June 14, 2017
The big story today is the shooting in Virginia, involving Republican members of Congress who were practicing for the upcoming annual baseball game where Republicans play Democrats. The game raises funds for charity and will go on as scheduled tomorrow at Nationals Park in D.C.
Steve Scalise, a member of the House from Louisiana and the House Majority Whip was shot in the hip and listed in critical condition after surgery. Matt Mika, a former House staffer and currently working for Tyson Foods was hit twice in the chest and is also in critical condition. Two other people were shot, one of the a Capitol Police officer who was hit in the ankle. Capitol Police were on hand as the House leadership are provided with security details.
The shooter, who was killed by the Capitol Police officers protecting Mr. Scalise, has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson. He was a 66 year old who had voluntarily shut down his business as a home inspector last December According to multiple sources, he has been living in Virginia since March of this year. This is a photo from the Yelp page for his former business,
His social media footprint is filled with anti-Trump rants. He did volunteer for the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016. Charles Orear worked with Hodkinson on the Sanders campaign and told the Washington Post "Hodgkinson was a passionate progressive and showed no signs of violence or malice toward others."
Were there warning signs that he was about to lose control? We won't know for certain until the investigation is complete. Fox News calls him a "left-winger" and some conservatives on social media are trying to blame Bernie Sanders and all other progressives for the shooting.
It is easy to differentiate between the Liar-in-Chief and Bernie Sanders in pointing out that only Trump has called for violence, at times. But we have to put the bulk of the blame for the trend toward politicized violence in another place. In the growing divide between the two political parties. It was bad during the Bush Junior years. It got worse during Barrack Obama's presidency. Now the rhetoric is worse than ever, and it appears there is an upswing in violent acts.
I do not like what Dishonest Donald and his Republican minions in the Congress are doing. How dare the U.S. Senate refuse to let the American people know what they are doing with their healthcare bill? We need to tone down the rhetoric and try to find common ground wherever and whenever possible.
In my mind, Mr. Hodgkinson reached his breaking point. All of the social media posts he made make it clear he loathed the Trump administration and Republicans in general. Words, as long as they do not intentionally incite violence hurt only feelings. Guns kill.
* * *
It is interesting that today was the day that a bill being pushed by Jeff Duncan (R) of South Carolina was going to be discussed in a meeting of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Mr. Duncan had left the practice field before the shooting. His bill would make it much easier for people to buy silencers. Right now, purchasing a silencer is as restricted as it is to buy a machine gun. The typical waiting period is nine months and there is a $200 fee.
You can speculate for yourself what the advantage of having silenced weapons would be for would-be terrorists. Make no mistake. Mr. Hodgkinson was a terrorist. It should be more, not less difficult to get silencers.
The committee meeting was cancelled. House Democrats want to use this incident to promote their gun-control agenda. Their Republican counterparts want to use this event to push to make it easier for people to carry weapons. Do we need to go back to the era of the Wild West where everyone was "packing?" I don't buy that. Do you?
Aside from the few people at that baseball practice who are veterans, most of them probably couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with the handguns they claim they wish they'd been carrying. I qualified as expert with rifles and handguns when I served. I would prefer it if people didn't have guns to use to shoot at me, rather than depending on a gun I would carry, even with my training and skills. But that's just my opinion. What is yours?
* * *
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a gunman wearing a UPS uniform walked into a UPS facility and killed three people before taking his own life by shooting himself in the head.
This shooting has gotten very little coverage as CNN became the Congressional shooting News Network for hours, with other news organizations following their lead.
To borrow a word from an Agent Orange tweet "Sad!"
Steve Scalise, a member of the House from Louisiana and the House Majority Whip was shot in the hip and listed in critical condition after surgery. Matt Mika, a former House staffer and currently working for Tyson Foods was hit twice in the chest and is also in critical condition. Two other people were shot, one of the a Capitol Police officer who was hit in the ankle. Capitol Police were on hand as the House leadership are provided with security details.
The shooter, who was killed by the Capitol Police officers protecting Mr. Scalise, has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson. He was a 66 year old who had voluntarily shut down his business as a home inspector last December According to multiple sources, he has been living in Virginia since March of this year. This is a photo from the Yelp page for his former business,
Were there warning signs that he was about to lose control? We won't know for certain until the investigation is complete. Fox News calls him a "left-winger" and some conservatives on social media are trying to blame Bernie Sanders and all other progressives for the shooting.
It is easy to differentiate between the Liar-in-Chief and Bernie Sanders in pointing out that only Trump has called for violence, at times. But we have to put the bulk of the blame for the trend toward politicized violence in another place. In the growing divide between the two political parties. It was bad during the Bush Junior years. It got worse during Barrack Obama's presidency. Now the rhetoric is worse than ever, and it appears there is an upswing in violent acts.
I do not like what Dishonest Donald and his Republican minions in the Congress are doing. How dare the U.S. Senate refuse to let the American people know what they are doing with their healthcare bill? We need to tone down the rhetoric and try to find common ground wherever and whenever possible.
In my mind, Mr. Hodgkinson reached his breaking point. All of the social media posts he made make it clear he loathed the Trump administration and Republicans in general. Words, as long as they do not intentionally incite violence hurt only feelings. Guns kill.
* * *
It is interesting that today was the day that a bill being pushed by Jeff Duncan (R) of South Carolina was going to be discussed in a meeting of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Mr. Duncan had left the practice field before the shooting. His bill would make it much easier for people to buy silencers. Right now, purchasing a silencer is as restricted as it is to buy a machine gun. The typical waiting period is nine months and there is a $200 fee.
You can speculate for yourself what the advantage of having silenced weapons would be for would-be terrorists. Make no mistake. Mr. Hodgkinson was a terrorist. It should be more, not less difficult to get silencers.
The committee meeting was cancelled. House Democrats want to use this incident to promote their gun-control agenda. Their Republican counterparts want to use this event to push to make it easier for people to carry weapons. Do we need to go back to the era of the Wild West where everyone was "packing?" I don't buy that. Do you?
Aside from the few people at that baseball practice who are veterans, most of them probably couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with the handguns they claim they wish they'd been carrying. I qualified as expert with rifles and handguns when I served. I would prefer it if people didn't have guns to use to shoot at me, rather than depending on a gun I would carry, even with my training and skills. But that's just my opinion. What is yours?
* * *
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a gunman wearing a UPS uniform walked into a UPS facility and killed three people before taking his own life by shooting himself in the head.
This shooting has gotten very little coverage as CNN became the Congressional shooting News Network for hours, with other news organizations following their lead.
To borrow a word from an Agent Orange tweet "Sad!"
posted by me at 7:37 PM
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