With the massacres at El Paso and Dayton, (or, as Donald Trump would call it, “Toledo”) there have been 255 mass shootings in America this year...so far. The caveat “so far” is because I’m not sure how long this column will take to write. (Watching our country come apart these past 2 ½ years is beyond depressing, unless your name is Vladimir Putin.)
As I will soon explain, I’m reminded of Tsutomu Yamaguchi who, on August 6, 1945, was in Hiroshima on business when the atomic bomb exploded. Somehow he survived and returned to Nagasaki the following day and actually went to work. (Imagine if he’d called in sick and his boss asked, “What excuse this time, Yamaguchi, an atomic bomb?”) Hours later, the Nagasaki A-bomb was detonated. Amazingly, Yamaguchi became the only person in history to survive two nuclear blasts!
In the U.S., apparently some who survived the Las Vegas massacre, were at the July 28 garlic festival mass shooting in Gilroy. (Meanwhile, months prior to his 2017 rampage, the Las Vegas mass murderer reportedly Googled “How crowded are Santa Monica’s beaches?”)
Today’s column title stems from a “thoughts and prayers” speech given to a Dayton crowd by Republican Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine following the murders. Frustrated and angry, the group chanted, “Do something!” (As in pass common sense gun control that 90% of the country wants!) The chant was so emotionally powerful, DeWine became confused and was drowned out.
Almost all domestic terrorist mass shootings in the U.S. have been committed by male, white supremacists. David Duke is not only a white supremacist, he’s a former KKK Grand Wizard. In 2000, Donald Trump called him, “A bigot and a racist.” And yet, in 2016, when asked about Duke by CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump insisted, “I don’t know anything about David Duke!” (Apparently Trump was suffering from “white supremacist” amnesia.)
“And I don’t know anything about white supremacists,” Trump said, feigning innocence. Give me a break! He added that he didn’t want to condemn any groups until he knew more, asking Tapper to send him a list he would review. ( As if perhaps there were some “fine” white supremacist groups?)
Following Dayton and El Paso, Trump declared that he “Opposes white supremacists.” But, with a wink to his base, he added “and all other supremacists.” (What other supremacists?)
Trump’s comment was a painful reminder of his infamous remarks following the tiki torchlight white nationalists “Jews will not replace us!” march on the University of Virginia campus whose 1-year anniversary is only days away. Trump infamously said, “There are fine people on both sides.” (Heather Heyer’s attacker was found guilty of 1st degree murder, and seriously injuring 35 protesters, so much for “fine people on both sides.”)
Over this past weekend, as the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than 13 hours, Trump was out of sight at his New Jersey golf course. He finally sent out tweets of support to El Paso but, hard to imagine, less than 15 minutes later, he tweeted praise for UFC fighter Colby Covington, a vocal Trump supporter. “Fight hard tonight Colby. You are a real Champ! #MAGA.” (Good grief, or lack thereof. Trump’s lack of a soul is mind-boggling.)
As he boarded Air Force I back to D.C., Trump said, “Hate has no place in America.” (That’s for his twitter feed and his Nuremberg-type rallies.) On Monday, Trump read a solemn teleprompter speech blaming the mass murders on the Internet, video games and mental illness but didn’t mention guns. He delivered it with all the sincerity of a hostage speech.
I’ve concluded there are two Trumps: “teleprompter Trump,” who can barely read and doesn’t believe a word he says; and “TwitterTrump,” whose impulsive, misspelled, hate-filled tweets give insight into his dark psyche. A recent example is his sick tweet about Elijah Cummings. “Too bad his house was robbed!” Even Trump’s former U.N. Ambassador, Nikki Haley, tweeted critically, “So unnecessary.” I tweeted, “So evil.”
On Wednesday, Trump made visits to Dayton and El Paso. They were very short, however, as, needing to be loved, he can’t deal with protesters. This past June in London, for example, Trump took a helicopter to be high above massive protests against him. He later said there weren’t any. #Pathological liar!
Next subject Senate leader, “Massacre Mitch” McConnell. (AKA, “Moscow Mitch.”) Whereas “Moscow Mitch” won’t allow legislation to protect our 2020 election from foreign interference, “Massacre Mitch” won’t allow a House Bill for “expanded background checks” for all gun purchases, including gun shows. (Beyond tone deaf, “Massacre Mitch” just ran a political ad featuring his political opponents’ tombstones!)
Lastly, please Google “Shannon Watts We’re Winning.” The founder of “Moms Demand Action,” Watts is positive the sensible gun control movement will ultimately prevail. My fingers are crossed. (That might explain any typos.)
Jack is at: facebook.com/jackneworth, twitter.com/jackneworth and jackdailypress@aol.com
