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Disruption

By and large I am a proponent of free speech; when free speech is not permitted, bad things ensue. There is a correlation there if not a causality.

For that reason I am nervous about protesters preventing folk from speaking. Protest is necessary because we live in a world of real evil, for which the status quo is not a defense. That protest does not by and large have to prevent folk from stating their piece; it can ensue, in an asynchronous dialogue.

This past week, after the horror of the massacre of school children and teachers in Uvalde, TX, Governor Abbott and Senator Cruz appeared at a press conference. Both of them have taken large amounts of money from the NRA. Both have resisted every effort to stop these massacres from recurring. (Good people can differ on how to prevent them, but doing nothing is evil, pure and simple.)

Beto O'Rourke, Governor Abbott's main rival in his reelection campaign, disrupted the press conference.  He called all on the stage out for not doing anything to prevent this and the next massacre and the one after that. Those on the stage did not respect his view; some cursed, all called for police to remove him. Afterward he continued to speak to reporters outside; afterward those on stage accused him of disrespecting the grief of the survivors of the massacre, although their work to ensure the next massacre surely outweighed O'Rourke's words in disrespect.

O'Rourke isn't perfect; who is? On the issue of allowing an 18-year-old to buy two assault weapons and large amounts of ammunition legally, we need more disruption like O'Rourke's. We have had decades of school shootings; since the Senate allowed the assault weapon ban to expire, they occur with regularity. 

We need to protect our children from the real-life terror of the NRA, their pet politicians, and gun manufacturers who are actively working to enable the next school shooting, and not some QAnon fantasy that never actually seems to occur.

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