Another School Shooting? We Are Not to Blame.

Something occurred to me this week, as the responses to yet another school shooting rolled in. Sad and rote and predictable, they all have one word in common: we.

"When are we going to do something?"

"Why are we willing to live with this carnage?"

"Why are we so broken?"

"We must do better."

"We have to act."

We, we, we, we, we, we ... all the way home.

As if the blame for gun violence belongs to all of us. As if the vast majority of Americans don't support common sense gun legislation. As if the Republican party (a wholly owned subsidiary of the NRA) isn't holding our country hostage. At gunpoint.

The only thing "we" need to do is stop shouldering the blame.

If you vote, and call, and write, and shout, and march, and donate in support of gun safety, then you are doing something. You are not broken. And you are clearly not willing to live with the carnage. So don't claim it. Name it.

Name them.

When are Republicans going to do something?

Why are Republicans willing to live with this carnage?

Why are Republicans so broken?

If it weren't for Republican politicians--and the people who put them in office--we would have gun legislation that's proven to save lives. It's that simple. But with every "we" statement, we make it feel complicated and amorphous and entrenched. Like the cancer has metastasized, and there's really no cure.

The cancer is not us. It's right over there. It goes by names like Mitch McConell. Mitt Romney. Greg Abbott. Ted Cruz.

Point. Be specific. Name names.

If we're going to fight, we need to stay strong and healthy and unbroken.

And stop claiming their sickness as our own.

Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/@johanneswre