Breaking: 19 Children, 2 Adults Killed in Texas Elementary School Shooting

36 thoughts on “Breaking: 19 Children, 2 Adults Killed in Texas Elementary School Shooting”

1. Or as they call it in America, a Tuesday.Report

2. So glad politicians tasked with making sure schools are safe places for children have focused their energies in the right direction: on shielding kids from the word gay instead of bullets.

   Freedom rang a little clearer in Texas today.Report

3. In Only Country Where Thing Regularly Happens, Refuses to Do Thing That Would Make Thing Happens Far LessReport

4. As before-
   Elections have consequences.

   We keep getting lectures from Savvy Politics-Knowers that Dems need to be more like Republicans, you know, chatter on about Gawd and religion, and guns and Murica standing tall in the saddle, and by gum, then we will win.

   But this has never worked from what I can tell, and the consequences of abandoning things like gun control and sensible foreign policy has only led to disaster.

   The JesusGunsBabies crowd still hates our guts, and everyone remembers Hillary voting with the hawks but not one voter ever crossed over to vote Dem because of it, and whenever the subject of gun control comes up most Dem politicians curl up in a fetal position.Report

   1. I think this is more complicated than either you or the Savvy are letting on. The Democratic Party can’t talk one hundred percent like the Republicans because then we would be Republicans. We can’t talk about God, mom, apple pie, and the 2nd Amendment as we attempt to defend pluralistic democracy, separation of religion and state, and promote gun control. At the same time the type of rhetoric that the very online likes, whether in their Jacobin or Intersectionalist form, really doesn’t work with the general electorate who tends to find activist speak grating at best and also is much more patriotic in that hokey way than the very online. So going America is a white settler colonist state and the Constitution was slave owner’s document won’t win us enough seats to do actually pass the laws we want.Report

5. At least they weren’t reading the wrong kinds of books.Report

6. We are a violent nation because we choose to be.

   We are a fearful nation because we choose to be.

   We have more guns then citizens – and in the hands of only a few because we choose it.

   We are bathed in the blood of children regularly because we choose to be.

   We are not a Christian nation for we refuse to spend our riches on those who need it most – including those with mental health issues.

   We are not a Christian nation because we choose the sword for even the mildest inconvenience.

   We are not a Christian nation because we choose to deny the love to our neighbors that we demand for ourselves.

   We have become this monster with our eyes wide open facing front.

   Damn us for doing so.Report

   1. One of my least-favorite rhetorical devices is the self-exempting “we.” You say “we,” but clearly you’re referring exclusively to people with whom you have policy disagreements. Not you. You’ve made all the right choices, but you were overruled.

      Just own it. Saying “we” doesn’t make you look any more humble or thoughtful.Report

      1. I say we because I’m still a citizen, I still have agency, and I still haven’t been successful in better protecting my kids from all this. I say we because I still choose to own firearms, shoot, and train my children in their safe handling. I say we because this sis an American tragedy and I’m an American. I say we because if the policies and laws I support – which a majority of Americans support despite what our politicians do – have yet to become the law of the land.Report

   2. So we have a magic wand we can wave to make suicidal mass murderers with no criminal record obey the law? And we haven’t chosen to use it?

      Let me guess, the solution is to vote Blue and with a little bit of gun control, plus outlawing what is already illegal, this problem will go away.Report

      1. I made a proposal in the other thread – what’s yours?Report

         1. Outlaw the reporting of his name and agenda. Make it so he’s not a celeb.

            I don’t remember (or didn’t see) what your idea was.Report

            1. Well, if they didn’t show his name and photo in THIS CASE, we’d hear all the griping from the right-wing media machine and its followers about how the liberal media was hiding his race and ethnicity. So… good luck with that.

               Because, ya know, they care what … with all their thoughts and prayers.Report

               1. I don’t think Dark Matter meant to do it just in this case.Report

                  1. I understand that but my point is certain folks have shown over and over again that when it comes to axes to grind, “Fewer kids being shot in schools,” is relatively low on their list.

