I am really failing to be interested in this conference call. I blame it for not being interesting.

THIS. The fact that he is Muslim trumps everything else. ISIS. Radical Islam. Kill 'em all. The victims don't matter. And that is heinous.

Yeah. That's what particularly disturbs me about my friend's singular focus on that one angle. It doesn't feel like telling it like it is. It feels like he's erasing the fact that it was a homophobic hate crime, and that it's a mass shooting, one of the hundreds that have occurred since Sandy Hook (of which there are all of two that let one bring up Islamic State).

And I only know what's been reported, but to me the shooter's allegiance to IS (and apparently Hezbollah and al Nusra before that, never mind they're all at war with each other) seems very much like an afterthought to the self-loathing and toxic, violent masculinity. Fixating on Omar Mateen's religion might be the least relevant aspect.

Was it a terrorist attack, a hate crime, or an unhinged individual who went off? So far it's looking like yes.

Yeah, that.

And I only know what's been reported, but to me the shooter's allegiance to IS (and apparently Hezbollah and al Nusra before that, never mind they're all at war with each other) seems very much like an afterthought to the self-loathing and toxic, violent masculinity. Fixating on Omar Mateen's religion might be the least relevant aspect.

Also that.

Also what about all of the Christian mass murderers?

Argh.

Also what about all of the Christian mass murderers?

Oh, if only we could treat mental illness/keep those people off the street.

It's a good rant Sophia.

OK- I have to stop reading the little bios of the victims. It is so sad. Also, cell phones seem to make things better and make things sadder- the story of one of the victims Snap Chatting the shooting, or the young man texting his mom over the course of a fairly long period of time while hiding in a bathroom are just heartbreaking.

It feels like he's erasing the fact that it was a homophobic hate crime

My bigoted aunt thinks she's being a Patriot By God by proclaiming that this "senseless Muslim terrorist attack was an attack on ALL AMERICANS!" Except it wasn't. It's just that she realizes that if she doesn't decry the murder of 50 people and horrible injury of 53 more, she looks like a monster, and she is By God A Good Person, so she *has* to say something, but there is no way she can support the LGBTQ community (because of course God hates the way they live, and she cries when she "has to tell her gay friends that God hates they way they live"), so the only reasonable (Patriotic By God) recourse is to decide that this was an attack on ALL AMERICANS.

The fact that I haven't replied to her posts with "fuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuu" is amazing.

the young man texting his mom over the course of a fairly long period of time while hiding in a bathroom are just heartbreaking.

Reading this immediately brought me back to listening to Melissa Doi in the 9/11 attacks on the phone with the 911 operator and sending messages to her mother. Which I have never gotten over.

5. But I guess if you are a white, cis-gendered, straight man in America, and equality feels like losing, I guess it does feel like the government is out to get you.

I think that progressives are sometimes too dismissive of white men. Yes, white guys carry a lot of privilege, but low-income white guys don't feel like they do and that nobody cares. A lot of privilege comes from money/social class. If you hang out in progressive circles, you hear fairly often than the opinion of white guys doesn't count because they are privileged, and the term 'Diversity' can feel like 'everyone but you'.

It makes me thing of Buffy and Johnathon at the top of the tower. Everybody has their own pain. I don't think people should be excused for being racist or sexist or bigoted in other ways. I dunno, I also don't want to imply that progressives should tip-toe around white guys to spare their super-sensitive feelings either. I just wonder if there is a way to make 'Diversity' feel more like 'everybody including you'. Maybe there isn't a way to do that.

Shoot. I started off trying to make a point and I just ended up with muddled feelings.

This is not a pro-gun rant or smug anything: the problem with banning "assault rifles" is that there is no clear definition of what an assault rifle is. "Military style" gets countered with "The military still uses bolt-action rifles, are you gonna ban those? Huh???" and such. That's why the Assault Weapons Ban had to get very specific about technical specifications. It is stupid lawyering gamesmanship, and people getting smug about it are dumb.

Me, I can't think of a reason for any civilian to own an automatic weapon, period. I've seen people at the shooting range playing with their new automatic rifles and pistols, and I want to hide before they fire. The shooter is typically giggling and swaggering, and when he pulls the trigger he has trouble controlling the thing. When the magazine is empty, he puts it down and looks a little shakey, but then he starts giggling and swaggering more. I wish I could say I've seen said shooter have an epiphany of "That's a stupid thing to be shooting off, I should get rid of it," but no.

There should be limits on magazine size, too. If the guy who says he needs an automatic rifle for hunting can't turn Bambi into hamburger with ten rounds, he shouldn't be allowed to have a hunting license.