Mass shootings and gun violence are happening way too often

[fraurosena]

What an asinine little shit!
How dare he use the deaths of seventeen children to attempt to deflect attention away from his treasonous ass!   

Trump Blames Florida School Shooting on Russia Probe

Quote

Just one day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians for allegedly interfering in the 2016 election, President Donald Trump suggested on Twitter that the ongoing Russia investigation was the reason the FBI didn’t prevent Wednesday’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.

“Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter,” Trump wrote late Saturday night. “This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.” He added that the FBI should “get back to the basics.”

On Friday, the FBI acknowledged that it had received a tip about the alleged shooter earlier this year and that the agency had failed to follow up on this information or pass it along to its Miami field office. But the idea that Mueller’s Russia investigation was the reason for this failure is simply nonsensical. The bureau employs more than 30,000 people and is obviously capable of conducting numerous investigations at the same time.

Despite the fact that two Trump campaign associates—George Papadopoulos and Michael Flynn—have already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about their contacts involving Russia, the idea that the probe is distracting federal investigators from more important work quickly gained traction on the right in the wake of the shooting.

 

[fraurosena]

I think @Curious mentioned this young lady's wonderful speech in the main presidunce thread. She makes one hopeful that the next generation will finally topple the rule of the old white men.

Here's another student speaking eloquently and intelligently. 

 

 

[Curious]

5 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

I think @Curious mentioned this young lady's wonderful speech in the main presidunce thread. She makes one hopeful that the next generation will finally topple the rule of the old white men.

Here's another student speaking eloquently and intelligently. 

 

 

1

Ah, you found 2 of the 3 I was talking about.  I don't think I've heard this one with the boy.  These kids are literally going to change the world.

[GrumpyGran]

24 minutes ago, Curious said:

Ah, you found 2 of the 3 I was talking about.  I don't think I've heard this one with the boy.  These kids are literally going to change the world.

Yeah, David was very impressive, I saw him when they were interviewing him. All of these people were impressive and these kids are fearless. But I guess they have to be to go to school.

[VelociRapture]

38 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

I think @Curious mentioned this young lady's wonderful speech in the main presidunce thread. She makes one hopeful that the next generation will finally topple the rule of the old white men.

Here's another student speaking eloquently and intelligently. 

 

 

I believe David is a student journalist. If I’m thinking of the right student, then he’s the one who thought to interview his fellow students as they were hiding in a room or closet during the shooting. I haven’t seen those interviews... but just... wow... to have the presence of mind to realize people needed to know what a shooting was really like as it’s happening and to have the ability to stay so calm in such a dangerous situation... there are adults who aren’t capable of that. 

The reaction to this shooting does seem very different from others to be honest. With Sandy Hook the students involved were all far too young to take a prominent role in the discussion afterwards, so their parents and other adults had to do it for them. Adults are easy targets for the true gun nuts (not the reasonable gun owners) to tear down and dismiss... but they can’t exactly do that as easily to teenagers, especially teenagers that are from a nice area and who are white. It’s easy for a lot of people to ignore gun violence when the teenagers killed are black or Hispanic or from a less than “picturesque” neighborhood, but it’s much more difficult to do that when the kids begging for change look like your own children because it drives home that no child in this country is safe anymore.

I hate that that’s true and I so wish more people would listen seriously to minority communities who have spoken out prior to this, but maybe these kids can do a bit of good that others haven’t been able to. 

[fraurosena]

I've been reading a couple of calls for voters to start boycotting any politician (regardless of affiliation) that is backed by the NRA. I hope everyone does. It's the only way to end the grip that atrocious organization has on politics, and to end the senseless bloodshed of innocents.

[GrumpyGran]

58 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

I believe David is a student journalist. If I’m thinking of the right student, then he’s the one who thought to interview his fellow students as they were hiding in a room or closet during the shooting. I haven’t seen those interviews... but just... wow... to have the presence of mind to realize people needed to know what a shooting was really like as it’s happening and to have the ability to stay so calm in such a dangerous situation... there are adults who aren’t capable of that. 

The reaction to this shooting does seem very different from others to be honest. With Sandy Hook the students involved were all far too young to take a prominent role in the discussion afterwards, so their parents and other adults had to do it for them. Adults are easy targets for the true gun nuts (not the reasonable gun owners) to tear down and dismiss... but they can’t exactly do that as easily to teenagers, especially teenagers that are from a nice area and who are white. It’s easy for a lot of people to ignore gun violence when the teenagers killed are black or Hispanic or from a less than “picturesque” neighborhood, but it’s much more difficult to do that when the kids begging for change look like your own children because it drives home that no child in this country is safe anymore.

I hate that that’s true and I so wish more people would listen seriously to minority communities who have spoken out prior to this, but maybe these kids can do a bit of good that others haven’t been able to. 

I love these kids so much, Emma, David, they are about to become the voices of the next generation. This actually gives me hope. They are young, not jaded yet, and so well-spoken. Nancy Cordes just had them on CBS. Now she's skewering Trey Gowdy, who is not that great of a dancer.

