Divide
Edited on 3-14-2018; Grammatically
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Another act of gun violence was recently committed. The amount of civil and political unrest in this country has gone too far. The violence during the Presidential elections was concerning and it has now grown into this and it will not just simply disappear.
James T. Hodgkinson opened fire on a Congressional baseball team's practice in Alexandria, Virginia. Reports say he asked if the people on the field were Republicans before firing rounds. His Facebook profile was filled with anti-Trump posts and news articles as well.
This shooting was clearly motivated by Mr. Hodgkinson's own personal political beliefs. Regardless of your political affiliation, there are some things that I feel need to be pointed out about this incident.
The first thing is, in this day and age, you don't have to wait long to find information regarding these incidents. I am merely another private American citizen and even I have enough information to come up with my own viewpoint on this shooting within 24-hours of it occurring, all thanks to social media platforms.
The first thought I had was not his political ideology.
Of course, those who seek attention and think this is all about politics don't gain clearance to enter into my mental airspace. I was reading the details on Twitter as they were unfolding and I had the genuine pleasure of blocking several accounts belonging to the sensationalists, extremists, and flat out askew personalities and their wrong-headed beliefs.
I think in this day and age if you want to find your own way through fake news, the best rule to implement is the 24-hour rule.
If you are expressing your political views based on this shooting less than 24-hours after first responders, local news stations, and national media can reveal any details, I'm not interested in what you have to say.
If you're expressing clearly politized, "The Left vs. The Right" style viewpoints the same day as the shooting, I won't bother to tell these archetypes not to politize it.
First, because it is who they are regardless of trying to be reasonable with them.
Second, if I tell you to not think about elephants, what are you thinking about?
Beyond the ridiculous over-politicization of this incident, my concerns go out to the victims, their families, and friends.
My personal concerns are the same as they always have been after a shooting. I was still attending High School when my first public mass-shooting happened, it was the Columbine shooting.
America watched in horror as the Columbine shooting unfolded. There was no Fox News or MSNBC to interview any Tom, Dick, or Harry off the street to come onto their set and yell about President Obama or President Trump.
The majority of the media talked about Marilyn Manson and Eminem, in the aftermath of Columbine. Here we are, 18 years later, Marilyn Manson and Eminem both considerably off this generation's musical radar and these shootings are still occurring.
I think it is time for people to start talking about the real common ground that the majority of these incidents have.
Access and availability of mental health resources and lack of gun control measures.
Maybe we'll get lucky this time around and someone with far more power and influence than myself will take to social media and get something done.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Another act of gun violence was recently committed. The amount of civil and political unrest in this country has gone too far. The violence during the Presidential elections was concerning and it has now grown into this and it will not just simply disappear.
James T. Hodgkinson opened fire on a Congressional baseball team's practice in Alexandria, Virginia. Reports say he asked if the people on the field were Republicans before firing rounds. His Facebook profile was filled with anti-Trump posts and news articles as well.
This shooting was clearly motivated by Mr. Hodgkinson's own personal political beliefs. Regardless of your political affiliation, there are some things that I feel need to be pointed out about this incident.
The first thing is, in this day and age, you don't have to wait long to find information regarding these incidents. I am merely another private American citizen and even I have enough information to come up with my own viewpoint on this shooting within 24-hours of it occurring, all thanks to social media platforms.
The first thought I had was not his political ideology.
Of course, those who seek attention and think this is all about politics don't gain clearance to enter into my mental airspace. I was reading the details on Twitter as they were unfolding and I had the genuine pleasure of blocking several accounts belonging to the sensationalists, extremists, and flat out askew personalities and their wrong-headed beliefs.
I think in this day and age if you want to find your own way through fake news, the best rule to implement is the 24-hour rule.
If you are expressing your political views based on this shooting less than 24-hours after first responders, local news stations, and national media can reveal any details, I'm not interested in what you have to say.
If you're expressing clearly politized, "The Left vs. The Right" style viewpoints the same day as the shooting, I won't bother to tell these archetypes not to politize it.
First, because it is who they are regardless of trying to be reasonable with them.
Second, if I tell you to not think about elephants, what are you thinking about?
Beyond the ridiculous over-politicization of this incident, my concerns go out to the victims, their families, and friends.
My personal concerns are the same as they always have been after a shooting. I was still attending High School when my first public mass-shooting happened, it was the Columbine shooting.
America watched in horror as the Columbine shooting unfolded. There was no Fox News or MSNBC to interview any Tom, Dick, or Harry off the street to come onto their set and yell about President Obama or President Trump.
The majority of the media talked about Marilyn Manson and Eminem, in the aftermath of Columbine. Here we are, 18 years later, Marilyn Manson and Eminem both considerably off this generation's musical radar and these shootings are still occurring.
I think it is time for people to start talking about the real common ground that the majority of these incidents have.
Access and availability of mental health resources and lack of gun control measures.
Maybe we'll get lucky this time around and someone with far more power and influence than myself will take to social media and get something done.
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