Don’t read this if you’re not prepared to break into tears as you do. From the New York Times: Late at night, when everything is calm, Ana Rodriguez looks at smiling pictures of her daughter, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10, who died in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. It’s the only time she has been able to grieve in the chaos of the massacre’s aftermath.
The additional tragedy and travesty is that there isn't a single republican in Congress who would be moved enough by this to think, gee, maybe we should prohibit AR-15s?
I would make an exception only for people I know who have maintained their registration and never vote republican any more, except hoping to get someone reasonable in a primary. But absolutely, and I include in that Mitt Rmoney.
Thank you. That was hard to read and I’m sure harder to write.
The Republicans are hoping to stall so we all forget and move on like we all have done in the past.
It’s up to US to change this. If we do not stay loud and vigilant, nothing will change.
Societies change when the way people think have changed.
I’m encouraged by the sports world speaking out. That is extremely helpful. I’m also calling on the entertainment industry and celebrities to do the same.
TC warned us not to read, THESE ARE THE DEAD. if we couldn't bear crying anymore. Surprisingly, the parents, grandparents and neighbors of Maite, Tess, Maranda, Lexi - all the children and the families of the two teachers convey the joy these children and teachers brought to life. Their dancing, softball, video games, jokes, friendships, academic achievements and goals to be a lawyer, a feminist... lifted the computer's screen and my spirits. The dance of life can twinkle in the dark. Ukraine and Uvalde have brought us both. I took love away from these sketches of the young lives, which have been taken away.
There is much young life now in Uvalde. Attentive care for the siblings, friends and all the surviving youngsters and staff at Robb Elementary School is a top priority. The people of Uvalde and beyond now mourn and heal. What of the surviving children? I warn you as TC did that this next article from the Washington Post may be too demanding right now.
'What school shootings do to the kids who survive them, from Sandy Hook to Uvalde'
'The children and adults who die in school shootings dominate headlines and consume the public’s attention. Body counts become synonymous with each event, dictating where they rank in the catalogue of these singularly American horrors: 10 at Santa Fe High, 13 at Columbine High, 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary. And now, added to the list is 21 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex.'
'Those tallies, however, do not begin to capture the true scope of this epidemic in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of children’s lives have been profoundly changed by school shootings. There are the more than 360 kids and adults, including Noah, who have been injured on K-12 campuses since 1999, according to a Washington Post database. And then there are the children who suffer no physical wounds at all, but are still haunted for years by what they saw or heard or lost.' The link to this gifted article is below.
The survivors of these events bear their own tragedies. There are 4 people within 2 degrees of separation from me that are traumatized by the Thurston school shooting 24 years ago. Their lives are forever impacted by that event.
Thank you for letting me know. You can delete this response as a link that works is now in place. I decided not to write this in French. I am not fluent in French and looked up the meaning of your message to make sure that I understood it.
I wake up infuriated every day that I am the same race as Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and every goddamned GOP/NRA scumbag that continues to treat everyone else like slaves, ‘little brown brothers’ and generally as subhumans to be subjugated and told to mind their place in society.
It's not about race, and you're the same race as TC, me and a lot of other commenters here who are just as angry as you are. It's about power for those who lack any sense of self-worth except when they can put other people down. They tried it with Robert O'Rourke at the press conference and we have to stand up to them just like he did.
My eyes well-up, my heart churns, as I imagine what those third and fourth grade children were experiencing as they waited to have the play that is their life coming to a violent, hurtful, shattering end when their eyes closed for the last time and the pain ended. The last idea they had. The last scream that welled up in their throat. The last grain of love as it left. The last look of hope toward their teacher. The reality that mom won't get here in time. I died in some gun-show as the collateral damage to the main character, the subject of this drama, the venerable AK-15. And now. The subject and lead sits in its removed perch, ocassionally moved off set so as not to interfere with how this classic tragedy plays out, so predictably. How could it happen, who is to blame, why wasn't the site hardened, what should the police response have been, who are the guilty parties, the irresponsible, the poor policies, the heros, the guilty by-stander, the sadness of those little lives written as motifs, and how can the script be brightened up so we who bought tickets to the show will feel as though we got our money's worth or bites to support our view on what someone else should do to prevent or respond to the next opening of this tragedy in someone elses town somewhere in the Unitd States? While the tragedy is Gun, the narrative and critique we work ourselves up about all deals with anything but the subject. We won't change anything in the tragedy, except staging and location, because this tragedy is us. So, I weep. So, we become the hardened site hoping that we are safe enough.
