The shootings in Florida make you, as a writer, want to run to your keyboard and chastise everyone in government you can think of for the mess we are in. The Republicans for their love affair with the gun lobby. The liberals for their love affair with political correctness, to a fault, which hampers any kind of real security in this country. But none of it will do any good unless you want real change and real change in this country is dead in the water with an ineffective congress and a powerless president.
We had this same feeling after Sandy Hook and after every shooting we've had since and there have been a lot of them and there will be a lot more to come. The president might just as well have a speech laminated, which starts out, "Our thoughts and prayers are with..."
Let's put Sunday's shooting into perspective. Count your friends and family and almost anyone can come up with a hundred. Sunday, in Florida, over 5,000 people cried themselves to sleep. Sunday, 200 survivors ran for their lives through a hail of bullets. Sunday, doctors and nurses went through something they will never forget no matter how hard they try. Sunday, paramedics, firefighters and police had to wade through the blood puddles, listen to the cellphones ringing, knowing full well the owners were dead and those were the victims loved ones calling. Then, they got to go home to their own loved ones and pretend everything was alright. Yes there were a lot of victims Sunday but they better get used to it and maybe I should just laminate this letter, too, for the next time.
Mike Holst
Crosslake
