as seen on tv
Senator
"Aim high. Our nation's future depends on it . . ."
Well . . . that is certainly going to help, isn't it? I mean, who DOESNT want "stricter gun control laws"? So nice of the president to suggest this. It IS an election year, and this is probably the way to play it - yesterday's school shooting in Texas.
I reached out to my contacts in the west wing on this, and they declined to go on the record. However, an audio file showed up in my inbox overnight. I'm sorry that I'm not able to specifically identify any of the voices. I can't even verify if the conversation is authentic. Make your own judgment, based your past experience with our government and it's political processes . ..
“Are they all white? All 14 of them of the dead kids? Are you sure? No Black victims?”
“They're still taking people to the hospital, so we don't know. But even if some ARE black, we simply cannot spin this a racial hate crime. The shooter is supposedly hispanic.”
“Oh my god. Please tell me he's not an illegal alien”
“Unclear at this point. It doesn't really matter. He's been in this country for years, and attended a Texas high school.”
“He shot his grandmother before heading to the elementary school. Can we get more optics on that?”
“I want more eyes on this. Someone make sure he isn't a dreamer or fence jumper. You . . . check his social media profile. I don't want to get blindsided and find out he's a member of La Raza or a soldier for a drug cartel.”
“He could have been on drugs.”
“No . . . we can't run in that direction. There are too many single issue drug legalization voters in play right now. Delaware's governer just vetoed his state's legalization bill, and he's apparently now calling out the national guard to protect the his mansion from demonstrators.”
“He's probably just another mentally troubled nutcase.”
“Who . . . . Governor Carney????”
“No . . .the shooter . . . what's his name? Pepe Ramos . . . ?”'
“That's racist. And not even funny. Don't go there.”
“No . . . wait. He might be onto something. Maybe we DONT have the president respond immediately. Let the right wingers get the first shot in . . . and then respond to THEM. Deplore violence in general, and the hatred that fuels it.”
“So . . it's okay if he was crazy. Or on drugs?”
“Of course not. But we can build around that narrative. He was driven crazy, or to self medicate, by his circumstances. Escaping from a life of poverty. Bullied at school because he was different. That would explain his rage at the neighborhood school, specifically. Like Columbine. It would be godsend if he turns out to be have been a transgendered kid from a broken home with no friends AND a drug problem. It's like winning the trifecta. He's not personally responsible for his actions. It's society's fault for not spending more on mental health, school infrastructure, and poverty programs.”
“What about gun control?”
“Well , . . yes . . . duh! We HAVE to lead with that. And then, a day or so later, turn the conversation to how the GOP failure to pass the president's “Build Back Better” bill is THE root cause of this sort of tragedy . . “
“And irresponsible red state gun polices . .. “
“So we're agreed. I'll brief Sleepy and Dopey. Press availability in . . . 90 minutes . . and counting. But taking no questions. Just the teleprompter thing. Let's roll . . . “
Soooo . . . is this alleged conversation by white house spin doctors real or not? You decide. I'm too depressed to at my own deplorable exploitation of this tragedy to speculate further.