General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)OK, who else is sick of the demonization of the mentally ill following shootings? [View all]
I am, because the issue is personal for me.
I've suffered from depression, I have friends who suffer from mental illness, and I lost a nephew to suicide.
Every time there's a mass shooting, the NRA blood profiteers and the GOP bags of dicks have a few tactics to deflect discussion away from the easy availability of firearms in the U.S.
They have their front groups (starring Alex Jones) cook up batshit conspiracy theories about Obama, the New World Order, and an alleged upcoming gun crackdown, with things like Jade Helm, martial law, FEMA camps, and so on. The idea is to scare the shit out of the gullible, poison the well of any discussion of gun safety legislation, and drum up sales. And judging by the spikes in gun sales after shootings, it works.
But also, they always demonize the mentally ill. When people want to talk about legislative action to stop gun violence, the first thing they do is talk about the shooter. Why do you think that FOX "News" constantly drops the name of the shooter, over and over and over and over, when everyone with some sense keeps saying "Stop saying that scumbag's name! Stop giving him infamy!"? Because they want us to talk about how these shootings are done by "crazies", and how instead of discussing gun safety regulation, we need to talk about what society is going to do about the Crazies In Our Midst!
They do this because "If it bleeds, it leads", and they don't want to talk about a solution that would damage the profitability of a multi-billion dollar industry that feeds their politicians. Wouldn't want that. So, instead of having a sensible discussion of what research suggests is the best way to curb the gun violence death toll, we have our mainscream media. the National Riflemaker's Association, and the GOP Clown Car bags of dicks blaming mental illness, and in the process, increasing the stigma the mentally ill face, discouraging them from seeking help, and letting that problem fester.
Never mind that the research suggests that most mentally ill people are not violent, and most violent people aren't in serious distress from mental illness. The correlation is not there.
So, if you think the solution to gun violence is to feed a moral panic that has half the country running around like idiots, and making hell of the lives of the most vulnerable among us, kindly kiss my ass. Any questions?