No, Mr. Blumenthal, Republicans are not Complicit in any of the Nation’s Mass Shootings ⋆ Politicrossing
Connect with us

News

No, Mr. Blumenthal, Republicans are not Complicit in any of the Nation’s Mass Shootings

Published

on

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently blamed Republicans for the tragic mass shootings that have taken place in the country. As reported by Breitbart, Blumenthal stated that “Republican lawmakers were ‘complicit’ in all the mass shootings that take place in the United States, given their opposition to gun legislation.” While Blumenthal’s finger-pointing is consistent with the left’s playbook, it is also wrong, illogical, and fails to address the root of the problem.

Each and every mass-shooting is tragic. The recent mass shooting in Colorado is no exception. However, the fact that such events are tragic and the fact that they involve guns/firearms does not necessarily mean that guns/firearms are to blame, nor does it mean that Republicans are complicit because they allegedly oppose the left’s proposed gun legislation.

Democrats in Congress have a long track record of blaming everyone and anyone other than the perpetrator for such tragedies.

Trending on PolitiCrossing.com: Those Who Are to be Pitied Most

For example, immediately after the horrific shootings in El Paso, Texas and in Dayton, Ohio, some Democrats blamed President Trump. Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) stated, “Let’s be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is. He is an open avowed racist and encouraging more racism in this country.” As reported by Politico, other Democrats also placed the blame on President Trump. Additional comments blaming Trump for the El Paso shooting can be found here.

Liberal groups, such as Bend the Arc, also blamed President Trump and Republicans after the tragic shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. This group was not alone in blaming President Trump. As set forth in The Hill:

“Famed economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted a link to the story with the caption, ‘but none of the white supremacist terrorism has anything to do with Trump, oh no.’ The Washington Post featured an op-ed on its homepage asking ‘How much responsibility does Trump bear for the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh?’ The author of that piece, GQ’s Julia Ioffe, tweeted ‘a word to [her] fellow American Jews: This president makes this possible. Here. Where you live. I hope the embassy move over there, where you don’t live was worth it.’”

Finally, Democrats also blamed Republicans after the devastating and tragic shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Blumenthal and many of his colleagues on the left are way off-base by placing blame for such tragedies on their Republican colleagues. For starters, this position is nonsensical. Simply stated, a gun/firearm, which is an inanimate object, does not wake up one morning and decide to commit a mass-casualty event. Rather, this decision is made solely by the individual who ultimately commits such a heinous act. Republicans do not put the gun in the shooter’s hands, do not make it easier to obtain a firearm, and play no role whatsoever in such tragedies.

By placing the blame on guns and/or Republicans, Blumenthal and many of his colleagues on the left are ignoring the root of the problem, which includes personal accountability and mental health. They believe that more stringent gun control laws like the ones recently proposed and passed by the House of Representatives (i.e. expanding background checks and extending the review period for such checks) will help to prevent such tragedies in the future.

While background checks should be encouraged by Republicans and Democrats alike, it is not clear how more expansive checks would prevent such tragedies. For example, if more stringent background checks are required, how will they prevent people who are willing to commit such acts from obtaining a weapon illegally? More generally, how will stricter gun laws specifically address/deter those who intend to commit such acts from executing them? After all, Colorado has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Will a system that mandates more thorough background checks serve to stop/prevent such tragedies? Finally, and most importantly, why would law-abiding American citizens jeopardize their Second Amendment rights when doing so is unlikely to prevent many mass-shootings? As reported by Politico:

While the House bills have Republican cosponsors and won a handful of GOP votes, most Republicans voted against them. During the floor debate, Republicans argued that the background checks would not stop most mass shootings and would mistakenly prevent some lawful gun owners from purchasing firearms.

Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry said the bill would lead to more crime because there would be “less people out there defending themselves.”

Blumenthal’s attempt to blame Republicans (to any extent) for the nation’s mass-shootings is out of line and lacks any causal connection. Both Republicans and Democrats want to make the nation safer and want to prevent such tragedies from ever happening again. Towards this end, some type of gun reform could very well be appropriate and necessary. However, Republicans have legitimate concerns with the left’s gun-control proposals and have clearly and publicly expressed those concerns. Moreover, short of potentially infringing upon the Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners in the United States, there is serious doubt as to whether the left’s proposals will accomplish the desired goal(s).

