The monster that we've created

I don't normally blog about these incidents of mass murder. They're just too depressing, and they tend to get all the wrong kinds of attention, anyway - ghoulish fascination, but with no will to actually change anything.

But I still thought that these two videos were worth posting - for completely different reasons. Laci Green focuses on misogyny and the violence that all too often results from that.

I'm not going to comment on her video, because... well, what else could I say? I certainly don't have any solutions. Just... watch it and think about what she says.

The father of one of the victims - as devastated as you might imagine - spoke out briefly, too. He blamed the NRA and the cowards in Congress who refuse to do anything to help prevent these recurring tragedies.

Fox 'News' cut out that part of his comments:



Note how I mentioned ghoulish fascination, with no will to actually do anything? The perfect example of that is this Fox 'News' clip showing security footage from within the store where the boy was murdered, but cutting everything specific from his father's heart-rending response.

Others in the right-wing bubble are actually attacking Martinez himself. How dare he mention guns! (Warning: Don't read the rest of this unless you have a strong stomach.)

So here's brave Todd Kincannon, chairman of the Election Commission of Simpsonville, South Carolina [and, formerly, executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party], stepping up in 140 characters, to defend his freedom against the onslaught of grieving parents. ...

No idea how my son will die, but I know it won't be cowering like a bitch at UC Santa Barbara. Any son of mine would have been shooting back.

Sick, isn't it? But we've created this monster - and monsters like Todd Kincannon, too. (Naturally, Kincannon is another Republican chickenhawk. He never served in the military when he actually had a chance to "shoot back." He's nothing but mouth.)