I do not want to write about this. I don’t want to watch the news. I don’t want to think about the devastation of the families that had children at that school. I don’t want to think about the parents of those two kids whose lives’ were taken from them. I don’t want this to be our reality. And make no mistake… this is OUR reality… not THEIR reality. These horrific… unthinkable acts carried out by cowards across this country is a threat to every single one of our households. These weak individuals are essentially walking into our homes with assault rifles and shotguns and handguns and explosives… walking up to our children’s bedrooms and killing them while we are downstairs talking about redistricting our states in order to add more house seats to whatever party we have decided we support today. And when we hear the guns firing… when we hear the innocent cries for help coming from our children’s bedrooms… we say “How many more times are we going to allow this to happen before we do something?”…. and then we do nothing.
It infuriates me. I feel the anger and sadness deep in my soul every single time I have turned on the news this week because I cannot help but place myself in those parent’s shoes. I have 5 pieces of my heart… in my boys and my nieces… that currently go to school everyday. I write this with tears in my eyes because it’s heartbreaking to even put into words. But I just cannot fathom if one of these “Breaking News” events that interrupts the regular scheduled programming flashes across the screen and the name of one of their schools comes up. I can’t stand to allow the thought to enter my consciousness… but how could it not? How does it not enter every single one our brains that has children or nieces or nephews or Grandsons or Granddaughters or simply cares about a living, breathing, feeling human being? How’s does this not absolutely drive you insane? And if it does… if your blood pressure rises the moment you see the flowers laying next to the sign that ends with Elementary, Middle or High School… how are you not screaming from the rooftops… demanding action from your local, state and federal government? How is this not at the top of our priority list? Tariffs… national guard sent to blue states… deportations…miss me with that bullsh*t and lets protect our children!
And if we would finally recognize the threat that our country faces due to these acts of domestic terrorism… what do we do to combat the issue? I believe the first and most immediate step… at least for some semblance of deterrence… could and should be allocating funds toward providing armed security guards to our schools across the nation. And where do we find the funds? Lets see… I believe there was a ‘beautiful bill’ that just passed that earmarked over $150 Billion for Immigration and Border Security. Supposedly we care deeply about our homeland and the American citizens that reside within it… how about carving out .5% of that budget… let me repeat that… a 1/2 percent of that budget… and providing security for every single school in this country. And I know that the issue lies much deeper than a security guard but this would be a realistic and logical first step prior to diving into the real issues of mental health and gun control.
I know that I am just a federal inmate with no real voice or influence crying from the exiled corner of society but I must get these horrible emotions and thoughts out into the world in some way or I will drive myself mad in here. And maybe… just maybe… someone out there will read my cry to action and it will spark their own cry for action. And maybe they will post or write or talk to someone else and that spark will ignite a flame that begins to spread and our cries will morph into tangible steps toward change. And this change will nudge the people of this country to decide that enough of our children have been slaughtered and we are going to take a stand against the hateful ideologies… the lax gun laws… the underfunded mental health industry and demand that our government focuses on the lives of our future.
No child should be killed while at school or church or the movies or the mall or a concert.
No child should witness their friends being murdered at these places.
No parent should have to get that call.
It should not happen.
Please do your part… they are worth it.
Stay Active. Stay Healthy. Don’t wait for it to be you.