Finally, many Democrats in Congress allege that their proposed gun-reform bills are needed to  make America “safer.” At the same time, however, they openly support other policies that potentially jeopardize American lives, such as opening the nation’s borders, weakening America’s immigration policies, and defunding the nation’s police. How can Democrats reconcile these inconsistent positions?

Clearly, something must be done to curb the nation’s gun violence. However, to assert that Republicans are complicit in the nation’s mass shootings because they don’t agree with the Democrats’ proposed bills/reforms is an enormous and unsubstantiated leap. As such, it should be disregarded in its entirety.

Mr. Hakim is a political writer and commentator and an attorney.  His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, American Greatness, The Algemeiner, The Western Journal, American Thinker and other online publications. 

https://thoughtfullyconservative.wordpress.com   

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this article. Please take a minute to share them in the comment section by clicking here. Or carry the conversation over on your favorite social network by clicking one of the share buttons below.



 
 
 

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.



Life

Give Thanks and Carry On

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, if you can

Published

on

Thanksgiving: that joyous time of the year when families get together, have a wonderful dinner, catch up on what everyone other is doing, give thanks for all that they have, and perhaps watch some football.

Up for the Challenge?

This Thanksgiving might prove to be a challenge for many people. For one, the cost of the turkey, the bird traditionally served, in some locals cost between 50% to 80% more than last year, and turkey was already expensive.

Among your relatives a few might be vegans or vegetarians. If you have a vegan enforcer in the family, this person will rail on and on against eating meat, and about how turkeys have lives just like we do.

Trending on PolitiCrossing.com: Those Who Are to be Pitied Most

One of your vegan or vegetarian relatives might offer a discourse on how cranberries should be harvested a different way, the dangers of turkey stuffing, and the problem with vegetables that you might be serving, the risk of having too many starches – potatoes or rice – and the evils of wine, beer, and other alcoholic drinks.

Topics Worth Avoiding

The politics to consider abound. Since roughly half of the country votes Democrat and half votes Republican, the odds are overwhelming that you’re going to have somebody with opposing politics at the table. During Trump’s years as president, many families had to navigate around the topic of the presidency, prevailing policies. and so on.

Today, while there’s no question that Joe Biden is completely inane as leader, the same delicate navigation needs to occur. As miraculous as this might seem, some on the left actually approve of what Biden has been doing. Note: don’t be concerned about the Bidens going hungry. With all those under-the-table payment from Ukraine and China, they can EASILY afford a huge, expensive turkey with all of the trimmings.

If you can avoid discussing the eight million invaders illegally crossing our borders, rampant inflation, the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal, the crisis in Israel and potential for World War III, drag time story hour for children, transgenderism, the bogus lawsuits against Donald Trump, the unending crimes of Hunter Biden, the payola to Joe Biden, FBI corruption, the historic unpopularity and ineptness of Kamala Harris, and about 30 or so other topics, your dinner should go smoothly. Enjoy!

A huge current wrinkle on the political scene is that recent surveys reveal at least one-quarter of Democrats actually approve of Hamas, atrocities and all, and side with Palestine on all issues large and small. They believe that Israel is an apartheid state and that Jews are today’s Nazis. Apparently they’ve never visited Israel and have no Jewish friends.

Depending on how many Democrats attend your Thanksgiving gathering, if it’s four or more, mathematically speaking you have a decent chance that one is a pro-Hamas Democrat. Wooo…  Now, you really have to stay clear of current issues or your dinner table might be as inflamed verbally as the Middle East is with armaments.

Insufferable Stuffing

After everyone is stuffed with turkey, vegeburgers, or whatever the people who like rabbit food eat, you might sit in the den and turn on a football game. Quickly, you’ll have a stark reminder of how far political correctness has infected society.

If the Washington Commanders are playing, it’s hard to forget that they used to be called the Washington Redskins until the wokesters among us demanded that the name must be changed. Not so ironically, 90% of native Americans actually want the name Washington Redskins reinstalled, and currently are petitioning for it.

In baseball, the Cleveland Indians “had” to be renamed to the Cleveland Guardians. Potentially, there’s no end of this malarkey. Should the Minnesota Vikings change their name? After all, people from Scandinavia might object to the term “Vikings.” While we’re at it, consider college basketball. The Wake Forest University Demon Deacons are due for a name change, if you’re on the Left. So, too, the Duke University Blue Devils, the Arizona University Aztecs, and on and on.