Fred, We work to leave our personal NO EXIT. Satre, knew we had self-inflicted prisons. Now, of course, we are right to blame the American-Fascists, the weak-kneed Presidents of the Democratic Party, the D Party, Mark Zuckerberg... for our 'hardened sites' … Americans - we have been well primed for this. We must not forget Mitch McConnell along with the Koch bros and the rest of the Gang. We will stop talking ourselves silly and sitting in the 'hardened sites', now? Did it take the killing of 21 innocents? The CHILDREN, the CHILDREN! Do we always think after a mass murder Americans will wake up and we never, so far, do? Fred, you heartful comment set me up, unleashed a real response. With appreciation for you.
More about himself. It was good that Tom got there, more than good, an opening, beyond the fury and condemnation of another, one completely destroyed soul named Salvador.
“Sentiment without action is the ruinment of the soul”.
It’s time that our outrage through protest rises to a level of relentless disruption that we dictate and control, until we get the legislation to protect our kids.
Tears? Yes. And more. All of this and so much more should be played in the jail cells where the scum who allow this to happen over and over and over and over and over and over so many fucking times...where they will reside with TV screens that show the bodies of kids slaughtered by military grade weapons - endless loops of the horror they have enabled.
Let them see it and nothing else until they off themselves.
It took several attempts to get through that. I have a son, daughter-in-law, and two beautiful granddaughters northwest of San Antonio. My son texted I f#€£ing hate Greg Abbot… he’s usually so together it shocked me … but I recognized the fear. I told him parents who send their children to school are unspeakably brave. He said they couldn’t do it on Wednesday. Thursday was the last day and they only went for an hour. He sent pictures of them. So, three months from now, when school starts again… it won’t be any easier to send them. The fear won’t be any less. I’m sad sickened and mad … this is NOT the world I want for my grandkids or any kids.
This poem from Rattle today says more than I can ever say about what so many parents of school-aged children are struggling to deal with. What has happened AGAIN is an obscenity.
“I Tell My Son to Cover Himself in Someone Else’s Blood” by Rachel Mallalieu
May 29, 2022
Rachel Mallalieu
I TELL MY SON TO COVER HIMSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE’S BLOOD
Last night, I told my son
that if he sees a shooter coming, he needs to
hide in a file cabinet or underneath
a covered table.
If he’s in the bathroom, he should
stand on the toilet and lock the stall door.
If there’s nowhere to go,
I asked him to paint
himself with someone else’s
blood and play
dead.
Give him a break my husband murmured.
Let him relax a bit.
Simon needed extra prayers
at bedtime.
Say my name out loud.
Tell God to keep me safe, or at least
don’t let him come while I’m in art
class. During shooter drills,
my teacher forgot to lock
the door and the window is too big
to cover with paper.
I smoothed the circles under
his eyes while I begged God
to keep him here, with me.
Today, the forest is a cathedral
and cedar trees waft incense.
The blossoms are a riotous crowd
—tulip poplars, mountain laurel,
dogwoods and wisteria.
The “About Me” poster outside
Simon’s fourth grade
classroom says he loves our dog
Theo and tacos.
His favorite color is green.
He wants to be a doctor.
The trees hush the sirens
and only the flowers hear the
whispered coda to my prayer.
If he comes, God, and Simon
can’t hide, please
please God,
let me be there too.
The blooms, mute gods, bend
their faces toward my cries
and promise
nothing.
