Yet
another mass shooting, this one in Louisville,
Kentucky, and once again I marvel at the
language used to describe such occurrences.
The shooting that left five dead at a bank was
described as a “tragic
event,”
akin to a tornado, something that simply can’t
be prevented. The “heroes” were the responding
police officers, and they certainly deserve
credit for their bravery in confronting the
shooter and killing him (one officer remains
in critical condition).
What
is to be said that hasn’t been already said?
We live in a violent society with roughly 400
million guns, and we’ve already seen 146 mass
shootings in 2023, according to the Gun
Violence Archive.
Democrats, of course, advocate for an assault
rifle ban or other half-measures, knowing that
they won’t have to follow through since
Republicans control the House and will block
gun control measures.
Perhaps
the folly of all this is captured by the Onion
headline that
they repeat for nearly every mass
shooting: ‘No Way To Prevent This,’
Says Only Nation Where This Regularly
Happens.
That about covers it.
Turning
to the Pentagon, leaked
papers are
on the Internet that reveal Ukraine’s position
is tenuous in its war with Russia. To
summarize quickly, Ukrainian air defenses are
short on missiles, Ukrainian forces are short
on ammo, and offensive prospects look grim for
this year. Senior American officials expect
continued stalemate in the war, even as “happy
talk” of a smashing Ukrainian spring offensive
toward Crimea is spouted in some circles of
the mainstream media. The leaked papers also
reveal apparent
U.S. spying on allies such as South Korea, not
exactly a good look for America.
What’s
revealing is how the mainstream media takes
the Pentagon’s side, basically deploring the
leak of this classified information and
calling for more censorship on the Internet. I
take the opposite tack. In a democracy,
government actions are supposed to be
transparent to us. I want to know what my
government is up to; we all should. Certainly,
the media should want to know. Instead, we’re
encouraged to side with the Pentagon, perhaps
the most powerful and secretive agency of the
government.
And
so we learned that our government continues to
spy on allies even as it continues to provide
massive amounts of military aid to Ukraine in
a war that is currently a grinding stalemate
and about which senior officials are far more
pessimistic in private than they are in
public. Valuable information, I’d say, that
shouldn’t be kept secret from us.
The
juxtaposition of these two stories
suggests
a possible solution to both.
America
has far too many guns and far
too
much ammo in private hands.
Ukraine
needs guns and ammo. Is it time
for
a “guns and ammo” drive for Ukraine
across
America? “Save Ukraine—donate
your
assault rifles and bullets!” Yes, I’m
joking.
I guess the violent reality of
America
is making me more than a bit
crazy.
