A Letter to our President

Dear President Biden:

Last night you said that “This is not America” referring to the violence and the rising rhetoric. You called on all of us to cool the temperature down, and said “We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.” As a lifelong pacifist who has never raised a hand in anger, I agree wholeheartedly that we need to step back and do better. However, the assassination attempt did not occur in a vacuum, because violence HAS become normalized.

I was a kid when JFK was shot. I will never forget how empty and silent the streets were walking home after they ended school early. I remember the assassinations of RFK and MLK, and the riots that year. I remember the attempted assassination of Reagan, and a few months later when there was an attempt on the Pope. THE POPE.

I was raised amid political violence.

Flash forward to 1999, and the shooting at Columbine. At work, we were shocked, and talked about how that could have happened, and asked “where were the parents?” The country made a huge error in judgement by refusing to have a national conversation on responsibility and the morality of not killing people, and instead just rescinded the assault weapons ban in 2004. The country’s answer was that a whole generation of kids were raised on active shooter drills. Talk about blaming the victims – learn to hide, ignore the killers.

Since 2020, there have been more than 600 mass shootings annually, and this year is on track to keep that up: as of 30 June, 302 mass shootings, with 390 killed and more than 1,200 wounded. Our numbers dwarf not just other countries, but all other countries combined. (Excluding war.)

Mr. President, it’s not just the rhetoric, it’s the guns. How many mass murders could be prevented if we had the assault weapons ban re-enacted?

As the RNC starts today, I doubt there will be a call for fewer guns, only a necessary investigation into the shooting of the Convicted Felon, the murder of an innocent, and the grave injuries of two other innocents. My guess is that someone at the RNC will call for MORE people to have MORE guns. However, I know that the Convicted Felon’s team is professional, and will press him to lie to the undecided voters and tone down the hate and blame he is known for.

I wish you well as you endeavor to bring the country together. It’s a critical time for our country, as you know better than anyone else, and we must get back to the basics of political discourse less the hatred and rhetoric. But remember this one thing…

Warm Regards,

Your voter (all in) - Jessica