Greetings. I am a voting, terribly angry constituent in rural west Texas.
Let’s talk about bravery.
Was bravery what we saw in Uvalde? Yes. Bravery by parents. Who were physically restrained from attempting to save their children while law enforcement stood around trying to figure out what to do.
Bravery by children, while in the midst of the most horrific scenario any of us can imagine, calling, trying to get the people who they believed would help them, to please please please do something.
Bravery by teachers who used their bodies as shields to try and save the children they were responsible for.
"If our cops can't be as brave as our 4th-grade teachers, why are we giving the cops so much more money?"
Can you answer that question?
Sadly, law enforcement that day seemed overwhelmed. Ill-prepared. Disorganized. Was it bureaucracy? Chain of command? Ineptness? Or simply fear of death by a lone gunman with a single weapon they knew they were no match for?
Or even worse, a decision that the risk to their lives was not worth saving children who were not their own. Because apparently they are not legally required to actually do the job they were hired for…to protect and defend…if they choose not to.
Not bravery. Not a good guy with a gun. Just simple decisions that showed us the myth of the white hat is often just that.
You know what else is not bravery? All the politicians who continue to kowtow to the NRA for their own political fortunes. Whose access to power they won’t use to protect their constituents is the only real consideration. Who clamor for more funding for an increasingly militarized police force, when we were just shown that is just more smoke and mirrors. Who continue to preach that more firepower is the answer to everything. That children are collateral damage necessary to protect our American freedom.
And what is most definitely not bravery is Donald Trump showing up at the NRA conference in Houston, where NO GUNS were allowed because of concerns for his safety. But yet he’s called brave just for showing up at all.
The only bravery we the people have seen over the past week is from ordinary citizens.
So here’s hoping this is the mantra going forward…”The only thing that can stop a bad politician with a vote is a good citizen with a vote.”
