{"id":8086,"date":"2025-08-29T10:11:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=8086"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:11:07","slug":"blood-of-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/08\/29\/blood-of-patriots\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood of Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

America\u2019s Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I resisted writing this essay.\u00a0\u00a0 With all of the craziness going on in American politics, for the Nation to actually come to grips with a \u201creal\u201d problem seems hopeless.\u00a0\u00a0But the absolutely irony of what happened in Minneapolis this week is too great to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a far too familiar story, one unique to American life.\u00a0\u00a0Children massed together, in school, at a church service.\u00a0\u00a0A young, white person determines they are good \u201ctargets\u201d for venting rage for whatever reason.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Shots fired:\u00a0\u00a0children dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We struggle with the unfathomable grief of the parents and friends of the dead children.\u00a0\u00a0We marvel at the stories:\u00a0\u00a0the ten year-old whose best friend jumped on top of him to \u201ctake the hit\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The fourteen year-old who marshaled his friends to safety under the pews.\u00a0\u00a0The unlikely heroes who saved lives out of the strongest bond; the childhood duty of friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, just like every other time for over a quarter of a century; we wring our hands, send out heartfelt thoughts and prayers, and go on about our lives.\u00a0\u00a0This is an accepted part of our society, one that our Nation must condone.\u00a0\u00a0How can that be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acceptance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sure, you\u2019re saying \u201cIt\u2019s not accepted!\u00a0\u00a0How dare I suggest such a thing?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0But if mass killing is not accepted, why aren\u2019t we doing something about it?\u00a0\u00a0Drunk driving, something that used to be \u201caccepted\u201d to the point that officers gave the offenders a ride home, now is seen as a heinous offense.\u00a0\u00a0Need an example:\u00a0\u00a0remember the Mayor of Columbus, Ohio, picked up \u201cinspecting the city\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0That attitude changed, because a single group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, made the loss of their loved ones to \u201caccidents\u201d unacceptable. Our national perception of the drunk behind the wheel went from a friendly ride, to opprobrium and jail.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marijuana use was \u201cunacceptable\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0We arrested, jailed, and condemned the use of the drug for decades, ruining the users lives: \u201cReefer Madness\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But now, twenty-four states have completely legalized its use, including here in Ohio.\u00a0\u00a0What was a covert purchase in the shadows, now is a walk into an airy shop with different varieties of dope displayed on the shelves.\u00a0\u00a0We changed our national perception of getting \u201chigh\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And all of those \u201cwoke\u201d things that MAGA-world rails against:\u00a0\u00a0LGBTQ and DEI and the rest, were discriminated against and persecuted for generations.\u00a0\u00a0In this same quarter century, we recognized that a free society should stop judging individual differences.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s up for question right now, as the current crowd tries to roll back those hard-won freedoms.\u00a0\u00a0But, either way, we changed our perception of what individuals \u201ccan\u201d be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we can change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Rights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate irony:\u00a0\u00a0America sends its \u201cThoughts and Prayers\u201d to those who were attacked while praying.\u00a0\u00a0And when some made the suggestion that prayer wasn\u2019t enough, the right wing media tried to make that the story:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMinnesota bishop fires back after Mayor Frey knocks prayer\u2026<\/em>\u201d (Fox News<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0Of course, that\u2019s just one more excuse, along with, \u201cit\u2019s too soon\u201d, \u201cwe need to mourn the dead\u201d, and \u201cwe HAVE OUR RIGHTS!!!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America has always been about balancing rights.\u00a0\u00a0Justice Holmes made the point about the First Amendment; \u201cThe most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic<\/em>\u201d (Supreme Justia<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0Justice Goldberg declared, \u201c\u2026for, while the Constitution protects against invasions of individual rights, it is not a suicide pact<\/em>\u201d (Supreme Justia<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0So where does my \u201cright\u201d to own a high powered, multi-shot rifle get \u201ctempered\u201d by the blood of \u00a08-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski, killed in prayer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, I know, this is a two-sided conversation.\u00a0\u00a0Of course the shooter was mentally deranged.\u00a0\u00a0This is the definition of derangement:\u00a0\u00a0shooting through the stain-glassed window of a Catholic Church at children.\u00a0\u00a0How we handle mental illness is one side of the \u201cacceptance\u201d argument.\u00a0\u00a0Because it\u2019s easier to get \u201cphysical ailments\u201d, from broken bones to cancerous organs, diagnosed and treated, then it is to access mental health care.\u00a0\u00a0That is part of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their Blood<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But the other part is simpler:\u00a0\u00a0those guns are designed to kill humans.\u00a0\u00a0Somehow, in our national psyche, they have become synonymous with \u201cFREEDOM\u201d, wrapped up with some Jeffersonian quote: \u00a0\u201cThe tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants<\/em>\u201d\u00a0(Monticello.org<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0These guns aren\u2019t for hunting, or protection; they are symbolic of FREEDOM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So those kids in Minneapolis, were they patriots or tyrants?\u00a0\u00a0Because they paid the price of the so-called \u201cliberty\u201d for us to own the weapons.\u00a0\u00a0Their blood watered \u201cthe tree\u201d of gun FREEDOM.\u00a0\u00a0And since we won\u2019t do anything about either side of the \u201ccoin\u201d, I guess we then must accept and condone the outrage.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve done it over and over and over and over again.\u00a0\u00a0When will it be enough?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essays on Mass Shootings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n