The killing of forty-nine people and the wounding of over fifty more in the Impulse night club in Orlando, Florida has been called the most destructive mass shooting in U.S. history. The shooter, twenty-nine-year-old Omar Mateen, was killed by police gunfire. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have weighed in on the shooting.
Donald Trump took the I-told-you-so approach, referring to his proposal to ban Muslims, at least temporarily, from entering the country. He had previously called Hillary Clinton a "secret" Muslim, who was facilitating the entry of Muslims into the United States. He used the shooting to portray himself as the real champion of women, because Clinton was supporting Muslims, who treat women very badly; also, he said that Muslim countries kill gay, lesbian and trans-gender persons. Donald Trump conflated the efforts of one grossly misguided, predominantly Muslim country to legitimize the killing of LBGTQ people, to apply as a general practice in all predominantly Muslim countries.
Hillary Clinton took the position that the United States would be buying enormous trouble in the world by demonizing all adherents of one of the major religions in the world. Clinton also referred to the absurdity of someone who was under close FBI scrutiny and had been interviewed twice by the agency, could walk into a gun shop and, after passing a background check, get the firearms he needed to conduct his massacre.
When Donald Trump linked the Impulse night club shooting to his ban on immigrating Muslims, he was creating an impression that mass shootings were primarily caused by immigrating Muslims. The shooter, Omar Mateen, was born and raised in New York. As of early December 2015, the number of mass shootings -- defined as four or more dead persons -- had surpassed the number of days in the year. All, or virtually all, of the shooters were U.S. citizens who had not immigrated to the country.
Considering that the judge that Trump was assailing him for having a hatred for him, Trump, and the young man taken into custody for having firearms and explosives that he may have been planning to use to disrupt a gay parade, were both born in Indiana, perhaps Trump should be planning to build a wall around Indiana.
ADDENDUMS:
*Pocahontus Surfaces Again - Donald Trump supporters are being forced to address a recent Trump tweet: "Pocahontas is at it again!" "Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth." Trump as a tendency to refer to anyone who strongly criticizes him, as being among the worst of the worst.
Stephanie Fryberg, an associate professor of psychology and American Studies at the University of Washington, said: "Mr. Trump's comments reinforce broad stereotypes of Native Americans as Indian chiefs, mascots and princesses, rather than contemporary people ;who are contributing to society." "He's not using the term to be honorific. He's using it to mock her."
*Trump's Missing Board Game Donation - Donald Trump has made claims of donating $1 million to charity from sales of "Trump: the Game," a Monopoly-style board game sold in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Milton Bradley officials have no knowledge of the donation.
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