Jack Burns Lives!

A right wing gunman, spurred on my blathering right wing talk show hosts shoots and kills people in a Unitarian Church in Knoxville. A Wesleyan University student is gunned down while at work by an obsessed and rejected admirer. An abortion doctor is murdered, shot down in cold blood by a right wing nutjob, and now a security guard is killed at the Holocaust Museum by another nutjob, this time a freaking skinhead. Add in all of the other mindless shootings at schools and other places over the past few years, and you have to start asking yourself, can this ever be solved?

We’re not getting rid of guns, I can tell you that. Won’t happen, especially in the South. Does that mean we all walk around armed to the gills? What kind of society is that? Oh, wait. I forgot. It’s the one we already have, a society of violence, perpetuated by glorified violence in film, tee-vee and so-called sports like “ultimate fighting.” It’s like being back in the Roman Coliseum.

But you know, maybe Little Bill was right. Remember Gene Hackman’s character in Unforgiven, the hard nosed Sheriff that didn’t allow firearms in the town of Big Whiskey? If you brought a gun to Big Whiskey and didn’t check it with the Sheriff, you stood a good chance of getting kicked so hard you’d end up wearin’ your ass for a hat. And there’s a lot of statistics that show that gun control in the Old West clearly worked. Just compare the homicide rates in the famous old cattle drive towns to some of today’s figures in places like Memphis and Detroit.

If you outlaw guns only the outlaws will have them? Perhaps. Ed Abbey was a gun owner and wrote pretty persuasively about gun ownership. I own guns, as well, and I don’t know a single gun owner that would ever commit mindless acts of violence like these. I know I wouldn’t. I’ve been around guns my whole life, and I can’t imagine ever doing such a thing. Living on Mars seems more plausible.

Would these people all be alive today had they been armed? Most likely not, but who knows. I assume the security guard was armed, since another one on the scene returned fire. But if these wackos really wanted to kill their targets, knowing their targets were armed probably wouldn’t stop them. They could just use long range rifles, so it would possibly only slow them down.

They’re sick, mean people and as expected, they’re all men!

One thing I do know is that I’m sick and tired of hearing about this kind of stuff. I’m sick and tired of violence against women and children. I want it stopped, and I don’t want to dally around with the guilty. Let’s get on with a fast trial and string ‘em up. They don’t deserve the dignity of a firing squad.

I break with nearly all of my liberal friends on this point, and no, I’m not feeling real progressive right now. I’m starting to feel like I’m getting drawn into the cycle of violence. My esteemed liberal friends tell me the death penalty perpetuates the cycle of violence. Yes, I agree it does, but only to a point, because once the freak show murderer is put down like a rabid dog, he’s no longer a threat to commit more acts of violence. Prison? He can be violent there, as well, while you and I pay for it. Placing more people in prisons isn’t stopping the rising rate of this type of violence. Education? Well, look at our public educational system today and please tell me how its working. I think this is learned behavior and the result of mental illness, possibly brought on by multiple traumas in the lives of the perpetrators, but can these people be helped? Who’s paying for that? Are their statistics supporting rehabilitation of murderers? If so, I’d like to see those. Until then, sorry, I’m not willing to pay for the treatment, especially if they killed someone in my family.

What about executing innocent people? Yes, that’s a problem. Maybe we only execute people where we have irrefutable evidence, like you’re surrounded by police, gun in hand and still shooting. Of course, in that case, I hope the police just blow the guy to hell right there on the spot. I’d even go for the old ley fuga. “Sorry, amigo. He was trying to escape.”

We might as well face up to the fact that there are some bad eggs in our society that can’t be helped. I hate it, and I’m torn, but I’m also sick of coddling cowardly killers, rapists and child abusers. As Ed Abbey would say “It’s hard, but it’s fair.”

Now, the big question. Does executing these people solve the problem? No, it doesn’t. So, I’m back to square one, not having any idea as to how to curb this insane violence. If I had a good, original idea about how to go about it, I supposed I’d be up for the Nobel. But I’m not that smart. I’m just a redneck with average intelligence, and about all I’ve done with this rant is fuel my own thirst for revenge, which is never a good thing. I’ve come back full circle to a point of despair, realizing this is all so terribly ugly and horribly sad.

There are people planning more attacks right now. They have targets identified in their cowardly, deranged pea sized brains and are probably just waiting for the right moment. Maybe all it will take is a little prod from Bill O’Reilly or their pastor.

Which brings me to another point. I want to personally thank all you jackass right wing blathering fools for egging on these types. Talk show hosts, preachers and their ilk. You’ve all got blood on your hands, and you deserve a kick in the nuts. I hope you’re put out of business and ostracized from polite society. Go find a cave to live in and shut the fuck up, because you’re making life miserable for everyone.