Error!
Following this weekend’s horrific shooting in Orlando, here is the first of what will surely be many more ignorant letters to the editor. This was in today’s Sentinel Record, under the title “Orlando massacre.” I certainly hope the good doctor practiced medicine better than he analyzes a crime scene from afar. Methinks he must imagine himself so clever as to be a latter-day Sherlock Holmes… Had he but waited another day or two for cable news histrionics to abate, most of his silly questions would have been answered, and he would have saved himself from public embarrassment with his also-silly gotcha! paranoid (if not racist) conclusions. If we must be afraid, let’s be afraid of bigots who pose as tea party chairmen, and of newspapers guilty of malpractice for publishing such odious codswallop.
— Monsieur d’Nalgar, June 14 2016 CE
Dear editor,
Once again, America has experienced terrorism. Once again, President Obama refuses to label it for what it was. Despite a Muslim swearing allegiance to ISIS, Obama refuses to call it radical, Islamic terrorism. To him, it’s a hate crime against the LGBT community and a gun-control failure, not what the rest of us know it is.
I have some questions, which I have listed below. I’m writing this on Monday, the day after the shooting. By the time this letter is published, many of these questions may have been answered.
How did he walk into a gay bar undetected? Wasn’t there someone at the door checking at least identification? Or did he shoot his way in? It was mid-June in Orlando, Fla., temperature probably in the 80s. Was he wearing a long coat to conceal his AR-15? If so, didn’t this raise red flags to anyone?
He shot at least 103 people, meaning he fired a minimum of 103 bullets. More likely, he fired many more since all didn’t hit all his targets and some people were shot with more than one bullet. Assuming he was carrying 30 round magazines, he would have had to carry at least five to six magazines. These magazines are large and when full of bullets, quite heavy. How did he carry all these magazines? In a vest? Didn’t someone notice?
How was he so skillful with his weapons? Did he practice at a gun range? If so, this justifies our friend, Jan Morgan, who refuses to allow Muslims to practice at her gun range. Since an AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle, he had to pull the trigger over 103 times. He would have had to drop his spent magazine and re-insert a new magazine at least four times, if not more. It probably takes 5-10 seconds for an amateur to change magazines and re-chamber a round. Why didn’t someone or a group charge him during this interval?
Knowing you were going to be shot dead, why didn’t anyone charge him and try to tackle him? Unless he was in a corner or his back to a wall, a group of people had to be behind him as he was shooting forwards.
If he didn’t carry all this firepower through the front door, did he somehow earlier in the day bring his AR-15 and magazines into the nightclub and stash them somewhere for later use?
Considering the number of people actually shot and killed, was there really only one shooter? To aimand not just shoot wildly, shooting just one shot at a time, it would probably take about two seconds per shot. Add to that time to change magazines, there was time for people to charge him.
Florida is a concealed carry state. Was no one in the crowd carrying concealed or were they not because the nightclub was a “gun-free zone?”
So many questions! Many questions that will never be answered. In conclusion, America and Americans, wake up.
Jack Sternberg, MD
Chairman
Garland County Tea Party
2 comments
1 pings
Here is a copy of the letter I sent in to the paper. Will see if they print it.
Once again we have observed a homegrown radical Islamic Gay hating terrorist engage in senseless violence. We as a nation managed to create him and provide him with the means to commit mass murder. Sadly, there are many more just like him out there. We can try to stop them, but there is only so much we can do. It is clear that both Christian and Islamic terrorists have existed since the days of yore. Both have been engaged in a battle against each other for over a thousand years. It is clear that there is an attitude shared by the Islamic extremists as well as the more extreme elements of the Evangelical Christian Right. It is very sad that there were so many Christian ministers expressing a view that clearly showed no compassion for the victims. After all, it was just a bunch of gays. It is also so very sad that many of that mindset are more worried about losing their rights to own an assault rifle than they are about the tragedy.
For years there has been a battle against the drug culture and this nation has thousands of persons in custody because they used or sold a bit of Marijuana. Marijuana has never killed anyone. If we had expended an equal amount of time and energy on the elimination of assault rifles, there would have been far fewer deaths. However, there is a culture that encourages the ownership of guns, and they will fight to the death to maintain that culture – a culture that encourages hatred and animosity against any who would oppose them. Those of that mindset are often among the faithful who target their animosity toward those who support the LGBT movement, favor a woman’s right to abortion, and chose not to believe in their Gods.
It is my fervent desire that somehow the message presented by the Dalai Lama could be broadcast all over the nation. He said “ Whether you believe in God or not does not matter so much, whether you believe in Buddha or not does not matter so much – You must lead a good life. And a good life does not mean just good food, good clothes, good shelter. These are not sufficient. A good motivation is what is needed: compassion, without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brother and sisters and respecting their rights and human dignity.”
Author
Dear editor:
Isn’t it amazing that in Stephanie Kleinman’s letter, from just one sentence in my letter, feels justified in accusing me of bigotry, xenophobia, ignorance and hatred? This is called an ad hominem attack (attacking an opponent’s character rather than answering his argument).
My position is not that all Muslims are bad or dangerous (I believe the vast majority living in America are not evil and are good American citizens), but enough have been radicalized so that America has a real problem and needs to recognize the problem. And we, as Americans, must acknowledge the problem, as abhorrent as that realization is. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away.
Since radical Islamic terrorists carry out nearly 100 percent of terrorist acts and we have no way of knowing which Muslim has been radicalized, how do we know who we can trust at a gun range? Do we want them to become more proficient using a pistol or rifle? Thinking back, the destruction of the twin towers on 9/11 wouldn’t have occurred if the Muslim terrorists hadn’t been taught on a simulator how to fly commercial jetliners.
As a physician, to use an analogy, I would rather vaccinate someone to prevent a disease, than to later treat the disease with medication in hopes of eradicating it. I just want America and Americans to be more cautious (not hateful). Being careful begins with accepting the reality of the problem.
Since you brought up your family fleeing Germany before World War II, and since we are both Jewish, I feel I can use your own example to prove my point. Your family saw the potential danger of a small group of evil Germans (Nazis) who promised repeatedly to harm them as a people (Jews) and instead of ignoring the reality of the intentions of the Nazi, your family was proactive and left Germany. They survived and had children and you may be one of them who would not have ever been born had they not left Germany.
Three quarters of my European relatives ignored the signs, not believing the evil to come, and were annihilated in concentration camps. I take “never again” very seriously. Evil is evil, whether it takes the form of Nazis or ISIS (or al-Qaida, etc.). Let’s all learn from history and not repeat the past mistakes of denial or wishful thinking.
Jack Sternberg, M.D.
Hot Springs
[…] huh? Anyway, this letter is a follow-up to Monday’s vapid stupidity by the chairman of the Garland County Tea Party. Incidentally, that particular mutual admiration […]