James Fallows wrote something regarding our recent national tragedy that struck a cord
No one has been killed on American soil through what we define as an act of "terrorism" in more than a decade, but countless elements of our life are still shaped and warped by the open-ended "war on terror." (Or, if you count the Ft. Hood shooting as "terrorism," 13 people have been killed.)
Thousands of people die every year from gun violence, an unspeakable number at schools, and -- we mourn and "move on." "Nothing to be done."
One can argue that our national response to the 9-11 attacks was wrong or it was badly mismanaged, but we had then and we still have now an overwhelming consensus that a repeat of that deadly attack is intolerable.
On that horrible day in September 2001 thousands of innocents were horribly murdered by those who misused machines never intended for the gruesome purpose the murderers used them.
Since that time tens of thousands of innocent Americans have been murdered or injured with guns.
If these tens of thousands of murders were committed by the Kaiser's submarines, a sneak attack by the Imperialist Japanese, Nazi Germans, Communist Soviets or al-Qaeda we would know exactly what to do. We'd pull together and move heaven and earth to root out the enemy; defeat him; demand unconditional surrender.
We have met the enemy and he is us.
All of us bear some responsibility. Some bear considerably more than others, but that is more of an excuse than a reason. We're all in this together.
No one is going to give us a community free of devastating gun violence.
Just like everything else we've ever achieved, we are going to need to fight long and hard to make progress.
Before we give up, again, ask yourself - If one of those 20 children were one of you own, would you ever give up?
How sure are you, really, that you or yours won't be next?
There is nothing any of us can do to bring back any of those babies we lost today.
But there is a helluva lot each of us can do to fight to make incidents like today's and the tens of thousands of incidents of gun violence that affect our communities every year become very, very, very rare.
It's not up to you. It is up to us. WE THE PEOPLE have all that it takes to win this war against gun violence.
YES. WE. CAN. Now, shall we?
Start with something simple.
Sign the White House Petition on gun control. (h/t hobie1616)
Immediately address the issue of gun control through the introduction of legislation in Congress.
And if that felt good, talk to your neighbor, your friends, your enemies and move this country forward.