Mass Shootings in the United States: Refuting The Pundits

It is arguably a good thing that the left and the “intellectual” establishment rebel so strenuously against Donald Trump. In this way, their sensational objections, and even violent acts, only serve to question their motives in any policy debate. Intellectual opinion at best, is flawed by political concerns, i.e., “where you stand is where you sit;” but is nugatory when serving an ideological master.

There is much to condemn as to the opinions and debate of the recent mass shootings[1] in El Paso,[2] Texas, Dayton, Ohio,[3] and Chicago, Illinois,[4] over the August 2-4, 2019 weekend, in the United States. The Democratic Party’s and its leftist apparatchiks championing the myopic fixation of gun control, averred by all 2020 Democratic candidates for president, and the fatigued assertion that simply denying Americans the “right to bear arms,” will solve America’s gun violence, is a major part of the problem, and as a society, our ability to solve it.

These are the facts.

The El Paso shooter had apparently extreme view on illegal immigration, while the Dayton shooter had extreme left-wing views, and backed Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. And, while the Chicago shooters political views are unknown, one can assume since they are African – American, they would support Democrats and left-wing views.[5]

51% of mass shooters in 2019 were black, 29% were white, and 11% were Latino. Three mass shooters were Asian, two were American Indian and one was Arab. These numbers are if anything vastly understated. As many as half of the mass shootings that took place in 2019 thus far remain unsolved, but they often took place in black areas and claimed black victims.

We are beginning to understand a great deal more about mass shooters.[6] However, and this is important, it will not be through ideological biased opinion research (polling). Anecdotal, cherry-picked data, generalizations, straw man and Aunt Sally, and presenting complex issues in terms of two inherently opposite sides (firearm ownership or banning the private ownership of firearms), et cetera, arguments are insufficient in finding a solution.

However, a particular worrisome aspect of the left’s point of view is their attempt to link discussion of mass shootings and the immigration issue; and the fallacious allegations alleged by President Trump’s enemies that his “rhetoric” has caused the horrific mass shootings recently experienced in this country. Hence, it is proffered that the Trump Administration’s objection to illegal immigration is the root of the problem of mass shooting in the US today.

What the majority of Americans oppose, and what President Trump has given voice to, is not immigration, but illegal immigration. President Trump’s verbal opposition to illegal immigration is not inflammatory, even though it is portrayed as such by those who oppose his viewpoint on the matter. For example, A pundit[7] who’s description of Americans that support President Trump’s thinking on immigration as “officially sanctioned anti-immigration rhetoric,” is unfortunate, unsound, and unjust. To challenge an argument, or position on a policy, by asserting the manner in which it is presented is unsatisfactory, and regrettably sophomoric.

Do these same pundits agree with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR) suspending immigration to Jews in 1939? Or his (FDR’s) executive proclamation 2526 and 2526, in 1941, interning Japanese Americans, and suspending immigration to anyone of German, Japanese, and Italian nationality? There was no substantial criticism of FDR, when he enacted these policies.

Accordingly, it is logical to conclude that if you sit in front of a fireplace, and speak in a professorial mode, with a patrician tone, you can remove people’s rights, and allow the systematic extermination of 6 million people, without objection from the Progressive left and the mainstream media.

On the other hand, President Trump, for the past three years, has been defined by the ideological left and mainstream media, as a racist, white supremacist, fascist, and Nazis. Without any incertitude, they purposefully misrepresent and even falsify his Administration’s policies. Any effort to clarify his position on any issue is met with allegations of racism and unsavory “anti-immigration rhetoric.” While the left advocates lawlessness without challenge!

Moreover, where was mainstream media when Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, called me a racist? Where were this same media and liberal pundits lamenting Obama’s, Holder’s, Ms. Clinton’s, et. al., rhetoric and leadership style while the country was being torn apart by identity politics?

The fact is there is no basis for the left’s personal attacks on Mr. Trump’s character and style of leadership. The left’s and mainstream media ad hominem attacks is what bullies do when they can offer no legitimate alternative(s).

Is there any evidence that: President Trump colluded with the Russians to win the 2016 Presidential election; that he has been more mendacious and had more scandals[8] than Barack Obama when he was President; that he was a greater womanizer than Bill Clinton; or a weaker leader than George W. Bush. The short answer is that there is none (evidence). Yet, President Trump is portrayed by the left and mainstream media as the least virtuous and qualified of the lot. There is no question, this contempt for Trump borders on the pathological.

In the last analysis, Americans like guns. Americans understand that gun ownership keeps America free and a democratic country. It’s not the gun that kills – it’s the gun owner. It’s not immigration that Americans object to – it’s illegal immigration. It’s not the immigrant – it’s the illegal immigrant. America’s “right to bear arms,” is the essential reason we are free people today.

G-d Bless America!

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[1] Definition of a “mass shooter,” is one that shoots and kills four or more people.

[2] El Paso, Texas, August 3, 2019, 22 people killed and 24 others were wounded or injured.

[3] Dayton, Ohio, August 4, 2019, 10 people killed and 27 wounded or injured.

[4] CBS (Chicago), “7 Killed, 46 Wounded In Weekend Shootings, by Mugo Odigwe, August 5, 2019 at 7:31 AM. Seven people were killed and 46 others were wounded in shootings since Friday evening, in Chicago, IL.

[5] 93 percent of African – Americans voted for Barack Obama, in the 2012 Presidential election. In the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton got 94 percent of the black women vote (4 percent for Donald Trump), and 80 percent of men (13 percent for Mr. Trump).

[6] Op-Ed: “We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters,” Jillian Peterson and James Densley, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 4, 2019, 9:41 AM

[7] “Dissenting Opinions: On Mass Shootings in the United States,” Geopolitical Futures (GPF), August 8, 2019, Austin, TX.

[8] The following are examples of serious violations of law not investigated by the Obama Administration: Operation “Fast and Furious;” Benghazi terrorist attack and cover-up; IRS’s targeting of conservative entities; Department of Justice’s seizing records of journalists; NSA surveillance of ordinary Americans; Ransom payments to Iran for release of hostages; Bowe Bergdahl’s prisoner exchange; Secret Service prostitution scandal; Hillary Clinton's email scandal; Clinton Foundation scandal; The VA death-list scandal; Solyndra green energy scandal; Administration Officials lying to Congress; Voter Fraud in 2008, 2012 and 2016 Elections; Russia hacking White House computers in 2014; Clinton campaign coordinating with DOJ and Attorney General Loretta Lynch; US Taxpayers Funding Iran Military; Fusion GPS; et cetera.