Last night I went to what I thought would be a vigil for the Orlando shooting victims at Candida's. It turned out to be a anti-gun rally, and political speech opportunity for the valley politicians. Perhaps none took more advantage of the event than Ed Pawlowski. He kept asking if the crowd was with him and when is enough, enough? He hasn't been cheered like that lately. He was also one of the most ill-informed about firearms, referring to the AR-15 as an automatic weapon. I could tell that he thinks that the gun functions like a machine gun. However, needless to say, he was speaking to the choir. While every speaker addressed gun control, not one called the shooting what it actually was, Islamic terror at a gay club. I believe that if the gay club door was locked, the terrorist would have gone somewhere else, and killed non-gay people.
Now, I understand that homophobia is a very real thing. I also understand that there has been mass shootings, unrelated to Islamic terrorism. I even believe that gun regulations should be tightened, and that it would not be a slippery slope against the 2nd Amendment. However, we jeopardize our security without acknowledging that Islamic terrorism was the main factor in this mass shooting.
Among those in attendance and speaking last evening were Ed Pawlowski, Peter Schweyer, Mike Schlossberg, Pat Brown and Charlie Dent.
A knee-jerk progressive reaction. Blame the gun, not the motivation of the person behind it.
ReplyDeleteI forget, how many times did the FBI investigate the shooter? And why wasn't he arrested? This would never have happened under J Edgar Hoover
dave@5:58, after candida's, i spoke with charlie dent specifically on that question. although the shooter was a person of interest, nothing about him apparently warranted arrest. even then, only an actual conviction prohibits gun ownership, under the law. i believe that tighter scrutiny of radicals is warranted by numerous recent events. i also believe that full access to 2nd amendment rights should be curtailed for these individuals. i lack details on how to implement such changes, and some uncertainly about how much it will curtail the violence.
ReplyDeleteIs there any life form lower than that of the pandering politician? That said, did anyone there bother to remember the Bataclan theater in Paris? Europe has disarmed its citizens for decades. That didn't stop the slaughter there did it. So why would it make a difference here? It wouldn't but for the low life pandering politicians that doesn't matter. They will use every event, even tragedies, to burnish there own images as caring leaders and problem solvers. Those in the crowd should have know better and called them out rather than stand by politely.
ReplyDeleteIn America the question for the Gay community has been about legalizing Gay marriage.In many Islamic Sharia law countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,Afghanistan,Somalia,Egypt, Pakistan... the question for Gay people is what will happen if people find out they are gay.
scott@7:50, if only they "had stood by politely" i would not have written this post. the crowd embraced gun control and homophobia as the cause and effect of the tragedy in orlando. none of them considered the Islamic feature as the relevant factor. needless to say, one would be hard pressed to find a more liberal group.
ReplyDeleteMr. Molovinsky, I couldn't agree anymore. The real threat here is radical islam. Even if Omar Marteen couldn't get guns, he likely would have tried a suicide bombing or something. What would these liberal leaning people be saying then? Would be calling for explosives controls like we do for guns???
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, this tragedy has shown the darker side of progressive politics. At least amoungst the younger crowd. For some progressives muslims rank higher on their oppression scale than gay people do now. I've seen tons of delusional "Social justice warriors" say things, "this wasn't motivated by islam, it was homophobia". The cognitive dissonance is astounding, to say the least, as well as appalling.
As someone who is gay themselves, this attack shocked me to very core, but on the other hand it didn't surprise me. I had suspicion that ISIS would attack gay event/gathering someday given their hatred of gay people.
To conclude, We've reached peak political correctness, people are fed up with it, be it in the LGBT community, or at large, people realize radical islam is a serious threat, meanwhile the powers that be would rather stick their head in the sand and ignore the issue of islamic radicals. They will regret this. As This is by no means American-centric. With the UK likely leaving the EU in 10 days, right wing politicians are gaining popularity accross europe. The entire word is waking up on this issue. They are seeing the true ugly side of Islam and what it can do to a western society. The ruling classes everywhere are panicking over this, and are doubling down instead of listening to the will of the people. It will be their undoing. The world will be an entirely different place in as little as a year.
My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.
ReplyDeleteThe AR-15 is a military grade weapon. It should not be available to civilians. Ever.
If those innocent first graders at Sandy Hook didn't demonstrate the need to ban the AR-15 and other weapons of its caliber, nothing will. I feel like politicians will once again use this tragedy for their own advantage, all while doing nothing to combat the problem.
