I was reading one of my old Dean Koontz novels and ran into this very simple, yet compelling philosophy of how to live your life. I want to share it with you. Hopefully, Mr. Koontz won't mind... Is this really a wise strategy for living? Insisting that most of life isn't to be taken seriously. Relentlessly viewing it as a cosmic joke. Having only four guiding principles; one, do as little harm to others as possible; two, be there always for your friends; three, be responsible for yourself and ask nothing of others; four, grab all the fun you can. Put no stock in the opinions of anyone but those closest to you. Forget about leaving a mark on the world. Ignore the great issues of your time and thereby improve your digestion. Don't dwell in the past. Don't worry about the future. Live in the moment. Trust in the purpose of your existence and let meaning come to you instead of straining to discover it. When life throws a hard punch, roll with it-but roll with laughter... Catch the wave, dude. Sounds too easy, and when it comes to life, do we ever do anything easy, or do we usually insist on swimming upstream like salmon, struggling all the way? Class dismissed Just sayin' Dragonfy Davis
And by all things holy, I of course mean tequila and dogs.
I am sick to death with the sexual harrassment thing. I realize it is real, and needs to be dealt with, but I think I personally have dealt with it enough, except for this little observation...
We have this whole thing backwards, as we often do with things. See, in general, women don't like being sexually harrassed, but usually are. Conversely, most men would pay money to be sexually harrassed, but generally are not.
There are, however, some glaring exceptions, and I personally am sort of embarrassed about it.
Some famous women seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time with their hands all over hapless men. It doesn't seem the men have a problem with this, but perhaps they are putting on a brave face for the sake of continued employment, like so many of these women say they had to do. Two of the women in question are Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks. These two women are constantly putting their hands all over guys. I watch Entertainment Tonight, and the young, African-American reporter regularly interviews these two on the red carpet events, and they positively molest this poor kid. If a man did to them what they do to this guy, and others, omg...heads would roll.
The other woman "offender", surprisingly, is Ellen Degeneres. She is constantly featuring shirtles men on her show, and "inappropriately" touches most of them, as well as many male guests. She is often trying to talk the best looking of her guests to take their shirts off for one ridiculous reason or another, and regularly had male exotic dancers on. Now as a healthy woman,, I enjoy a half naked man as much as the next woman, but again, if a guy was doing this on his show..the outcry would be loud and outraged. I love Ellen, truly, but what is the end game here, the purpose?
Because I feel there is one.
Bottom line is this...Double standard, ladies? Is that the message you want to telegraph?
I am hoping that this post gets it all out of my system and I can move on to another topic. Thing is, this just doesn't seem to want to stop. I am talking about all these men finally getting outed for the pervs they are. The thing is, I think it has gone a little too far. We started out with genuine pigs like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, okay? All good. But now it seems that every guy who has ever made a pass at a woman is being taken to task. Here's the thing...I am NOT saying anyone deserves to be groped or subjected to any unwarranted deviant behavior, but some of these women could have easily avoided these events altogether. Even in Harvey's case, when a guy wants to give you a "private tour" or asks you to meet at his hotel...could you use a little common sense, ladies? No one is that naive. If you are willing to co-op yourself just to get a part, if you really think that is something necessary, then don't cry about it later. You are complicit in this dance. These men get away with this stuff because no one says anything, they "go along to get along". Look, men are not that clever or complicated. There are some men that will always try to get away with crap like this, they push boundaries constantly. To one extent or another, they all try to get over on us. If they didn't, the human race would have died out long ago. Usually, it is a pretty innocent attempt at a kiss or something, but some men just have no idea where, if anywhere, the line is drawn. But like I said, their machinations are not that complicated or difficult to see coming a mile away. I'm not talking the violent types that ambush, rape and assault strangers here. Just the men you work with and around and find in social situations. It's not that hard to avoid these situations. Just a modicum of common sense and a little healthy self-respect. The only reason these long time, career perverts exist is because we allow it. This need not be the case. Just sayin' Dragonfly Davis
So, for my international readers, a bucket list is sort of a national obsession. It is a list of all the things you haven't done, but want to do before you die. It is often things like jumping out of perfectly good planes, climbing mountains, or other lofty or crazy things. The items rarely seem to be anything noble or altruistic in nature. Most would rather bungee jump than foster a child, etc. So I have been thinking...instead of making a bucket list of silly things I want to do, I am making a list of things I have done that I can be proud of, so I can see if I need to try to do more of those instead. I have been feeling like a bit of a failure lately, but since I started making this list, I am feeling a little better. I haven't scaled any mountains, but I have talked a couple souls off of ledges, both literal and figurative. I haven't traveled very much, but I have made friends in other lands with whom I exchange knowledge and engage in the sort of mutual respect and support our countries should. I haven't had my own children, but I have mentored a few out of taking wrong turns in life. Over all, I like this list so far. There are goals I still have that I want to add to it. I want to finish my book on mental illness. I want to do one more job. I want to make more friends. I will probably never do anything spectacular like hang glide over a rain forest, or even visit Scotland and Wales, but as long as I can make one person smile every day, or think, or laugh...then I think my list is pretty full and pretty great. Just sayin' Dragonfly Davis
Well, it's about time. A judge, one with some sense, has finally settled the matter of one Ezekiel Elliott. In case you don't know, this young man is a player for the Dallas Cowboys football team in Texas. He is a very talented player, almost surgical in his abilities. If he doesn't end up in prison for an even more disturbing act than this current one, his future on the field is bright.