—from Poets Respond
May 29, 2022
__________
Rachel Mallalieu: “I send five children to school each day. I have a fourth grade son. I cannot stop weeping. I cannot stem my rage.” (web)
Understandable. I was turning off Ali Velshi's show from Uvalde last week because I just couldn't watch more of it. Huzzah for him, being the guy who goes to those places and does what he does to let us all understand first-hand, but I was falling into despair.
Maybe this 18-year old had a point. He didn't live in the US, he lived in Abbott-land Texas. His voting right has been gerrymandered away for both him and his mother. The children had better not have any hope for their future where there is no justice for them, and the police doesn't risk anything for latinos. He was wrong of course! Great job TC, to learn exactly why.
The additional tragedy and travesty is that there isn't a single republican in Congress who would be moved enough by this to think, gee, maybe we should prohibit AR-15s?
I don't think there's a single republican ANYWHERE who is moved by this.
I would make an exception only for people I know who have maintained their registration and never vote republican any more, except hoping to get someone reasonable in a primary. But absolutely, and I include in that Mitt Rmoney.
Thank you. That was hard to read and I’m sure harder to write.
The Republicans are hoping to stall so we all forget and move on like we all have done in the past.
It’s up to US to change this. If we do not stay loud and vigilant, nothing will change.
Societies change when the way people think have changed.
I’m encouraged by the sports world speaking out. That is extremely helpful. I’m also calling on the entertainment industry and celebrities to do the same.
Let’s not shut up!!!
You are so right.
Saddened, not shocked; pissed. I want revenge for our lost children. Republican politicians need to pay!
Revenge should be the same as what was done to the children in Texas...........
👌🏼
TC warned us not to read, THESE ARE THE DEAD. if we couldn't bear crying anymore. Surprisingly, the parents, grandparents and neighbors of Maite, Tess, Maranda, Lexi - all the children and the families of the two teachers convey the joy these children and teachers brought to life. Their dancing, softball, video games, jokes, friendships, academic achievements and goals to be a lawyer, a feminist... lifted the computer's screen and my spirits. The dance of life can twinkle in the dark. Ukraine and Uvalde have brought us both. I took love away from these sketches of the young lives, which have been taken away.
There is much young life now in Uvalde. Attentive care for the siblings, friends and all the surviving youngsters and staff at Robb Elementary School is a top priority. The people of Uvalde and beyond now mourn and heal. What of the surviving children? I warn you as TC did that this next article from the Washington Post may be too demanding right now.
'What school shootings do to the kids who survive them, from Sandy Hook to Uvalde'
'The children and adults who die in school shootings dominate headlines and consume the public’s attention. Body counts become synonymous with each event, dictating where they rank in the catalogue of these singularly American horrors: 10 at Santa Fe High, 13 at Columbine High, 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary. And now, added to the list is 21 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex.'
'Those tallies, however, do not begin to capture the true scope of this epidemic in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of children’s lives have been profoundly changed by school shootings. There are the more than 360 kids and adults, including Noah, who have been injured on K-12 campuses since 1999, according to a Washington Post database. And then there are the children who suffer no physical wounds at all, but are still haunted for years by what they saw or heard or lost.' The link to this gifted article is below.
https://wapo.st/3LX0XnM
The survivors of these events bear their own tragedies. There are 4 people within 2 degrees of separation from me that are traumatized by the Thurston school shooting 24 years ago. Their lives are forever impacted by that event.
The tragedy continues to travel and occupies more people and more deeply than we consider. Your few words captured it.
Link ne marche pas
Thank you for letting me know. You can delete this response as a link that works is now in place. I decided not to write this in French. I am not fluent in French and looked up the meaning of your message to make sure that I understood it.
האב א גוטן טאג
Didn't mean to put you to all that trouble. I admire your comments and contributions here and in LFAA. Thank you.
Is wasn't much trouble and your message looked neat. I guess at that hour I felt a bit urked. Please take this later smile. Salud.
😊👍😊
Bearing witness is important.
