I will be marching on June 11 with my daughter, her friends, and my friends as well. This is not the time to be either silent, polite, or invisible. This is the time to stand up.
The March For Life sounds so wonderful, even aspirational, but I have HEARD much talk of Civil War, or even separation of states. And how are we to protect ourselves then? I fear for our children!!
Thank you for your realistic/optimistic/activist reporting, Robert. I'm posting my rant about gun violence. I think yours is a more tempered voice than mine. Laurie
My father’s older brother, Dr. Louis Irwin Schulman, was murdered in 1944 by a psychotic patient. She shot him, long before gun laws were bandied about as a good thing by most of the country and ignored by senators in bed with the NRA, as is the case today. Almost a year after the murder, I was born and named after him, Laurie Ilene Schullman.
Each time there is gun violence in this country, the latest being the massacre of elementary
school children and some teachers, I am reminded of both my family history and the core
place within me that cannot understand the hesitancy to pass laws that require background
checks and a ban on assault weapons.
Do I think that would take care of all the violence? No, but it’s a start. I have a laundry list
of what I believe needs to happen in addition to regulating guns. Here are a few of those items:
An overhaul, recognition, and expansion of care for mental health issues.
A shift from money as the end all be all of life toward equal justice, humane treatment of
all people, equal access to education, minimum standards of living so that all people
have food, clothing, and shelter and more.
I know, I’m a die-hard liberal in my views. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I do
expect that caring about our children, safety in schools, churches and synagogues and the like should be a given right.
Do these senators who block the passage of the Brady bill, for instance, need to have someone in their family murdered at the end of a gun. I wonder if even that would matter. Some would probably just work harder to increase carrying of guns for all, as in Texas.
So, each time there is a shooting, I think of my uncle that I never met. I think of all the people
who love the victims of violence and my heart goes out to them. If I can’t understand all of
this in my core humanity, how can they? Their loved ones are murdered, and they keep
seeing the lack of change in this country.
The U.S. is considered the most violent country in the world. I don’t have the facts of
this in front of me but I’ve heard it many times. What a way to be known, what a legacy to
Mr. Hubbell, America is no longer what it used to be. In the 1960s, huge crowds of us would be marching and chanting in front of the Texas governor’s house, “hey, hey, GWA, how many kids are you going to kill today?”
I couldn’t agree more. Especially about this: “Republicans who defend gun rights above lives are no longer due any presumption of good faith or restraint on our part. That strategy has achieved an ever-mounting death toll of young children.” I am so sick and tired of having to pretend like nothing is the right’s fault when their fingerprints and money trail are all over the slaughters of children, over and over and over again. No! Enough is enough. I think people have hit a breaking point when these two horrific shootings happened within a few days of each other. Targeted at the most innocent among us. The republicans, Fox News, Manchin & Sinema, they ALL have blood on their hands and they know it. They just want the rest of us to move on and forget. Nope. I’ll never understand how people could choose anything over American lives, but when they start choosing guns and a few million dollars over children, it’s time to forcefully call them out and not sugarcoat it. It’s sick. Anyone who thinks owning guns should be above public safety is sick. It’s a small minority of people who actually want unfettered access to guns and yet they’ve decided they’ll impose that on the rest of us. Just like they’ll impose their views on abortion. Less abortions because they prefer children die at the hands of an automatic weapon! I hope these people find help before it’s too late.
I'm comparing the right's approach to abortion with the left's approach to gun control. As believers that government CAN be part of the solution, liberal politicians usually counter right-wing tactics with negotiations to "find what we can agree on." But conservatives have been better negotiators than liberals on abortion. What they believe is (I really want no abortions), but what they say is (I'll settle for no abortions before fetal viability, e.g., 26 weeks). So liberals set the law there. Then negotiations change; conservatives still believe the same thing but next say (I'll settle for 15 weeks). Now they say (I want what I believe - no abortions, no excuses) and states make those laws.
More of us on the left need to be clearer about what we want with guns. Somebody needs to say it (We want no guns in the general population). Plant a flag and let the negotiations begin but with our bedrock position being, We Want No Guns, No 2nd Amendment Protections. We want an active effort to repeal the second amendment; go through the steps; start the process. It will take years but it needs to be on the table, in the background, all the time. Our goal is not to be reasonable. That hasn't worked with abortion or gun control. Why would we continue the insanity-thing and expect a different outcome from the same activity?
I appears to me whether Federal or State, when House and Senate Republicans all vote as one block, they have been bought and paid for. It is that simple.
