Thursday, June 16, 2016

Welcome to the tragic kingdom

It has not been a good week in Orlando, Florida.

First, Christina Grimmie, a finalist 2 years ago on NBC's The Voice, was shot to death by a gunman, who then turned the gun on himself to avoid accepting responsibility for his actions after being tackled by the victim's brother. The incident came after Ms Grimmie had given a concert. A promising career cut short, and, of course, the media is trying to label the killer as an obsessed fan or having some other motive.

However, that has since been overshadowed by what happened more than 24 hours later at Pulse, a popular nightclub reputed to be favored by the LGBT community. Another lone gunman opened fire and killed 49 people, wounding several others, before police killed him.

Predictably, presumptive Republican Presidential candidate and professional self-promoter Donald Trump stuck his foot in his mouth again and again, patting himself on the back for predicting something like this might happen, and raising the alarm that this was an act of terrorism. The killer in this case was a natural born American citizen of Afghan parentage. The Islamic State took credit for Omar Mateen's actions, and Mateen reportedly told a local television station what he was doing. Trump has since accused President Obama of being sympathetic to the terrorists. Total BS is what that is, because, once again, Trump is stirring up the masses and calling attention more to himself than the issues at hand.

All that says is that Trump is ill-prepared to handle foreign policy. He thinks he can treat the entire country like it's one of his business holdings. News flash, Dumb Donald. It ain't like that, never has been, never will be. At least two Republican Presidents of yore are turning over in their graves over Trump's bigoted rhetoric, maybe three. Care to guess?

Trump, however, isn't the only one in hot water.

Rev. Peter Jiminez, in Sacramento, California, used the pulpit on Sunday to applaud the massacre, implying that it was "God's will". Four days later, Jiminez's remarks made headlines, and leaves ye scribe shaking his head. The New Testament does tell us that God doesn't approve of a sinful lifestyle, but on the whole, it tells us that God is a loving Father after all. Seems that preachers such as Jiminez can't find it in their hearts to provide Biblical love. Just as predictably, the hate-mongers from Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas also applauded the Pulse massacre.

I'm sorry, but regardless of how the victims lived their lives, their families are in need of prayer to recover from the tragedy. Trump & Jiminez's hate-filled words get them this week's Weasel of the Week award. Trump's gotten a few of those already.

Finally, there is the tragic tale of 2 year old Lane Graves of Nebraska, on vacation with his family.

Lane was snatched by an alligator on Monday, and police found the body on Wednesday. The boy's father tried to save his toddler, but to no avail. There are no signs in the area where this happened that warned against roaming gators, but instead advised not to go in the water for swimming, among other things. The Graves family must've thought Lane would be safe. Nuh-uh. Five gators had to be put to sleep, and now investigators have to figure which of the five killed the child.

Even Mickey Mouse is in mourning this week.

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