I wake up infuriated every day that I am the same race as Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and every goddamned GOP/NRA scumbag that continues to treat everyone else like slaves, ‘little brown brothers’ and generally as subhumans to be subjugated and told to mind their place in society.
It's not about race, and you're the same race as TC, me and a lot of other commenters here who are just as angry as you are. It's about power for those who lack any sense of self-worth except when they can put other people down. They tried it with Robert O'Rourke at the press conference and we have to stand up to them just like he did.
My eyes well-up, my heart churns, as I imagine what those third and fourth grade children were experiencing as they waited to have the play that is their life coming to a violent, hurtful, shattering end when their eyes closed for the last time and the pain ended. The last idea they had. The last scream that welled up in their throat. The last grain of love as it left. The last look of hope toward their teacher. The reality that mom won't get here in time. I died in some gun-show as the collateral damage to the main character, the subject of this drama, the venerable AK-15. And now. The subject and lead sits in its removed perch, ocassionally moved off set so as not to interfere with how this classic tragedy plays out, so predictably. How could it happen, who is to blame, why wasn't the site hardened, what should the police response have been, who are the guilty parties, the irresponsible, the poor policies, the heros, the guilty by-stander, the sadness of those little lives written as motifs, and how can the script be brightened up so we who bought tickets to the show will feel as though we got our money's worth or bites to support our view on what someone else should do to prevent or respond to the next opening of this tragedy in someone elses town somewhere in the Unitd States? While the tragedy is Gun, the narrative and critique we work ourselves up about all deals with anything but the subject. We won't change anything in the tragedy, except staging and location, because this tragedy is us. So, I weep. So, we become the hardened site hoping that we are safe enough.
That's truly excellent, Fred. Thank you - I couldn't have written that.
🤝🏼 TC, I would like us to clasp hands in person as I believe our hearts are doing now.
You'd have to travel to LA, since I can't travel anywhere these days.
🚶🏼♀️
Fred, We work to leave our personal NO EXIT. Satre, knew we had self-inflicted prisons. Now, of course, we are right to blame the American-Fascists, the weak-kneed Presidents of the Democratic Party, the D Party, Mark Zuckerberg... for our 'hardened sites' … Americans - we have been well primed for this. We must not forget Mitch McConnell along with the Koch bros and the rest of the Gang. We will stop talking ourselves silly and sitting in the 'hardened sites', now? Did it take the killing of 21 innocents? The CHILDREN, the CHILDREN! Do we always think after a mass murder Americans will wake up and we never, so far, do? Fred, you heartful comment set me up, unleashed a real response. With appreciation for you.
Yesterday's Mess by TC on the shooter is really good. Personal
More about himself. It was good that Tom got there, more than good, an opening, beyond the fury and condemnation of another, one completely destroyed soul named Salvador.
🙏 TC.
These tears are not meant to be wasted.
“Sentiment without action is the ruinment of the soul”.
It’s time that our outrage through protest rises to a level of relentless disruption that we dictate and control, until we get the legislation to protect our kids.
The links below are only a start.
https://www.everytown.org/
https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/
Donated.
Tears? Yes. And more. All of this and so much more should be played in the jail cells where the scum who allow this to happen over and over and over and over and over and over so many fucking times...where they will reside with TV screens that show the bodies of kids slaughtered by military grade weapons - endless loops of the horror they have enabled.
Let them see it and nothing else until they off themselves.
It took several attempts to get through that. I have a son, daughter-in-law, and two beautiful granddaughters northwest of San Antonio. My son texted I f#€£ing hate Greg Abbot… he’s usually so together it shocked me … but I recognized the fear. I told him parents who send their children to school are unspeakably brave. He said they couldn’t do it on Wednesday. Thursday was the last day and they only went for an hour. He sent pictures of them. So, three months from now, when school starts again… it won’t be any easier to send them. The fear won’t be any less. I’m sad sickened and mad … this is NOT the world I want for my grandkids or any kids.
This poem from Rattle today says more than I can ever say about what so many parents of school-aged children are struggling to deal with. What has happened AGAIN is an obscenity.
