I was planning on a Rundown for today and then Tuesday happened.
We don’t even get to catch our collective breath before the next slaughtering of innocents punches us in the gut all over again. It seems a hopeless effort to hope and pray that maybe the world will go quiet for a spell, and it leaves me wondering if anything is ever going to make sense ever again.
I sat down and tried to write something about those twenty-one souls as I watched the news footage coming out of Uvalde. And then it hit me, the madness of it all. Here I was writing about yet another lost day, not even a week removed from my last post about a mass shooting. And then I wondered if a post about Texas would even make it to Friday before the next horrible moment arrived. After that, all I had left was the crying.
Life is so incredibly fragile as it is without provoking the fates. We don’t stand a chance so long as we allow hate and ignorance to matter as much as they do. We lose the value of ourselves when we accept the worst as a matter of course. We need to be doing better than this. As a neighborhood, a town, a city, a state, a country. As a whole.
We need to be better. As parents and neighbors, as strangers and as friends. And we need to expect better of everyone who is entrusted to serve their constituency. They do not answer solely to those who vote for them. They have to answer to us all.
Our children deserve better.
Be Sorry . . . Less 
Our children and their children deserve batter, Pilgrim. It is sad when lives are lost, and we all have to try and find answers as to why. A kid shuttled between mother and grandmother. A high school dropout with no father figure walks into an unlocked school and ends the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for 21 souls. It isn’t right. Thank you for your beautiful words.
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You’re right Boss. Kids should not be afraid to go to school.
How many of these kids got through the net? Basically, all of them. Because we are SO plugged in and yet it’s not to the right stuff.
Thank you Boss
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😊
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Marco,
When you said you couldn’t write and then said you did manage a little one, I knew it would be beautifully done. There are no more prayers needed. Only action. Real action can change things.
You are so right. Life is already so incredibly fragile. There needs to be a swing, teaching and helping those who don’t understand the beauty of it.
Love and caring and peace,
Dale
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Love,
Thank you as per.
No, something needs to change. We can’t have nothing happening. We need more outreach, we need to truly understand mental health. We need to examine these anti-bullying measures. Are they needed? Or do we need to be making schools about all voices?
I’ve learned that again recently. And it shakes you and then you are thankful for what you have.
Love and hugs and peace
Marco
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I was gonna address you as Love 😉
We need more Steve Kerrs blowing up and refusing to talk sports. We need more people pushing until the powers that be are forced to actually DO. And we need to focus more on anti-bullying which, I feel, will help with the inclusion of all voices.
I know you did. And it’s so damn hard when we are on the sidelines watching, unable to do much but be there.
Always, love and hugs and peace.
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Beat you to it! For once. 😉
I agree. Kerr is a very interesting dude and like I said, he knows of what he speaks when it comes to gun violence. First hand. His remarks speak to action, ANY action. Of course, this will be taken as “He wants all guns taken away!” by the Ted Cruz’s of the world. And then . . nothing.
I found myself almost crying a few times throughout the day. I’d catch myself.
MUAH!
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You did! 😉
He is. And of course they will take it that way because they are too stubborn to listen to potential solutions. assholes.
I bet you did. I spent the evening on the internet with my heart held in a clench. I only wish I could physically hold you right now.
MWAH!
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😉
It’s why these guys (and gals) stay elected. Because as long as they keep to their stance- doing nothing- they’re good with the people who voted for them.
It’s about looking forward. We need to bebe.
MUAH!
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MWAH!
It is. I don’t understand how the people can want this.
Yes. And we do.
😘
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The people who want the status quo, with no discussion about automatic weapons or mental health, they need to answer as well.
😘
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They they most definitely do!
😘😘
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😘😘
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A poignant post, Marc. Let me underscore that one line…our children deserve better. Let’s hope there’s some sanity left. Somewhere.
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Anywhere.
Thanks Monika
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Well stated, Marc. Yes – our children and future generations deserve better – but so do the rest of us. unfortunately, I don’t have hope for our leadership or any of the three branches of government to do something constructive toward a solution.
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You’re right, we all do. Parents shouldn’t have to worry about this when they drop their kids off at school, that’s madness.
I don’t either. All sides have blame and all sides will do their best to deflect it.
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Well said, my friend. Where is the sanity in leadership in this country. This is “American exceptionalism “ at its worst (at least in this era – don’t get me started on history!).
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At its very worst, I agree.
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There’s really nothing I can say to add to this. I think you’ve spoken for all of us.
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Thank you SB
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I put up a picture of some of the kids on Instagram and very few people even acknowledged it. Go figure. It’s been hard not to think of much else.
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It’s heart wrenching, all those little faces with the rest of their lives ahead of them.
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There they were, innocently doing their lessons. I still can’t take it in.
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Me either.
