On May 24, 19 children and two adults were murdered and 17 others were injured by a young man wielding an AR-15 rifle. The victims were elementary school students and teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The heinous crime, committed with legally purchased weapons and ammunition, only highlighted the devil’s bargain elected officials have made with gun manufacturers and law enforcement.
It quickly became clear that the recently financially boosted and shooter-trained Uvalde police force had been useless in the face of the mass murder spree. In fact, there is evidence they may have made it worse, missing opportunity after opportunity to lessen the carnage wrought that terrible day. Law enforcement and conservative Texas officials like Gov. Greg Abbott, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have put in overtime work to keep from being held accountable for their failed policies and useless ‘thoughts and prayers’ mantras.
At the same time, the public has wanted nothing to do with right-wing-o-sphere spin blaming teachers and false reports of locked and unlocked doors. It has been very clear, regardless of how hard Texas officials try to fight the public from finding out the facts of the shooting, that all of the GOP and NRA promises that “good guys” with guns will keep people safe from “bad guys” with guns failed. Again.
Guess what? Texas Republicans have a new plan. In this case, the word “new” means “a waste of money in service of gun manufacturers at the expense of Americans’ lives.”
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KHOU11 reports that Texas “leaders” announced that they are going to spend $105.5 million in “state funds to boost school safety and mental health services” in response to the Uvalde mass shooting. Including mental health services is something, considering the very same Texas leaders cut mental health services in the first place. But before you start a sentence with “at least they are ...” let’s find out how much of that money is being wasted on warfare.
According to the report, about half of that money ($50 million) will be going to “bullet-resistant shields for school police officers.” What? Yes. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the same guy that said grandparents needed to die for capitalism during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, got his wish: bulletproof shields that he asked for in lieu of gun safety laws.
That’s not all. Another $17.1 million will be going to Texas school districts to spend on buying “silent panic technology.” So half of this money is going to bulletproof shields for the militarized police that sat outside for an hour while children were being murdered; and a little less than one-fifth of the money is going to be spent on giving schools technology that banks have had since World War II.
Of that more than $105 million in taxpayer money, $5.8 million will go “to expand telemedicine for children and $4.7 million to increase the use of a treatment program for at-risk youth.” That’s the “mental health” expenditure. This is the Texas GOP leadership’s response to the mass killing of 17 children.
bullet
proof
shields
for cops.
The officials patting themselves on the back for this sideshow are worthless. They are cowards. They are without worth.
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