Looking for more depressing content? The Washington Post has started compiling profiles of the victims of the Uvalde murders. If you want to see photos of little 10 year old kids smiling for the camera before they were executed, go on, get heartbroken.
By the way, for all the people who think the solution is arming teachers, the gunman got past armed cops who were hiding behind their cars while the slaughter was going on. Jesus.
Representative Paul Gosar is calling the shooter a transgendered undocumented immigrant, because sure why not try to shift focus to a different part of the culture war the right is waging against the rest of the world.
The United States is a broken country. Broken probably beyond the point of repair. We need help.
The bigots in the social media are already claiming that the shooter was a Latino “illegal” sent by the cartels for… reasons.
And they say we’re the ones who “politicize” these tragedies.
@ 1
Wait? “Transgendered?” What are they getting this shit?
Edit: Where are they…
@Akira
It’s being made up and spread through the usual social media suspects: reddit, facebook, twitter.
Link
@3, “ [Where] are they getting this shit?”
Same place which extrudes shit.
If the Republicans and their allies were a computer screen in space, it would be saying “Crew is expendable”.
For some reason, Republican lawmakers who worship every made-up facet of the 2nd Amendment believe that they and their children are safe from slaughter.
@ 7
Let me guess, they won’t lie about our chances, but we have their sympathies?
Radio Canada has as one of its minor headlines: “Un tireur tue 19 écoliers au Texas, l’Amérique sous le choc, une fois de plus”.
“A shooter kills 19 school-children in Texas, the US is shocked, yet again“
Time to recycle an old Onion headline: “‘Nothing We Can Do About It,’ Says Only Country Where This Happens”
As for where they got the “transgender” bit, the shooter was a boy who looked a little bit girly. That’s all the Retrumplitarians needed.
On Twaddle last night, a “Former FBI agent” was blathering on Fox about how parents need to stop wasting money on frivolous things for their children like books, toys and games and buy them ballistic blankets.
I guess those would magically stiffen to protect them inside the classroom and keep them comfortable on their ride in to school in the school district’s new schooltank.
https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1529231148689285120
Oh, apparently, the shooter shot his grandmother before wrecking the car near the school, then proceeded to enter the school, killing the armed security guard present inside, then murdering the students.
Yet another opportunity to share Roy Zimmerman.
https://youtu.be/5hdX1MUOgQw
I believe the shooter was white man who was radicalized by the likes of Fox News and that Stupid idiot (TFG) enough to come to the school and shoot up the school out of sheer hatred toward the Hispanic/Latinos before getting shot to death, himself, by police. His name sounds Hispanic but that doesn’t necessary mean he’s a Hispanic/Latino person.
The Washington Post has a report on the murderer’s background. Apparently he was bullied for the way he talked, and his mother had substance abuse problems that led to a troubled family life.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/25/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-gunman/
I did some digging, and the “trandgender” claim is based on a picture from a transgender girl’s reddit that was falsely passed around as the shooter. The “illegal” accusation is, of course, based on obvious racism.
And of course, the people who think that the solution to this is filling schools with more guns are the same people who claimed that forcing kids to wear masks would traumatize them.
@ Microraptor #17
Yeah, those masks are fucking lethal. I mean, you could have an eye out if the elastic pings just for one thing. Will no one think of the children?
(You ain’t the target of that snark, I’m sympathising!)
Louis
Powerful intro about the latest of so very many school shootings by James Corden just seen on Aussie TV now FWIW.
Not available yet on youtube that I can find with my poor google-fu but worth watching I reckon.
@7birgerjohansson & 9 Akira MacKenzie : wow, I know those allusions to a certain old SF movie. Froma saga that’s turned quote Promethean lately.. & by lately I mean, yikes another decade ago already!? Mainly because I caught a replay recently but still.. Yeah.
I assume StevoR@19 is referring to James Corden’s Message After the Texas School Shooting (video).
The NRA and GQP mantra has been that we need a “good guy” with a gun to take out the bad guy with a gun. So, now we know that the shooter took out the armed security “good guy” and was chased by many armed cop “good guys,” so we can assume there was a shootout. Now, how probable is it that in the exchange of gunfire, some “good guy” bullets didn’t kill some of the kids? Will we ever know?
