I'm reaching the point in the aftermath of this tragedy where I am becoming numb.
I know that it is important to continue the dialogue, and hopefully push our politicians into working on a solution, but I am just tired of wiping away tears and feeling helpless.
At times like that I can think of no better voice to hear delivering calm, rational, comforting words than Fred Rogers.
This was from right after 9-11 but I think it applies equally as well today.
I finally sat and wrote and wrote to expel the frustration over yesterdays massacre and it helped only a bit. I do believe there is no easy answer to the state of violence we are experiencing because we are a people who romanticize war while professing to want peace. While these children were being killed yesterday, our televisions were repeating footage of war stories.....dead and maimed soldiers continue to return from a 'non-war'.....my memories of thousands of children having been slain in Iraq.....the abortion foes proudly sending their soldier children to kill or be killed. No I see the problem as being way beyond registering guns when the group mentality is still in love with fighting the good fight!!
ReplyDeleteAmazing message. So much wisdom and so concise.
ReplyDelete(Sobbing my eyes out.)
A friend of mine used to live on the same street as Fred Rogers. He told me that what we'd see on TV was exactly what Rogers was like as a person, right down to the clothes. Nicest guy on earth, always willing to help a neighbor, never judgmental in the least. I've a cynical side to me, so I always thought Mr. Rogers was probably a psychopath, but after hearing from someone who knew him, I started watching his show again (as an adult), and really appreciated the guy.
ReplyDeleteI love when you use his comments here. Fred Rogers always knew what the right thing to say was, and he went ahead and said it. We could use a lot more people like him right now.
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI just sent out the following email to about 100 people I know.
ReplyDeleteI wish every member of Congress - of both parties - who is unwilling to enact gun control measures against automatic and semi-automatic weapons would have this list tattooed to his right arm. They should be required to count the names off like the beads on a rosary. Every night.
The children: Charlotte Bacon, 6, Daniel Barden, 7, Olivia Engel, 6, Josephine Gay, 7, Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6, Dylan Hockley, 6, Madeleine F. Hsu, 6, Catherine V. Hubbard, 6, Chase Kowalski, 7, Jesse Lewis, 6, James Mattioli, 6, Grace McDonnell, 7, Emilie Parker, 6, Jack Pinto, 6, Noah Pozner, 6, Caroline Previdi, 6, Jessica Rekos, 6, Avielle Richman, 6, Benjamin Wheeler, 6, Allison N. Wyatt, 6.
The staff: Rachel Davino, 29, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, Anne Marie Murphy, 52, Lauren Rousseau, 30, Mary Sherlach, 56, Victoria Soto, 27.
Since no one is willing to ban gun ownership, let's try a capitalistic, legalistic approach.
ReplyDeleteForm a new federal agency - this will end the unemployment crisis. It will be funded by registration fees and insurance premiums.
All guns must be both registered and insured in order to be used, just like cars and trucks. Thus,there will be an automated data base on each person which will be public information as to the exact number of all guns owned by each person. Guns can be registered for three year period - there is a fee for this. In addition, each gun must have insurance. Rates for both registrations and insurance will vary based on the history and frequency of the weapon in crimes, deaths and injuries the weapons have caused, also on a data base. A Daisy Red Ryder BB may cost $20 a year. A Glock? $1500 a year. Using an uninsured gun will be an automatic prison sentence. Using an uninsured weapon in a crime will have a longer minimum sentence. Just like cars!
On Saturday, the Connecticut State Police released a list of the names of the 26 victims who were shot and killed at a Connecticut elementary school.
ReplyDeleteThe victims are 12 girls, eight boys and six adult women. The victims, police said, were shot up close, multiple times.
The following is a list (as released by police) of the victims in Friday's shooting spree on the campus of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female
- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male
- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female.
- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male
- Dawn Hocksprung, 06/28/65, female
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male
- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female
- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female
- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female
- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female
- Lauren Russeau, 6/1982, female
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female
Sandy Hook: How long to sing this song?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lDWWmhOWjDQ
From TPM Reader JB …
ReplyDeleteGetting drunk and driving 100 miles an hour is also fun, but it’s still illegal. Same with crystal meth. The point is there is a social cost to allowing recreational gun ownership, and gun owners need to acknowledge we are all paying a certain price for their entertainment. For those of us who never have and never will own a gun, it is most definitely not worth it.
Connecticut’s Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver released a list of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, as well as their cause of death. “I’ve been at this over a third of a century… This probably is the worst that I have seen…”
ReplyDeleteCarver has determined that all of the wounds were caused by the “long weapon”, the Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic rifle. “I believe everybody was hit more than once.” Describing the bullets as causing devastating injuries, he explained, “The bullets are designed in such a fashion the energy is deposited in the tissue so the bullet stays in.”
www.politicususa.com/medical-examiner-describes-shooting-probably-worst-seen.html
Concerned citizens should make their voices heard, pressuring our lawmakers and leaders via letters, phone calls, protests, vigils, etc. President Obama has always said he believes that change should come from the will of the people. Let the President and your representatives know how you feel about this issue, and what kind of change you hope to see.
ReplyDeleteChange is coming. Obama doesn’t use words like this twice in a row without a purpose.
http://www.politicususa.com/president-obamas-weekly-address-hints-future-policy-shift.html
There have been no less than seven mass shootings over the past year, and each time gun rights activists point to the disturbed individual as the culprit, and they have a point, but it is indisputable that if the mentally deranged individuals were unarmed, the number of victims would be far less. However, it is not just mass shootings America suffers from, and a dangerous armed populace has borne fruit as evident in Stand Your Ground killings. In fact, mass shootings like the one in Connecticut will embolden the NRA and conservatives to increase their argument that more guns equals less crime until every school teacher, choir member, and yes, even children have the right to carry firearms in schools, churches, and movie theatres.
ReplyDeleteThe pointless tragedy in Connecticut will not change gun laws in America or allow a conversation about the mindset that promotes an armed populace. Groups like the NRA will revert to their typical argument that “guns don’t kill people, only people do,” and devastated parents and relatives of the slain will question why their children were gunned down in a gun free zone, but when the dust settles, and 20 children are laid to rest, Americans will cite the shooter’s mental state and argue their individual right to carry firearms cannot be impeded by the actions of one disturbed individual.
However, as they cling to their concept of individualism defined by their right to bear arms, and cautious legislators weigh the political price of supporting any gun legislation, America will continue arming its citizens and clinging to its gunfighter mentality. Americans can expect more gun tragedies that will inevitably lead to handwringing, a bit of reflection, mass funerals, and empty calls for change that go unheeded because until this nation addresses the culture that encourages individualism defined by the right to bear arms, more innocent lives will be lost and each incident will give gun-rights advocates ammunition to strengthen the nation’s love affair with guns as the symbol of American individualism. For 20 precious children in Connecticut, their chance at individualism was ended...
http://www.politicususa.com/nras-beloved-gun-culture-killed-20-innocent-children-conservatives-care.html
President Obama will travel to Newtown, Connecticut on Sunday night to meet with the families of the victims of an elementary school shooting spree, the White House announced on Saturday. The president will also speak at an interfaith vigil scheduled for 7PM ET.
ReplyDeleteFred had a way with words, his advice in this clip is timeless.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling, once some time passes, that President Obama will make gun control a priority, this incident has gotten the attention of the World and we have to have his back, keep signing petitions, writing letters, etc.
I went gift shopping today, and people are GLUED to the news. Every cashier and worker was asking if anything new came out, and the televisions in the Electronics section were tuned to cnn.
Something good has to come of this tragedy. We owe it to those families, and our families.