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My Heart is Heavy. | |
Posted June 13, 2016 - 13:05:03
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I used to write about Politics a lot more in this blog. I mean, I used to write a lot more in general, but even now it's a topic I avoid. Which is weird, right? I have a degree in Political Science and I used to write about politics all the time. I think this is because my blog now gets displayed on the pages for my two comics -- UnCONventional and The Chronicles of Crosarth -- and I'm afraid of offending the readers of those comics.
Well... the readers of one of those comics. I'm not too worried about the UnCONventional readers -- those people probably can guess my opinions pretty easily.
The tragedy in Orlando this last weekend was so severe though that I can't help but think of anything else. Omar Mateen, a US citizen who had a history of spousal abuse, walked into a gay nightclub with guns he had purchased legally and opened fire. It was the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history, and it's exhausting.
While Mateen claimed to have been acting in the name of ISIS, those closest to him claim he wasn't very religious. Even if he had been "radicalized," he was a homophobic and violent mad long before that.
And again, he was able to buy these guns legally.
And honest to god, I'm tired of it. Every single time a mass shooting happens, we point out that this doesn't happen in other countries, and that we need gun reform... and then nothing happens. I don't know if background checks would have stopped this incident, but it continues to be insane that it's easier to get a gun than a car in this country.
This needs to change.
But it won't. Because ever since the gun manufacturers took over the NRA, any chance of serious gun reform went away. And the pundits are going to misdirect - they're going to look at the claimed ISIS connection and ignore the extreme anti-LGBT+ atmosphere in this country.
But heck, the same people who have attacking LGBT+ rights over the last few years have tried to play disingenuous lip service to the victims.
This whole Presidential election has been exhausting. I've never been shy about my affiliation with the Democratic party, but I've never had problems maintaining friendships or working professionally with Republicans. Usually, while we fundamentally disagree on most issues, I at least know that candidates the other person supports are trying to do their best for the country.
I mean, sure -- I think they're wrong, but I know they have a vested interest in keeping the country from burning down.
This election hasn't been like that though. Even if you ignore Donald Trump's bigotry, rape accusations, and lack of experience running a successful business, his economic policies actually risk bankrupting the global economy. The only think Trump is good at is promoting the brand "Trump" -- which makes him so dangerous I can't even begin to explain it.
He's not someone who should be nominating a Supreme Court Justice, let alone be given the nuclear codes.
I know this is rambling, and later this week I'll do some "behind the scenes" posts from one of my comics to bounce this off the front pages of my sites... but right now I'm exhausted, and I'm really tired of feeling this way.
- Traegorn
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