Just asking questions…
@ 19
What can I say? I’m a geek. That and I’m getting into a tabletop RPG based on that franchise, so those films are fresh in my mind.
The NRA Is Banning Guns for Trump’s Appearance at Its Upcoming Convention
Akira MacKenzie, StevoR
We have entered the phase where the android from The Company is not only regarding us as expendable, but is actively trying to get us killed while we fail to see through its intentions.
.
The difference is, David had more style than either Moscow Mitch or Joe Manchin, playing Wagner while plotting murder. And David had no sordid profit motive.
@Reginald Selkirk
They don’t care about the kids in schools but they sure care about their stupid orange idol enough to ban the very things they plan to celebrate at the event. How pathetically ironic!
It’s quite probable the Secret Service, who provide protection for hair furor, insisted on a “no shooty mcshootfaces” policy. Having said that, I would not be surprised if teh taNkies aRe A(…) has their own “no shooty mcshootfaces” policy, excepting in the exhibition / marketing arena.
David was far worse. He saw himself as a god; using biological life as his plaything, believing himself to be just like The Engineers.
I have never understood how the ‘good guy’ with a gun recognizes who is the ‘bad guy’ with a gun once the shooting starts.
Armed teachers will also have to wear full body armor (including a helmet) to school everyday.
@28, “Bad guys” are brown or black; gun optional.
@why^3 #28: Actually that part might not be that hard. The two will behave completely opposite in most ways as one is playing God while the other is terrified. But arming unskilled people? Look how bad the police are, and they are supposed to be trained for that kind of work.
@28
This “Good Guy” was killed by police last summer https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/hero-who-shot-colorado-gunman-was-then-killed-by-responding-police-officer-06-26-2021-180111606
How come, whenever I read, see, or hear news from the US of A, I think of these three words?
One
Sick
Puppy
@blf, the NRA has an official policy prohibiting firearms from their corporate offices. But, it’s certain that the Secret Service is also prohibiting them from any proximity to their protectee.
So, the newer news now has it that he was wearing a vest that was as bullet resistant as a tee shirt, fuck, but I loathe sensationalistic news and miss the days when facts were reported only.
Also, he used an AR15 from Daniel Defense for his spree weapon. Quality manufacturing, total shitheads in their marketing, their latest ad I saw had a toddler with an AR pistol on its lap, “Teach them young” or something similar. Totally unsafe, pinchy pieces all over, sharp edges, unguarded or guided in safety in the illustration, just hand it over to baby to use as a pacifier.
@why^3, damned good question. Clearing an occupied building is difficult for those trained incessantly in doing so, with constant practice needed to ensure the victim count stays at what it was on entry and no blue on blue casualties. Guys would go on leave, come back and end up getting blue on blue a few times before they came back to speed, so I’m honestly amazed when anyone comes out alive when police enter into an active crime scene – including the officers entering. We trained to count on pandemonium, with those playing bystanders/victims to variously charge toward, run away from, do random stupid when we entered, just to be realistic as possible and damn, but some of them were good and should be retained to do so professionally for all entry teams!
So, it’s obviously part of the skill set taught in teacher school, or something.
Raging Bee: obviously The Onion is way ahead of you.
Their home page right now is 8 copies of that story as all the top headlines; then below the fold it’s the “check these out” section which is 8 more copies of that story headline; then the “more” section is 4 more copies, then the “local” section is 3 copies of that, and finally we start on different headlines — about the gunman’s accomplices (“as far as Washington, DC”) and about the NRA.
The Politics section is 5 stories about the NRA.
Finally, we get to the Watch section (“Congress Placed On Lockdown After Deranged Man Enters Senate With Gun Control Measures”) and finally after that there’s non-massacre-related Onion stories.
@20. blf : I assume StevoR@19 is referring to James Corden’s Message After the Texas School Shooting (video).
Yes! That’s the one. Thankyou.
Beto O’Rourke confronted Greg Abbott at a press conference Abbott was holding about the murders. He was accused of “politicizing” the event, of course…Abbott wasn’t of course. Some cop cursed out O’Rourke. Then O’Rourke was escorted out.
