Former President Barack Obama issued a rare and lengthy public statement this week calling for action to reduce gun violence after two mass shooting in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH, killed a combined 31 people over last weekend.
"No other developed nation tolerates the level of gun violence that we do.
Every time this happens, we’re told that tougher gun laws won’t stop all murders. But the evidence shows that we can stop some killings,” Obama wrote. “They can save some families from heartbreak.
We are not helpless here. And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public official accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.”
One week ago, a gunman killed 22 people and injured 24 more after opening fire inside an El Paso Walmart. In the early hours of Sunday morning, a shooter killed 9 people and injured 27 more in Dayton.
Every time this happens, we’re told that tougher gun laws won’t stop all murders. But the evidence shows that we can stop some killings,” Obama wrote. “They can save some families from heartbreak.
We are not helpless here. And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public official accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.”
One week ago, a gunman killed 22 people and injured 24 more after opening fire inside an El Paso Walmart. In the early hours of Sunday morning, a shooter killed 9 people and injured 27 more in Dayton.
Obama further called out the troubling white-nationalist and white-supremacist sentiment in a manifesto believed to have been published by the El Paso shooting suspect on 8chan shortly before the attack, in which he talked of needing to end a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas.
President Trump’s campaign has run 2,200 Facebook ads using the word “invasion” when referring to immigration since May 2018. He has also used rhetoric similar to that used in the Texas shooter’s manifesto.
“Like the followers of ISIS and other foreign terrorist organizations, these individuals may act alone, but they’ve been radicalized by white nationalist websites. That means that both law enforcement agencies and internet platforms need to come up with better strategies to reduce the influence of these hate groups,” Obama said.
The former president also issued what appeared to be a thinly veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump’s racist and racially inflammatory language against immigrants and non-white Democratic members of Congress.
In mid-July, Trump tweeted that four progressive congresswomen of color should “go back and fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” despite three of the four congresswomen being born in the US.
And on July 27, Trump fired off a series of tweets slamming the city of Baltimore and one of its congress members, Rep. Elijah Cummings, over its living conditions.
Trump described the district—which is majority African American—as a “disgusting and rat and rodent-infested mess,” saying of Cummings, “if he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous and filthy place.” He further called it “the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States,” and said “no human being would want to live there.”
Obama wrote, “We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred, or normalizes racist sentiments, leaders who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to one certain type of people.”
President Trump’s campaign has run 2,200 Facebook ads using the word “invasion” when referring to immigration since May 2018. He has also used rhetoric similar to that used in the Texas shooter’s manifesto.
“Like the followers of ISIS and other foreign terrorist organizations, these individuals may act alone, but they’ve been radicalized by white nationalist websites. That means that both law enforcement agencies and internet platforms need to come up with better strategies to reduce the influence of these hate groups,” Obama said.
The former president also issued what appeared to be a thinly veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump’s racist and racially inflammatory language against immigrants and non-white Democratic members of Congress.
In mid-July, Trump tweeted that four progressive congresswomen of color should “go back and fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” despite three of the four congresswomen being born in the US.
And on July 27, Trump fired off a series of tweets slamming the city of Baltimore and one of its congress members, Rep. Elijah Cummings, over its living conditions.
Trump described the district—which is majority African American—as a “disgusting and rat and rodent-infested mess,” saying of Cummings, “if he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous and filthy place.” He further called it “the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States,” and said “no human being would want to live there.”
Obama wrote, “We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred, or normalizes racist sentiments, leaders who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to one certain type of people.”
Words can become the instruments of violence when a subject is dehumanized. Calling asylum seekers an “invasion,” and “infestation” or worse can make it seem to those on the fringe that extermination is a logical solution.
A controversial video of President Trump during a rally in Florida is resurfacing on social media after the two mass shootings over the weekend.
In the video, a person yelled, “Shoot them,” when Trump asked the crowd how the US Border Patrol might keep migrants from the entering the country without violence.
Trump smirked and shook his head at the comment, joking, “That’s only in the Panhandle you can get away with this stuff.”
During Monday remarks to address the two shootings, Trump called on social media companies to “detect mass shooters before they strike.”
At the same time, one of his recent tweets read, “We have an INVASION! So we are BUILDING THE WALL TO STOP IT! We want a SAFE COUNTRY!”
Does that sound like a respectable, responsible leader of your country—a country, by the way, that was founded by migrants?
Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini said in his column today: “Trump led the “birther” movement against former President Obama. He has vilified Muslims. He described those from Africa or Haiti as coming from “s---hole” countries. He gave what appeared to be a stamp of approval to the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville by saying there were “very fine people on both sides.”’
A controversial video of President Trump during a rally in Florida is resurfacing on social media after the two mass shootings over the weekend.
In the video, a person yelled, “Shoot them,” when Trump asked the crowd how the US Border Patrol might keep migrants from the entering the country without violence.
Trump smirked and shook his head at the comment, joking, “That’s only in the Panhandle you can get away with this stuff.”
During Monday remarks to address the two shootings, Trump called on social media companies to “detect mass shooters before they strike.”
At the same time, one of his recent tweets read, “We have an INVASION! So we are BUILDING THE WALL TO STOP IT! We want a SAFE COUNTRY!”
Does that sound like a respectable, responsible leader of your country—a country, by the way, that was founded by migrants?
Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini said in his column today: “Trump led the “birther” movement against former President Obama. He has vilified Muslims. He described those from Africa or Haiti as coming from “s---hole” countries. He gave what appeared to be a stamp of approval to the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville by saying there were “very fine people on both sides.”’
Montini continued, “There’s an old saying, variously attributed to everyone from Buddha to Mahatma Gandhi that begins:
“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.
“Be careful of your words for your words become your actions.”
If President Trump is as smart as he says he is, then he knows full well the actions that his words of hate have caused. Yet he continues, knowing full well the consequences of his words.
We CANNOT stand by, gritting our teeth, feeling embarrassed by this president who continually spouts opinions we would never dream of allowing any personal acquaintance to get away with in our presence. Much less the leader of our nation.
“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.
“Be careful of your words for your words become your actions.”
If President Trump is as smart as he says he is, then he knows full well the actions that his words of hate have caused. Yet he continues, knowing full well the consequences of his words.
We CANNOT stand by, gritting our teeth, feeling embarrassed by this president who continually spouts opinions we would never dream of allowing any personal acquaintance to get away with in our presence. Much less the leader of our nation.
If you aren’t registered to vote, register immediately. Today!
If you are a registered voter, let your Senators and Congressional representatives know that you condemn Trump’s racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and ignorant opinions. AND that you will be reporting to the poles to register your opinion on both the presidential and congressional ballots.
Feel free to use any of the wording in this blog as part of your statement. Copy it. Share it with your added comments. I’ve attributed the original authors, please give them appropriate credit.
As past President Obama says, “We are not helpless here.” It’s time to stop the hating. Time to stop the prejudice. Time to take our country back from this bully running the White House.”
If you are a registered voter, let your Senators and Congressional representatives know that you condemn Trump’s racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and ignorant opinions. AND that you will be reporting to the poles to register your opinion on both the presidential and congressional ballots.
Feel free to use any of the wording in this blog as part of your statement. Copy it. Share it with your added comments. I’ve attributed the original authors, please give them appropriate credit.
As past President Obama says, “We are not helpless here.” It’s time to stop the hating. Time to stop the prejudice. Time to take our country back from this bully running the White House.”
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