This Is America
Somehow we keep finding new awful ways for people to get shot in America. Also an update on the debt limit time bomb and Ron DeSantis's presidential aspirations are circling the drain.
I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, ’ absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to become a paid subscriber, you can sign up here.’
A quick housekeeping note: I’ll be Zoom Chatting on Friday. Still working on a special guest … I’ll keep you posted. The link is here.
America 2023
Ralph Paul Yarl, 16, was shot just before 10 p.m. Thursday when he went to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend's home, police said.
But Yarl went to 115th Street instead of 115th Terrace and was shot twice after ringing the doorbell, his family’s attorneys, Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, said …“He heard rustling around going on in the house and then finally the door was open,” the attorney said. “And he was confronted by a man who told him, ‘Don’t come back around here,’ and then he immediately fired his weapon.”
The 84-year-old man who shot Yarl was arrested and charged with two counts: assault in the first degree and armed criminal action.
Police said Monday 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot Saturday in Hebron, New York, after the car she was a passenger in pulled into the driveway of Kevin Monahan. Gillis and three friends were looking for another friend’s house just after 9 p.m. local time, authorities said. No one in the group left the vehicle and they were attempting to turn the car around after realizing their error.
Monahan, 65, allegedly emerged from his home during that time and fired two shots at the vehicle, striking Gillis. The driver of the car left the scene, which has little cell phone reception, to go to a nearby town to call emergency services. Lifesaving measures were performed, but Gillis was pronounced dead later Saturday night.
Monahan has been arrested and charged with murder.
Two members of an elite competitive cheerleading team in Oak Ridge were shot Tuesday morning after one of the athletes reportedly mistakenly tried to get into the wrong car after practice … Just after midnight, cheerleader Heather Roth said she got out of her friend's car and opened the door to a vehicle she believed to be her own in the H-E-B parking lot. Roth said there was a man sitting in the passenger seat, so she initially panicked, thinking a stranger was inside her car, and got back into her friend's vehicle.
When she noticed the man approach their vehicle, she said she rolled down the window to apologize, telling him she thought it was her car. Roth said the man threw up his hands, pulled out a gun, and started shooting.
One of the shooting victims “suffered damage to multiple organs and had her spleen removed. She is expected to undergo additional surgeries throughout the week.”
A Sweet 16 party turned into a scene of carnage when four people were killed and at least 28 others were injured on Saturday night, officials said.
The deadly rampage happened in downtown Dadeville around 10:34 p.m. Saturday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Sunday.
The four shooting victims were between the ages of 17 and 23.
A couple of years ago, I wrote a book about how we completely exaggerate and overstate the threat of international terrorism, leading to terrible policy outcomes. So I should state, at the outset of this rant, that the chances of any American dying from gun violence remain relatively slim.
And yet, last year, 40,000 Americans died at the hands of a gun (half of those deaths were suicides). Gun violence is the number one cause of death for American children, surpassing car accidents. According to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “A majority of Americans say they or a family member has experienced gun violence, such as witnessing a shooting, being threatened by a person with a gun, or being shot.” Nearly 1 in 5 poll respondents, including more than a third of Blacks, reported that a family member had been killed by a gun. When you consider the traumatic impact of gun violence — and unceasing news reporting on gun violence — there are precious few Americans who are untouched by this epidemic of violence. As the news stories above indicate, even the most mundane activity, like going to a birthday party, or the slightest error (like making a U-turn in a driveway, going to the wrong house and ringing a doorbell, or opening a car door by accident) can lead to someone getting shot.
But then again, we shouldn’t be surprised by any of this. Pro-gun voices have been telling Americans for years that their homes and families are at risk and that they must arm themselves against potential criminals. So is it any wonder that after being fed a steady diet of “it bleeds, it leads” nightly news and overstated fears of “home invasions” or armed robberies that Americans choose to shoot first and ask questions later? In addition, GOP-led state legislatures have passed “Stand Your Ground” laws that allow people to use deadly force if they feel threatened. And in the case of Ralph Yarl, his shooter could potentially go free merely because a Black man showed up unannounced on his doorstep, and that made him feel afraid.
I really want to say something positive about how the growing public anger over gun violence will lead to political change, but it’s getting very difficult to make that argument these days. Some steps can be taken along the margins to lessen gun violence, like safe storage laws or red flag alerts — and some of this is happening in Blue State America. But in red states, Republican legislatures are moving in the opposite direction, making it easier for people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
Unfortunately, this is America, and until voters make their voices heard at the ballot box, it isn’t going to change.
Debt Limit Go Boom
Punchbowl has a good round-up of the latest in debt limit negotiations — and the challenge that Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing in passing a debt limit bill. It doesn’t look good.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Truth and Consequences to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.