Another Day, Another American Mass Shooting

Monday mornings are when I sleep in as they’re typically my day off every week.   My routine for waking up consists of going pee, letting the dogs out to pee, then stumbling back to bed to finishing waking up.   It is there that I unplug my fully charged iPhone and start to read the Facebook posts of friends, family, and fellow activists whom most start their days earlier than I do.   The first post I read is from a friend, “Scary situation here in DC.  US Navy Yard is under lock-down.  Police everywhere in southeast section near DC.  I didn’t drive in today but if I did, I park very near to the Navy Yard.”   Before I reach for the remote control to turn on the bedroom TV, I comment:  “what happened?”  Already in my gut I knew that there has been some type of shooting.   I turn on my TV.

Myself and others from the community gather for a candlelight vigil in Freedom Plaza to remember the victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting massacre.

Another mass shooting.  Reports confirm 4 dead and 8 wounded at the Washington Navy Yard; shooter(s) not yet apprehended.  I sat up in bed, stunned but not surprised.  I’m stunned to wake up and learn that a mass shooting has just taken place less than 9 miles away from me.  Not surprised that it has happened; even in our Nation’s Capital, even at the highly secured Washington Navy Yard.   As each hour passed, the death toll and injury count grew.  In the late afternoon, confirmation was given that 12 victims and the gunman were dead.

sigh

Has this epidemic of American gun violence, especially mass shootings become a new society norm?   Our lawmakers have continued to fail the American people.  With no consequences, they have been bought out by special interest gun groups such as the all-corrupt National Rifle Association which continues to bully the United States Congress with their perversions of the second amendment and their radical insurrectionist rhetoric.  Our elected officials have wiped their ass with the demand of 90% of their constituents and have continued to endanger the lives of innocent Americans.  Petula Dvorak, columnist for The Washington Post said perfectly in her piece this afternoon:

How can this country tolerate another mass shooting after we’ve endured so many others? And why have we allowed ourselves to grow accustomed to this awful bloodshed? Because that’s what these slaughters have become: practically routine.

“How many this time?” we ask as we watch the number of dead and injured climb on TV or Twitter.

….Apple pie, baseball and mass shootings? No. We can’t let slaughter become part of the way we define ourselves.

If we are truly the greatest nation in the world, if we the people truly have a voice, then we have the obligation and power to demand change today.   There is nothing that annoys me more than seeing “let’s pray for the victims of this shooting…” and “my heart goes out to the victims of that shooting and their families…”, yet that seems to be the extent of their action in addressing this very lethal problem which affects every community of our country.

Stand up and wake up, America!   Enough is enough!   Demand action NOW!