I am sure that I will be pissing off many people, but I am sick of the political rhetoric and finger pointing after every mass shooting.  I am sick of race baiters and haters who turn a tragedy into an excuse to score political points.  And I am sick of listening to all mainstream media and cable news trying to justify their spin on partisan loyalty. Hardly has a shooter been caught or killed when the media, without any substantiated information start their own airwave bloviating in aid of partisanship. It is sickening. 

Discrepancy in reporting to fit political narratives turns on the volume on a division that has become dangerous to all Americans. The two mass murders were perpetrated by two nut cases.  Nobody can dispute that.  Although more emphasis has been put on who is to blame than the assholes who actually did the killing. Both creeps blamed society for their warped brain.  But according to law enforcement, not both seemed to have been racially motivated. However, both managed to cause havoc within 24 hours of each other.  Coincidence? I doubt we will ever know. But there is one thing that cannot be explained, and that is the relative silence on Dayton’s perp.  Why? 

Amid the political finger pointing and race baiting crap is a shred of truthful analysis by no other than The Washington Post.  It is refreshing. An August 4th in depth article by Marc Fisher strips every layer of unfounded media spin.  Fisher, with the help of researchers on terrorism, explained the phenomenon of these and other mass shootings.  The “lone-wolf” shooters, as they are referred to.  Inspired by everyone and no one, by everything and nothing.  While mass media hysteria points fingers at video games, the president, guns, and a surge in racism, the truth is that nutcases take it upon themselves to see the world through their own crazy notions of utopia.

Contrary to the pseudo analysts and commentators on major news networks and cable, they generally do not belong to any organized group.  They might share the views of a specific group but act alone. They assimilate with an ideology but act on their own volition.  Most are being “recruited” ideologically through the internet.  The hateful indoctrination is on both sides of the fence.  Visceral left wing and right wing hatred gives lone-wolves a platform that they otherwise would not have.  It is home grown terrorism on the same level and platform as the recruitment by ISIS and Hamas.  Very convincing and alluring.  Add mental illness, dysfunctional families, poverty, and depression, and the recipe for home grown terrorism is born.

The “replacement” syndrome among white supremacists and far left anti-Semites is not new and has very little to do with Trump’s inane tweets. In 2012, a book entitled “The Great Replacement” by French writer Renaud Camus, argues that the influx of immigrants in Europe are replacing the now “minority” whites.  He found it threatening to Europe’s sovereignty. His mantra was taken on in 2017 by the white supremacists who marched through the University of Virginia in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us”.  It is possible and probably true that Trump’s strong stance on immigration and campaign remarks gave these yahoos a misled courage that they otherwise might not have had to raise the ante on anti-Semitism. Trump made an egregious mistake when he did not denounce them fiercely and resolutely. But then Obama did not really denounce the thugs who rioted in the streets and burnt cities under his watch.  But I digress.  Two wrongs do not make a right. For good measure, Camus has publicly denied having anything to do with the El Paso shooting.

But what about Dayton? The media is relatively quiet on Dayton because as far as we know, the murderer did not seem to have a specific motive, and the police (as of this writing) are ruling out racism.  No racism, no news, no pundits, no interest.  The perp had a history of “weird” which like all mass murderers, is not unusual.  Eventually, the police will discover some sordid crazy background that was either overlooked or not reported. Not one is sane one day and crazy the next because two years ago Donald Trump called illegal immigrants rapists. And this is where the disingenuous racism uproar is exposed for what it is; political.

So far Dayton seems less significant because the racism card cannot be played to its full potential.  However, local politicians, all Democrat, had to bring it up as a point of contention for wanting the President to visit their city; if there is no fire let’s create one. Police found no white supremacist manifesto, no right wing rant, and immigrants were not targeted.  He was a nutcase who managed to acquire a gun and kill his own sister.  According to Marc Fisher, the killer was driven by “personal grievances rather than political ideology”.  Fisher puts everything in perspective; the shooter joins a long list of mass murderers who are being taught online (through video games, and movies) how to “escalate personal beefs into community-shattering events”.  Heard that Hollywood? Still too early to tell.

