The following is an excerpt of a news analysis by Sharyl Attkisson in The Hill.
When it comes to addressing mass killings, what approach do you favor? It could be the tightening of gun laws, removing existing “loopholes,” examining mental health issues, investigating prescription of psychiatric medications, all of the above, or something else entirely.
Whatever your chosen approach, it seems to me that the least productive of the strategies, in terms of possible solutions, is categorizing the tragedies and the shooters in purely political terms.
It seems as if each time there is a new tragedy, some in the media, some political figures and some in the public wait just long enough to find out a detail that supports their political agenda. Then, they let loose with political blame.
Most recently, mass shooters killed nine in Dayton, Ohio, killed 20 people and injured two dozen in El Paso, Texas, and murdered three at a Garlic Festival in California.
Yes, there are political issues, policies and laws to discuss. But the over-the-top vitriol tends to drown out rational, productive conversation.
The rush by some to politicize every mass killing also leads to such nonsense such as some blaming President Trump after an anti-Trump mass shooter — a Democrat who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — targeted Republican members of Congress in 2017.
Politicization also tends to incite more expressions of hate on all sides — the exact opposite of what most say they want. (Continued…)
Read the entire article in The Hill by clicking the link below:
Interview/feature those who responded to the scene and restored order to the community. Say nothing of the perpetrator .
The only thing I know is that I never heard of an insane 45 cal. pistol I know of several insane people.
I agree! No publicity about the Perp.
The best cop in the World works for Gilroy PD.
PEOPLE ARE DISCUSSING THE TIMING AS VERY SUSPICIOUS AND THE FAR LEFT WANTING TO TURN TX INT A DEM STATE…….blame Trump and get new votes. bad whites, good blacks, hispanics arabs. some people in Walmart said multiple shooters came in dressed all in black–but the main news will not discuss. local El Paso stations…. antifa? eerie. confusing. definitely need mental health screenings though.
Thank you for addressing this.
It was of course expected for the politicians to make the president’s remarks the main reason for these mass shootings.
I heard Castro and Beto this Sunday and how they blamed Trump’s “rhetoric” for the racially charged feelings instead of quoting his remarks completely and correctly.
Then Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden chimed in too.
This is part of the problem imho. For these kind of shootings.
Thank you for being the reporter you are, Sharyl!
I heard an opinion from a health professional which sounded very valid to me. The explosion of shooting is related to drugs, not illegal drugs but prescribed drugs that are given to misdiagnosed mentally ill patients with no follow up. Mental illness is the elephant in the room that no one is addressing. Guns have been available as a constitutional right from our founding and never has there been such carnage without an explanation. Guns are not the problem. Society has a mental health problem of gigantic proportions. Drug induced (illegal and legal) Mental Health problems are causing homelessness, along with violence and a general malaise in our youth.
Was listening to WBUR’s radio news show, On Point.
If anyone is driving hate and division in America, it is MSM.