Not all Republicans are useful idiots financed by the Kremlin. But some are actually worse because they’re accessories to murder.
Yesterday, after an all-American teenager toting an assault weapon celebrated Back to School Week by killing two teens and two teachers at his Georgia center of learning, Georgia’s governor mouthed the usual twaddle: “We need thoughts and prayers for the victims, law enforcement and educators…and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms.”
So sayeth Brian Kemp – the same Brian Kemp who has ensured that Georgia is locked and loaded. It was obviously a breeze for our newest school shooter, Colt Gray, to get his hands on an AR-15 style murder machine, because the state is awash in guns. It ranks 46th of 50 in terms of the strength of its gun laws. Adults don’t need a permit to buy rifles, shotguns, or handguns; nor do they need a permit to carry rifles and shotguns in public places (Kemp proudly signed the permitless carry law two years ago).
Nor does Georgia have a “red flag” law, the kind of measure that allows law enforcement officers to remove guns from household members who might be harmful to others. Law enforcement visited Gray’s household last year after reports circulated that Gray was violently threatening his school. His dad had guns aplenty. But hey, no problem, Second Amendment and all that. As Gov. Kemp declared three years ago, after gun reformers gave Georgia an “F” grade, “I’ll wear this ‘F’ as a badge of honor. Our 2nd Amendment is sacred, and I’’l never back down from defending Georgians’ constitutional rights.”
Granted, Kemp isn’t the only Republican taking refuge in rote prayers. He has been joined in recent hours by the usual suspects – most notably Mike Collins, the congressman who represents the district where the shootings occurred. Two years ago Collins voiced his absolutist opposition to all gun reforms, including red flag laws, insisting instead that God is the answer. Which means, I guess, that God was fine with sacrificing two teachers and two 14-year-olds.
But when I heard Kemp intoning the Republican mantra, what came to mind was a TV ad that he ran in 2018 when he was first campaigning for governor. He showed off his handguns and rifles – standard procedure in the South, where it’s de rigueur for a Republican to flaunt manly manliness – but he decided to go a step further. On camera, he brandished a double-barreled shotgun and pointed it at a kid named Jake, joking that Jake had better behave while dating his daughter. Even some gun-lovers complained that pointing a weapon at someone – in a TV ad, no less – was seriously stupid. But apparently it wasn’t stupid enough to dissuade the Georgia electorate.
With four people dead, Kemp was asked last night what steps might be advisable to protect Georgia’s schoolchildren from gun violence. You knew this answer was coming. It’s right there in the thoughts ‘n’ prayerbook:
“This is not the day to talk about safety or policy.”
Right, it’s never the day. It’s never the month. It’s never the year. It’s never the decade.
Enough already with these accessories to murder. In this presidential election, one party believes in the freedom of schoolchildren to live and learn. The other party believes that life begins at conception and ends in the classroom. ‘Nuff said.