Politics of Hatred & Rage
The tragic and terrible Uvalde shooting yesterday was a truly heinous and depraved crime. Details are still coming to light regarding the facts of the matter, and they probably will continue to do so over the next several days at least. Although currently comparatively little is known, some things have been made clear. We know the mass murderer killed twenty-one human beings—nineteen of which were children. We know the age of the mass murderer—eighteen—and that he was killed. We know that the last two mass shootings happened less than two weeks ago. And we know that our society wasted no time jumping into political attacks.
As long-time readers of Socrates’s Introspections might have guessed by now, I am a Republican. But that does not matter right now. Be you Republican or Democrat or Independent, it does not matter right now. A healthy society would have firstly come together to mourn the loss of life that occurred, the children that were gunned down. Long after the dust had settled and all evidence had been examined should our society and especially lawmakers have—rationally and respectfully—discussed how best to ensure that this never happens again. But this is what a healthy society would have done: and our society is not healthy.
Instead, almost immediately Democrats and Republicans fell along party lines and began not only to push party politics and play the blame game, but to attack each other, whether it be by party or by name. The president of the United States blamed the “gun lobby,” and called for restrictions on that most useful and vague term, “assault weapons.” He warned those who “obstruct or delay or block the common sense gun laws” that “we will not forget.” Meanwhile, Democrats such as AOC accused Republicans of supporting laws that, “let children be shot in their schools, elders in grocery stores, worshippers in their houses of faith, survivors by abusers, or anyone in a crowded place.” As one might expect from her, she did not cite any specific law. Nevertheless, other Democrats positively leaped at the opportunity to deride their ideological opponents and/or push for gun control, such as: Chris Murphy, Bernie Sanders, Gavin Newsom, and Ilhan Omar, among others.
Yet, Democrats were not the only politicians to act in such a low manner. I could not help but notice as I looked through social media after the attack that there were also supposed Republicans and conservatives seizing on the chance to blast those who would defund police and ban guns. Whether or not I agreed with those opinions is immaterial. No matter what the politics are of those who rush to wax politics on a still-warm soap box, their actions are equally foul.
It is, I think, a sign of the illness of the culture that our society is so often tempted into pursuing rhetorical strategies such as this so soon after tragedy. If we are not careful and quick to check this rising politicization, it will surely consume our entire society.
America Forever,
Socrates Finch