This. MUST. Stop.

[Stinky The Clown]

Guns

Hate

Fear

DISRESPECT

Otherhood

Dead people who should not be dead yet

Devalued lives

Living beings being undervalued

Poverty

Hopelessness

De Facto Subjugation

Legal gangs with guns and APCs and robots and the sanction of the government

Evening news filled with red stained clothing and red pools in US city streets

Second Amendment Remedies from people the gun humpers never expected to seek them

Us and Them outperforming We




God, Damn it. Please. DAMN IT ALL TO HELL. Never to be seen again.

[skepticscott]

1. Sorry, this manner of post

is just like praying after incidents like these. Makes the people doing it feel good, but accomplishes exactly zero.

Since all of the countless "This madness has to stop!" posts here and elsewhere after all of the other mass shootings did nothing to prevent this one, what reason do you have for thinking that yet another expression of the same sentiment will change anything?

[rainy]

2. Expression is good. Don't criticise stinky!

[skepticscott]

4. Express all you want

but recognize that it changes nothing and accomplishes nothing, as noted.

[Alex4Martinez]

16. But there are Periods.Between.The.Words...

Which since I first ever saw this affectation knew that posts that use it tend to be emotional and generally without further content.

Not that it's a bad thing.

It's just a thing.

[Ken Burch]

26. It's not as if the author of the OP isn't doing anything ELSE to change things.

Why is it so important to you to discredit the OP?

It's a call to action.

It's a poetic expression of defiance.

We need that in struggles like this.

[choie]

34. This is a forum..

what the hell else is it for?

[Ken Burch]

39. You're not entitled to sit in lofty judgment like that.

Especially since you haven't even suggested anything that will accomplish anything.

Who the hell do you think you are to dis people like that?

[handmade34]

5. "Sorry, this manner of post" ...yours

is dismissive

Stinky's post is spot on, not like prayer at all... prayer implies "we leave it up to God"

"the madness must stop" is a fact, an imperative, a release of emotion and also a call to action...

[skepticscott]

12. Yes, it is dismissive

for very specific reasons, which I cited.

How much effective "action" has been generated by the thousands and thousands of posts like this? You might want to ask the victims of the next 10 or 20 or 30 mass shootings.

[Ken Burch]

27. What would be a better thing to do?

It's clearly a waste of time to write to any Republican congressvermin on this, since none of THEM will ever be capable of change on this.

We're in the situation we're in because conventional political action on the issue has been and will continue to be a total failure.

Politeness can't work. Speaking respectfully to politicians can't work.

If it could have worked it would have by now.

[nruthie]

6. Sorry, but that was sort of cruel.

Expressing anger seems justified under the conditions. Do you have a better solution? I feel much the same way and admit I feel powerless and overwhelmed, too. Are we not allowed to speak or share our concerns anymore?

[skepticscott]

14. See my post #4

And acknowledge the proven uselessness of this kind of rant.

[Ken Burch]

40. No one owes it to you to "acknowledge" that. And it isn't even "proven" to be useless.

Last edited Mon Jul 11, 2016, 10:18 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm sorry, but you are being presumptuous as hell in this thread and you're not entitled to be. It's not as though you have singlehandedly solved the problem, or even offered any suggestions for "effective" action.

[treestar]

13. FCOL

There is nothing bad about discussion and that's where it starts.

[skepticscott]

22. Where what starts?

We've been "discussing" this issue since Columbine and before. What has "started" and where has it gone? Have mass shootings become more or less prevalent?

[treestar]

23. In historical terms, it's not that long

Think of how long it was from when women started talking about being able to vote and the Amendment actually being passed. A lot of talk and debate went on. Nobody said let's stop talking about it if we can't get the votes for it. They kept talking about it until they did.

[Ken Burch]

28. What have you got to suggest that would be any more effective?

We already know that politely writing any current member of Congress on gun issues is a waste of time.

You shouldn't attack unless you have something better to offer. And you don't.

[skepticscott]

35. Let's put it this way

There's a word for doing the same thing over and over and over, and expecting a different result from the one you keep getting.

And are you really saying that you and the OP have absolutely no ideas about what to do other than post unoriginal internet rants? That's pretty sad.

