Hypocrisy

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I don't shy away from politics. I believe that all art is political, and given who's in charge of America right now, artists now more than ever have an obligation to raise our voices. Sadly, politics got really ugly this week. This is not okay. It's one thing to punch nazis: they need punching, and maybe if they lose enough teeth, they'll realize how abhorrent their views are. (I mean, nothing else seems to work.) But this? This nutjob was looking to murder someone and may have succeeded. Ending a life is a grave and irreversible decision. Short of self defense and absolutely no other choice, no mortal has the foresight to judge who should live or die. There's a reason why most civilized religions and philosophies advocate, "Thou shalt not kill."

With that being said, I find the hypocrisy of Republican response sickening.

As I type this, Megyn Kelly, former Fox News anchorwoman, is ready to give a nationwide platform to noted conspiracy theorist and complete raving loon Alex Jones—a man who will happily tell anyone who'll listen that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Kelly was also scheduled to host a gala for Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-gun violence organization founded by parents of the victims.


Pictured: a woman who wants to "shine a light"
on Jones' views.
She scheduled both of these, at nearly the same time, without even batting an eyelash. And, while the right wing House members are busy rendering garments, let's not forget these blasts from the past...





Hell, while we're at it, let's throw in the absurd show of force against No More Deaths, an organization devoted to keeping people from dying. Let's add a health care bill that's being rammed down our throats under the cover of darkness, a bill that seems unlikely to break the GOP's lust for tens of millions of Americans to lose coverage and suddenly being at serious risk of untreated illness and death. Aren't their lives worth something? What about the African Americans gunned down by police—sometimes with video evidence proving they did nothing wrong—and whose murderers never face more than a disinterested grand jury? What about families being torn apart by ICE without trial or means of appeal? What about the Republicans' leader, Donald Trump, who was more than happy to incite violence and threaten political opponents during his campaign rallies and executive tenure? When Republicans shed crocodile tears over the "current political atmosphere," am I supposed to feel sorry for them? I mean, don't get me wrong. I want to feel sympathy for the victim of senseless violence...





...but dear gods, they're not making it easy.

Killing people is not the answer. Period. But, you'll excuse me if I don't think he should get a trophy, either. If Republicans are going to wail about how we got to this point, maybe they ought to take a long, hard look in the mirror. If you want the neighborhood to be nicer, start by cleaning up your own house.