A catastrophic mass murder and expressions of condolences and resources that will be available to help the survivors know that our society stands behind their recovery are demeaned and lost in our President's and two presidential candidates' responses to the Orlando shooting and we're all the worse for it.
The one thing NOBODY likes to hear is, "I told you so," yet the President, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump all basically said just that in a grotesque manipulation of catastrophe to promote themselves. After all, the shooter was a citizen, his guns were legal.
They couldn't resist--President Obama couldn't resist plugging gun control lecturing that "This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people…" Artfully stated, but very clear, the President essentially asserting, I told you so, without gun control this was bound to happen.
Donald Trump couldn't resist promoting his temporary ban on Muslim immigrants until our vetting system is improved "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!" Less artfully stated and very clear, Trump asserting, I told you so, we need to ban Muslim immigration until our vetting system is perfected."
And Hillary Clinton couldn't resist mimicking the President and pushing gun control: "We need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals. This is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States and it reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets." And mimicking Obama, following carefully in his footsteps Hillary Clinton repeating the--I told you so, we need gun control.
The waters will get muddier in the blame game, clouding the loss and turning it into a gun control, mental health, Islamic terrorist issue and even smaller issues such as liability about how the shooter got in, how others could not get out, or the facilities in which the club was housed in our eagerness to blame and to compensate.
Hours after the catastrophe, as families and individuals faced with the reality of the event try to sort through their next steps, the insensitivity of the political response is stark and inappropriate: An American CITIZEN armed with LEGAL WEAPONS entered a nightclub and murdered people and there is no reason except ego for our political leaders to frame it any differently.
But nope, President Obama was quick to label the Orlando murders as an act of "terrorism" hoping to correct his grotesque misleading of the American public in the wake of blaming a "crude and disgusting video" for the Benghazi attacks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBb2EQmtnhQ), still stopping short of mentioning the shooter's self-proclaimed allegiance to Islamic radicalism. Naturally in her careful following in the President's footsteps, Hillary Clinton also chose to focus on gun control. And Donald Trump blamed Islamic terrorism and failed to mention the availability of weapons in our society.
It is my hope that we the people, going into places just like this nightclub, also capable of being hated for our religions, political views, allegiances or any other difference among us will remain the voice of SENSE and realize that the stark divide between the Democratic push for gun control and the Republican push for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants are NOT the issues of Orlando.