But it’s all about the money. No telling how many millions are going into Republican coffers from the NRA, gun manufacturers, and those interested in exploiting the political situation.
Robro, yeah, I saw that earlier today, in local news. With video.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-26/texas-primary-school-shooting-latest/101100502
Also,
Apparently, the NRA hasn’t been doing too well recently.
So maybe it’s more like political inertia, with its impetus decreased.
@ 10 numerobis
une fois de plus
That was my sick-feeling but unsurprised reaction.
Encore, encore, et encore.
Merde.
Actually the shooter was Paul Gosar’s illegitimate child who felt rejected. /s
Just popping in to tell tankie scumbag and sinvergüenza jrkrideau once more to go to hell.
Carry on.
@ 41 SC (Salty Current)
Thank you.
jrkrideau: are you sick to your stomach that too few innocent people died?
[OT + meta]
‘sinvergüenza’ is literally Spanish for ‘shameless’, with connotations (at best) of moral turpitude. Google thinks it means ‘scoundrel’, because its translations are AI based.
“Thank you”, quoth jrkrideau.
—
Inadvertently or not, jrkrideau acknowledges that was, when referring to him, complimentary.
(I can do the faint praise thing)
Another problem with “good guy with a gun” solution is that even assuming your best case scenario where your “good guy” is trained, responsible, and fast to react, your bad guy can enter the scene with semi-automatic guns, bigger guns, body armor, and whatever shit he can get his hands on while your good guy is wearing a jacket and has a hand gun, meaning, he is likely out-gunned. It’s such a stupid solution. Honestly, it would not surprise me too much if these republican scumbags start arguing that we need to arm the teachers and students with high caliber assault rifles, body armors, hand grenades and maybe an RPG or two. Hey, I got an idea, what if we hold the classes out in the field and give each student and teacher a tank so they can roll in to the class safe from bad guys with guns.
lotharloo, can’t help myself.
Get Smart cone of silence 1
(Too much levity?)
On BBC Radio 4 this morning, some right-wing American scumbag was being interviewed about the murders – I came in part-way through so I didn’t catch the name. He came out with the usual “I don’t think it’s the guns that are the problem, it’s the evil people who do these things” (I paraphrase). Why the interviewer didn’t immediately ask him why the USA has so many more of these “evil people” than anywhere else, I’ve no idea. I’ve never heard an interviewer do that.
These mass shooting incidents follow a predictable script.
We’ve had so many of them that everyone knows it by now.
Thoughts and prayers.
Democrats, “we need sensible gun control.”
Republicans, “nothing can be done and the Democrats are all commies.”
Fundies. Due to demons and satan.
So what is left?
It is all Obama and Hillary’s fault.
It is all the fault of the gays and Transgenders and abortion and the theory of evolution.
Alex Jones and the lunatic fringes. This was a false flag attack and it also never happened. Those 19 dead children and two dead adults are all crisis actors.
Fundie xians. This was all god’s plan, they are in a better place, and those 21 people all got their wings.
God needed more angels (for what, isn’t he supposed to be all powerful).
Besides that so far it hasn’t worked.
There were trained, armed security officers at the last two mass shootings.
Buffalo. The security guard exchanged fire, hit the shooter once in his armored vest, and was shot and killed.
Texas. Officials say he “encountered” a school district security officer outside the school, though there were conflicting reports from authorities on whether the men exchanged gunfire.
Raven @48, you forgot jews, Soros,Illuminati , Bildbergers, and Masons. For just of a few of the usual suspects that are always behind such activities.
The NRA is a terrorist cult. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.
raven: I keep seeing the claim that “if only there had been armed security officers at the school”.
When there’s replies, invariably someone points out there were. That gets met with disbelief and derision; obviously there couldn’t be, because axiomatically, a good guy with a gun would have stopped the bad guy with a gun.
Not really in favor of either, but I guess I’d rather have armed teachers around kids than armed cops.
Stuart, droll as your comment may be, it’s also a bit sad that’s where things are at.
I mean, I’d much rather book an appointment to have the tip of my little finger lopped off for $100 than book an appointment to have the tip of my hand lopped off at the wrist for $1000.
Luckily, I don’t need to do either.