But as brilliant as his judgement is ON the field, it is woefully lacking off the field.
At a St. Patrick's Day celebration this past March, he felt compelled, and entitled, to grab a womans top and expose her breasts. No warning, no permission, just decided it was the thing to do.
Well, the NFL decided this was, rightly, unacceptable behavior and handed down a 6 game suspension for this very bad act.
That is pretty much half the season. This should have been the end of the sordid story, right? Nope.
It is being fought, tooth and nail. And with some success. One judge sentences him, another re-instates him. It has been going on for months. Youthful indescretion, they said. A temporary lapse in judgement, they said. The woman subsequently flashed her breasts herself, they said.
And the most telling of all..he's not sorry, thinks it's no big deal. It was a spur of the moment, party atmosphere sort of thing, what's all the fuss about. Well I'll explain it to you, sport. You assaulted that woman, plain and simple. Just as surely as if you had struck her. You, without her permission, put your hands on her, period. Your intentions are not at issue, doesn't matter. Without provocation, you assaulted her. That is the big deal.
And consider this, maybe her subsequent behavior was actually caused by his act. Saying what she later did makes it okay is a lot like saying something like you can't rape a sex worker. That he faces no criminal charges is a miracle. Take that win, and sit out those games, mouth shut.
The other big deal is this. Why are they fighting SO hard to relieve this
unrepentent man of his very fair punishment? You would think he was a brilliant surgeon, whose talents were sorely needed to save the life of a world leader or small child, and his punishment was preventing him from performing life saving surgery. Not that any profession should negate punishment, just ask Harvey Weinstein. I just mean that it would make all this fuss make a bit more sense. But he is a performer, an entertainer. No one will suffer as he sits out his well deserved, and extremely light, punishment. Oh wait, someone will suffer. Jerry Jones, he could suffer, financially. Mr. Elliott is not a bit player, he is a star. People will pay to see him do what he does best. Well, by all means, let's look the other way, the poor millionaire might lose some money. Really?
Thiss young man is a criminal, Jerry. He assaulted a woman. And if he doesn't pay for his actions, he will repeat them, and maybe worse. He may anyhow, but at least we tried to set him straight, teach him the err of his ways. Do you really want his possible future bad acts on your conscience? And make no mistake, Jerry. If he feels empowered by having gotten away scott free, you WILL be partially to blame for those acts. You have dodged a bullet here...be grateful that a little money is all it costs you.
So, I last spoke about the floodgates opening up about all these powerful men that have made an avocation of molesting those who would be easily intimidated. The number of accusers coming forward is both heartening and horrifying. Heartening in that so many are finally unburdening themselves and facing these men in the light of day, and yet horrifying that there are so many. How did these men find time to get anything else done?
Okay, slightly off topic. I want to talk about the victim now, and all potential victims out there. First, let me be very clear. Nothing you do will ever justify anything done to you, ever. Second, I am not going to address stranger rape, which is a whole different animal than what I want to discuss. With those things in mind, I think there are things that we, as women, should be doing, or rather not doing.
