OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge/I’m trying not to lose my head”
— Part of the hook of “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, 1982
Mark President Trump’s words. He laid out a new goal in the ongoing debate about gun violence.
The massacre on Wednesday at a high school in South Florida drew the usual responses about gun control, school security and mental health, arguably the quickest and easiest reactions from politicians and other powerful people.
They always can be counted on to use phrases such as “senseless violence” and “thoughts and prayers” in condolences to the victims and their families.
SEE ALSO: Alex Azar, Trump health secretary, open to government gun violence study
The language relays a measure of human sympathy, regardless of the number of lives lost, weapon used, geographic location or sex of the victims.
Mr. Trump followed modern White House protocol, and he also signed an executive order on Thursday ordering U.S. flags at federal sites to be flown at half-staff through Monday, Presidents’ Day.
Later Thursday afternoon, though, Mr. Trump used three words to help explain what might be missing in the aftermath of the bloodletting at Las Vegas; Parkland High School and the Pulse nightclub in Florida; Virginia Tech; Aurora, Colorado; and Newtown, Connecticut, and the daily violence that’s shattering lives across the country.
“We must also work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life, that creates deep and meaningful human connections and that turns classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbors,” the president said.
Think about that.
Think about all those students and adults you’ve seen running for their lives. Tearful families hoping their loved ones scrambled to safety. Kids hiding under desks. Footage of teens, arms raised like suspects, marching toward safety.
SEE ALSO: These are the lives lost in the Florida high school shooting
Think about the many political pushes to disarm law-abiding citizens.
Think about how people want to water down and wipe out the Second Amendment from the U.S. Constitution.
Think about how mental health has become America’s newest health crisis.
Think about the people who have neither deep nor meaningful human connections.
Then, hope and pray they embrace the dignity of life.
And remember, in the aftermath of the Parkland case, Florida is a death penalty state that keeps “Old Sparky” on standby, just in case.
• Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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