18 Comments
May 7, 2023Liked by FPWellman

As an old soldier I completely agree with you.

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founding

To show how blase we've become over mass murders, the latest Texas gun massacre, page A23 in the Post and page 27 [second news section\ NYT. No thoughts and prayers needed. or "outlet mall strong."

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Sad🥲

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We can’t lost hope, but we also need to step away to preserve hope on occasion. This feels like one. We cannot sneer that Texas is reaping what they elected, that turns us into the accelerationists. Time away helps to retain perspective. Back to the fight soon.

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Our society and country are completely broken.

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I was an EMT many years ago, saw my fair share of accidents and horrible wounds but rarely guns and never in children. I have avoided seeing graphic photos of our near weekly slaughters before but I reluctantly viewed the mall victims including that innocent children and even the shooter to remind me to never again get numb to this and too always fight back in any way I can to beat down the choruses of nothing can be down

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Retired EMS here, I can’t even imagine rolling up to this scene. This might break me.

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I was 14 years old when a gunman shot my father in the hospital parking lot where he was an anesthesiologist. He was visiting his patients on the night of Easter Sunday before their surgeries the next day. He went to his car with my mom & her friend who had waited for him to finish his rounds. He removed items from the back seat to make room. As the two got into the car, he put the items in the trunk. The gunman came from behind and when my father turned around, was shot in the chest at age 43. He didn’t die right away. The bullet shattered a kidney, knicked the vena cava and 32 units of blood, 23 metal plates barely held his intestines together. 11 years of chronic issues including surgeries etc. They didn’t screen blood as carefully as they do now and he developed hepatitis C & Cirrhosis of the liver. The man never drank. He would succumb to his injuries during a 3rd attempt at liver transplantation. He dies as a result of being shot. Nobody I knew ever knew gun violence. Today I’m part of a club that no one should ever belong. Today I’m one of hundreds of thousands of victims, friends and families. My heart broke in 1978 and again when he passed. It breaks daily now. I know this journey and it’s long lingering grief. It’s senseless, shocking and defies logic. I’ve had family who’ve served in the military. My uncle was a marine, my other in the army. My son was a marine. There is no place in a civil society for guns used in war. There also is no place for hate, apathy and inaction. We sit at the precipice of losing our democracy because the irrational minority has a megaphone and channels their hate toward the most innocent among us. It feels so dystopian. I resolve each day to fight back in whatever way I can. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for your service. Above all, thank you for expressing the pain that so many of us are feeling.

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I am so sorry for your loss. Your story is heart breaking and should never happen.

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Very sweet of you to say this. ❤️ I wish with all of my heart other families and victims could have a measure of peace if gun laws could be passed & weapons used in war, not available to the general public. I’m very impressed with my Gen Z kids & believe there’s hope on the horizon. 🙏🙏🙏

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Thank you and thank you for sharing. I certainly hope people will actually wake up and see the devastation that happens when guns are put in the hands of people that should not have them or have access to them.

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Thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️

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It’s a horrifying how the love of guns has replaced the love of people.

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W/ the gun issue, follow the money.

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Oh, I know the money trail is not hidden. It’s not just the money though, it’s also the power and the “big gun” egos!!

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What else can be expected of a state that has over time, gone rogue all for the glorification of the gun as well a hatred and fear of “the other” whipped up by the one person who is supposed to be the voice of reason. Abbot and all like him have much to answer for at some point. Personally I wish there was some way of cutting Texas off from every bit of the country and let them work their problems out whichever way they can. If there is a state left after that, then maybe they can be readmitted. Same goes for any other state that can’t control their baser instincts. Enough is enough!

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Thanks for the flowers Fred. It’s definitely feeling like the US is experiencing an insurgency of well armed hate merchants 😣

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It’s insane, and the Republican party is paralyzed to take action. it needs to be corrected but I’m not seeing it happening anytime soon.

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