Thank you, Mr. Hubbell, for your rage that is the only possible response the the violence by which this land was claimed and its obscene growth at the hands of all those on your and Ms. Jeffreys lists. I find it hard to really understand that this is real. Was it as long ago as 1971--the time has gone fast--that Pogo uttered his famous lime, "We have met. the enemy and he is us"? I don't think very many people believe that .
NO, that 18 year old did not act alone,, WHY did he select this special school school to kill all LATINO, MAYBE 1ST OR 2ND GENERATION latino CHILDREN AND TEACHERS . what kind of parentage did he grow up with ?DID ALL the adults around him despise and hate immigrants talking of shooting them , what could have been his motivation . Then I question the police who did not act speedely in defense of these children could race have been a factor there?It makes me so sad and worried about all children, here the parents provided these young ones with a telephone in case of danger and a couple used them how very smart.Erika Kahn
As time passes after one of these tragic executions of children in the US, such as what happened in Uvalde, the news and our attention turns to other stories. But, as horrific as these mass murders of children in our schools are, it turns out that they represent only a small portion of the entire gun violence story in the US. It's time for every citizen to realize the overwhelmingly appalling fact - gun violence is a massive health problem in our country, especially among our children, that has been largely hidden from our awareness by republican administrations, and needs to be addressed now.
Here are just a few of the devastating numbers, a gathering of individual tragic stories, that should be in front of our faces every day:
*Death by firearms has now replaced car accidents as the number one cause of deaths of children in the US.
*According to one study across 29 countries, 97% of firearm deaths among children 4 years of age or older in these countries occurs in the US.
*The US has 4% of the world's population but civilians in the US own 46% of estimated civilian held firearms in the world (393 million).
*Between 2019-2020 the deaths by firearms of children and adolescents in the US surged by 30%. The majority of the firearms used were stored unsafely in the homes.
Republicans funded by gun lobby money and supported by their A rating from NRA, are not going to change unless they see a political advantage to doing so. We must do everything we can to make sure we have a large enough majority of Democrats in the congress to pass sensible, effective gun laws, like ones that have already made a difference in other countries and would save lives here. As an added motivation and benefit, these are most likely the same candidates we need to elect to protect our privacy and voting rights. We can do this!
Before we start arming teachers as a solution to school gun violence, let's please give that more careful thought -
Really, arming teachers? That is the next Republican good idea talking point along with fewer doors???
Perhaps we ought to check with teachers to see how they feel about that insane idea? Oh sure, I am certain we can find a few that would support that approach. However, the vast majority of teachers are strongly opposed to that idea for a very, very long list of very good reasons. Too long a list in fact to recount all of them here.
However, let's stop for a moment and give a thought to how we have been treating teachers lately, We underpay them dramatically, and this is particularly true here in Texas. The average salary for a teacher nationwide in the U.S. is $58,593. Here in Texas, the average salary for a teacher is $54,121. (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/teacher-pay-by-state).
We have asked them during the pandemic to teach remotely or subjected them to personal health challenges by teaching in-school classes without regard for public health guidelines.
We have criticized them unfairly for teaching children about important topics such as gender, race, diversity, inclusion, and reproductive health that some felt should not be discussed in schools. We have called them pedophiles and groomers. They have been yelled and shouted at, and subjected to all manner of verbal abuse and harassment. But now some think it is a good idea to arm them with pistols and charge them with protecting students from deranged shooters armed with military-grade weapons?
We are already facing a serious shortage of teachers here in Texas as many are leaving the profession and fewer are selecting it as a chosen profession. What do you think the impact on the teaching profession would be of adding this new task of being an armed defender against school shooters to their job description might be?
This is madness. We have to stop allowing Republicans to continue offering us only the mythology that the only solution involves more guns. All of the more gun solutions are designed only to please the gun industry's desire to find yet more customers and sell more guns to those who are already their customers. Stop the madness!
It is as if God said to Noah, "No, no the solution is not an ark. What we need is more rain."
What is needed is to make it harder for dangerous people to get their hands on very dangerous weapons. We should also give some serious thought to what constitutes a weapon that is too dangerous to be owned by civilians. Or at least a minimum set of requirements to own such weapons, including registration of the weapon, and age, training, demonstrated mental and emotional stability, and safe storage requirements. Passing and enforcing federal Red flag laws should also be considered. Inconsistencies from state to state only provide loopholes allowing the most dangerous individuals to avoid necessary sanctions.
Let's try to think of solutions that will actually keep our children and all of us safer. A child's life is too high a price to pay for anyone's second amendment rights.
Robert, Thank you for the reply. I have been a devotee, starting my day with your newsletter for a few years now and this is the first time I have commented. Firstly, my comments are not about getting the language right. I am part of Davidson, NC’s Precinct 206 Democrats and a number of us follow your posts. We are all about getting things done, taking action, affecting election results here in our town, our local district, our state and our nation.
So I view this dilemma as non-binary. This is both/and, not either/or. So yes on gun control and yes on gun safety. In my view, this nondualistic approach allows for strategic optionality. I want to see lives saved and if we can get legislation passed addressing safety and comparing guns to cars, then, lives get saved. Guns are not cars, safety is not control, I get it. But as I said with fewer words, I am a pragmatist. Lives are being lost, how can we most quickly save lives. I think it’s leaping forward in the safety bucket, not ignoring the control bucket, but taking some wins where we can get them. You can see why I don’t write a newsletter because I struggle with being concise in making my point. But I am a person who recognizes that life is not binary and that truth is not dualistic. But nuance and ambiguity are uncomfortable, so, yes, I talk about gun safety. But not to compromise my principles to semantic correctness, there is a real safety issue here that properly addressed through legislation will save lives. My grandchildren will get this right, why keep taking steps backward before they get their chance?
1 million Americans died because Trump didn’t take responsible action. 19 children and two adults died because Texas did not take appropriate action. And who accepts responsibility? No one!
Indeed... that is another phrase that should live forever in infamy as a metaphor for all the years of enabling and turning a blind eye to this absurdly dangerous gun-nut/"ammosexual" atmosphere that has been festering in this country under the disingenuous twisted interpretation of a 200+ year old law for a society that no longer exists.
The sad bottom-line reason that nothing is happening is that "the right kids" aren't being massacred... how sad and horrible a reality... but if kids of all those in power got slaughtered then laws would change... quick. A much bigger Blue Wave 🌊🌊🌊needs to happen ASAP.
I will be marching on June 11 with my daughter, her friends, and my friends as well. This is not the time to be either silent, polite, or invisible. This is the time to stand up.
The March For Life sounds so wonderful, even aspirational, but I have HEARD much talk of Civil War, or even separation of states. And how are we to protect ourselves then? I fear for our children!!
Thank you for your realistic/optimistic/activist reporting, Robert. I'm posting my rant about gun violence. I think yours is a more tempered voice than mine. Laurie
My father’s older brother, Dr. Louis Irwin Schulman, was murdered in 1944 by a psychotic patient. She shot him, long before gun laws were bandied about as a good thing by most of the country and ignored by senators in bed with the NRA, as is the case today. Almost a year after the murder, I was born and named after him, Laurie Ilene Schullman.
Each time there is gun violence in this country, the latest being the massacre of elementary
school children and some teachers, I am reminded of both my family history and the core
place within me that cannot understand the hesitancy to pass laws that require background
checks and a ban on assault weapons.
Do I think that would take care of all the violence? No, but it’s a start. I have a laundry list
of what I believe needs to happen in addition to regulating guns. Here are a few of those items:
An overhaul, recognition, and expansion of care for mental health issues.
A shift from money as the end all be all of life toward equal justice, humane treatment of
all people, equal access to education, minimum standards of living so that all people
have food, clothing, and shelter and more.
I know, I’m a die-hard liberal in my views. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I do
expect that caring about our children, safety in schools, churches and synagogues and the like should be a given right.
Do these senators who block the passage of the Brady bill, for instance, need to have someone in their family murdered at the end of a gun. I wonder if even that would matter. Some would probably just work harder to increase carrying of guns for all, as in Texas.
So, each time there is a shooting, I think of my uncle that I never met. I think of all the people
who love the victims of violence and my heart goes out to them. If I can’t understand all of
this in my core humanity, how can they? Their loved ones are murdered, and they keep
seeing the lack of change in this country.
The U.S. is considered the most violent country in the world. I don’t have the facts of
this in front of me but I’ve heard it many times. What a way to be known, what a legacy to
leave, what a crazy way to live.
Mr. Hubbell, America is no longer what it used to be. In the 1960s, huge crowds of us would be marching and chanting in front of the Texas governor’s house, “hey, hey, GWA, how many kids are you going to kill today?”
I couldn’t agree more. Especially about this: “Republicans who defend gun rights above lives are no longer due any presumption of good faith or restraint on our part. That strategy has achieved an ever-mounting death toll of young children.” I am so sick and tired of having to pretend like nothing is the right’s fault when their fingerprints and money trail are all over the slaughters of children, over and over and over again. No! Enough is enough. I think people have hit a breaking point when these two horrific shootings happened within a few days of each other. Targeted at the most innocent among us. The republicans, Fox News, Manchin & Sinema, they ALL have blood on their hands and they know it. They just want the rest of us to move on and forget. Nope. I’ll never understand how people could choose anything over American lives, but when they start choosing guns and a few million dollars over children, it’s time to forcefully call them out and not sugarcoat it. It’s sick. Anyone who thinks owning guns should be above public safety is sick. It’s a small minority of people who actually want unfettered access to guns and yet they’ve decided they’ll impose that on the rest of us. Just like they’ll impose their views on abortion. Less abortions because they prefer children die at the hands of an automatic weapon! I hope these people find help before it’s too late.
Join March for Our Lives on June 11th https://marchforourlives.com/march22/
I'm comparing the right's approach to abortion with the left's approach to gun control. As believers that government CAN be part of the solution, liberal politicians usually counter right-wing tactics with negotiations to "find what we can agree on." But conservatives have been better negotiators than liberals on abortion. What they believe is (I really want no abortions), but what they say is (I'll settle for no abortions before fetal viability, e.g., 26 weeks). So liberals set the law there. Then negotiations change; conservatives still believe the same thing but next say (I'll settle for 15 weeks). Now they say (I want what I believe - no abortions, no excuses) and states make those laws.
More of us on the left need to be clearer about what we want with guns. Somebody needs to say it (We want no guns in the general population). Plant a flag and let the negotiations begin but with our bedrock position being, We Want No Guns, No 2nd Amendment Protections. We want an active effort to repeal the second amendment; go through the steps; start the process. It will take years but it needs to be on the table, in the background, all the time. Our goal is not to be reasonable. That hasn't worked with abortion or gun control. Why would we continue the insanity-thing and expect a different outcome from the same activity?
I appears to me whether Federal or State, when House and Senate Republicans all vote as one block, they have been bought and paid for. It is that simple.
Thank you, Mr. Hubbell, for your rage that is the only possible response the the violence by which this land was claimed and its obscene growth at the hands of all those on your and Ms. Jeffreys lists. I find it hard to really understand that this is real. Was it as long ago as 1971--the time has gone fast--that Pogo uttered his famous lime, "We have met. the enemy and he is us"? I don't think very many people believe that .
Excellent. VOTE THESE VERMIN OUT.
NO, that 18 year old did not act alone,, WHY did he select this special school school to kill all LATINO, MAYBE 1ST OR 2ND GENERATION latino CHILDREN AND TEACHERS . what kind of parentage did he grow up with ?DID ALL the adults around him despise and hate immigrants talking of shooting them , what could have been his motivation . Then I question the police who did not act speedely in defense of these children could race have been a factor there?It makes me so sad and worried about all children, here the parents provided these young ones with a telephone in case of danger and a couple used them how very smart.Erika Kahn
As time passes after one of these tragic executions of children in the US, such as what happened in Uvalde, the news and our attention turns to other stories. But, as horrific as these mass murders of children in our schools are, it turns out that they represent only a small portion of the entire gun violence story in the US. It's time for every citizen to realize the overwhelmingly appalling fact - gun violence is a massive health problem in our country, especially among our children, that has been largely hidden from our awareness by republican administrations, and needs to be addressed now.
Here are just a few of the devastating numbers, a gathering of individual tragic stories, that should be in front of our faces every day:
*Death by firearms has now replaced car accidents as the number one cause of deaths of children in the US.
*According to one study across 29 countries, 97% of firearm deaths among children 4 years of age or older in these countries occurs in the US.
*The US has 4% of the world's population but civilians in the US own 46% of estimated civilian held firearms in the world (393 million).
*Between 2019-2020 the deaths by firearms of children and adolescents in the US surged by 30%. The majority of the firearms used were stored unsafely in the homes.
Republicans funded by gun lobby money and supported by their A rating from NRA, are not going to change unless they see a political advantage to doing so. We must do everything we can to make sure we have a large enough majority of Democrats in the congress to pass sensible, effective gun laws, like ones that have already made a difference in other countries and would save lives here. As an added motivation and benefit, these are most likely the same candidates we need to elect to protect our privacy and voting rights. We can do this!
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/28/1101307932/texas-shooting-uvalde-gun-violence-children-teenagers
Before we start arming teachers as a solution to school gun violence, let's please give that more careful thought -
Really, arming teachers? That is the next Republican good idea talking point along with fewer doors???
Perhaps we ought to check with teachers to see how they feel about that insane idea? Oh sure, I am certain we can find a few that would support that approach. However, the vast majority of teachers are strongly opposed to that idea for a very, very long list of very good reasons. Too long a list in fact to recount all of them here.
However, let's stop for a moment and give a thought to how we have been treating teachers lately, We underpay them dramatically, and this is particularly true here in Texas. The average salary for a teacher nationwide in the U.S. is $58,593. Here in Texas, the average salary for a teacher is $54,121. (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/teacher-pay-by-state).
According to the Texas Tribune a minimum "living wage" in Texas would be $60,989. - the equivalent of $14.66/hour for a full-time hourly employee (https://www.texastribune.org/2018/12/20/most-states-raise-their-minimum-wages-texas-refuses-budge/#:~:text=To%20make%20a%20living%20wage,transportation%20and%20other%20basic%20necessities.) That places Texas well below the nationwide average and substantially below a Texas "living wage", and that is the average salary, not the starting salary. We also find teachers frequently having to pay for various classroom supplies for their students out of their own pockets.
We have asked them during the pandemic to teach remotely or subjected them to personal health challenges by teaching in-school classes without regard for public health guidelines.
We have criticized them unfairly for teaching children about important topics such as gender, race, diversity, inclusion, and reproductive health that some felt should not be discussed in schools. We have called them pedophiles and groomers. They have been yelled and shouted at, and subjected to all manner of verbal abuse and harassment. But now some think it is a good idea to arm them with pistols and charge them with protecting students from deranged shooters armed with military-grade weapons?
We are already facing a serious shortage of teachers here in Texas as many are leaving the profession and fewer are selecting it as a chosen profession. What do you think the impact on the teaching profession would be of adding this new task of being an armed defender against school shooters to their job description might be?
This is madness. We have to stop allowing Republicans to continue offering us only the mythology that the only solution involves more guns. All of the more gun solutions are designed only to please the gun industry's desire to find yet more customers and sell more guns to those who are already their customers. Stop the madness!
It is as if God said to Noah, "No, no the solution is not an ark. What we need is more rain."
What is needed is to make it harder for dangerous people to get their hands on very dangerous weapons. We should also give some serious thought to what constitutes a weapon that is too dangerous to be owned by civilians. Or at least a minimum set of requirements to own such weapons, including registration of the weapon, and age, training, demonstrated mental and emotional stability, and safe storage requirements. Passing and enforcing federal Red flag laws should also be considered. Inconsistencies from state to state only provide loopholes allowing the most dangerous individuals to avoid necessary sanctions.
Let's try to think of solutions that will actually keep our children and all of us safer. A child's life is too high a price to pay for anyone's second amendment rights.
Robert, Thank you for the reply. I have been a devotee, starting my day with your newsletter for a few years now and this is the first time I have commented. Firstly, my comments are not about getting the language right. I am part of Davidson, NC’s Precinct 206 Democrats and a number of us follow your posts. We are all about getting things done, taking action, affecting election results here in our town, our local district, our state and our nation.
So I view this dilemma as non-binary. This is both/and, not either/or. So yes on gun control and yes on gun safety. In my view, this nondualistic approach allows for strategic optionality. I want to see lives saved and if we can get legislation passed addressing safety and comparing guns to cars, then, lives get saved. Guns are not cars, safety is not control, I get it. But as I said with fewer words, I am a pragmatist. Lives are being lost, how can we most quickly save lives. I think it’s leaping forward in the safety bucket, not ignoring the control bucket, but taking some wins where we can get them. You can see why I don’t write a newsletter because I struggle with being concise in making my point. But I am a person who recognizes that life is not binary and that truth is not dualistic. But nuance and ambiguity are uncomfortable, so, yes, I talk about gun safety. But not to compromise my principles to semantic correctness, there is a real safety issue here that properly addressed through legislation will save lives. My grandchildren will get this right, why keep taking steps backward before they get their chance?
You are making all of us safer. please keep up your good work, and ignore my overly emotional response. this is hard on all of us.
1 million Americans died because Trump didn’t take responsible action. 19 children and two adults died because Texas did not take appropriate action. And who accepts responsibility? No one!
Indeed... that is another phrase that should live forever in infamy as a metaphor for all the years of enabling and turning a blind eye to this absurdly dangerous gun-nut/"ammosexual" atmosphere that has been festering in this country under the disingenuous twisted interpretation of a 200+ year old law for a society that no longer exists.
The sad bottom-line reason that nothing is happening is that "the right kids" aren't being massacred... how sad and horrible a reality... but if kids of all those in power got slaughtered then laws would change... quick. A much bigger Blue Wave 🌊🌊🌊needs to happen ASAP.