Let me apologize to those of you who come here for a little break from the outer world, to see some art and hear some music. I know that is why I write this blog, to help myself better formulate and share a world that seems far removed from the worries and horrors of reality. But I am not immune to the intrusions of the world and because these events affect me, they affect my work. So I feel compelled to comment, to vent, to bellow…

I don’t want to write anything about the mass shooting that took place in Las Vegas. Like the shooting itself,  it seems senseless. Why not just rerun one of the many other posts I have written in the aftermath of other mass shootings that have taken place in America?

It’s the same old crap.

There are lawmakers who send out thoughts and prayers to the victims and families. Yeah, a lot of good those thoughts and prayers have done in the past. But I guess they’re easier to produce than the resolve and action required to do something that might prevent the need for future thoughts and prayers.

Then there are the politicians and talking heads on the cable news channels who will say that this is not the time to talk about gun control, to address the problem. Where did that defense come from? I might be wrong here but it seems to me that this might be the very best time to discuss a problem, before fatigue and memory fades. And we do get tired from seeing these things and our recollection of these events do fade.  But let’s not talk about it now. We are governed by lawmakers who are much more loyal and dedicated to their donors rather than their constituents and the country as whole. Statesmanship and compromise are seemingly something from a past era.

As is normal in these events, the NRA and the lawmakers who help themselves to their ample funds will suddenly be nowhere to be seen for awhile. Crickets…

Then, of course, gun company stocks shoot ever higher because of the fear that this time there might be real change in gun control. So investors know that the American public will rush to gun dealers and grab even more Guns in the hysterical belief that more guns will somehow protect them. Fear is a great sales tool and yesterday was a very good day for gun companies on the stock market and in the gun shops.

Then there are those who will come out and say this is an act that goes against everything this country stands for. Yesterday, I heard an interview with a popular country music duo and in it they said that this was an attack on America. All I could think  is that this is America now, this is who we are, this is the face we send out to the world. We come across as gun crazy, easily swayed and distracted, afraid, and prone to reactionary violence.

This is America.

And usually there are those twits who will say that if there had been more guns the event could have been lessened somehow, like they would suddenly become some movie action hero who would stand, impervious to a hail of bullets, and calmly plunk the shooter with a single shot. Well, this event is the ultimate disclaimer to that stupidity. Even if every cowboy in the crowd had been packing two guns on their hips and one in their boot, they would have been equally helpless against this onslaught. Unless there were sniper rifles on the ground  ready to go into action, any sidearm would be useless from a shooter located a 1/3 of a mile away and above them.

The new element here is Bill O’Reilly saying yesterday that these shootings are simply the “price of freedom.” That’s a new one on me. I tend to think of them as being the price for stupidity, irresponsibility and delusion.

Maybe that is freedom for O’Reilly. And maybe in America now, that has become the definition of freedom.

I don’t want to believe that.

But until I see some evidence to the contrary, I am beginning to think it’s true.

Tomorrow, back to regularly scheduled programming. I promise.