I don't understand why we would sell these weapons freely, knowing that homegrown radical Islamic fanatics (as well as any other psycho of any other ilk) can buy them and kill whomever they like. This was a hate crime. This was a homophobic crime. This was a homegrown criminal. This was a radical Islamic crime. This was many things, and all Americans are victimized.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteWhat we are witnessing here is the old tactic of uniting minority populations against the majority. This is exactly how the European powers successfully colonized the middle east and Africa. They empowered and united the minority populations against the majority population. Once in power the minority populations had no choice but to do the bidding of their masters for if they ever lost power they would be destroyed by the vengeful majority.
Look at Syria today, it is a relic of that system Assad is the leader of the controlling minority populations, Shiite, Christian, ethnic Kurds..., against the majority Sunni population. There is no way to surrender without a bloodbath of reprisal. That's why they will fight to the death.
In America the Democratic Party has successfully employed this same strategy. They have united many minority populations on the fact that they are minorities. That is all they have in common, but the Democrats use victimization to unite them against the majority who they portray as "oppressors". This is exactly where America is today and why one minority, Gays, will never blame another minority , Muslims for anything, even this horrific shooting. Instead everything must be the fault of the majority. Hence the Democrat's gun control answer to a radical Muslim shooting people because they are Gay; use that tragedy to again vilify the majority/ 2amendment supporters/NRA/Conservatives. It is all very cynical and self serving.
When Muslim terrorists attacked innocent people in Paris and Brussels, the governments there went after the terrorists.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when a Muslim Terrorist here kills 50 people in a nightclub, the first instinct of government is to go after the right of the people to protect themselves using firearms.
If a madman wants to kill innocent people, they will find a way. Remember, the 9/11 terrorists used box cutters and knives.
YEAH ED when is when is enough, enough?
ReplyDeleteDesperately clinging to any straw in the whirlpool..even a multi-fatality shooting event.
PS The 9/11 terrorists used public ignorance and the sheer inconceivability of using a loaded jet to fly into a building. The box cutters etc could have been anything.
ReplyDeletePSS AR-15s are not fully auto, therefore NOT military grade.
ReplyDeleteThey are not machine guns.
And this: LGBTI people need to ARM themselves. From terrorists, bathroom Nazis, and everyday thugs. ACT UP NY and other organizations are beginning to espouse this thought process much more openly. My transgender daughter will be armed for just these reasons. So there may be a hidden constituency in the LGBTI community for 2nd amendment rights.
ReplyDeleteSurprise, surprise.
pepper@12:09, if AR-15's were illegal, unfortunately, all these shootings would have still occurred. the AR-15 is made to resemble the army M-16, but functions no difference than any other semi- auto rifle, of which there are dozens. the premise of this blog post is that gun control was not the factor in this mass killing, and certainly the AR-15 is not a real issue in gun control.
ReplyDeleteYou mean Christian wedding cake bakers are not the #1 enemy of gays in America? One would never have known by listening to the media in recent months.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the report of this shooting my first thought was "was no one there armed?". This was not just an attack on gay people but on Americans. We need Americans, gay or not, to embrace their God given right of self defense and arm themselves. It doesn't mean these attacks will end but it will make the terrorist think twice. It may sound as an oxymoron, but, I know many Christians that carry even at church. It's about being prepared.
ReplyDeleteNot letting a good crisis go to waste, we see the debate shifted to gun control and LBGT issues. There are so many ways to kill large numbers of people very quickly, its people who need to be controlled , not guns. This guy looked at Disneyland and the night club. The softest target was the nightclub, at 2 am large numbers of people , tired and possibly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, in an confined area with only 1 way in and out. his choice is a no brainer. If Americans are so out of touch that they are willing to be distracted by political opportunists when their lives are at risk, it is just another symptom of the mass insanity of the times.
ReplyDeleteRay Nemeth Sr., you need to read up on the asshole who did the mass shooting in Orlando. HE FREQUENTED THE CLUB AS A PATRON. He was a closeted gay man, whose own inner hatred of himself-driven by society's attitudes such as yours- slowly drove him insane. YES it is a gun control issue. A Wal-Mart in Texas just TODAY had a hostage situation and the gunman eventually was killed. This happens EVERY day here.
ReplyDeleteTo insist gun control is not on the table is to be in denial or to be complicit to our country's continued mass shootings.