There were two more mass shootings in the United States this weekend.聽 I don鈥檛 expect either to move the needle as far as gun control or any other meaningful measure to reduce the violence.聽 When kids were killed at Sandy Hook in 2012 and nothing was done, I knew this would be an issue that is never improved as far as enacting laws to make it safer for people.聽 There鈥檚 lots of blame to go around and Donald Trump is an easy target, but Barack Obama was the President in 2012 when Sandy Hook occurred and while Obama can talk a good game about wanting stricter gun control, he didn鈥檛 get anything done on the matter.聽 For me, attacking the current President and trying to blame him for these horrible crimes is low hanging fruit.
I don鈥檛 think this is the fault of any politician, but there should be common ground on allowing law abiding citizens to arm themselves versus lunatic citizens being allowed to carry semi-automatic weapons and other assault style rifles.聽 This doesn鈥檛 seem like rocket science to me. There isn鈥檛 one argument you could make that would make me say, 鈥淥h yeah, okay that sounds like a perfectly valid reason to own a machine gun.鈥� Not one.
The United States banned metal tipped lawn darts in 1988 after someone was killed with one.聽 One accidental death and the entire country is prohibited from using them. Semi-automatic assault rifles?聽 They鈥檝e killed thousands of people, needlessly, and yet we can鈥檛 figure out if it鈥檚 a good idea or not to let crazy folks own them.
In Texas, word is some of the victims from the El Paso shooting are illegal immigrants and the families of some of these victims are afraid to identify loved ones because there is a fear they could be arrested and sent back to wherever they came from.聽 It鈥檚 sad all the way around no matter how you look at it, but here we have a very serious circumstance where going through the proper channels to relocate to the United States would have been beneficial. 聽
Here in Canada, mainstream media is stoking the flames of racism by releasing stories that suggest the appearance and race of the victims and perpetrators of the BC highway killings is playing a role in the amount of publicity that it鈥檚 receiving.聽 It鈥檚 a shallow suggestion. In this circumstance we happen to have dead people as well as the identities of two others accused of committing the murders. In the other comparables, we have missing people who may or may not be dead and if they are dead, we have no idea who we are looking for.聽 A fitting end would be to have these two young men trespass on to a farmer鈥檚 property and threaten the lives of those who live there. I think you and I both know how that ends should it happen. Then we could stop with this racism nonsense.
I鈥檓 not sure when it happened, but it seems the media鈥檚 job now is to elicit a response from people and make them upset over things as far as how they are covered.聽 Simply reporting facts and allowing your viewers, listeners, and readers to draw their own conclusions has gone the way of the dinosaur. Now, we have media outlets pushing specific narratives with the hope you come back for more.聽 I have no respect for it but if you wanted to blame someone other than the actual shooters of these mass killings, go tune in to CNN and Fox News for a month or so and listen to their 180-degree differences on just about every issue under the sun.聽 You can鈥檛 help but get a little hot under the collar listening to morons (like Don Lemon) peddle theories all in the name of ratings and money. It鈥檚, frankly, disgusting.
Here in Canada, we have an MP from Edmonton who is allowed to preach to his constituents that Conservatives are racist (dance with white supremacists were his actual words).聽 It鈥檚 a very dangerous accusation to make and it鈥檚 totally ludicrous. In fact, there is evidence that it鈥檚 actually Ahmed Hussen who is the racist. Try and think back even five or six years.聽 Canada wasn鈥檛 like this. Since Justin Trudeau came into power and decided he was going to put us all into tribes, the only thing that has happened is we have become more divided than ever before.
聽You can say what you want about Stephen Harper but there was no western alienation, no dislike for Quebec, no dislike of immigration (the illegal kind wasn鈥檛 allowed), and LGBTQ folks held parades and it wasn鈥檛 promoted as the civil disobedience that is聽 now.
聽Everyone just minded their own business. That doesn鈥檛 mean life was perfect and we shouldn鈥檛 strive to be better. 聽
I guess we will find out in October if the companies that conduct polls should be put out of business.聽 Apparently, a recent one suggests the country is split as to whether or not Canada is in a better place now than what we were in 2015 when Trudeau took over as Prime Minister.聽 I haven鈥檛 any idea how any rational person can come to the conclusion that it鈥檚 better. Most other polls suggest the Liberals may hang on to the balance of power in Ottawa. Mind boggling, if true.聽 What is wrong with us?
Nice person mentions this week:聽 Brendan Wagner, Matthew Bird, Lindsey Witzko, Kelsey Kaban, Charles McNabb, and Steve Deley.
