A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
At the risk of seeming insensitive to the deaths in the Colorado movie massacre, I am going to point out the obvious, which may make us flinch.
As horrible as the massacre in that movie theater was, it was only the latest incident of its kind and, believe it or not, will soon dim as even worse acts of man's inhumanity to man continues.
Bodies are stacking up like cord wood around the world. and, frankly, that is nothing new. Since Cain and Able, man has sought the death of his fellowman. We seem to be hard-wired to take our brother's life. (Told you it might make you flinch.)
It is within every man to take another's life. The threshold for homicide may, indeed, be higher or lower for each person, but, it is most certainly present in all of us.
Decades ago America made a conscious decision to allow the mentally ill to reside among us rather than segregate them into isolated communities where they could be cared for, treated, and kept from situations that might trigger aggressive, even lethal responses from a mind unable to manage stimuli in the way the "normal" mind does.
We decided -- as a society -- that the mentally ill had civil rights and locking them away for their safety -- and ours -- might infringe upon or even violate those rights.
In doing so, we lit a slow fuse on a powder keg and then we turned our backs, refusing to acknowledge that at some future point, that keg was going to blow.
Frankly, I believe we have been lucky, so far, that occurrences such as the movie massacre have been as few in number as they have been -- so far.
Our cities are filled with mentally ill homeless people aimlessly wandering the streets and alleys. It seems to me that a truly caring society, a charitable society, would see that those people were placed in an environment in which they could be treated and cared for and kept safe -- and we could be kept safe from them.
And then we have the functioning mentally ill some of whom, themselves, are time bombs of violence just waiting for someone, or some thing, to set the explosion off.
Let me be clear: I have absolutely no idea if the movie massacre could have been prevented. None. But, I think it is a safe bet that such events in the future can reasonably be expected and -- we as a society aren't doing nearly enough to find and treat the mentally ill among us and when necessary -- for their safety and ours -- place them in institutions capable of caring for them.
Again, let me be clear: If we do not reevaluate our handling of the mentally ill in America, we WILL be faced with many, many, similar incidents as the Colorado movie massacre.
Now. There is no doubt, GUN CONTROL will be the next big issue before America. The mainstream Media has already shown us its intention of wallowing in the gory and vivid detail of the seventy-one people shot in that theater and the twelve who died. America's attention will be turned to the tools the killer used -- not the killer. The advocates of gun control were already out in force within hours of the deadly incident.
That is, in my opinion, flat out wrong -- but -- that will not deter the gun control enthusiasts in America from using the murderous incident to further their goal of disarming America.
In fact, the campaign has already begun. The political left is infamous for not allowing a crisis to go to waste.
In the days and weeks, and, yes, even months ahead, the American people will be bombarded with propaganda from gun control advocates across America many who are employed by the Mainstream Media. Believe me, the political left in America will not let this go before they wring every drop of leverage for their agenda as is humanly possible.
We can expect movement in the Congress, especially the US Senate, as gun control advocates, including the President and our Secretary of State, beat the drum for Senate ratification of the UN Small Arms Treaty, which will, without doubt, affect the second amendment rights of every American.
While our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of the Colorado movie massacre, we must not allow ourselves to curtail our own freedom while we are in the throws of a deeply emotional occurrence and we must shield ourselves from the Mainstream Media's insensitive and relentless campaign to lead America down a path she does not want to go while she is blinded by grief and horror.
J. D. Longstreet
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