[Ken Burch]

36. You are assuming that me and the OP do nothing else but post here.

I agree that people shouldn't stick to failed tactics, but if you're going to say that other people's political expressions are bullshit, YOU have an obligation to offer non-bullshit alternatives.

Instead, you've offered nothing but disrespect and an assumption of superior political wisdom you're clearly not entitled to.

What the OP is, as I see it, is a poetic expression of the raw grief-rage of the moment. Such expressions are necessary.

For example, the song "Birmingham Sunday", by Richard Farina(a lament for the lives of the four little girls killed in the racist bombing of a black church in Alabama in summer of '63)was never going to lead, by itself, to the end of Jim Crow. But it was a needed expression of that moment. The Neil Young song "Ohio" (about the massacre of innocent students at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard in 1970)was never going to cause the end of government persecution of the antiwar movement. But it was justified by the need to convey the feelings of a generation who suddenly felt they might all be killed for committing truth. The OP is in that tradition.

[liberalmuse]

18. Words are powerful

They can inspire people to take action or think about something they normally would!'t think about.

Criticizing someone who is expressing themselves the way Stinky has accomplishes less than zero.

[skepticscott]

21. Wrong

It may encourage them to channel their energy into more useful avenues, rather than lame internet posts that they hope will "go viral".

As noted, not one of the bazillion "This madness must stop!" posts since Columbine have accomplished jack shit. So let's stop the futile self-indulgence.

[Ken Burch]

29. Again, what is your alternative?

People who post things like the OP are also involved in other forms of political work. Why is it so important to you to be such a total drag, when you have nothing better to offer as a strategy?

[Ken Burch]

37. You haven't even suggested any "more useful avenues"

Nobody ever finds a better course of action just because someone else dismisses them.

Negativity for negativity's sake never makes people improve.

[GOLGO 13]

31. Tis true.

Well said.

[NightWatcher]

3. Step away from the tv and computer, roll a fat joint, and find a beach to stroll along

Not being critical because I've read your posts for years, just recommending a break. The shit is not going to stop and thanks to cameras and smart phones we're only going to see more.

Take care of what images and stories you let into your head.

[treestar]

24. Internet just adds to it

and does make it more likely more people will be talking. Before, it was only personal conversations and letters to the editor.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. You take a moment off from your usual "F*** (whomever gained your ire)" to post this?

I'm sorry but the OP rings hollow.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Please see my sig line

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. Insincerity and apathy seldom accomplish much and I suspect you know this.

Broad phylacteries and long tassels.

[Ken Burch]

38. The OP IS sincere.

It's an expression of the zeitgeist. He didn't write it as a substitute for action.

What are you doing about this issue, by contrast that is so obviously inherently superior?

[hunter]

9. Piss on guns, especially.

.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. I got one for ya. Right here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027997459

That one has FUCK right there in the thread title.

[treestar]

15. And a whole new police culture

however they are being trained, this US against THEM thing they have going is not good.

[pault420]

17. Honestly we should ban alcohol as well then.

There's a lot of dead people, a lot of dead children that shouldn't be dead because of it. Rapes, assaults, divorce, murder.

As much as I hate guns, I hate alcohol as I know someone very close and dear that was killed by a drunk driver. And truth be told alcohol IMO is as bad if not worse then guns. This country is a wash in misery that is caused by excessive drinking.

[Bradical79]

20. Alchohol is better regulated... -nt

[former9thward]

25. False in every respect.

[Hekate]

19. A lot of callous dismissive replies here, for which I am sorry.

Best advice: Turn off all electronic devices in the house for 24 hours, at least. The toxicity just now is overwhelming. Breathe, breathe, breathe.

[Ken Burch]

30. For once, Hekate and I are in full agreement.

Step away for a bit. And those who are pissing on the OP, you need to step away too. It's not cool to dismiss the political expression of others. It's not anyone's place to do that at a time like this.

[Person 2713]

32. Us and Them outperforming We ......

E pluribus unum .....out of many one

Enlightenment and Unity are needed

[yuiyoshida]

33. This is America, we can be better than this!

Yoshi! Yatta, yokatta ne! よし！ やった よかった ね