As I am sure everyone is aware, 12 people were shot yesterday in Arizona.
This was tragic. It is always tragic when someone gets killed or injured. These types of crimes are abhorrent, and the people who perpetrate them should never see the light of day again. If I were in a lawmaking position, I would actually be much harder on harmful criminals than are most current elected officials.
Murder, maim, rob, or harm one innocent person, and the victim gets 10 minutes alone with you in a room — with a baseball bat, while you are handcuffed to a bench. I am not kidding. If you rape a child, you are handed an axe while the tip of your dick is lit on fire. You can let it burn or chop it off. Your choice. I have zero sympathy for people who knowingly harm innocent people. This includes drug companies that release dangerous products for profit, and health insurers who let people die in agony for a buck. I would put them all in the same cell. The USA is full of evil, evil people from top to bottom, and it saddens me.
It does not surprised me, though. I’ve gotten quite used to it.
This is why, I do not understand screaming headlines like the following:
Drudge Headline
Why on earth would the nation be shocked by what has transpired this weekend?
In 2009, there were 16,204 murders in the USA.
SIXTEEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR!
This is roughly 44 murders per day.
Why would six more surprise anyone?
Statistically, in addition to what happened in Arizona, 38 other commoners were murdered yesterday.
Where are their national headlines? Where is the national outrage? Where are the press conferences updating us on their conditions? Where is the national shock?
There are people getting beaten on American buses and subways, and there are people getting shot, stabbed, robbed, and killed-by-decree by corporate America each and every day.
There are police officers gunning down shoppers in front of Las Vegas Costos, and there are peace officers openly slaying semi-deaf wood carvers on the streets of Seattle.
From street thugs, to right-wing nutjobs, to local police departments, to corporate boardrooms, the USA is an extraordinarily violent place.
As such, I cannot fathom why what happened yesterday would surprise anyone.
It certainly did not surprise anyone I know, and that, in my opinion, is the real tragedy.
The knowledge that today, there will be 44 more.
Take care of yourselves, and be careful out there.
