Keep Calm And Carry On!

Bailey Childers thinks that’s a ludicrous concept:

One of the strangest things about living in Washington DC yesterday was how normal the day felt to many of us not living or working near the Navy Yard. The metro service remained no more interrupted than we expect from the metro, restaurants still had a bustling Monday evening dinner service. And on a day when shootings began at 8:20am just two blocks away from the baseball stadium, the Washington Nationals waited until 3:27pm to announce on Twitter that their evening game would be postponed.

What did you expect? People wailing and rending their garments in the street? Would that have been better..?

It begs the question, do we run the risk of becoming a nation that too readily accepts yet another mass shooting as just a part of life?

You mean, like this one?

A witness, Julian Harris, told the Chicago Sun-Times that men fired at him from a grey sedan before turning toward Cornell Square Park and firing at people in the area. He said his three-year-old nephew was wounded in the cheek.

"They hit the light pole next to me but I ducked down and ran into the house," he said.

"They've been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night, just (insert here) stuff. It's what they do."

Hmm, I see what you mean, Bailey. Maybe you want to turn your attention elsewhere? Maybe ask your colleagues why this too isn’t on national news 24/7, with rolling updates at the bottom of the screen?

It seems that the question we each need to ask ourselves is: which side am I on? Do we stand with victims' families and try to honor their loved ones by passing legislation in an effort to prevent future killings, as many Newtown families begged Congress to do?

Ah. Of course. Bailey’s not concerned about the Chicago shootings. Why would she be? They won’t advance her agenda one little bit.

Her agenda being, as Jeff Goldstein points out, 'ghoulishly barnacling herself to the corpses of the dead' in order to advance her gun-grabbing desire:

Or we remain more concerned about having "my guns"? Do we stand up and demand that members of Congress quit caving to a special interest group that does not represent the majority of the American public? And if Congress does cave again, have the courage to hit the pavement and throw them out of office when their time comes?

Well, you see, Bailey, that ‘throwing them out of office’ trick can work both ways, can’t it?