In Other News

So here we are: The "president" is no longer extending his "thoughts and prayers" to victims of mass shootings. He has walked that back to "deepest condolences." When five people were shot and killed by a gunman who took his own life, that was the best the leader of our great land could muster. Caught in the flurry of a tweetstorm about cable news ratings, the "president" could barely tap the brakes to acknowledge that six more Americans had died as a result of gun violence. An employee of MillerCoors, formerly Molson, formerly Miller and another company called Coors, was fired last Wednesday and came back a few hours later to shoot up the place. Whatever it was called.
Searching for a motive won't be that difficult. A guy in his fifties was fired and when his world seemed at an end, he chose the way he wanted to end it. Because he has the freedom to do that here in America. The land where the "president" alternately flaunts and flouts the "2A," known by its Christian name The Second Amendment. Never mind that this bit of legislation was written more than two hundred years ago, or that it seems to conflict mightily with that open-ended commitment many of these same folks have to "the right to life." It's just far too difficult an issue to unravel on social media. Or over the past two hundred years.
Guns have become much more efficient as killing machines, and our access to those machines has become more free, since it's in the Constitution and all. It's a little like those people who like to find that sentence in the Bible that might forbid homosexuality while they skip on past the prohibition on shellfish as they sup on their lobster bisque.
Meanwhile, back in Milwaukee, maybe we could paint this in more vibrant colors to illustrate a point: Earlier this week, disgruntled former brewery employee Andrew "Squiggy" Squigman burst into the break room at Schotz, firing randomly. He eventually killed five others before turning the gun on himself. Victims include Laverne DeFazio, Shirley Feeney, Lenny Kosnowski, Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa and visiting friend Arthur Fonzarelli. No motive was given for the shooting, but authorities have suggested that a history of mental and emotional instability may have been the root cause. That and the easy access to a weapon. The nation mourns this loss of life.
As we should.
And now back to those cable news ratings.