I Don't Feel Like Smiling

Flowers usually make me smile, but I don't really feel like smiling today, so a flower arrangement in mono seems appropriate in memory of the people who lost their lives in Orlando yesterday.

When I heard about the shooting this morning, I didn't feel sad. I felt angry. When I heard Obama speaking to the nation after yet another shooting by a deranged gunman, I felt angry. I am angry that in one of the richest countries on earth, so many mentally ill people have nowhere to go for help. I am angry that so many people have guns…not hunting rifles, but assault weapons.  I am angry that every time something like this happens, and the subject of gun control comes up, the second amendment is cited. Since when do a bunch of misguided people with guns constitute a militia?  Whenever talk of gun control comes up so does the number of people purchasing guns. What kind of country are we?

I don't care if the shooter was a terrorist, a muslim, gay or straight, man or woman, black white , yellow or brown. I care that someone walked into a bar, pulled out an assault weapon and killed 49 people in cold blood…people who will never smile to see another sunrise, the faces of their loved ones, or a beautiful flower arrangement. I care that our government is so afraid of the power of the National Rifle Association that virtually nothing has been done to control guns since John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I care that it is easier for a man who abused his wife to get an assault rifle than it is for me to get cough medicine.

I am really angry that we have a man running for President who thinks banning all Muslims from the country will solve the problem. That we think we have a god given right to carry a gun, and to use it to solve what we perceive as a problem. That building walls will keep out the bad guys. The problem is us!  We seem to have lost the political will to do anything but maintain the pathetic status quo. The problem is anybody who thinks violence is the answer to anything. The problem is isolation, hatred and complacency. The problem is not recognizing that violence just breeds more violence.

I am heartbroken for the people who lost their lives, and for everyone whose lives they touched. We are foolish if we think it will never happen to us. We have to find a way to stop the madness. We have to take down walls, not put them up.

Sorry, Red Flash, I'll try to smile more tomorrow. It's a great challenge. thanks for hosting.