Words fail in response to shootings

Sometimes words fail.

They failed after Virginia Tech.

They failed after Sandy Hook.

And they fail in the wake of this week’s carnage in Florida.

They fail to convey our grief and our sadness to those who lost loved ones.

They fail to convey our anger and mounting frustration.

We live today in the only nation in the world where massacres by madmen are commonplace.

We live in a country where children have learned to be afraid in a place where they ought to feel safe, their school.

We live in a country where parents and grandparents too often feel the chill of fear and anxiety as they worry about their children and grandchildren.

And we live in a nation where our elected leaders have been paralyzed into a permanent state of inaction.

A never-ending flood of money into American politics has so corrupted our system of government that even the simplest, most modest steps toward safety and reform are considered off limits.

When a member of Congress is the beneficiary of the remarkable largesse of the National Rifle Association, that member knows instantly that if he or she doesn’t toe the line, a similar deluge of cash will go to the next primary election challenger willing to do the NRA’s bidding.

It’s not as if they’re bought outright, but they are certainly co-opted. They’re hamstrung. They’re paralyzed.

And so, the next time there’s a massacre — and there will be more, you can be sure of that — the best those elected representatives will be able to offer are “thoughts and prayers.” 

Not action. Not an answer. Just “thoughts and prayers.”

And if ever three words failed miserably, those are the words. — J.R.