[Vision2020] Wayne Krauss on Gun Violence and What is Wrong in America

Fri Jan 25 17:53:55 PST 2013

I was going to keep my mouth shut about this, but I certainly hope folks
realize that Krauss either is talking out of his rear or is utterly ignorant
about the history of school shootings in the US.

An inconvenient fact for Krauss & his ilk (ask Wayne Price for a definition)
is that there have been school shootings for as long as there has been a
United States of America.  Even more inconvenient for Krauss is the fact
that the vast majority of those school shootings took place while Krauss'
"God" (whatever that means) was still in the schools and in the government
(whatever he meant with that incoherent rambling).

The most charitable spin I can put on Krauss' ignorance is that he's nothing
more than a Johnny-Come-Lately to the issue of school shootings.  More
likely, it seems to me, is that he's done drunk the Kool-Aid of those with a
vested interest in smoke & mirrors.  Given that he's significantly older
than am I, perhaps his memory is just faulty and his "glory days-ing" of the
1950s, 1960s, and 1970s is a function of that faulty memory.

I do, however, find it difficult to fathom that he sincerely doesn't
remember Charles Whitman.

Here's the thing:  the argument that reasonable people like me are making is
that given the fact that school shootings have been happening in America for
as long as there have been schools in America, the issue isn't one of some
theocracy-based imaginary moral decline of our society and its people, but
rather it's one of technological advances that have resulted in
semi-automatic guns and high capacity magazines.  It's the ability of
miscreants and/or those who are mentally ill to kill and injure lots of
people in minutes . . . in seconds.  Factually, that's been the significant
change, not that people are only recently wielding guns and targeting
schools.

And, that's a fact that Krauss et al choose to ignore.

I am beyond disappointed that people like Krauss choose to stick their heads
in the sand and be blinded by rhetoric rather than educated by facts.  I
attended a forum some years back when Krauss (as a citizen and not a council
member) asked a thoughtful and intelligent question.  Regrettably, any
critical thinking skills he once possessed seem to have left the building.

Further, if a council member chooses to lecture constituents,
we-as-constituents have a right to expect that the lecture at least be
factually accurate rather than flatly incorrect inflammatory rhetoric lifted
straight from partisan echo chambers.

And, I'm nearly as disappointed that not a single soul on the Moscow City
Council bothered to correct Krauss' ignorance.  Whether or not I voted for a
particular Council member, I expect - no, I demand -- intelligent and
educated discussion, both of which were absent from Krauss' "lecture" in
that Council meeting discussion.

Krauss also preached about the way weapons and ammunition have been "flying
off the shelves" following Sandy Hook and subjected us to his lame grasping
for causes and explanations.  Conspicuously absent from his musings is the
individualistic greed that's infected American society and is used by some
as justification for treating others as "less than."  That same  greedy
individualism that fails to recognize a huge component of this nation's
greatness is that we as a society are far, far greater than the sum of our
individuals.  That same selfish greed that seems to have filled far too many
with an unearned sense of entitlement such that they are willing to throw
all others, particularly those they disagree with, by the side of the road
in ruins.  That same greed than is killing America's compassion for other
Americans and for humanity as a whole.

Notably absent from Krauss' screed is another inconvenient fact:  the vast
majority of those purchases he attributes to fear were by repeat buyers.  I
personally know several people who were a part of that rush, and none of
them were first time "buyers."  The kind of standard response I received was
something like, "<wink, wink, nudge, nudge> Yeah, I bought because maybe
semi-autos & hi-cap mags are going to be banned.  But, you know me - any
excuse for a new toy."  It was sometimes accompanied by comment about the
explanation being enough to satisfy a SO.

To me, that's kind of significant.  Does that explain all of the purchases?
Probably not.

But, I do think that people like Krauss need to start looking at their own
behavior and the role they play in completely irrational hysteria.  It is,
IMHO, flatly irresponsible to fan the paranoid fear flames of the
reactionary right the way Krauss and so many of his fellow GOPers & TPers
have done and continue to do.  Personally, I think it counter-productive and
inarguably immoral for elected officials to validate ignorance, bias, and
bigotry as Krauss did.  But, it's sooo much easier to look at others rather
than at one's self, isn't it?

Krauss also lamented "taking God out of the schools and God out of
government."  Does anyone have a clue as to what he meant?  As a person of
faith, I certainly don't.  And, as a person who went to public schools in
the Bible belt in the 1960s and 1970s, I haven't a clue.

Perhaps it's more of his inclination, facts be damned, to romanticize the
past, something it seems a certain segment of the population has always been
inclined to do as they age.

I certainly hate to think that Krauss believes that people of faith -
children or adults - check their God at any door.  But, perhaps that's what
he believes.  If so, it makes me very sad that he has so little belief in
the faith of others.

Or, perhaps he's talking about himself . . . or people he knows.  I think we
all know them - Sunday Christians.  You know, like those good Christian
farmer men in Georgia who shot into the girls' school in Gainesville when
school was in session . . . while they were drunk.  Or, the good Christian
old fool who shot into the populated playground of St. Mary's in New York.
Both of those instances, BTW, took place in the 1800s.  And on & on & on.

Or maybe . . . just maybe . . .  the answer to Krauss' question is people
like himself who think the worst of educated and informed people with whom
they disagree.  People who assume the faith of others is checked at the
door.  People who refuse to accept that the faith of others is just as
strong as is their own and is a valid basis for morality.

People who mistakenly think that God requires public recognition in schools
and in government.

People who think that "different" is less than.

Ignorant old fools who think it's men who solve problems.

In any case, I found his comments sad, misguided, and wholly inappropriate.
No matter how much he may wish otherwise, this is the United States of
America.  In addition to the Second Amendment, I encourage him to read -
actually read and understand - the Constitution of the United States of
America (and not the pocket annotated version so popular in some circles)
and pay particular attention the First Amendment.

That said, if Krauss wants a theocracy, there are plenty of places in the
world he can find that, but the USA isn't one of them, nor should it be one
of them because of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Somehow, I don't think Krauss would be any happier in a theocracy than he is
here.

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.  If you want to be
happy, practice compassion.

~  The Dalai Lama

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 3:48 PM
To: Moscow Vision 2020
Cc: Jeanne McHale; Fritz Knorr; Lois
Subject: [Vision2020] Wayne Krauss on Gun Violence and What is Wrong in
America

image.png

Moscow City Council session (January 22, 2013)

 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdpEyaWatWo>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdpEyaWatWo

Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"

http://www.MoscowCares.com

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 

But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon

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