The same weekend that 29 people died of gunshot wounds, Chicago had 40 shootings.  Three dead.  Chicago has been a den of human misery for years.  Bush did nothing, and Obama did even less. Those shot were neither Hispanics nor immigrants; they were African American in poor neighborhoods. Not a peep, not a wink, not a breathe, not even a sigh for Chicago by CNN, MSNBC, or Fox.  Wonder why?  Where is the race analysis? Where is the gun debate?  Where is the finger pointing? Chicago’s poor black neighborhoods are war zones without relief.  Law enforcement is often reluctant to enter these danger zones.  Fisher calls it “tragically quotidian”. A city that has been run to the ground by policies and politics rife in corruption and promises.  No matter who gets elected as mayor, they are of the same party and dole out the same crap that keeps these poor folk in conditions akin to the Middle East and often more dangerous.  How do the gangs and thugs manage to get guns when Illinois has the strictest gun laws? These aren’t white privileged.  They are blacks killing blacks.  Yet the same politicians who “cry me a river” at the border manage to sleep very well at night about Chicago.  Hypocrisy wrapped in partisan and disingenuous media quagmire.

So who is responsible for the mass murders?  Everyone.  President Trump must be held partly accountable because his inane tweets and bullish rhetoric can be legitimately or illegitimately  misconstrued; he knows it and yet still goes at it.  There are crazies out there Mr. President, and they do not need a nudge and a push to become crazier.  Mr. President, it is your responsibility to make sure that the country is not thrown into a racial divide. You can fix the border with dignity and without unnecessary disparaging tweets or comments about those literally dying to get into the US. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they want a better life rather than destruction of our way of life.  True leadership comes with compassion.  As a New Yorker, it’s about time you took a hard look at the beautiful lady in New York harbor. Then take a long stroll through Ellis Island and use it to inspire you to come up with a humane and viable solution at the  border.  You always boast of how great you are, well, put your money where your mouth is. While you’re at it, start talking seriously about race relations.  It’s no use having a good economy if American families are not safe to shop for school supplies at Wal-Mart.

Responsibility also lies with the main stream media who fuel unnecessary race baiting and hatred.  You are irresponsible and must also be held accountable for unsubstantiated race innuendo to satisfy your egos and ratings.  You are supposed to be impartial.  I can’t stand watching any of you, because the majority of you have turned into disingenuous partisan assholes.  You do not report, you pontificate.  You do not tell the truth, you spin.  You are not fair or balanced because most of your programming and guests are of the same political persuasion. You cannot be impartial when you donate to political parties.  You cannot be trusted when most of what you “report” is founded in hearsay.  You wallow in disasters because they give you an ego centric platform.  You have made a mockery of the First Amendment. You have contributed to the division of a nation that has survived internal and external wars but always stood firm under one flag and one God.  You managed to disgrace both. 

Politicians on both side of the house are equally responsible for the racial divide.  The “white privilege” mantra is an obscenity perpetrated by white politicians to buy votes. It is patronizing.  While one party wallows in anti-Semitism, race baiting, and bigotry; the other is afraid to speak out against their party’s leadership. Both parties hold the American public hostage to political zeal for no other reason but to further their own partisan agenda.   Sick of both.

I will not lose hope in America. Every generation has gone through a period of immigration anxiety and bigotry. From the mid-19th century anti-Irish Catholic riots by Protestants in Philadelphia, to the massacres of Chinese immigrants in 1871.  It is born out of fear.  A fear often fueled by politicians who reject violence but still adopt the “anti-other” rhetoric.  Sounds familiar? Four new congresswomen and our President come to mind.

Fisher, M. August 4, 2019. A Weekend of Mass Murder Reflects How American Violence goes Viral. The Washington Post. (Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-weekend-of-mass-murder-reflects-how-american-violence-goes-viral/2019/08/04/d2ecfa3a-b6d7-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html?noredirect=on)