On Monday we had another school shooting. You all know how it goes, and how it feels, and that until the Democrats hold commanding majorities in both Houses of Congress, and the makeup of the Supreme Court changes that nothing will happen. So, yeah, nothing will happen until the very long term.
Nothing isn't going happen in the short term, either. The governor of Tennessee, who in 2021 signed a permitless carry law, and its 2 Republican senators—one of whom has taken over $1 million from the NRA, and the other who has always opposed any kind of gun control—put out stupid "thoughts and prayers" statements.
However, there is a new frontrunner in the infuriating Republican competition: Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman from Tennessee. He had some thoughts about this latest tragedy:
"I don't think you're gonna stop the gun violence. I think you, you've gotta change people's hearts. You know, as a Christian, as we talk about in the church, and I've said this many times, I think we really need a revival."
Here's the thing: the hearts have already been changed. From an August 2022 poll:
The poll by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 71% of Americans say gun laws should be stricter, including about half of Republicans, the vast majority of Democrats and a majority of those in gun-owning households.
As for the "revival" nonsense, as a Christian myself I'm pretty sure letting people get killed so you can keep filling your pockets with lobbyist money isn't kosher.
Maybe hoping to appeal to Burchett's own heart, a reporter asked him:
"What should be done to protect people like your little girl from being safe at school?" A reporter asked.
And
"Well, we homeschool her, but you know, that's our decision," Burchett said. "Some people don't have that option and frankly, some people don't need to do it. I mean, they don't have to. It just suited our needs much better."
I should have seen that answer coming, but it knocked the breath out of me. I often refer to the GOP as the I GOTS MINEZ party, and it rarely is so blatantly on display as it is here.
Furthermore, he doesn't think he has any responsibility to fix any of it:
"Is there's any role for Congress to play to, in reaction to this tragedy? Obviously this is your state now but it's happened in every other," another reporter asked.
"It doesn't matter what state it's happened in. We're all Americans. It doesn't matter the color of their skin. And they all bleed red and they're bleeding a lot," Burchett said.
"I don't see any real role that we could do other than mess things up, honestly, because of the situation. Like I said, I don't think a criminal's gonna stop from guns. You know, you can print them out on the computer now. 3D printing," Burchett said.
Here's the weird thing though—he is has lots of interest in stopping people from doing things that don't kill other people. Like his position on the new Tennessee anti-drag law:
Speaking to Newsmax, Burchett tossed out misleading tropes about drag and insisted that his "friends" agreed with him.
"A grown man dressed up like a woman should not be rubbing his crotch in front of a little child, right? That is ridiculous. Good on Governor Bill Lee and our Tennessee legislature. The law goes into effect on July 1st. And, and you know, dad gamit, we don't put up with that, that, that crap in Tennessee and we shouldn't, and the rest of the country should fall a suit," he said.
"This is, this is wrong, as wrong as it can be. And we've, we've, we've let this, these bunch of radicals push the envelope. You know, I have friends of mine that are, that are homosexual and they tell me that, and, and they tell me the same thing," the lawmaker continued. "They say, 'kids shouldn't be exposed to this. Right?' This is a radical fringe that we are allowing to, to declare normalcy. This is wrong as wrong, can be."
It's very "many people are saying", isn't it?
Ah, Tennessee. Maybe you remember this brouhaha:
But no. With an unerring genius for the kind of thing that makes many Tennesseans squirm, the author of the bill decided to phrase it this way: "Wild animals accidentally killed by a motor vehicle may be possessed by any person for personal use and consumption."
In other words, it would be legal to eat road kill. Legal to eat the thousands of squirrels, opossums, raccoons and rabbits that meet a painfully horizontal death every year beneath rubber tires.
From the clamor of the reaction, it seemed as if the state government had ordered a reversion to Tennessee's mountain-man roots, closing the groceries and forcing residents to hunt for their supper. "Grease the skillet, Ma! New bill will make road kill legal eatin'," read a headline in The Knoxville News-Sentinel last month.
But wait, there's more:
Radio show hosts had a field day, and Tim Burchett, the state senator who proposed the law, was inundated with comic cookbooks and road kill stew tips.
Dad gamit, Loudon can sing us out with this classic:
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