As the country digested the school shooting in good ole red state
Georgia, all the right-wing/Republicans could offer were “thoughts
and prayers.” JD Vance, the GOP’s vice presidential candidate,
said these shootings are a “fact of life.” Now we’ve moved on
with dissecting the Harris-Trump debate. But in the shadow of the
9/11 remembrance, CNN is reporting that the shooter’s mother has
written an open letter apologizing and saying her son isn’t a
“monster.” That’s irrelevant. He had access to a weapon of war
and we need to understand that the Republicans and the radical right
will never divest themselves from the NRA or tolerate any
restrictions on guns. Why?Here’s the brutal truth. They want their allies to be armed and
ready to use against those of us who disagree with the deconstruction
of our American democracy. We haven’t heard Thomas Jefferson’s
quote in a while, but the right-wing has used it, especially when the
Tea Party was more visible.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” Jefferson wrote to William Stephens Smith, the son-in-law of John Adams, on November 13, 1787.
In other words, the radical right is lusting for a violent dystopian future. We see this penchant for violence elsewhere. For example, look at the situation with death row inmate Robert Roberson, who faces execution based on junk science. The Intercept reported on this Sept. 9. I am guessing that Texas Fuhrer Greg Abbott will not stop this killing. He’s sending a message, subtle though it may be: The right wing will show no mercy or tolerance for those with whom it disagrees. It’s a reflection of the Jim Crow era when the preponderance of executions in the southern states were people of color, specifically Black people. The death penalty was as much of a tool of oppression then as are gerrymandering and voter suppression today.
If I had a solution to this situation, I would certainly suggest it. But I don’t. Get out the vote? Sure. Hope that law enforcement and the U.S. military will stay loyal to the Constitution? I can hope. But I am afraid we're in for a hot civil war.
