I keep looking at pictures of Josselin Corea Escalante, who was shot and killed at Antioch High School last week, and wanting to cry and fight someone. I don’t know who to fight about it. The kid who killed her is dead too.
Again. Again. Again.
Gunman shot two students before turning the gun on himself; reunification efforts underway
How many times do we have to do this? How many times do people in this city, this country, have to rush to the school, the church, the Waffle House, the park, in that torturous state of not knowing if their loved one is alive? How many times do we have to learn the names of ordinary people, sweet children, quiet heroes, too late? How much longer can the people with power to stop this continue to ignore the pain in their communities?
Forever? It feels like forever. It feels like we’re just supposed to stand by and weep and mourn as our babies are tossed into the maw of Moloch.
This shooter actually had a manifesto in which he talks about how Candace Owens, who has lived in Nashville, and the Goyim Defense League, a hate group that visited Nashville (one in a series of extremists who paraded through our streets), inspired him. How the Covenant School shooter inspired him. The reference to Owens, some extremist experts think, may be an homage to the Christchurch killer. The shooter wanting to massacre people in the cafeteria could have been a nod to Columbine. We have let this go on so long that all this violence has a lineage — a tradition that the shooters know and are intentionally taking part in.
Do you think Candace Owens is the least bit sorry that this is the second Nazi massacre that she’s reportedly inspired? Do you think Ben Shapiro at The Daily Wire has any regrets about bringing her to Nashville? I don’t know, but I wish we could get a sincere answer.
Back in 2021, Gov. Bill Lee signed and made official a joint resolution honoring Candace Owens. The resolution was sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) in the House and co-sponsored by, among others, Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville). On the Senate side, the co-sponsors were Brian “But I am too precious to go to prison” Kelsey and Paul Rose, who I don’t know much about, thank God.
From the resolution:
WHEREAS, we Tennesseans have always known that socialism is a delusional chimera of the Left that doesn't work in a free society, that rules and borders are vital to our survival as a nation, and that law-abiding citizens are the very backbone of our society and without whom we cannot prosper; and WHEREAS, Ms. Owens will serve as another robust voice against socialism and criminality as a Tennessean ...
Ooh, good job, Lamberth. You sure got us liberals by bringing out the welcome wagon for Candace Owens. Any regrets now that this “robust voice” has inspired a school shooter?
Two students killed, two wounded during Wednesday’s Antioch High School shooting
I thought it was strange that the only politicians we heard expressing outrage or sorrow about a Nazi gunning down a girl in one of our schools were Democrats. But then I realized that the people actually in charge, who could actually do something to address this, were probably making their way home from what turned out to be a Nazi rally — complete with Nazi salutes — in D.C.
This is the second time many of these politicians have gone to an event that essentially turned out to be a Nazi rally — Lamberth and Sen. Marsha Blackburn stand out to me.
Do I think William Lamberth is a Nazi? No. I think he’s arrogant and has his head up his ass and wants to annoy liberals or target trans kids or be powerful, and to do so, he’s put himself in the spotlight by supporting Nazi goals.
But here’s the thing. People like Lamberth made the Nazis feel welcome, and now Nazis are here. And one of them walked into one of our schools and killed a girl. So who cares if, for example, William Lamberth is not actually a Nazi, but just likes the same people they like and goes the same places they go?
What's the difference? If you show up to a rally and it turns out to be a Nazi rally and you stay? You don’t make it clear to Nazis that you don’t want their gratitude? (Talking to you, Gov. Lee.) You watch Elon Musk throwing the Nazi salute and you’ve got nothing negative to say about it? You let the tampon Nazis march on the state Capitol under the flag of the enemy of your grandfathers?
You’re a Nazi supporter.
White supremacists continue to show up in Tennessee. Perhaps because they identify with our state leaders' politics.
If hearing that bothers you, then stop supporting them. You’re the people with power in this state. You’re the ones who can actually do things that will change our circumstances. And, my God, the bar is so low. So very, very low. When someone like Elon Musk shows you repeatedly that he is a Nazi sympathizer, believe him. When you find yourself at a rally where the audience is full of Proud Boys and other extremist groups, leave. Don’t get up on the stage and address them. If Nazis send you a public thank-you note, publicly denounce them. When they march at our state Capitol, go tell them to fuck off. And most importantly, defend the people they’re targeting.
You rolled out the welcome mat to these assholes. You need to roll it back up and put it away.