“I Tell My Son to Cover Himself in Someone Else’s Blood” by Rachel Mallalieu
May 29, 2022
Rachel Mallalieu
I TELL MY SON TO COVER HIMSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE’S BLOOD
Last night, I told my son
that if he sees a shooter coming, he needs to
hide in a file cabinet or underneath
a covered table.
If he’s in the bathroom, he should
stand on the toilet and lock the stall door.
If there’s nowhere to go,
I asked him to paint
himself with someone else’s
blood and play
dead.
Give him a break my husband murmured.
Let him relax a bit.
Simon needed extra prayers
at bedtime.
Say my name out loud.
Tell God to keep me safe, or at least
don’t let him come while I’m in art
class. During shooter drills,
my teacher forgot to lock
the door and the window is too big
to cover with paper.
I smoothed the circles under
his eyes while I begged God
to keep him here, with me.
Today, the forest is a cathedral
and cedar trees waft incense.
The blossoms are a riotous crowd
—tulip poplars, mountain laurel,
dogwoods and wisteria.
The “About Me” poster outside
Simon’s fourth grade
classroom says he loves our dog
Theo and tacos.
His favorite color is green.
He wants to be a doctor.
The trees hush the sirens
and only the flowers hear the
whispered coda to my prayer.
If he comes, God, and Simon
can’t hide, please
please God,
let me be there too.
The blooms, mute gods, bend
their faces toward my cries
and promise
nothing.
—from Poets Respond
May 29, 2022
__________
Rachel Mallalieu: “I send five children to school each day. I have a fourth grade son. I cannot stop weeping. I cannot stem my rage.” (web)
Yeah. That says it all.
Sorry, TC. I just can't deal with this anymore. Had to skip it.
Understandable. I was turning off Ali Velshi's show from Uvalde last week because I just couldn't watch more of it. Huzzah for him, being the guy who goes to those places and does what he does to let us all understand first-hand, but I was falling into despair.
Maybe this 18-year old had a point. He didn't live in the US, he lived in Abbott-land Texas. His voting right has been gerrymandered away for both him and his mother. The children had better not have any hope for their future where there is no justice for them, and the police doesn't risk anything for latinos. He was wrong of course! Great job TC, to learn exactly why.
Can't say I really like this but it was necessary and very well done. Thanks TC.
“I Tell My Son to Cover Himself in Someone Else’s Blood” by Rachel Mallalieu
May 29, 2022
Rachel Mallalieu
I TELL MY SON TO COVER HIMSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE’S BLOOD
Last night, I told my son
that if he sees a shooter coming, he needs to
hide in a file cabinet or underneath
a covered table.
If he’s in the bathroom, he should
stand on the toilet and lock the stall door.
If there’s nowhere to go,
I asked him to paint
himself with someone else’s
blood and play
dead.
Give him a break my husband murmured.
Let him relax a bit.
Simon needed extra prayers
at bedtime.
Say my name out loud.
Tell God to keep me safe, or at least
don’t let him come while I’m in art
class. During shooter drills,
my teacher forgot to lock
the door and the window is too big
to cover with paper.
I smoothed the circles under
his eyes while I begged God
to keep him here, with me.
Today, the forest is a cathedral
and cedar trees waft incense.
The blossoms are a riotous crowd
—tulip poplars, mountain laurel,
dogwoods and wisteria.
The “About Me” poster outside
Simon’s fourth grade
classroom says he loves our dog
Theo and tacos.
His favorite color is green.
He wants to be a doctor.
The trees hush the sirens
and only the flowers hear the
whispered coda to my prayer.
If he comes, God, and Simon
can’t hide, please
please God,
let me be there too.
The blooms, mute gods, bend
their faces toward my cries
and promise
nothing.
—from Poets Respond
May 29, 2022
__________
Rachel Mallalieu: “I send five children to school each day. I have a fourth grade son. I cannot stop weeping. I cannot stem my rage.” (web)