“Thoughts and Prayers”-- an Excuse for Cowardice

It is a fact of life only if we let it continue to be

Another school shooting. Another round of meaningless "thoughts and prayers." Another reason for my anger to stay on full boil. My daughter, Alison, was shot and killed by a madman almost a decade ago, yet the gun violence hasn’t stopped. Every day in this country is a repeat of the same damn nightmare—just like *Groundhog Day*, only no one’s waking up from it. What’s worse is that no other civilized country on this planet lives in a world where mass shootings have become routine. The rest of the world watches us like we’re some kind of batshit crazy twisted experiment in self-destruction. And here we are, stuck in this blood-soaked cycle that only grows more grotesque with each new school, mall, or movie theater that gets lit up like a shooting gallery.

I stay angry because I have no choice. I stay angry because Alison was taken from me, and countless others have lost loved ones, their futures stolen in a hail of bullets. And yet, we’re still debating whether to do something as basic as keeping weapons of war off our streets. The good news? Since Alison's death, more people are speaking up, demanding action. But we’re still stymied by Republican lawmakers who refuse to act. They fear the cult of 40 million gun worshippers more than another massacre of innocent children. *Fuck* your "thoughts and prayers"—*do something*. But they won’t.

Look at cowards like JD Vance. He doesn’t like school shootings, but says they’re “a fact of life.” This, from a man hiding behind bulletproof glass who doesn’t seem to get that plenty of “facts of life” were changed because the government *did something* about them. As I wrote years ago about another despicable POS, Roy Moore, these people want women to “get ’em born, then get ’em armed.” They don’t mention the part where those kids might be shot dead at school.

It’s a fact of life

Or take Trump, with his usual idiocy: “Get over it.” And what do his followers do? They eat it up. They follow Trump’s incoherent rantings like gospel. Makes sense, because just like their dear leader, they lost the plot years ago. All they know is "Gun Good, AR-15 better. Praise Jesus!" They’d rather cling to their assault rifles (and Bibles, of course) than do the one thing that might save lives.

It’s really simple. MAGAts don’t care about kids, parents, or doing anything to stop gun violence. They don’t care about making life safer for families. They don’t give one flying fuck. All they care about is themselves and power.

This is exactly why we must elect Kamala Harris and flip the House and Senate. It’s not just about preserving democracy—it’s about preserving lives. Our lives. If we don’t prevail in November, we lose it all.