In the Land of the Free

A gunman killed at least thirteen people at a community college in Oregon today. So far we don’t know anything about the shooter.

What we do know: This afternoon the White House expressed frustration that nothing ever gets done about gun control. Naturally, the Federalist screamed that the White House had “politicized” the shootings. Because, you know, guns are not a political issue otherwise. And we’re not supposed to talk about gun control after a mass shooting, which happens frequently enough to keep us all permanently mute.

In another Adventure in Freedom, a woman who went public with her abortion story was forced into hiding after her address was published on line and the death threats began to pour in. Nothing says freedom like being able to terrorize people you don’t like into shutting up, I guess.

Update: Oh, please … already the rumors are starting that the shooter asked people if they were Christian, and shot them in the head when they said yes. This is based on a news report that the shooter asked people to state their religion, but the news report says he was shooting people randomly. In web forums this is turning into an account of people being shot in the head if they said they were Christian. Shades of Cassie Bernall, the so called “she said yes” martyr from Columbine, who actually didn’t say yes at all. That was something someone imagined.

By tomorrow the Christianists on Fox News will be absolutely wallowing in martyrdom, just in time for the “war on Christmas” season.

11 thoughts on “In the Land of the Free

  1. “And we’re not supposed to talk about gun control after a mass shooting”

    Right. I wish that President Obama would address the nation with:

    Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the people we lost today. It is unfortunate that everyone of them were not armed with an assault rifle and that they chose to go to school without body armor and several magazines of high powered bullets. Until we as a nation finally come to the conclusion that every one of us man, women, child, old folks, the handicapped, everyone of us needs to be armed, then how can we as a nation expect to prevent the kind of carnage that we saw today. The only person who was prepared for the inevitable bloodshed and violence that comes along with living in the land of the free and the home of the brave today at that school was the shooter, and that is a shame.

  2. After seeing the response from the government to the Sandy Hook massacre my thoughts are if this is what you want as a nation…. then this is what you get. I agree with Obama. It’s becoming routine. I guess the only good thing to come out of this massacre is that it provides excellent raw material for Christian persecution myth building so the victims won’t have died in vain..

  3. Yes, Swami, that is what I expect from the likes of Huckabee and his followers…they will think they are being crucified on a cross made from Assault Rifles…The skies will Darken, and there will be a booming voice from on High saying, “Let there be Bullets”…and they will all fall to their knees, and all will praise Wayne LaPierre…by the way, ain’t that a foreign soundin’ name?

  4. Uncledad, some of the readers from the Tampa Bay Area will know the old WMNF, which was, and still is a great community resource. In its glory days, it really tapped into the spirit of the community. Some of us did fundraiser comedy sketches. Among them was a series featuring the “Neil Young Singers,” a choral group of performers who all sang like Neil Young. These days, I can proudly recall being one of the group. So far, no one has asked me for my autograph, but, I have a few years left.

    *****************************

    We do live in interesting times. Sometimes it’s as if it is all happening in slow motion. Distortion and the narrative smother reality. To my mind the “faith community” is most striking because for them, faith is valued more than knowledge or critical thinking. The objects of their faith only have to correspond with the version of “reality” that they have accepted as a group. In general, this version makes them into heroes or victims. It gives them a place and purpose in the world. It is their shibboleth. The role and power of the narrative is overwhelming. At times it seems like genuine madness.

    It reminds me of the old anti-semetic myths about Jewish people kidnapping Christian children and babies. They seem absurdly overdone. But, the assertion that Planned Parenthood tortures fetuses to harvest and sell their organs, is not far removed. That degree of brutality justifies a brutal response, and sadly, its correspondence with reality seems inconsequential to those who believe it. To the rest of us, the consequences seem very real.

    As the saying goes, this will not end well.

  5. Sounds to me like the context is being ignored (of course), that the shooter was really asking if his next victim believed in God, because (he allegedly said next), “You’ll be seeing him in a second.” In other words, the shooter used the word “Christian” because he was an ignoramus who equated belief in God with Christianity.

    It does appear he was just killing people randomly. (Because: “I have a gun. I am an American. And I am just generally very angry right now.”)

  6. “shibboleth”

    See now that is one reason I read the mahablog!

    Now is not the time to politicize this event, wait he asked if they where christian……….This is all part of Hussein Obama’s war on Christianity……………

  7. Oops…Are you going to disappear your lies down the memory hole or admit you were lying? My guess is you’ll double down on the lies.

    Oregon college gunman brought six guns to scene

    The 26-year-old man who killed nine at a community college demanded to know students’ religion before firing.

    I recommend a new e-book by Vox Day to help you overcome your problems.
    SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police

    • Joe — Oops .. are you going to read the post before you comment? I included the detail about demanding to know students’ religion, genius. I suggest remedial ed to bring your reading comprehension up a tad.

      Jeez, what is it with wingnuts? They don’t read. Every time they comment here, I can tell they didn’t read a bleeping thing I wrote.

  8. Maybe my logic is impaired, but it seems to me that if the shooter had some sort of idolization fantasies for mass shooters then his primary focus should have been on racking up kills so he could better achieve the infamy he was seeking. It doesn’t make sense to me that he would be diverted from that objective by engaging in a dialog with his victims where their professions of Christianity would warrant a fatal shot to the head and their denial of Christianity would earn them a leg wound. If there were victims waiting in the queue to be shot with the knowledge that a profession of Christianity would mean certain death…How many people who understood the criteria for getting shot in the head or a shot in the leg would be forthcoming regarding their faith after that criteria was clearly established/
    It reminds me of an old Christian joke…Back in the Soviet Union where Christianity was repressed and the Christians had to fellowship and worship in secret cells there was once a meeting where KGB agents toting submachine guns burst in on a cell of Christians in the midst of worship. They announced that they were going to execute all the true Christians but the non believers could save themselves by fleeing. After the non believers scrambled out the door the KGB agents put down their weapons and said, Now that we’ve gotten rid of all those phonies lets praise the Lord.

Comments are closed.