Really Bad Car Wreck

No, not mine.  I'm talking about the Presidency of Donald Trump.



There are a lot of similarities though.  Sure I was on a busy highway but never expected to be hit because I was being careful.  Such was the 2016 election.  We knew he was running but nobody expected he would actually get elected. Nobody took his candidacy literally-he'd been a democrat, he is a failed businessman, and his personality was never conducive to being a world leader.

Then BAM!  We were struck while unsuspecting.  We got rear-
ended, as it were.  At first we didn't understand how it happened, or what impact it would have on our daily lives.  It took time for the real damage to show itself.  Like my own brain injury, the country couldn't make sense of much, and our personality changed.  We forgot things.  We couldn't find the right words.  Our self esteem was damaged as well.  We went into a deep depression and were unable to function like we needed to.

Now, years later-in my case two, in his case three, we've had a chance to understand what happened and what the effects were.  We've started to see more clearly.  We've asked questions of the experts so that we can fully understand what is happening.  We've healed enough to come out of our blue funk and walk, crippled, into life again.  We do it with the goal of not just being functional, but being better than ever.  Stronger.  Smarter. More resistant.

We, my fellow Americans and I, have plateaued.  We're not healing any more, or at least are healing very slowly.  New injuries are coming to light that have to be dealt with.  New strategies for a return to what we once were have been embraced.  It's excruciatingly slow.  We continue to do our necessary therapy but it's simply a matter of survival.  Like I have, it is time that my countrypersons fight back.  Resist. 

It is also imperative that the person who caused this life changing, nearly deadly, car wreck is held accountable.  Maybe there's no financial reward, but there is a satisfaction in making our point and maybe preventing the perpetrator from harming someone else.  That's what this impeachment is about-holding accountable a person who injured us, possibly permanently.  The physical injuries will heal, but the post-traumatic stress disorder will have to be dealt with for quite some time.

Don't ignore that.  As certain as I am about my name, I know that the US is suffering from PTSD regardless of where your political leanings lie.  Republicans are injured just as much as democrats.  We are all Americans.  We need to work together to heal both sides.

I'm driving again, at least during the daytime.  I still have a great deal of pain and my mobility is limited.  There are things I can't do, but have learned to reach out and ask for help.  Americans must do this as well-as individuals as well as Americans in general.    We must take as many precautions as possible to keep from being inured in the future.  We have to get back into that which traumatized us.  We have to survive, and we have to heal, and we have to get back to the people we were before this accident.

I do think of it as an accident.  It happened when we got lazy and
weren't looking, which makes us as culpable as the perpetrator.  Even radical Republicans got broadsided by who they thought would be their savior.  Be kind to each other.  Heal.  Don't rip the scabs off.  Seek help from professionals.

Don't let this kick you in the ass for life.

Why Aren't You Screaming?

As the horror in an El Paso shopping are unfolds, I've discovered I've lost my empathy.  Aside from being personally mortified to realize that, it's also an horrific sign of how the mighty have fallen.

One guy went into a Walmart in Texas and shot a bunch of people.
My very first thought was, "Well, they got what they deserved."  

Texas is an open carry state. The Texas Department of Public without a license if the firearm is not in plain sight.  Local governments can not further restrict or regulate the possession or use of firearms. Texas does not restrict NFA weapons  (machine guns, short or "sawed-off" shotguns and rifles, and grenades, mortars, rocket launchers, large projectiles, and other heavy ordnance) that are legally possessed under federal law. The state does not require background checks for private sales of firearms.

Government can issue a License to Carry a Handgun to an eligible person. The license permits the concealed or open carrying of a handgun. Vehicle carry is allowed.

Just to be clear, it is perfectly legal to go to Walmart in Texas with a rocket launcher.

Hey TX, you still loving your guns and your tRump? How 'bout you, IL, MD, OK, MS? WI, PA, DC, KS, NY? OH, NC, FL, LA, NM, CA, NV, AR, MS, CT, GA, SC, VA, KY, IA, CO, TN? And more. All mass shootings in 2019 and it's only August.

Wikipedia has a list here:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2019?fbclid=IwAR3DSzaIg7Q7WxGoZCoGaBY7QSQq0XNWnF-qdthNaxbVbqYcbd4QnviusVc

If you have not contacted your Congresspersons, you are just as guilty as the shooters. Demand gun control. Your "thoughts and prayers" are meaningless without action. Your "right" to own anything more than one single-shot gun for protection or hunting is NOT WORTH MORE THAN THESE LIVES.

This isn't a partisan thing. ALL politicians and ALL voters have
failed.

As of July 31, 2019, 248 mass shootings have occurred in 2019, resulting in 979 people being shot. Of those people, 246 have died. Their blood is on our hands.  

And Canada, don't even be smug. We've had 7 shootings in two weeks in JUST ONE NEIGHBORHOOD in Toronto. 35 Homicides in Toronto this year. And they happen in every.single.province.

Of course I'm angry at the shooters and the lawmakers.  But if you haven't taken a very public stand against automatic weapons and too much freedom to stockpile guns, no matter what country you are in, then I'm angry at you as well.  And even more so if you haven't bothered to contact your congressional representatives.

It's well past time we strictly regulate the manufacture, sale, and possession of guns.  It's a human issue, not a political one.  If you don't agree, meet me in Texas and we'll play catch with a grenade.