                     Even if we did this with every shooting going forward, the moment a Black or Brown person was the one pulling the trigger, we’d see right-wing outlets buck this practice.Report

                  2. And the moment a white kid…

                     What does that observation get us, except demonstrating that things are politicized? We all know that. It doesn’t address the merit of Dark Matter’s suggestion.

                     I mean, realistically, even if everyone on this site agreed with a proposal it wouldn’t affect anything, but this exercise is supposed to test ideas.

                     ETA: The Daily Wire didn’t break its policy on this one.Report

                  3. Also, it was a matter of days ago that this site’s left wing was implying that “it’s for the children” is always fake.

                     And I don’t think anyone puts “fewer kids being shot” (whatever the location) low on their list. They may disagree with your preferred policies though.Report

                  4. the moment a Black or Brown person was the one pulling the trigger, we’d see right-wing outlets buck this practice.

                     “The moment”? We already have minorities do this at numbers equal to their percentage of population.

                     Further, right-wing outlets aren’t suicide attackers. They’d still be around to face whatever the penalties of breaking the law are.Report

7. Two vaguely unpleasant facts:

   Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Dept of Public Safety tells @andersoncooper the shooter crashed his car near the school, got out with a gun and wearing body armor, was engaged by law enforcement, but made his way into the school anyway and went classroom to classroom shooting.

   — Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) May 25, 2022

   A Border Patrol agent who was nearby when the Uvalde shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, according to an @AP source https://t.co/Az5CeGFq4v

   — Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) May 25, 2022

   I’m glad the border patrol agent was there.

   The use of the term “law enforcement” seems to be inappropriate. Perhaps “bystander” would be more accurate?Report

   1. Additional information:

      "Authorities also learned that the suspect was not wearing body armor, as previously reported, only 'a plate carrier,' which did not actually contain any ballistic armor."https://t.co/vqMcrxrd1f

      — Steve Lookner (@lookner) May 25, 2022

      Report

      1. I could certainly believe that none of the cops actually hit the guy.

         I’m reminded of that UPS-truck hijacking where the cops shot one hostage and two bystanders and none of the actual hijackers.Report

         1. It’s been a problem for a long time. When I was in college many years ago, the local PD demanded that the city provide them with much more powerful handguns. The effort died after a couple of med school professors spoke at the city council meeting. They pointed out that in the last nine times officers had fired their weapons, they had hit zero suspects but three bystanders. The bystanders survived. The profs stated that in their opinion, all three would have died had the heavier weapons been in use.Report

      2. For 30 years, this country has spent tens of billions of dollars putting cops in schools, and they reliably run away from mass shooters.

         — Fred, whom I do not support (@LesserFrederick) May 25, 2022

         Report

   2. If they were employed as police
      Officers or in any other sworn capacity then they are law enforcement. Their ineffective shooting is a different matter.

      It does show, however, that if the trained professionals counts get him initially, the so called “good guy with a gun” wouldn’t have either.Report

      1. I used to have a coast guard friend who explained that, unlike navy personnel, he had arrest powers, which I guess makes him “law enforcement.” I think park rangers work the same way.Report

         1. Not all park rangers – most NPS rangers are not sworn law enforcement officers, so they lack the arrest powers your Coastie friend had.Report

            1. Ah. I didn’t know that. Today I learned.Report

      2. “Their ineffective shooting is a different matter.”

         My complaint is their ineffective staying outside.Report

   3. I don’t care who he was. I’m just glad he stopped the shooter from harming anyone else.Report

8. Yet many people think this is a small price to pay as long as it means being able to vent their resentments at bougie liberals.Report

   1. I am now waiting for all our resident libertarians to weigh in on how tragic it is that 18 children and one apparently brave teacher have been deprived of their foundational right to life and liberty.Report

      1. We obviously need more border patrol agents.Report

         1. Proving Saul’s point I see.Report

            1. No, I was actually failing to do a good job as resident libertarian pointing out that the government employee was the one who actually stopped the shooting.Report

      2. I’m looking forward to your explanation of how jailing random Mexican teenagers will make the country safer.

         Or maybe we could have an Official Government Department Of Looking At Everyone’s Instagram Profiles for Pictures That Indicate Antisocial Behavior. Yeah. That’ll work out great.Report

   2. I don’t know what this means.Report

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