Loaded guns and empty words

I’m hoping to get rich soon. Someone told me it’s never too late, and I think, as ancient as I am, I’ve found a surefire way and there is no heavy lifting involved.

I’m looking for a wholesale franchise to create and peddle “thoughts and prayers.” There is a never-ending market, mostly among conservatives, but not always, who remain silent when they should speak out about gun violence before it takes place.

They produce thoughts and prayers automatically as victims are laid to rest. They drool piety. The potential client base is huge and It’s a repeat market. Sandy Hook, and Parkland are yesterday, Any Iowa school could be tomorrow.

The market includes an awful lot of, and I do mean awful, clergy who prefer empty public condolence after the fact of murder over real action before more innocents die. They deplore death, but not the guns that kill. State legislators are often masters of the empty rhetoric. Mayors and governors are also fluent in thoughts and prayers. Their prayers last a minute.; their thoughts probably even less.

And it is not just guns. Schools in Oho are being threatened with bombs by MAGA Republicans. That is not some Democratic fiction broadcast by fake media, but clear to all because MAGAts are proudly taking credit for the threats.“ Thoughts and prayers” are often the mantra of phonies who would more honestly say, “I don’t really give a damn beyond lip service.” And it isn’t only kids as targets. A judge in Georgia was shot by a sheriff. One dead, lots of thoughts, at least a few prayers.

Here in the Midwest, we talk of hunters’ rights. I like pheasant, but there’s not much left of a pheasant hit by an AK-47. It saves cooking time, is a no calorie diet. Beyond the dinner table, I have felt the impact of a single gun shot in another way.

I had an unpleasant brother, but never considered him suicidal until he told me he had thought of buying a gun. I was wrong. He was. He tried once unsuccessfully with pills he had saved from the days he owned a pharmacy. By the time he used them, they had lost their potency, and the only result was a headache from Scotch whisky, and a barren cupboard. He was frugal.

Fred was a difficult sibling, but polite with others. He left instructions for me to deliver a note of thanks to the cop who facilitated his application. Most of Americans who are suicidal don’t need quick service.

There are more than 390 million guns tucked away in our country of 327 million people, or more than one in many households. There are some in your neighborhood. You can be a target just as our presidents’ have. Here ie a report:

“Firearms have also been involved in the attempted assassinations of 11 U.S. presidents. Bullet wounds killed four presidents. Three handguns and one rifle were the weapons of choice for shooting, injuring, and ultimately killing four U.S. presidents.”

Our attention today is on the presidential election as it should be, but I hope we can also think about who among us can also encourage doing something beyond thoughts and prayers.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.