Why America Needs the GOP—Just Not This GOP
Texas School Shootings Highlight What’s Wrong with the Republican Party
On May 19, I wrote “What Lessons Have We Learned from the Buffalo Shooting?” which concluded with: “What lessons have we learned from the Buffalo shootings? None. Stay tuned for the next mass shooting of people with crosshairs already on their backs.”
And now here we are. Eleven days later. At a Texas elementary school. In those 11 days, there were 17 mass shootings. Those shootings accounted for 43 dead and 89 wounded.
Just for context: in the first five months of 2022, there have been 214 mass shootings (four or more people shot in the same place) in the U.S. So far this year, 17,300 people have been killed by guns.
I’ve been taking notes for this article for three months. The plan was just a general analysis of the GOP we need versus the GOP we have. But the Texas school shootings, so soon after the Buffalo shootings, lit a fire under me and this is the result.
I don’t want to rehash what I’ve already said in my previous article about predictable shootings and predictable targets, but I do want to address the bigger picture of what power we individuals have to change things. Because who else will?
