Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember Obama having to take a note with him when he met the parents of those who died at Sandy Hook, reminding him to have empathy

Yes, the above photo is real. Those are Donald Trump’s hands holding a note reminding him to be a decent human being. The photo was taken by an Associated Press photographer this afternoon, during his “listening session” with the survivors of last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the relatives of the dead. Point number five, in case you can’t read it, is a reminder to the President to say, “I hear you,” when confronted by the tearful pleas of those who were selected to participate. [My guess is that we’re looking at the handwriting of Hope Hicks, but I could be wrong.]

I’d like to think that most people wouldn’t need to take a cheat sheet with them into a meeting with people who had just lost their children, reminding them to show empathy, but, then again, most people don’t suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

While the White House only invited four students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to participate in today’s event, and made sure not to extend invitations to those students who have been actively organizing against the NRA, some of those who attended today’s “listening session” did take Trump to task, like 18 year old Sam Zeif, who demanded to know why Americans can still walk into a gun shop and purchase a “weapon of war” without so much as a background check… Here’s video.

So, as kids in Florida and DC walked out of class today, and descended on the offices of their elected officials in enormous numbers, Donald Trump sat with a small, hand-selected group of people, clutching a cheat sheet intended to help hide his empathy deficit, and talking about how, instead of banning assault weapons, we could arm our teachers.

Here, with more on Trump’s idea about arming teachers, is a little something from CNN.

President Donald Trump, after listening to a series of emotional stories and pleas to enhance school safety at the White House Wednesday, floated the idea of arming teachers and school staff, an idea that was met with support from many of the attendees.

“If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm, they could end the attack very quickly,” he said, stating that schools could arm up to 20% of their teachers to stop “maniacs” who may try and attack them.

“This would be obviously only for people who were very adept at handling a gun, and it would be, it’s called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. They’d go for special training and they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone,” Trump said. “Gun-free zone to a maniac — because they’re all cowards — a gun-free zone is ‘let’s go in and let’s attack because bullets aren’t coming back at us.'”

This is the world we live in now, folks. We no longer inhabit the same world where a tearful President Obama spent hours privately grieving with those who lost loved ones at Sandy Hook, and encouraged legislators to enact common sense gun reforms, like those that have proven successful around the world. We are now living in Hell World, where a leader with neither empathy or vision is seriously suggesting that we ask our elementary school lunch ladies to double as snipers, and our art teachers to carry automatic weapons.

Oh, and, speaking of arming teachers, here’s a nice, little blast from the past, for those of you who still care about things like truth and hypocrisy.

The good news is, these kids aren’t going away. Trump and the NRA can talk all they want about putting more guns in school and training teachers to use deadly force, but these kids who are rising up in protest aren’t going to accept it. And they’re stronger, smarter and more motivated than any gun industry lobbyist. Just look at this photo taken earlier today outside the Capitol in Tallahassee… These kids aren’t just passively accepting Hell World. And they’ll be voting soon.

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18 Comments

  1. Kim
    Posted February 21, 2018 at 10:37 pm | Permalink

    Trump also said at this listening session that we should bring back mental institutions. “When we see there’s trouble, we have to nab them,” he said. “Years ago, we had mental hospitals. Today, if you catch somebody, they don’t know what to do with them. He hasn’t committed the crime, but he may very well. There’s no mental institution.”

  2. anonymous
    Posted February 21, 2018 at 11:00 pm | Permalink

    Trump also talked at the event about putting former military members in our schools.

    “You can’t have 100 security guards in Stoneman Douglas. That’s a massive school w/a lot of acreage to cover. You’d have a lot of people armed. They may be Marines that left the Marines. Army. Air Force. Spread evenly throughout the school.”

  3. Eel
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 7:32 am | Permalink

    6. Don’t be a fucking monster.

  4. Iron Lung 2
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 8:47 am | Permalink

    Who would pay all those ex-military personnel to stand by every door in every school in the United States? Is he talking about creating a new TSA like entity that will search every one as they walk into any building around the country?

    Trump would like the United States to have people armed with machine guns at every corner, like many developing countries do throughout the world.

    Rather than doing something about guns, Trump would like to keep all “crazy” Americans imprisoned. Great.

  5. anonymous
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 8:57 am | Permalink

    Donald Trump after signing the bill to reverse the Obama administration’s efforts to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

    https://twitter.com/MsJayeBee/status/965833348949135360

  6. M
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 9:28 am | Permalink

    7. Don’t tell them that you’ve suffered as well, as you weren’t able to golf for the 48 hours after their children were killed.

