February 17, 2016

Less than 24 hours after it happened, news about the Alexandria shootings wasn't even trending anymore. In among the infotainment clutter was the latest "terrorist" threat, a bomb scare in the Port of Charleston with a plot straight out of a made for tv movie. And so we trudge on, into the fog of a polarized nation, heavily armed, and lashing out in pain.