It Gets Worse, Not Better

English: Orlando Skyline at night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once again, the course of American history is changed by a lone gunman seeking to make a statement by killing as many people as he could.

In Orlando, Florida during the early morning hours of June 12, fifty people were shot down at a gay/lesbian nightclub including the person who did the shooting.  He claimed allegiance to the Islamic State in a phone call before the massacre, even though the FBI said they had no evidence that he was ever a member.

As what usually happens in situations like these, the finger pointing starts once the shock over the news wears off.  In a presidential election year, that goes double.  Republican nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump was his classy self, congratulating himself on being right about immigration and its consequences, berating President Barack Obama for not saying the words "radical Islamic terrorists" and calling for his resignation.  Democratic nominee-in-waiting Hillary Clinton, backed into a corner by Trump and other far-right conservatives, finally uttered the words the President wouldn't as though her years as a diplomat meant nothing.

The finger pointing also extends to gun laws vs. gun rights, background checks, the mental health of the shooter, radical vs. moderate Islam, etc.  As long as the country is politically divided and the National Rifle Association is in charge of the gun issue, nothing will change much.

Despite (or because of) strides the LGBT community have been making to gain acceptance in society, there's still a lot of homophobia out there.  It was gays and lesbians out looking for a good time on a Saturday night who were killed in Orlando.  Not school children, moviegoers or office workers.  Chances are, there might be those who secretly have more sympathy for the shooter who said he hated to see two men kissing than they do with the victims.  But they're not going to take an assault weapon to places where LGBTs gather just to prove their point.  Why do that when out-of-context religious verses posted on placards will do?

You'll notice that we have yet to mention the name of the shooter, and we're not going to.  Some news organizations are doing the same thing in the belief that the person who did the crime doesn't deserve the publicity.  Blogs like this one are under no obligation to deny history to its readers.  But broadcast and print media are obligated to provide the facts, no matter how distasteful they are to its readers and viewers.  Also, shouldn't there be some kind of care taken in showing the names and faces of victims after shootings like this one, if only to protect the privacy of families and to not sensationalize their deaths?

Orlando is the latest whistle stop in the never-ending tour of death and destruction in the Age of the Mass Shooter.  America is at war, all right.  Not just with terrorists and lone gunmen, but with each other.  What's it going to take to achieve a cease-fire?