Guns, Racism, Misogyny, anti-LGBTQ+ Hatred Results in Mass Murder

Another mass shooting, this time in Buffalo, New York. Ten innocent people murdered, including a retired cop who was working as a security guard. Apparently he took a shot at the murderer, but that nut was wearing body armor.

Welp, at least the killer’s Second Amendment rights weren’t violated. Can you imagine some gun dealer saying “No” to the purchase? Prospective mass shooters should not have their Second Amendment rights curtailed — even if their name is red flagged for mental health issues.

Let’s get one thing straight about the culture and priorities of the U.S. of A,: A killer’s right to own firearms is more important than any number of human lives. All we really need to say or type is this sentence to make everything all right: “[we] send our thoughts and prayers to the people of [massacre site] and we will help in any way we can (i.e. not really) to make sure the killers pay a price.”

Thoughts and prayers … yeah … how is that working?

The killer said he drove 200 miles so he could target a primarily Black community grocery store. The far right racist members of the Donald Trump GOP are loving this. I mean, why the hell not? Kyle Rittenhouse got away with it in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Hell yeah. Let’s start killing people of color to keep them from taking over our nation — The “Great Replacement” theory espoused by none other than little Mr. Elitist himself, Tucker Carlson — espoused by his employer, Fox News.

Who is responsible for this mass murder event?

The killer left a 180-page manifesto. Hey prospective mass killers, just a little advice: If you are going to write a manifesto before committing your racist attacks, keep them under 10 pages.

Apparently the shooter was radicalized by reading all the crap on 4chan.

4chan — the online destination for all the incels and racists who are looking for a chance to use racial, ethnic, homophobic and misogynistic slurs with impunity. “I’M FREE!”

Free to learn everything they need to know about becoming a mass murderer for a cause, the cause.

Woody Guthrie sang:

“This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me”

Maybe the racists and incels thought Guthrie was proclaiming the U.S. of A. was for white males. They probably have never heard of Woody and Arlo Guthrie. That’s the trouble with under-educated white people. They can be easily manipulated by the scumbags who are trying to start a race war, much like the way Charlie Manson wanted to.

It isn’t just online and on the deep web. Now, the far right extremist views are parroted by GOP politicians running for office and Fox News is an enthusiastic participant in the right wing extremist indoctrination.

How much indoctrination is there if the pupils are willing and capable of believing that shit? If they choose fantasy and crazy right wing conspiracy theories over reality and the golden rule? The Buffalo killer was looking for something to feed his soul, something that would explain why he was a loser, a definition that exonerated the killer, blaming it on others —  The ubiquitous “Them,” the black and brown men and women — and the gays — who seem to be everywhere now, in all the TV shows and movies. Their music spoiling our airwaves. Marching in the streets … they should follow MLK’s examples.

 Then those Asians, the ones taking all those seats in our universities and spreading their diseases everywhere, the Chinese virus. It’s all part of the Great Replacement movement pushed by the liberals in America. It’s all a Jewish conspiracy, led by George Soros. All those brown people coming across our Southern border, teaming up with the Blacks who are conspiring to take control of our governments and nation. “Open your eyes, White America!”

Yeah, open your eyes White America. There is a minority of Americans, as exemplified by the former president, the one named Trump, Tucker Carlson and other Fox News talkers, and a long list of online White supremacy conspiracy theory sites on the regular internet and the dark web.

Professor and author David Rothkopf tweeted a long message, spread over many tweets. In it he says, “What happened in Buffalo is not just about some isolated shooter, some deranged sociopath. He was fueled by an ideology of hate promoted by an American president, by a leading American news channel, by an entire US political party.”

No kidding.

It’s the guns, but it’s not just the guns. It’s the racism, but it’s not just the racism. It’s the misogyny, but it’s not just the misogyny. It’s the attacks on democracy but it’s not just the attacks on democracy.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) May 15, 2022

The shooter was “radicalized” during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all the lockdowns and mandates. He was bored so he turned to the hate-filled corners of the internet to figure out what to do next.

On Sunday afternoon one person was killed and several injured at a Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods, California. A church, we are told that has large number of Taiwanese citizens as part of its congregation. The shooter isn’t white, he is a Chinese immigrant who became a citizen. He picked that church because it has congregants with roots that hail from Taiwan. Members of that church subdued and hog-tied him for the police.

All right then. This mass shooting wasn’t the act of a white supremacist. He just had easy access to buy firearms and voila! Let’s go strike a blow for China.

Looking once again at the mass murder in Buffalo. You give someone easy access to unrestrained racism and fascism, white supremacy and grievance, promoting the Great Replacement theory — couple all that with our easy access to firearms, we knew it would happen. Of course it would happen. We do nothing to slow down the easy access to firearms; and now we have one of the two major political parties parroting all the conspiracy theories and lies of the white male power structure and voila! “Let’s go kill us some N*****s.”

Actually, that didn’t work for the men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in George.

This needs to be stated here: I have family members and friends that own firearms and I’m fairly certain none of them would commit an act of domestic terrorism. And I’m fairly certain all of them purchased their guns legally.

So what do we do to slow down the quick and easy access to firearms without infringing the rights of the gun owners like my family members and friends? Stronger and stricter federal gun registration laws? How about strengthen the existing registration laws with penalties that actually mean something — give them the power to act when a prospective purchaser is red-flagged for legal and/or mental health reasons.

Sadly though, the issues of guns is still controlled by the NRA (National Rifle Association) and their bosses, the gun manufacturers.

The victims and their families should target not only she shooter with a law suit, but also the NRA, Wayne La Pierre and the company that built and sold the firearm(s) to the 18-year old man that murdered those ten people in Buffalo, and the 68-year-old shooter in Orange County, CA.

Let’s not forget to include Tucker Carlson and Fox News, plus every social media site that promotes ideas like the Great Replacement conspiracy theory. Make them pay such a heavy toll for their words and actions they dry up and fade away.

Right now this is a nation that values guns more than human life. Only we as a nation can flip that set of priorities. We can also end the domestic terrorism that takes place so often in our nation.

My condolences to the families of those killed and injured in Buffalo and Laguna Woods.