Stormy Weather

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

Remember the October 2017 shooting on the Las Vegas strip when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at the Harvest Music Festival?  58 people were killed and 851 were injured.
 
Following that massacre, it seemed as though Congress would finally act by banning bump stocks, the device used to turn semi-automatic firearms into a fully automatic weapons.
 
It was all talk though.  Congress did nothing.  They knew that it was only a matter of time until the Las Vegas slaughter would fade into the past and other news headlines would take center stage.
 
Then on Valentine’s Day 2018 in Parkland, Florida, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shot and killed seventeen students and teachers.  A grass roots movement led by students from the school grew out of the tragedy, and once again, it seemed as though Congress was poised to act – to close gun sale loopholes, to increase age limits to purchase certain weapons, and to ban bump stocks.
 
Even President Trump – with crib notes in hand to remind him to say, “I hear you” – suggested that he was ready to move on common sense gun legislation.  At a later meeting with lawmakers, he even stated that he supported taking guns from mentally unstable individuals first and asking questions later (NRA bosses twisted in horror around the table).
 
Has anything happened?  Has anything changed?  Are bump stocks banned yet?
 
No.
 
Nothing has happened, and all the talk is fading into the past as other news stories take over the 24/7 coverage of the Trump swamp:
 
Tariffs on steel and aluminum.
 
Sessions vs. California.
 
Trump’s latest tweet tirade.
 
Porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit brought against the President.

This is all very reminiscent of incidents from the late-1800s when it seemed as though Congress might pass some sort of gun legislation following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Nothing happened though.  Too many congressmen were controlled by the NRA, and they all knew it was just a matter of time until some other scandal would flood the headlines. 

Pictured at the right:  Brothel owner Stormy Meadows
 
Sure enough, scandal soon rocked Washington, DC, when brothel owner Stormy Meadows took legal action against a number of senators. The press went crazy for Stormy, and all talk of common sense gun control diminished until it was mute.

Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) was incensed.  In his poem “Now all the Tales the News reports” (below on the left), he wrote about Stormy Meadows and the madness associated with scandalous tales usurping the coverage of the more important issues of the day – describing the press as nothing more than “a Mob of solid Bliss.”  Dickinson’s poem did not inspire Congress to act; however, it did inspire third cousin Emily to pen her poem “From all the Jails the Boys and Girls” (below on the right). 
​

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:
 
From all the Tales the News reports
Electronically leap –
Reported every Afternoon
That Reason cannot keep
 
Then Storm’s worth was flashed on Air,
A Mob of solid Bliss –
Alas – the News that lies in wait
For Coverage such as this –
​

By Emily Dickinson:
 
From all the Jails the Boys and Girls
Ecstatically leap –
Beloved only Afternoon
That Prison doesn't keep

They storm the Earth and stun the Air,
A Mob of solid Bliss –
Alas – that Frowns should lie in wait
For such a Foe as this –
​

A nationwide school walk out is planned for this Wednesday, March 14, 2018 (info HERE).  A “March for Our Lives” is planned for March 24th (info HERE).  Another school walk out is scheduled for April 19, 2018 – the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre (info HERE).  Perhaps some of these coming events will once again spark discussion around common sense gun legislation.  Maybe Congress will finally do something. 
 
If not, maybe they’ll finally do something after the next massacre.  Or the one after that.