First Thoughts

And a first post about (sigh...) Uvalde TX police.

Hi, there, dear readers! My first post here demands some explanation. I have a substantial presence on Facebook. The heart of that, since 3/28/20, has been a series of on line “Curve-Flattening Concerts”, meant to offer some calming and often positive music for friends and fans. In addition, I sometimes post other stuff on Facebook, some of which is political, and less calming. But, in many ways, Facebook sucks, and, as a long time writer…of songs and prose of various types…Substack seems like a great place to focus on writing, so here we are. I may rant, I may share thoughts on life, remembrances of my many and varied adventures, funny stories…I may even try my hand at writing fiction. We’ll see how it goes.

Some of what I post here, like today’s post, may be overtly political. My late wife, Janice MacKenzie, was, in recent years, somewhat more politically active than me. When she died, in December of 2020, my life fell apart, and with it, my activism. Now, I often feel like I’m letting her down if I don’t at least speak my mind. Oh, and, by the way, if the comments here become troll-like, I’ll just disable them. I’m not here to argue. I’m here to write. If you don’t like it, don’t read it, and go post your opinion on your site.

So, for today, I’d like to talk about the Uvalde Tx police department.

I’m still trying to process the Uvalde murders; the unthinkable dereliction of duty on the part of Republicans. As for the police, they obviously came up against a Barney Fife moment. They realized that, with all the macho foto taking and swat team bullshit, they might actually have to walk the walk, and they weren’t ready. I wish that had not been the case.

More lives might have been saved, but here’s the deal: If the government makes it perfectly legal for anyone to buy body armor and weaponry which makes them virtually unassailable, it may be understandable that the government still expects the police to do their job, but you can make a good case for the fact that the government has made that job infinitely harder, and the result, in this case, is all of these bright lights, these young people, being put out before they got to burn. If those police officers could be called gutless, they’re still not nearly as gutless as the politicians who allow this insanity to continue.

If those police officers could be called gutless, they’re still not nearly as gutless as the politicians who allow this insanity to continue.

It may be a theme here, in the future, to throw the blame where it really belongs, and that’s usually with the people who are pulling the strings; in this case, the NRA and its emissaries, most notably Republican Senators and Congresspeople. So, now, our hearts are broken yet again, and, as unacceptable as the Uvalde police behavior was, proper gun control would have probably prevented this situation from even arising, and been better for everyone involved, and passing legislation which stops the madness of the NRA’s hypocritical and morally reprehensible behavior is the job of lawmakers, and the Republicans who refuse to address gun control have blood on their hands. The blood of children, for heaven’s sake. So much blood. SO MUCH BLOOD!