[fraurosena]

The third teenager's speech.

 

[fraurosena]

 

[fraurosena]

I'm reposting this on FJ too, although it's been posted here before. 

 

[Black Aliss]

7 hours ago, fraurosena said:

What an asinine little shit!
How dare he use the deaths of seventeen children to attempt to deflect attention away from his treasonous ass!   

Trump Blames Florida School Shooting on Russia Probe

 

Right. The FBI did not follow up on an anonymous call to their hotline about a comment someone made on his youtube video. I wonder how many anonymous tips like this they receive and what percentage of them are just someone being pissed off at someone else.

OTOH, Florida's human services office (DCF) was notified repeatedly by teachers and others regarding their concerns about the shooter, they sent someone to talk to him a few times and determined he did not pose a threat to himself or to others.

[WiseGirl]

On 2/15/2018 at 12:09 PM, VelociRapture said:

I’m ridiculously proud that none of the Connecticut politicians have accepted money from the NRA. 

 

Chris Murphy is one of my Senators. I can’t speak for other Democratic politicians, but I can assure you that both Murphy and Senator Richard Blumenthal take gun control very seriously. They were both in office (or at least had been elected) when Sandy Hook occurred and the deaths of those children and educators deeply affected them both. I honestly have no doubts about how hard both my Senators have worked to protect people here. I’m both grateful and proud to be represented by them. 

Me too. I hope their legislation gets to go through one day sooner rather than later. It's time. 

I hope these young students start an impactful movement. 

And on another note, as a teacher,  no way in hell do I want to be armed in school nor do I want my colleagues to be.

[VixenToast]

I heard there will be rallies for gon control on March 24 on NPR this AM. Did anyone else hear that? I want to go to one.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

2 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

 

OTOH, Florida's human services office (DCF) was notified repeatedly by teachers and others regarding their concerns about the shooter, they sent someone to talk to him a few times and determined he did not pose a threat to himself or to others

This needs to be investigated, it was either negligence or incompetence.

[Demonfan]

I have spent the last 10 years working for a non profit that provides mental health services to those who could not otherwise afford it. I have to say that I hate that Trump has tried to deflect the issue of gun control by using mental health as a scape goat. As a country we need  enact laws that control who can own guns, what type of guns can be bought and how many. We ALSO need to provide access to comprehensive mental health care. There are far too many young people not getting the help they need. 

[Rosalie]

50 minutes ago, VixenToast said:

I heard there will be rallies for gon control on March 24 on NPR this AM. Did anyone else hear that? I want to go to one.

March for Our Lives

[GrumpyGran]

15 minutes ago, Rosalie said:

March for Our Lives

I hope there will be local marches.

[Demonfan]

Lil' Demon 2 just informed me that the students at his high school are planning a demonstration. More info to follow. Young people give me great hope.

[Destiny]

I hope there will be local marches.

This. I will go.

[fraurosena]

How messed up must you be to even think it would be a good idea to let third graders sell raffle tickets for an AK-15 in the first place, let alone just after 17 kids were murdered by such a weapon?

This is fucking insane! This guy should be prohibited from working with children an locked up in a mental institution. 

[GreyhoundFan]

5 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

Right. The FBI did not follow up on an anonymous call to their hotline about a comment someone made on his youtube video. I wonder how many anonymous tips like this they receive and what percentage of them are just someone being pissed off at someone else.

I was listening to my local newsradio station this afternoon. They mentioned that the FBI tips call center gets in the neighborhood of 300K tips every year. That's a lot of sorting out real calls from revenge calls.

[fraurosena]

If you thought the NRA only influences politics through donations, think again. Just read the letter in Alyssa Milano’s tweet, and you’ll see the low-grade bullying tactics they employ to any candidate running for office.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Another tone-deaf politician: "Maryland statehouse hopeful says he’ll still hold gun raffle"

Spoiler

BALTIMORE (AP) — A candidate for a Maryland House seat has pledged to hold a campaign fundraiser that includes raffling off an AR-15 assault rifle, the same type used in the Florida school shooting this week.

The Baltimore Sun reported Friday that Aaron Penman, a Republican, said he still planned to hold the Saturday night event despite fielding criticism.

The Facebook page for the event says all gun winners must complete state and federal background checks.

Dozens of people posted negative comments on Penman’s Facebook page, citing the shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead.

Penman, who is a sheriff’s deputy, said canceling the event would be an infringement on the Second Amendment. He also conveyed his “heartfelt sorrow” to the victims in Florida.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Aunt Crabby AND Betty White, what a great combo:

[apple1]

13 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Aunt Crabby AND Betty White, what a great combo:

Love it.

ETA: I posted that - and I love the thought of it - but after the fact decided that I should try to verify it before sharing it elsewhere. Unfortunately I cannot find evidence that Betty actually said that (maybe she did, but I couldn't find it).