Uvalde Massacre Separates True Heroes From Cowards

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Son, They Shook: Uvalde Massacre Separates True Heroes From Cowards

 

Keith Reed

Fri, May 27, 2022, 10:03 AM

 

 

 

People gather at a memorial site to pay their respects for the victims killed in this week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Tough times, they say, make tough people. They also apparently make a good time for fake tough guys to expose themselves as cowards.

Examples are emerging as more details come to light about the massacre at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., and the responses of politicians, companies and cops in its wake. To be clear–and for purposes of the requisite disclaimer to pre-empt the Blue Lives crowd that’ll jump in my DMs after reading this–there were heroes in Uvalde.

The teachers who shepherded hundreds of children into locked classrooms and eventually out of the building while the killer wiped out their pupils and peers deserve every reward society can offer. The children who saved themselves and others by disguising themselves as cadavers using their expired classmates’ blood are avatars of bravery. The parents who stood up to feckless cops, including one mother who was reportedly handcuffed and uncuffed, only to scale a fence and rescue her own kids, have special places in heaven awaiting them. Likewise for the Border Patrol agents who eventually cut down the killer–assuming that the latest law enforcement version of events is actually true.

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But their heroics also expose the cowards who, until this week, were loud and proud about their stances on making money from guns, taking money from gun lobbyists and on the ever-fading myth of the valiant, hero cop. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Canadian weakling who took more money from the gun lobby than anyone else in Congress, ditched his Yosemite Sam act and ran for the hills after a reporter from Sky News didn’t accept his attempt to skirt a direct question about why only American kids get mowed down in their classrooms with AR-15s.

But we already knew Cruz was no stranger to running in a time of crisis.

Daniel Defense, the Georgia company which manufactured the guns that were bought legally and then used by the 18-year-old assassin in Uvalde, earlier this month proudly posted a grotesque image to its Twitter account of a little boy holding–you guessed it, an assault rifle. The caption? A Bible verse, Proverbs 22:6 specifically: “Train up a child in their way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

But after their product was used to extinguish 19 children’s opportunity to be trained up in any way possible, Daniel Defense lost its moxy and locked its Twitter account. They’ve also decided to pull out of participating in the NRA’s annual convention, which is unconscionably being held in Texas as we speak. No more scripture for them, although Revelations 21:8 comes to mind: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers…and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Which brings us back to the cops. It’d be wrong to paint every Uvalde officer with a broad brush, but the city’s police department has lots of explaining to do and so far, they’re failing that assignment. Videos have emerged of cops cuffing, tackling and otherwise restraining frantic parents while the shooter was still inside the school, alive. The local police’s initial story that the shooter was initially “engaged” before making his way inside now appears to be a fabrication.

It’s possible those changing stories could be the result of evolving information during a crisis of the magnitude that a small town department like Uvalde’s wasn’t capable of handling. But we also live in a time where die-hard police supporters continue to prop up the myth of superhero cops who always deserve the benefit of the doubt.

With 19 dead kids and grieving parents demanding answers about the police’s behavior in their final moments, that’s not a benefit we should be willing to extend here.

 

 

 

 

The parents who stood up to feckless cops, including one mother who was reportedly handcuffed and uncuffed, only to scale a fence and rescue her own kids, have special places in heaven awaiting them.

 

answer me this. how in the hell can we have fair gun control when politicians are drowning in gun lobby money?

 

 

 

 

newsweek.com

Full List of Republican Senators Who Receive Funding From the NRA

Ewan Palmer

4-6 minutes

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Which Republican Senators Have Received The Most Funding From The NRA?

The political influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA) is once again in the spotlight in the wake of the mass shooting at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The shooting reignited the debate regarding gun control laws in the U.S. after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at the Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.

While several Republicans tweeted after the shooting that they are offering their thoughts and prayers to the victims, others have pointed out that there are a number of GOP senators who have received millions of dollars of donations from the NRA over the years.

According to data compiled by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in 2019, about two dozen sitting Republican senators have received contributions from the NRA. Of those senators, 16 have received more than $1 million.

Topping the list is Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who received more than $13 million in NRA contributions. The NRA money donated to Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, was raised by a number of social media users after Romney tweeted his condolences in the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting.

"Grief overwhelms the soul. Children slaughtered. Lives extinguished. Parents' hearts wrenched. Incomprehensible," Romney wrote. "I offer prayer and condolence but know that it is grossly inadequate. We must find answers."

A combined image of senators reportedly bankrolled by the NRA. From left to right Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, Richard Burr and Roy Blunt. Getty

Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, tweeted in response to Romney: "Grief does not overwhelm the soul nearly as much as $13M from the NRA overwhelms your bank account. The answer you seek is the money you continue to take."

Broadcaster Soledad O'Brien added: "The NRA gave you just under 14 million dollars, sir. I frequently call this man a coward. Maybe one day the words he says and what he actually does, will match."

Senators Richard Burr and Roy Blunt followed Romney on the list of GOP lawmakers who received the highest amount of NRA contributions, with North Carolina's Burr receiving close to $7 million and Blunt of Missouri taking in over $4.5 million from the NRA.

Other Republicans who received significant money from the NRA include Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Ted Cruz, who is due to appear at an NRA meeting in Houston over the weekend, just days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, has received more than $175,000 from the group.

In the wake of the Uvalde massacre, Cruz has frequently pushed back on calls for gun law reforms in the only country in the world where school shootings regularly occur.

Republican Senators Who Receive Funding From the NRA

Mitt Romney (Utah) $13,647,676

Richard Burr (North Carolina) $6,987,380

Roy Blunt (Missouri) $4,555,722

Thom Tillis (North Carolina) $4,421,333

Marco Rubio (Florida) $3,303,355

Joni Ernst (Iowa) $3,124,773

Rob Portman (Ohio) $3,063,327

Todd C. Young (Indiana) $2,897,582

Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) $2,867,074

Tom Cotton (Arkansas) $1,968,714

Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) $1,475,448

Josh Hawley (Missouri) $1,391,548

Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) $1,306,130

Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) $1,269,486

Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) $1,267,139

Mike Braun (Indiana) $1,249,967

John Thune (South Dakota) $638,942

Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) $341,738

Richard Shelby (Alabama) $258,514

Chuck Grassley (Iowa) $226,007

John Neely Kennedy (Louisiana) $215,788

Ted Cruz (Texas) $176,274

Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) $146,262

Steve Daines (Montana) $123,711

Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) $109,547

Roger Wicker (Mississippi) $106,680

Rand Paul (Kentucky) $104,456

Mike Rounds (South Dakota) $95,049

John Boozman (Arkansas) $82,352

John Cornyn (Texas) $78,945

Ben Sasse (Nebraska) $68,623

Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma) $66,758

Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) $55,961

Mike Crapo (Idaho) $55,039

Jerry Moran (Kansas) $34,718

John Barrasso (Wyoming) $26,989

John Hoeven (North Dakota) $22,050

Susan Collins (Maine) $19,638

James Lankford (Oklahoma) $18,955

Jim Risch (Idaho) $18,850

Tim Scott (South Carolina) $18,513

Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) $13,255

Newsweek has reached out to Romney, Burr and Blunt, as well as a number of other senators on this list for comment.

 

 

 

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The gun culture is a culture of fearful cowards, exploited by their warped sense of nostalgia and corrupt politicians.

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