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The dad in you must be so affected.
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Remember Susan Smith? The South Carolina mother who drowned her two kids in the lake back in ’94? My wife at the time was seven months pregnant when that happened. I remember the night Smith confessed to letting her car roll into the lake with her kids inside. For over a week she had claimed that her car had been carjacked by a black guy.
I was supposed to have gone to a local production of Macbeth with my wife but I had a horrible cold so my best friend Emie went with her instead. So there I was, at home watching the tube, all hopped up on cold meds when it was announced that Smith had killed her kids. And I was a mess. A complete fucking mess. How could a parent, a mother in this instance do such a horrible thing to her own kids?
Well, I now wonder how so many parents can stand by and do absolutely nothing while one mass shooting after another just happens. No, they didn’t do the killing, but they don’t seem interested in doing anything to stop this madness.
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That gave me a chill. Didn’t she get off somehow? Or am I thinking of another woman. Goes to show you how many stories like that there are. What’s so troubling, it’s going to happen again, and again and again unless serious measures are taken. I was reading Trump’s big balled speech on, if he were in charge, what he’d do. Nowhere was there one shred of gun control as if it has no place in these mass killings. How does a kid walk in and buy weapons like they were gum without any sane adult asking…and why do you want a gun of this magnitude sonny? I’m just aghast at this. How it’s viewed as the right to bear arms in order to slaughter at will. The First Amendment needs a rewrite Marco.
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No, Smith is still serving her time. She’s eligible for parole soon.
What is madness on top of madness is that you never hear people like Trump and Cruz talk about the rights of those who are murdered. Theirs is a self serving message, paid for by big money special interests.
Pardon my French, but they really don’t give a fuck about the horrors.
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You wonder…what if it was one of their own kids. Would it have a different effect? Would they have to hide it, weeping in private? Who are these men who call themselves men, I ask you?
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It’s horrible to wonder, but I do as well.
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We shall hope for better. We shall strive and continue to be the change we so wish to see, homage to Mr. Gandhi.
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Who knew what he spoke of.
That’s another thing about too many of today’s leaders, they brandish their words with the intent to inflict pain on someone. And then they wonder why our kids go off the deep end later on.
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It’s about the action, not the words. I learned this one the hard way. They need to walk in step, and alas…frankly rarely do these last days.
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It’s been a long time since consensus was a real thing in Washington. Sadly.
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I wept as I read your words. They are so true, so brutally true, why don’t they understand? Our children are the only future we have and we are losing them. It’s not just the ones that have been taken from us but it’s the innocence that is being taken from the rest.
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It’s a soulless society that sits by and allows these days to happen again and again and again, without so much as trying to change things.
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Such a good post to address the tragic events back to back like that!
We can do better and hopefully will!
I just saw a brief overview of what happened and I guess the door that allowed access was “propped open” – ugh!!
So one way to do better immediately is to have adults in charge not make such Terrible mistakes – omg
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We truly need to do a better job of empowering all kids as well. Give them something to contribute to society- be it volunteering at the local animal shelter or hospital. Something that gives them a sense of pride and value, that makes them feel that they can make a positive difference.
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I agree – and it can help society as well
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Peace and love is the answer…..
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Thank you Ann.
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SICK!
Children deserve to have positive experiences as they grow. School is a major part.
SICK!
The nra had its convention nearby, anyway. It’s diabolical.
The hate and violence permeate our societies.
We had our long weekend last weekend. It was the first time that there were fireworks since the Pandemic began.
They were at a city beach in a family area. Lots of kids and parents come to watch, for 2 nights.
Some hooligans decided to attend. They brought Roman Candles, and used them like guns, into the crowds.
They shot at anyone. Police were hit in the face. One person was stabbed. Someone had a gun, and1 person was shot. A dozen a-holes were arrested. The police presence was upped the second night, and more a-holes came, shooting Roman Candles. No one died, many hospitalizations, including police.
Another dozen arrests.
WTF? SO, if we had lax gun laws here, would all the a-holes have shown up with guns, and slaughtered?
I truly hope something can be done, like stricter, more sensible gun laws, background checks, but most republicans are heartless.
I’m so sorry for everyone living through the horror, and all of you in the USA!
I’ll save my happy comment for next week. {{{hugs}}}
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The NRA and its members holding a convention nearby is just heartless. It just is.
That’s a good question. My God how sad is that?
We need to make it harder to buy a gun than it is to buy a pack of smokes, simple as that. We need to close loopholes, we need bi-annual registration checks on all guns. We need harsh penalties for anyone who won’t play by these rules. And no more automatic weapons. You want to use one? Sure, but at a controlled location- a gun range. And to anyone who sells or distributes them illegally? Even harsher penalties.
Hugs to you Resa, thank you.
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