The President's Speech at the Sandy Hook Vigil

Last night in Newtown, Connecticut - one of his finest:



Excerpt:

Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.

Since I’ve been President, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by a mass shooting. The fourth time we’ve hugged survivors. The fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims. And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and big cities all across America -- victims whose -- much of the time, their only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law -- no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society.

But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that -- then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens -- from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators -- in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

Full text here.


Now the great gun-control debate will begin, and before another year is out, your Head Trucker predicts, some kind of new law will be passed, which will please very few people on either side, but not until a great deal of hooting and hollering and carrying on from both sides has been heard - and in the long run, it will be found not to solve the problem, after all.

But in the midst of all that, your Head Trucker wishes his good truckbuddies would please keep close in mind the following stories, none of which have any connection with guns - and see what that does for your thinking. Don't brush them off as being irrelevant - they are directly relevant to the greater topic here, for those who have eyes to see.

A gruesome case from last year:

Trial underway for suspect in Arlington pastor's murder

Another, unrelated case from this year:

Minister's killer had mental illness, wife says

And from China, the same day as the Sandy Hook shootings:

22 kids slashed in China elementary school knife attack

Of course, if you live in a metropolitan area of any size, you don't have to rely on these stories alone: just read your daily paper.