Here We Go Again

Initial thoughts on the Florida nightclub shooting:

It's getting to be an old story. Some lunatic freaks out and shoots a bunch of people. Jerks on the left gloss over the tragic loss of life and the pain of the victims' loved ones, and instead rush to score political points while the bodies are still warm, trotting out the same old storylines.

Within hours, the Orlando mass shooting at a LGBT nightclub set off renewed political debates -- with Democrats calling for gun control and Republicans blasting "radical Islamic terrorism."

I might listen to the left's arguments for more restrictive gun laws with more of an open mind if they had the tiniest clue about the subject. For example:

"We should not be selling automatic weapons which are designed to kill people," (presidential candidate Bernie) Sanders said.

"...remember that these domestic terrorists also buy automatic weapons..." (former South Dakota senator Larry) Pressler said in a statement.

As I understand it, the shooter used an AR-15, which is not an automatic weapon. Of course, accuracy and facts are not allowed to get in the way of the all-important narrative.

Undoubtedly, the left will use this to argue that law-abiding citizens should be disarmed, as if we're the problem.

In a sadly ironic twist of fate, the incident pitted two of the left's protected groups against each other. The shooter was a muslim, and the majority of the victims were gay. So of course we must blame the gun - an inantimate lump of metal and plastic - rather than the person.

As for the republicans "blasting radical Islamic terrorism," well, judge for yourself.

Car bombs in Iraq kill more than the Florida nightclub shooting, and we collectively yawn. No one is calling for more restrictive car control laws.

Oh, yeah - islamic terrorists also killed a poor soul in a particulary horrific manner, but we don't hear an outcry about that.

Local officials in Ghor province said one of (the victim's) distant relatives was suspected of killing a former Taliban commander... militants dragged Ahmad from his house and cut out his eyes in retaliation.

Ahmad was still alive and screaming when the attackers began carving the skin off his chest, leaving his heart exposed. Then they threw the 21-year old laborer off a 10-story cliff, officials said.

“They skinned him alive,” said Ruqiya Naeel, a member of parliament from the area.

Islam also prescribes death for homosexuals, but somehow that little tidbit is conveniently overlooked by liberals.

The inspiration for Muslims to brutalize and mass murder gay people does not come from ISIS. It is deeply rooted in Islamic law, affirmed by many of Islam’s most renowned scholars.

"Those involved in the act should be punished. In fact, sodomites should be killed in the worst manner possible."

Meanwhile, it turns out that the FBI investigated the shooter on at least two seperate occassions for links to radical islam, but cleared him both times. It couldn't be that they were fearful of offending a protected species, or even - God forbid - being accused of profiling.

One last thought: I've noticed my wife and kids texting back and forth when making plans, coordinating events, and dealing with problems, when a real-time conversation would be much more efficient in resolving those issues. What is particulary ironic is that they do so using their cell phones  - using that device as a texting platform rather than a phone.

Which brings me to this.

A woman who was outside the club early Sunday was trying to contact her 30-year-old son, Eddie, who texted her when the shooting happened and asked her to call police.

No disrespect to Eddie. I truly hope he escaped unscathed. But why on earth would you text your mother and ask her to call the police, instead of calling 911 yourself?

Again, no criticism implied. Just observing how the younger generation sees cell phones not as phones, but rather as a means to communicate impersonally.

My final point: