“The man who shot six people to death and wounded three others during a rampage at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb was an Army veteran who may have been a white supremacist, according to a law enforcement source involved in the investigation.” So . . . was he or wasn’t he? Sensibly enough, CNN ain’t sayin’. Yet. But if dishonorably discharged Army Psyops specialist Wade Michael Page was a hater, expect gun control advocates to ratchet-up the rhetoric. Gun grabbers like nothing better than a racist spree killer (e.g., the initial, misguided furore over the Trayvon Martin homicide). Racist > Gun Owner > Racist Gun Owner > Gun Owners Are Racists > Disarm Americans. Substitute “Crazy Person” for “Racist” and it’s same equation with the James Holmes attack. Combine, promote, legislate. Check this morning-after polemic from Peter Gelzinis at bostonherald.com . . .
Once again, the same government agents on that never-ending hunt for foreign terrorists among us were in the process of excavating the twisted story of yet another domestic terrorist who, again, may look a lot like the guy next door.
Perhaps the deeper meaning of “domestic terrorism” is that within the space of two weeks, another group of people in our country going about the simple business of living their lives, were cut down. Can there be anything sadder, or more terrifying?
Or more exploitable? An “assault rifle,” obviously. In this case, the killer used a 9mm handgun. Never mind.
The dead of Aurora have hardly been laid in their graves, and we must brace for another round of stories about lives lost to savagery … as well as lives saved by extraordinary acts of courage usually reserved for a battlefield.
And the worst part of all is that I’m sure this latest piece of insanity will be followed by the obscene logic that this tragedy could have been averted if only one member of the Sikh community had come to the temple yesterday carrying a gun.
Maybe. Maybe not. But then again, maybe. Meanwhile, brace yourself for more of the same.