  7. President Donald Trump
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 9:43 am | Permalink

    Tweeted this morning:

    “What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/966681883206668289

  8. Joy Reid by proxy
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 9:52 am | Permalink

    Not only did Columbine have an armed sheriffs deputy at the school, he fired at the heavily armed shooters. Ultimately, the only person who shot them was them. Now imagine if they didn’t have those weapons in the first place.

  9. Meta
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 9:59 am | Permalink

    NPR: “Kentucky Moves To Add Guns To Schools After School Shooting”

    The school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that took 17 lives followed one in rural western Kentucky by three weeks. The Kentucky shooter killed two high school sophomores and injured 18 other people.

    In the wake of the tragedy at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky’s Republican governor and legislature say they won’t consider any gun-control proposals. Instead, a measure allowing teachers or staff to carry guns on campus has gained traction.

    Republican state Sen. Steve West admits his bill isn’t going to stop all school shootings, but he hopes it’ll help.

    “It increases that kid’s chances of surviving. And if there is someone there with a weapon, they will be able to take down the assailant, or at least calm the situation,” West said.

    Under Senate Bill 103, public school boards and private schools would be able to tap teachers or staff to serve as “school marshals,” who would be allowed to carry a gun on campus if they have a concealed carry permit.

    In Kentucky, concealed carry classes teach basic firearm mechanics and safety, but don’t train participants for active shooter situations—the only circumstance the bill would allow school staff to use the guns.

    The weapons would have to be stored in a lockbox somewhere on school property at all other times.

    “I wish honestly I didn’t have to file this bill, or we weren’t even having this discussion and we could go back in time. But unfortunately we live in 2018,” West said.

    Read more:
    https://www.npr.org/2018/02/20/587368514/kentucky-moves-to-add-guns-to-schools-after-school-shooting

  10. Jean Henry
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 10:11 am | Permalink

    Let’s not forget this: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2013/01/security_guard_leaves_gun_unat.html

  11. Jean Henry
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 10:17 am | Permalink

    Wayne LaPierre spoke this morning at CPAC. I feel ill. We simply have to overcome this man’s influence. Most gun owners are not NRA members. NRA influence is about money, sure, but also about motivated, committed, single issue voter/members. We simply need to harness more of both of those elements. The public will is with us. More and more people are clear that the NRA is a delusional, paranoid organization.

  12. Jean Henry
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 10:19 am | Permalink

    For a fun time,check out the MI open carry website. They are now suggesting that members not register their handguns– in preparation for the inevitable confiscation, I suppose. http://www.michiganopencarry.org/news/2015/06/Opt-Out-Of-Handgun-Registration

  13. Dave
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 10:44 am | Permalink

    There’s your “crisis actor” with his script right there.

  14. M
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 11:28 am | Permalink

    Can someone please verify that VP Pence said yesterday that the problem with America is not enough of us are willing to be like Donald Trump and “listen with humility and respect”?

  15. Lynne
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 5:09 pm | Permalink

    Ultimately it comes down to what voters demand. Unfortunately part of the problem is that you have a minority who are VERY passionate combined with an industry willing to lobby the shit out of politicians at every level of government. My hope is that the passion of these kids will be sustained and will be greater than the passion of the gun enthusiasts so that come primary time, it will be an issue that gets someone nominated and then becomes an issue that propels that candidate to victory where they will be in a position to change the laws along with others who got to where they are similarly.

  16. Iron Lung 2
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 6:00 pm | Permalink

    “For a fun time,check out the MI open carry website. They are now suggesting that members not register their handguns– in preparation for the inevitable confiscation, I suppose. http://www.michiganopencarry.org/news/2015/06/Opt-Out-Of-Handgun-Registration

    Back in 2015.

  17. Jcp2
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 7:59 pm | Permalink

    Pure fantasy for teacher concealed carry. If a trained and armed law enforcement officer was reluctant to engage a shooter, what good would an armed civilian be?

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sheriff-armed-school-resource-officer-never-went-in-to-building-in-florida-mass-shooting/

  18. Jean Henry
    Posted February 22, 2018 at 8:28 pm | Permalink

    IL— nice catch. Guess they haven’t updated their website in a minute. Good sign the energy of youth can change this thing.

    Ps I humbly retract the ‘now’

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