Old poem about another mass shooting

UNEXPLAINED TORNADOES JUST KEEP TOUCHING DOWN

woman interviewed by MSNBC says:

we’ll just have to lock our doors now

bring our car keys in

sleep with a rifle next to the bed

>

nothing on Earth will convince her

and millions of others

to put faith and trust in alternatives

>

no banning AR-15s

no background checks

pray for unstable killers

to never cross your path

>

it’s the deceptively simple price

of supporting the right of the militia-minded individual

to keep, bear and use arms

whenever and wherever

anger and sadism trump reason

POEM ABOUT GUN MASSACRES AND THEIR PERPETRATORS

 we act shocked 

 at something we didn’t foresee 

 offer thoughts and prayers

 and do nothing after this one

 repeating this broken cycle

 too many times

 in too many lifetimes

 of victims, families and survivors 

New Poem: IN CHEROKEE COUNTY

 In Cherokee County,

 Asian women are murdered

 By a goateed White man

 Trying to explain away his crime

 As sex addiction to be purged by slaughter 

 >

  The Captain at the press conference 

  Tries to explain away the murderer’s crime

  As a very bad day

  >

  Of course, the Captain doesn’t resign

  Instead, the Sheriff’s department issues

 A press release about how yesterday was a

 Very bad day indeed for the Captain

 And please regret the heartache his words caused

 >

 Please regret the loss of eight lives, Sheriff,

 By showing your Captain the door 

Giving reality a middle finger, Las Vegas still loves machine guns and Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson slot machines are still available in the wake of LEAVING NEVERLAND, the Cirque du Soleil show still runs at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and the MGM Grand Hotel still believes “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” is an eternal banger that must not be pulled from its music PA playlist.

And the Mandalay Bay-based massacre of innocent country music festival fans means nothing.  You can shoot machine guns from the ground (one business is called Battlefield Vegas) or from a helicopter (which at least travels into the desert before allowing customers to fire away).

As the late David Brenner said (in a different context referring to performing in clubs, but relevant here): “You can do anything in Vegas.”

New poem: ORLANDO

domestic madman terror dispenser

uses AR-15 automatic weapon

laughing as he keeps killing and reloading

as usual

many defend

the right to sell

everything containing bullets

without constraints

as usual

we’re counseled by media

to suck it up,

hold it inside

even if it burns,

and accept the probablity

of premature death

as the price of citizenship

in the land of the angry

and the home of the disturbed

The post-Orlando quiz.

1. What will the National Rifle Association response be:
a. "This tragedy is being politicized"
b. "If everyone had been armed with AR-15s in that club, there wouldn't have been a tragedy"

2. How soon will the U.S. bomb an ISIS target in retaliation:
a. Within 48 hours
b. Within 24-36 hours

3. How much time per day will cable news devote to Donald Trump comments on this:
a. at least 2 hours
b. 4-6 hours
c. wall-to-wall until Hillary Clinton makes statement criticizing Trump comments

4. True or False: Most Americans retain at least some memories of Friday's interfaith service (Islam/Christianity/Judaism/Buddhism/Native American) in honor of Muhammad Ali.

5. Guess the number of neocons who will turn to condemning violence against the LGBTQ communities since it can be used as a pro-regime change talking point.

6. Guess the likelihood of either a new assault weapons ban or a limitation on bullets per magazine even being considered before "you can't get the votes" op-eds and Republican obstructionists respond.

In the wake of Oregon gun violence, a look back at the 1960s.

Conservative commentator Dan Smoot went on this rhetorical tirade after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zJOnMRURmY

President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 on gun control legislation passed in the wake of the murders of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbe-2W_K70Q

From the NBC News Archive description on YouTube:
The president said at the time "AS BIG AS THIS BILL IS, STILL FALLS SHORT BECAUSE WE JUST COULD NOT GET THE CONGRESS TO CARRY OUT THE REQUEST WE MADE OF THEM. I ASKED FOR THE NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF ALL GUNS AND THE LICENSES OF THOSE WHO CARRY THOSE GUNS.FOR THE FACT OF LIFE IS THAT THERE ARE OVER 160 MILLION GUNS IN THIS COUNTRY; MORE FIREARMS THAN FAMILIES. AND IF GUNS ARE TO BE KEPT OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE CRIMINAL; & OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE INSANE; & OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE IRRESPONSIBLE; THEN WE MUST JUST HAVE LICENSING" 

Blog commenter on today's gun violence tragedy.

Turning the floor over to HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE commenter "DukeSavoy" re today's killings of a TV reporter and camera person in Virginia:
Of course even the most restrictive gun control won't completely stop some criminals from getting guns some times. But reducing the torrent of handgun weapons to a meandering stream would cut down on the general pool of guns that are lost, stolen or purchased from shady sources willing to look the other way. By reducing that pool, black market hand guns become more expensive and thus harder to get. Hell, we pay some farmers not to farm, we can pay hand gun manufacturers to manufacture fewer weapons.

The title of the HE thread: Ain't That America?

Charlie Daniels' SIMPLE MAN: a scary song, especially in wake of Charleston murders.

Fear and urges towards "righteous" violence served up by Charlie Daniels.

Photo that goes with the song's audio shows a Bible, a pistol, bullets and the American flag.
Caption: GOD, GUNS & COUNTRY!  THAT'S WHAT MADE AMERICA GREAT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_1H2njznEU