In nature, humans are literally the only species in which the female pursues the males in any way. In all others, it is the male who tries to win the female heart. They are given, by nature, the tools to this end. The males are given the brighter colors, more plummage, luxurious manes, glorious antles, better eyelashes and hair. You get the idea. I am not sure at what point the human female felt the need to start trying to attract the males. It is surely not necessary, they need no incentives. I think maybe that it is a combination of the fact that there are way more females than males in most areas of the world, and human females are very insecure and competitive around other females. Because of these things, the competition has, over the centuries, taken an ugly turn.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be attractive, to feeling sexy and desirable. But there is a point after which you are basically baiting the bear. When I was in high school, I was that mousy, flat chested brunette that got ignored in favor of the busty, lusty cheerleaders for the most part. I took notes. Right after graduation, the hormone fairy finally noticed me and between getting great breasts practically overnight and some help from Clairol, suddenly I was a hot property. And I became a huge tease. I had something all the boys wanted, my virginity. I dangled that carrot for all it was worth. In return, I was constantly fending guys off. Most took being rebuffed like gentlemen, and either behaved thereafter, or moved on. All but one. That one eventually shoved me down and took what I had been dangling in front of him. I stupidly, and literally, walked into the lions den, knowing he would "try". Is it my Fault, what happened? No, he was a rapist. BUT, could I have easily prevented it from happening? You bet.
We as women KNOW that men, all men to one extent or another, will attempt to get sex whenever and wherever they can. But we still seem to feel the need to incite them. Like I said before, there is nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel sexy without worrying about being assaulted, of course. But we also need to take partial responsibility in the constant, ongoing mating dance. Everything we do telegraphs a message to others. What we wear, drive, eat, buy, do for fun, for work, read. It all sends messages to others. Unspoken communication is at least, if not more powerful than spoken language, overall. So, that being said, when you wear something that clearly shows pretty much all of your breast, is cut up to your butt, or is so short that your butt is right there, for all to see....what is your message? Honestly. You can be sexy without dressing like a porn star. I will freely admit that in younger days, I have worn some pretty risky stuff, and I did it because honestly, I really enjoyed watching men walk into walls, watching me walk by. I really thought that driving men crazy with lust was an artform. I have learned over the years, that it actually takes no talent at all. Mostly you just have to be breathing. It IS great fun turning heads, it truly is...but here is the problem. Would you go into the woods and dangle a salmon in a bear's face? Would you dress up like a gazelle and walk past a lion? I hope the answer is no. Why then, do you purposely try to incite creatures that you KNOW could turn on you, just like the bear and lion? Under ideal circumstances, most men are perfectly capable of policing themselves and can be civilized when being teased, and make no mistake, you know you are teasing. If you only admit that to yourself, that is a start. We supposedly dress for other women, but really, only to the extent that we want to show the other women that we can attract more males. Again, a perversion of the natural order of things. I am not saying you need to dress like a nun... so no nasty emails. I like to show a little cleavage myself, but responsibly. Many females, mostly young, are taking their social cues from a family that I won't name here, but they have their own TV show and the main character rose to fame off of a sex tape, and frankly, even married, she dresses like a porn star. Nothing is left to the imagination, nothing. And women follow this example. Well girls, she has bodyguards to protect her when she goes out like that. She can whip men into frenzies of lust all day long and be completly safe doing it. YOU cannot. And when men offer to show you around someplace, especially a private tour, quit acting like you don't know what's going on. Frankly, men aren't that clever. Their little "traps" to get you alone and isolated are not that complicated to see through. If you want to play roulette to get something you want from them, like a part in a movie, then be prepared when the gun goes off. Take your half of the responsibility for the scenario you find yourself in. You are a participant in all social interactions, and that includes protecting yourself, in advance, from predators. We teach children about "stranger danger", right? So how do we get dumber as we get older? You don't have legitimate interviews in someones apartment or hotel room, come on. You have to make a decision...how badly do you want that job, part, car...whatever? Either you're willing to sell your soul, or you're not. All I am saying is this, ladies...what is your message?
Well, well, well. I honestly never thought I would live to see this day come. I am shocked, amazed and very proud. Let me explain. First, I do not want to imply that this arena is the exclusive property of white males, since, of course, it is not. They just seem to excel above all others. I am talking, obviously, about all these men being exposed (no pun intended) as the perverts they have been. All these white men, with the glaring exception of Bill Cosby, who started this whole, glorious fall from grace, are being run to ground for their unacceptable deeds.
Now as anyone who has taken a biology class, or watched the Nature Channel, knows, it is the genetic imperative of the males of all species to make sure their DNA continues. To that end, they are constantly trying, to varying degrees, to mate with any and all available females. But the scenario is supposed to go that if one female rebuffs them, they move on to the next. No hard feelings, no pressure, just move on. That is how it's supposed to go.
