Monday Morning
Some people are real and some people are not. Some people are only real by association; they matter if we know them, or we know someone who does, or we look like them. Solidarity is situational. I am boggled by all the people who have the solutions to things like Orlando at their fingertips; they tell me if only an armed trained professional had
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Also I think there's a strong element of "ME" in all these reactions - everyone is reacting as if it's about them. Does this mean MY ability to own a gun is in danger? How does this impact MY agenda, whether it's gun control or a gun rights or gay marriage.
No one seems to have room any more for empathy, for thinking about how the people in the middle of it are feeling. There are people who have lost family members, lovers, close friends. Then there are the responders. I don't see a whole lot of thought going to how this has to be hitting the people there - the SWAT team who killed the shooter, but have to be wondering if they could have saved more lives by doing something a little differently, the overwhelmed EMTs trying to decide who they might have a change of saving, and the hospital staff.
And as for the "good guy with a gun" theory, there are scenarios where it might have helped. This was not one of them. Anyone who pulls out that particular chestnut is ignoring the fact that the perpetrator was a security professional. He probably had *better* training than the off-duty police officer who was in the club. It's rare that the average police officer fires his weapon in the line of duty. They're not soldiers. They aren't supposed to be.
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