Land Of The Free, Home Of The Dead

 In the race to the bottom of the evolutionary scale, I have mentioned that Marjorie Taylor Greene has some stiff competition. Admittedly it is difficult to out abhor the conduct of a woman who insists that stepmothers are not real moms. And yet, here comes Texas Governor Greg Abbott, filling in that space where you figured no one else would go. 

Over the weekend, a man in Cleveland, Texas went next door to ask his neighbor to stop firing his rifle in the front yard as there were children trying to sleep next door. For his trouble, that father was rewarded with five dead bodies, including nine year old Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman. Deep in the heart of Texas, you don't tell a man when and where he can shoot his gun. The reality of too many guns came crashing into this neighborhood near Houston, and a manhunt ensued to capture the murderer from next door. 

It would be easy enough to point a finger in Governor Greg's direction, he of the continually loosened gun restrictions in his state. Faced with the carnage of the past few years, Texas is leading the way to put more guns in the hands of more people. As if that weren't bad enough, it was Governor Greg who issued the announcement for a reward for the killer of young Daniel. His office announced a reward of fifty thousand dollars for information about the "fugitive who is in the country illegally and killed five illegal immigrants in a shooting Friday night in Cleveland, Texas."

Five people are dead, murdered in the Great State of Texas, and Governor Greg felt it was important to include the immigration status of all involved. No mention of the names or ages of the victims. No description of the assailant beyond "illegal immigrant." Almost immediately the screeching horde lit up with the insistence that none of this would have happened if our borders were secure. Without a pause to consider the percentage of mass shootings that have taken place this year in the United States that have not included immigrants other than the kind that arrived here generations ago. The demographics aren't really the thread to follow. 

Follow the guns. More than one hundred sixty mass shootings have taken place already in the calendar year 2023. In the United States. Just us. Just US. Why should we bother insinuating that any particular group or demographic has the monopoly on gun violence? I hear the streets are paved with gold and there's hot and cold running bullets. It's the land of opportunity and a place where any man or woman who can get their cash over the counter can buy a gun and be a part of something bigger. E pluribus dead.