Now again, I am not implying that white men have exclusivity here, obviously. But even though rape and molestation occurs with all races, they do seem to have a long and extensive history, dating back to the days of Aristotle, and no doubt even before that. The historical theme has
always seemed to be to not only conquer, but to also rape while conquering. This seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Again, there is that genetic imperative to plant DNA everywhere possible. That is why you'll see both Roman and Viking features in Scotland, for instance.
But American men, especially rich and powerful ones, have taken this imperative and perverted it into a sort of entitled fetish.
It seems to have become some sort of game to them, one they feel entitled to play with whomever they choose. They use their power and money to get away with this sick need to over-power and use those that they feel confident will not fight back. And sadly, this gambit has worked for them, and for a very long time now. For various reasons, this behavior, although not a total secret, has never been exposed. Presumably because no one was willing to turn over the apple cart. To expose these men would mean losing parts, perhaps whole careers. Also, there is the shame factor. I grasp being embarrassed about having put oneself in the position to be molested. I was date raped long before there even was such a thing, and I was embarrassed to have been so stupidly naive. But that was 50 years ago. Things should be different today. Women have been empowered for a while now. But, like I mentioned, livelihoods were also on the line, so these powerful men got to play with impunity...until now.
Finally, with first a trickle, the dam has broken and a dynasty has fallen.
It would seem that the era of sex through intimidation is over.
It is somewhat amusing, and sad, how easily these men are admitting to being sick and seeking treatment. Of course, they do this to avoid the possibility of being prosecuted, or otherwise punished for their deeds.
What really does amaze me is the domino effect. When Mr. Weinstein was outed, suddenly everyone who has ever been inappropriately touched is coming out of the shadows and ratting out their molester.
The bandwagon effect that is happening is really something to see.
These monsters are scrambling for excuses. The most heinous of which is Kevin Spacey, attempting to use being gay as a get out of jail free card. Being gay has nothing to do with his activities. Funny, I always thought there was something about him. Many actors, in their careers, take the odd role of a twisted character. But Mr. Spacey has made a career of playing skeevy men. You have to be a little ticky yourself to be that good at it, I think. Apparently, I was right. This is fetishism, a perverting of an imperative. Somewhere, in the lives of these men, they were made to feel that this behavior, on some level, was acceptable for them. This is where the white male privilege thing comes in, in my view.
There are molesters of all stripe, white and black, rich and poor...etc, ad infinitum. But if studied by scientists, and this is something that actually should be looked at, I believe rich white guys would be the biggest piece of that pie chart. I think this sense of entitlement is also passed on from one generation to the next, by implication or explicit behaviors.
I have renewed hope that this world can become a better place. When
dark secrets and bad behaviors come to light, there is progress for the human race. If we continue to weed out the miscreants from the herd that is mankind, there is indeed hope.
Just sayin,
Dragonfly Davis
So the latest gunman to shoot a bunch of totally innocent people, Devin P. Kelley by name, could have easily been stopped before he even started.* Sutherland Springs could have, and should have, been spared this nightmare quite easily. The United States Air Force, which by the way, exists to protect us, KNEW this former member had issues that made him INELIGIBLE to buy a gun of any kind...and yet they failed to take the very simple step of notifying the database that is meant to keep track of people that are undesireable as gun owners. If this is not proof positive that the vetting process for gun ownership is very flawed, then I cannot imagine what it will take. The murder of children and the elderly is not enough? Then how about pregnant women, the disabled, war vets??? Look...I am NOT against guns in general. I enjoy target shooting. I don't hunt, but would if needed, and do not begrudge those who hunt for meat at all. I am a pretty good shot with a rifle and owned a .45 at one time before I had to sell it. I don't hate guns...I do not have ANY issue with everyday citizens owning hunting rifles and for home securiry, hand guns. But there is NO legitimate reason to own assault weapons, none. Now before you curse me, I grasp that many people are preparing for Armageddon and the probable necessity of having to rapidly shoot your former neighbors so that they don't steal your supplies, etc. This could indeed be the end of times, given that Donald Trump.is President and all. If there was ever a sign of the Apocalypse, I think that could be it. But what if it comes instead as a self- fulfilling prophesy? What if actively and aggressively preparing for it, actually triggers it? Many of these crazed individuals doing these terrible things, die before we know their excuses for their actions. What if all this "prepping" has whipped them into their homicidal/suicidal frenzies? What if, instead of investing in a very dark future, we invest in keeping it from ever happening? Armageddon is not an inevitability, people. Just because it is written down, does not make it a foregone conclusion. At the risk of now also angering Christians, all holy books speak in metaphor, not facts. They warn about missteps and bad deeds. They were written by those that would control the actions of the masses by scaring them into good behavior. So okay, let's start behaving well instead of taking up arms against our brothers in preparation for killing them? I know the Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. So own a hand gun, hunting rifles, etc. But let's also stand up and say enough is enough to assault weapons, at least until they can stop these awful massacres, you must stop them. Please stop them Just sayin Dragonfly Davis See article below
U.S.
