"A shameful day for Washington." A Shameful day for America

It is one of those weeks when I am glad I am a Mexican resident.  The United States is no longer the country I know.  The tragedy in Boston on Monday; the irresponsible reporting on the investigation Wednesday by CNN, Fox News, and the AP.   Then there was the senate vote on gun legislation.  

This may offend some but the senate vote is actually the most troubling of all three.  That is not to diminish the severity or impact of the bombings in Boston.  The carnage was horrific, the loss unimaginable, and while the investigation is still underway, right now there is no indication that it was carried out by a group or organization, but rather one individual hell bent on creating chaos.    

While the scenario and method was different, the Boston attack was really quite similar in many ways to the Sandy Hook School shooting, the Aurora movie theater massacre, the Tucson Safeway shooting (though in each of those incidents, the death toll was much higher than the Boston attack).  It was random, senseless, and meant to hurt or kill innocent victims the perpetrator did not know.   And that’s why the senate vote was more troubling than the Boston bombings. 

In Boston, there was one individual (perhaps more) who we do not know who knowingly carried out a mission to kill.  In Washington, there were 46 individuals, people we do know, people we elected, who (despite the desires of the vast majority of Americans) voted to, in essence, enable those who want to wage mass killings to continue to do so.   There is more to it, though.  The people in Washington who voted against the wishes of 90% of Americans did so because they are afraid … afraid of the repercussions of the National Rifle Association.  They are afraid of losing the graft they receive from the NRA.  Afraid that the NRA will spend vast sums of money in the next election to support a challenger to those who voted for background checks.   

The President was angry, the parents and family of the 20 children and six adults murdered at Sandy Hook were upset.   Rep. Gabby Giffords, one of those critically injured at the Tucson shooting, is outraged and has penned a compelling op-ed piece for Thursday’s New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/opinion/a-senate-in-the-gun-lobbys-grip.html?_r=0).    Likewise America should be angry and outraged. 

Our elected leaders had an opportunity to better protect us, put in place reasonable safeguards that had been advocated by even the most conservative past Presidents.  Instead, 46 senators proved they are nothing more than corrupt marionettes, whose every movement is controlled by Wayne LaPierre and the other top brass at the NRA.  Before Wednesday, they feared the repercussion of the NRA.  Now, it is time for America to let them know they should fear the repercussions at the ballot box.  The President called it "A shameful day for Washington."  Really, it was a shameful day for America.