At a news conference last night in Las Vegas authorities told the media Stephen Paddock fired on the 22,000, or so people gathered below and across the street from his hotel room for nine to 11 minutes. Their estimate is based on the moment the first 911 call came into dispatch until converging police heard the last shots ring out from the 32nd floor suite at the Mandalay Bay.
If the second number is correct it means the sick twist murdered 58 human beings during what is approximately the same amount of time it takes to get from one ad to the next on a network television sitcom. To put it another way, his kill rate was over five people per minute.
While, at this moment, we still don't know why he did it--other than he was nuts--we certainly know how. Police found 23 different weapons in his hotel room. 12 of them were fitted with what is known as, "bump stocks," which allows a semi automatic weapon to become, for all intents and purposes, a machine gun.
They also found a load of ammonium nitrate in his car and 24 other firearms spread out over two properties he owned in the state. For those not familiar with ammonium nitrate it's a fertilizer which, when mixed in the proper proportions with diesel fuel, becomes an explosive. It was Tim McVeigh's weapon of choice when he brought down the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Now comes the uniquely American part. All those weapons, a vast cache of unused ammunition which was uncovered in Mesquite, NV and Reno, and yes, even the "bump stocks" can be legally purchased in the United States.
That's correct, right up until he committed an act of vandalism by smashing out two hotel windows in order to get a clear field of fire, Steve Paddock hadn't broken a single law.
Two things happened almost immediately as soon as the smoke cleared. First, a few of the ever shrinking number of progressive politicians left in congress and elsewhere began to call for meaningful gun control laws. Or at least a ban on those fucking, "bump stocks."
Just as predictably the right wing media, led by vile monsters such as Sean Hannity, began to howl about liberals, "politicizing" the nightmare, "before the bodies are even in the ground." Their argument being we need to take time to honor and remember the dead, before we begin to debate gun control.
It is the same crass dodge we've heard before. It's also wildly hypocritical. Take a look at what the same wankers were saying about Muslim immigrants within a few hours of the mass shooting at the Pulse night club in Orlando a year and a half ago. Last night they were headed in the same direction. Their desperation to link Paddock to ISIS, or some other terrorist group was absolutely palpable.
In fact, the only conservative bobble head who is currently willing to express the true reality of right wing philosophy is the notorious sexual predator, Bill O'Reilly. He issued a statement which said the shooting was simply the price we pay for freedom in this country.
Yes ma'am, your daughter died at a country music concert so the rest of us can own and carry as many guns as we want. A grateful nation thanks you for her sacrifice.
For God's sake who are these foul mutants?
Will one of you evil cranks please tell us when would be a good time to talk about gun control? Give us a fucking date. Personally, other than Saturdays, I'm free the rest of this month and all of next.
And just so there isn't any confusion, some of us don't give a rat's ass if Steve Paddock was a Muslim, a Wiccan, or a run amok Southern Baptist. What we do care about is that a bat shit crazy son of a bitch was able to legally amass more military grade weapons than the army of Luxembourg and buy, "bump stocks" as easily as he could ice cream cones.
See you at the next massacre, America. Trust me, given our track record, it's right around the corner.
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10-4-17
I have run out of ideas about these tragedies, and what to do about them. I do believe we have a perfect storm of negative circumstances in our country which have brought it on: Too many drugs, both legal and illegal, celebration of violence and other unhealthy behaviors, too much undisciplined behavior, a dying spirituality (churches have been steadily losing membership for a long time), and poor leadership and example from our nation's leaders. Its a wonder we are getting along as well as we are. I suppose it sounds like I'm being moralistic and thumping the hard right Bible. Perhaps it is time somebody did. Isn't that funny, Tom as the Voice in The Wilderness. I fear for our nation and its well-being in a way I never have before. I fear it is going to take something very harsh and severe to bring us back to our senses.
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