Air Force Error Allowed Texas Gunman to Buy Weapons
The scene outside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., on Monday morning.TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
By DAVID MONTGOMERY, RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and JOSE A. DELREAL
November 6, 2017
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Tex. — A day after a gunman massacred parishioners in a small Texas church, the Air Force admitted on Monday that it had failed to enter the man’s domestic violence court-martial into a federal database that could have blocked him from buying the rifle he used to kill 26 people.
Under federal law, the conviction of the gunman, Devin P. Kelley, for domestic assault on his wife and toddler stepson — he had cracked the child’s skull — should have stopped Mr. Kelley from legally purchasing the military-style rifle and three other guns he acquired in the last four years.
“The Air Force has launched a review of how the service handled the criminal records of former Airman Devin P. Kelley following his 2012 domestic violence conviction,” the Air Force said in a statement.
The statement said Heather Wilson, the Air Force secretary, and Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, had ordered the Air Force inspector general to “conduct a complete review of the Kelley case.”
The Air Force also said it was looking into whether other convictions had been improperly left unreported to the federal database for firearms background checks.
Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, opened fire in a church in rural Texas on Sunday, killing at least 26 people. He was pursued by residents and found dead in his car.
Mr. Kelley, who was dressed in all black and wore a skull-face mask, emerged from the church after he was done shooting, then was met by gunfire from a bystander outside, who hit Mr. Kelley in the leg and the torso. Mr. Kelley made it back to his car and led the bystander and another man in a dramatic chase that ended in a crash, with Mr. Kelley dead behind the wheel. He had shot himself in the head, officials said.
The shootings came a little over a month after 58 people were killed at a concert in Las Vegas, and were the latest in a string of mass killings in the United States. They led to another round of calls for more gun restrictions, though they were muted in comparison with previous tragedies, perhaps because gun-control advocates realized that a Republican-controlled Washington would not give in on gun rights.
Asked about the shooting during his trip to Asia, President Trump said Monday that the shooting was not related to regulations on gun ownership.
“I think that mental health is your problem here,” Mr. Trump said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. “This was a very, based on preliminary reports, very deranged individual.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump was asked during a news conference in South Korea whether he would support “extreme vetting” of gun buyers, comparable to the vetting his administration has sought to impose on visitors from some predominantly Muslim countries.
“If you did what you’re suggesting, there would have been no difference three days ago,” the president replied, “and you might not have had that very brave person who happened to have a gun or a rifle in his truck go out and shoot him and hit him and neutralize him.”
Objects of mourning left by a traffic cone and barrier outside the First Baptist Church on Monday.TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
“If he didn’t have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead,” Mr. Trump said, reiterating an argument he has made after previous mass shootings — that more guns, not less, could be the answer.
Vice President Mike Pence said on Twitter that he and his wife would visit Sutherland Springs on Wednesday.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, criticized Mr. Trump’s response on Monday, noting that the bystander did not fire at Mr. Kelley until the carnage inside the church was over.
“Let’s be clear — nobody ‘stopped’ this shooting,” he wrote on Twitter. “26 people, including little kids, are dead in one of our country’s worst mass killings.”
Former President Barack Obama, whose own calls for more gun regulations were stymied, said on Twitter, “May God also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst.”
The immediate question on Monday was how Mr. Kelley had been able to legally purchase his weapons. In his 2012 court-martial, Mr. Kelley admitted that he had repeatedly struck, kicked and choked his wife beginning just months into their marriage. He also said he had repeatedly hit his young stepson’s head with his hands, cracking his skull, said Don Christensen, a retired colonel who was the chief prosecutor for the Air Force.
