Tuesday, October 06, 2015

A year ago Michael Moore expressed his exasperation at the gun culture in America, and made a terrible prediction. One that came true, with a vengeance.

From Moore's Facebook page in 2014: 

With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.

"Rest assured it will happen again." Well there was an understatement.

So far in this year alone we have seen 247 mass shootings, and the year is not yet over.

Michael Moore, and others, to their credit tried to warn us back when this was happening with less frequency, but nothing changed.

And the terrifying part is that even in the face of what seems like a silent civil war on our streets, in our classrooms, and in public gathering places, there still does not seem to be a will to do anything about it. 

(H/T to Democratic Underground.)

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:27 AM

    Michael Moore (or as he is known in Palinville, FU Michael Moore) is actually very smart.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael Moore has, by speaking out about many social injustices and political issues that make sense, invited all sorts of RWNJs to threaten his life. That's a huge risk to take in the name of equality and fairness for all. I applaud his efforts on behalf of the American people, even if they don't appreciate them. Keep your security team Michael. There are still many who wish to do you harm.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:08 PM

      I have always liked Michael Moore and sincerely wish the NRA head was the guy not being seen much anymore. The latter is an ass!

      Michael Moore has been more than correct on many of the issues on which he has commented throughout the years.

      Delete
  3. The gun obsessive are very different people from gun owners.
    The gun obsessive are in love with the gun, want to use it as often as possible, want as many as they can get, and feed their fantasies of a government gone wild in the hopes of that big shootout in which they kill all the bad guys and become heroes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7:54 AM

    What is being done:
    http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/10/06/3709027/indiana-mass-shooting-prevention/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:55 AM

    Larry Wilmore took aim at the rhetorical shifts and misdirections conservatives use to keep Americans from having an honest conversations about guns and gun violence.

    The “Nightly Show” host said the media takes care of the first step in the process by overwhelming viewers and readers with numbers — as they did last week.

    When a gunman killed nine people and wounded nine others at an Oregon community college, that marked the 45th school shooting this year and the 142nd school shooting since Sandy Hook, and the media reported there had been 294 mass shootings so far this year, leaving 380 people dead — and that number doesn’t even include the 9,953 people killed this year in “everyday gun violence.”

    “That is a lot of numbers,” Wilmore said. “You see, by overwhelming us with numbers, you do two things: First, you make us tired. Second, you make us feel like we’re about to have that conversation. Are we going to talk about guns? That’s exciting. No, we’re just talking about numbers — that’s exhausting.”

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/larry-wilmore-takes-apart-all-the-tricks-conservatives-use-to-shut-down-an-honest-conversation-about-guns/

    Daily Show host Trevor Noah asked his viewers on Monday to imagine what would happen if Republicans put as much effort into regulating guns as they did womens’ reproductive health.

    “The amount of lives they save could reach superhero levels,” he said. “They just need to have a superhero’s total dedication to life. Right now they’re more like comic book collectors: human life only holds value until you take it out of the package, and then it’s worth nothing.”

    Noah then asked his audience to “imagine if we could bring some of that pro-life passion into being more, well, pro-life,” adding his own gun-safety commentary to anti-abortion rhetoric from various conservatives.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/trevor-noah-imagine-if-repubs-used-their-pro-life-passion-against-the-nra-and-not-planned-parenthood/

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  6. Anonymous7:56 AM

    A former congressman whose name is attached to a 1996 bill banning federal funding for gun violence research says he regrets his role following the recent mass shooting at an Oregon community college last week.

    Speaking with the Huffington Post, ex-Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AR), said of his bill, “I have regrets.”

    Dickey, who once described himself as the “NRA’s point person in Congress” in a New York Times opinion piece, says his move to ban the Centers for Disease Control from studying firearm ownership and its impact on public health was a big mistake and that we are paying for it now.

    “I wish we had started the proper research and kept it going all this time,” Dickey explained. “If we had somehow gotten the research going, we could have somehow found a solution to the gun violence without there being any restrictions on the Second Amendment. We could have used that all these years to develop the equivalent of that little small fence.”

    Believing the CDC was anti-gun, guns rights activists led by the NRA attempted to shutter the $46 million National Center for Injury Prevention in 1996 for looking at gun violence. Failing to do so, Dickey, at the behest of the NRA, authored a bill that specifically stated, “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/former-nra-point-man-in-congress-regrets-role-in-killing-federal-gun-violence-research/

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  7. Anonymous8:06 AM

    Canada ranks 12th in gun ownership, the USA is #1.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous8:13 AM

    What this Country really is :
    EXCEPTIONALISM = MILITARISM = BULLYING..
    Yes we are the greatest, RA RA..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous8:38 AM

    Surviving A Mass Shooting Means Learning To Cope With The Next One

    Some cry. Some get angry. Many are spurred to action.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mass-shooting-survivors_56105d36e4b0dd85030c53f2

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous9:25 AM

    People die because of this man: The real reason we never get gun control, no matter how many people get gunned down

    Wayne LaPierre is the NRA's hit man -- and his target is any sensible gun control, no matter the death toll

    http://www.salon.com/2015/10/06/people_die_because_of_this_man_the_real_reason_we_never_get_gun_control_no_matter_how_many_people_get_gunned_down/

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:29 AM

    Read This:
    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/media-inspires-mass-shooters-copycats

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous4:23 PM

    F_ck you Michael Moore.
    Love, Dakota Meyer

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous3:35 AM

    I consider the NRA a terrorist group and they are holding the USA hostage.

    ReplyDelete

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