Landmines to Side Step

With all these potential land mines to side step, and all the ways that otherwise pleasant conversations on a pleasant day could occur, you have to be on guard.

Nevertheless, I wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. May you survive the day, fully intact, and ready to have a decent Black Friday.

– – – – –

 

 

 

Continue Reading

Military

Biden Boondoggles Imperil the U.S. and the World

The Biden Administration is the picture of futility and incompetence, mixed with corruption and persecution of its political opponents

Published

on

Are you a conservative business person? Then check out the Red Referral Network and partner with Dinesh D’Souza by clicking the banner below:

On my last day following a long sojourn abroad, I met a wonderful woman from North Dallas, had dinner with her, and memorized her email address.

Trending on PolitiCrossing.com: Those Who Are to be Pitied Most

When I arrived home the next day, I emailed her to see if she had had a decent trip back. A couple of minutes later, my email bounced back to me as undeliverable. Realizing my mistake of failing to write down her email address or the spelling of her last name, over several weeks I tried numerous alternative methods at length for finding that information, but with no success.

I had not handled it right and I could not later correct the mistake. You’ve long heard the phrase by the late, legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” I would add, will you have the opportunity to correct the damage done or even to try again?

Macro Level Bungles

It’s hard to even imagine the frustration and problems for all of us considering the never-ending missteps we watch every day from our president!

Biden and company have engaged in macro-level failures for nearly three years now. Their repeated failures to take early appropriate steps, domestically and internationally, has had serious ramifications for the nation and the world.

In chain-like fashion, their ineptness, unintentional and intentional, has spun out of control and led to one unpalatable situation after another. Then they spend untold labor hours and multi-billions of dollars, not to mention American lives, seeking to correct what they could not get right in the first place.

The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan caused the loss of American lives and $85 billion dollars worth of military equipment to the Taliban. This ‘gift’ is ultimately finding its way to our enemies throughout the region and, arguably, globally. It also has signaled to the rest of the world, particularly Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad, that American military effectiveness is questionable.

As a result of not adequately planning the withdrawal from Afghanistan, as President Trump had already outlined, the Biden Administration has been scrambling ever since. Following our Afghanistan withdrawal Russia’s invasion of Ukraine under a false pretext, and the resulting multi-billions we have spent propping up Ukraine, are major unfortunate results.

Middle East Madness

Another result of our ineptness is the spate of attacks, now several dozen, on U.S. Armed Forces throughout the Middle East following the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel.

China’s forays into the Middle East and its support of Iran further imperil Israel and, by extension, the U.S. In considering the Biden Administration, China is emboldened. They are in partnership with Russia ostensibly for one reason: to hasten our declining power. They have ramped up spying on us via “weather balloons,” university “research centers,” exchange “students,” industrial spying, and, of late, the influx of more than 17,000 Chinese nationals at our southern border – all single men of military age.

Because the Biden Administration intentionally has not secured the southern border it has subjected American citizens to crime, fentanyl addiction, and massive numbers of deaths, as well as bursting federal, state, and municipal budgets in the attempt to house, feed, and safeguard swarming numbers of illegal immigrants.

Biden’s porous border policies have invited terrorists, weakened any notion of U.S. homeland security, heightened child trafficking, accelerated drug cartel activity, and aided gang-related connections throughout our county.

Poor Planning, Execution and Follow Up

Across the board, in examining the policies and programs of the Biden Administration and how poorly they’ve been designed and initiated, it is now apparent that everything they do today represents one attempted, hopeless ‘correction’ after another.

These attempted corrections are long drawn out, invariably with no end in sight. Whether it is on the world stage or domestically, each boondoggle after another leads to protracted, expensive, questionable attempts to resolve what didn’t need to occur in the first place.

It is not an exaggeration: the entire Biden Administration is the picture of futility and incompetence, mixed with corruption and persecution of its political opponents. This is no way to run a country or display to the world how an effective representative republic operates. It is no way to deter our enemies from taking bold steps. It is no way to guide us safely into the future.

Indeed, the entire world is now less safe.

– – – – –

 

Continue Reading

 

Our Newsletter

Become a Politicrossing insider: Sign up for our free email newsletter, and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop.

Sites We Like

Our Newsletter

Become a PolitiCrossing insider: Sign up for our free email newsletter, and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop.

Trending