Federal law lists 11 criteria that would bar someone from buying a gun, including two that would seem to apply to Mr. Kelley: conviction of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison — assaulting his stepson, which carried a maximum sentence of five years — and conviction of a domestic violence misdemeanor.
The Department of Defense has reported only one domestic violence case to the federal database for gun purchase background checks, records show. It has reported 11,000 service members to the database, but almost all of them were because of dishonorable discharges, which prohibit gun purchases. Mr. Kelley, after serving 12 months in a Navy brig in California, received a “bad conduct” discharge, which is not by itself an automatic bar to gun purchases.
Elise Hasbrook, a spokeswoman for Academy Sports + Outdoors, which owns two San Antonio shops that each sold Mr. Kelley a gun in the last two years, said “both sales were approved by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.” Mr. Kelley had bought two other guns since his court-martial, both in Colorado, the authorities said.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas told CNN that Mr. Kelley had been rejected when he applied for a license to carry a handgun in Texas. State officials did not specify why he was rejected, and a carrying license is not required to purchase a firearm from a gun shop so long as the buyer passes the federal background check.
“By all the facts that we seem to know, he was not supposed to have access to a gun, so how did this happen?” Mr. Abbott said.
The authorities in Comal County, which includes Mr. Kelley’s hometown, New Braunfels, also released records on Monday that showed Mr. Kelley had been the subject of an investigation for sexual assault and rape by force in 2013. The investigation ended without the filing of any charges.
On Monday, Sheriff Tackitt of Wilson County, where First Baptist is located, described Mr. Kelley’s horrific and methodical path through the church. After firing from outside the building, Mr. Kelley entered the church, and fired his weapon from side to side as he paced through the room, the sheriff said. Among those killed were members of three generations of the Holcombe family, including the guest preacher and his wife, and an 18-month-old girl named Noah.
“There was nothing anyone could do until he came out,” Sheriff Tackitt said.
After Mr. Kelley stepped out of the church, a man outside was waiting with his own rifle. They fired at each other, and Mr. Kelley was hit twice. He then drove off in his car.
The bystander, who identified himself Monday night as Stephen Willeford, flagged down a nearby driver, Johnnie Langendorff, and they gave chase, at speeds upward of 90 miles an hour, Mr. Langendorff said. Mr. Kelley contacted his father from his cellphone during the chase to tell him that he had been shot, according to law enforcement officials, telling his father that he “didn’t think he was going to make it.” He soon crashed and was found dead behind the wheel with three gunshot wounds, including his own shot to his head.
Sheriff Tackitt called Mr. Willeford a “hero.”
In an interview with a local television station, Mr. Willeford said his daughter had heard gunshots from the church and alerted him. He retrieved his rifle and went to the church.
Mr. Willeford grew emotional as he spoke about what he saw and heard.
“Every time I heard a shot I knew that probably represented a life,” he said. “I was scared to death, I was. I was scared for me and I was scared for every one of them. And I was scared for my own family that lived less than a block away.”
“I’m no hero, I am not,” he said. “I think my God, my Lord protected me and gave me the skills to do what needed to be done.”
“I just wish I could have gotten there faster,” he said.
David Montgomery reported from Sutherland Springs, and Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Jose A. DelReal from New York. Reporting was contributed by Manny Fernandez from Houston; Alan Blinder from New Braunfels, Tex.; Susan Anasagasti from Sutherland Springs; Adam Goldman from Washington; and Mark Landler from Seoul, South Korea. Jack Begg and Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
OMFG
Trump says this latest mass shooting "isn't a gun issue, It's a mental health issue"
Well , duh, you stupid NRA puppet.
But guess what?? His mental health wouldn't be much of an issue if he hadn't had a freaking assault rifle. Beating 26 people to death would have been much more difficult to do.
I'm sorry if I hurt any feelings here....no, wait, not sorry, but you Constitution hugging, Armageddon planning, "I have my rights",
gun obsessed folks need to unclench.
Innocent people..like 5 and 72 year olds, are being slaughtered..BY FREAKING GUNS held by nutcakes. You can spout that moronic verse, fed to you by the NRA, " guns don't kill people, people kill people" all day long, but.until access to at the least, assault weapons is stopped..every innocent life snuffed out by one is now, and forever more, on YOUR HEADS, because like women who don't report rapists, you could easily put a stop to it, and you instead sit self-righteously by and let it happen.
Let's start blaming the real culprits here and effect some change.
