Richard Martinez is my hero. In the wake of the worst tragedy of his life, the murder of his only son, Martinez understands that his grief can spur change, and that he only has a brief window before our attention turns elsewhere.
From the first time we saw him crash the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s presser to call out the “craven politicians and the NRA” as being responsible for his son’s death, to the numerous interviews in which he’s spoken so eloquently, to yesterday’s memorial at UCSB where he got tens of thousands in attendance to take to their feet to shout “Not One More,” his is the voice that just might help us stop the madness.
His words echoed loudly across the Twitterverse where #NotOneMore is everywhere, and his call to action
“Today, I’m going to ask every person I can find to send a postcard to every politician they can think of with three words on it: ‘Not one more,’ ” he said Tuesday. “People are looking for something to do. I’m asking people to stand up for something. Enough is enough.”
is getting a boost from Everytown for Gun Safety. Click here, fill out the form, and they’ll send the postcards for you to your members of Congress and governor.
Do it now. We’ll wait…
If you’re not yet convinced, just watch this interview
If that doesn’t move you, you must be a Republican along the lines of Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher who wrote an open-letter to the families of the victims of the Santa Barbara massacre, incredulously stating
Richard Martinez, whose son (Christopher) was among the murdered, choked back tears at a news conference, blaming politicians the next day: “The talk about gun rights. What about Chris’ right to live?” Martinez said – and much more…
But the words and images of Mr. Martinez blaming “the proliferation of guns”, lobbyists, politicians, etc.; will be exploited by gun-grab extremists as are all tragedies involving gun violence and the mentally ill by the anti-Second Amendment Left…
We still have the Right to Bear Arms and I intend to continue to speak out for that right, and against those who would restrict it – even in the face of this horrible incident by this sad and insane individual. I almost said “Obama Voter” but I’m waiting for it to be official…
In conclusion, I cannot begin to imagine the pain you are going through, having had your child taken away from you. However, any feelings you have toward my rights being taken away from me, lose those.
Or perhaps you identify with serial offensive Tweeter Todd Kincannon, chairman of the Election Commission of Simpsonville, South Carolina, who couldn’t resist launching his own miserableness into this tragedy by Tweeting more offensive drivel
Fuck him. He is a piece of shit. His tragedy sucks, but he blamed me for it and wants to take away my rights. The guy is trying to take away my rights to protect my family. Fuck him every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
And Todd is raising a little Viking who, I am sure, one day will conquer and pillage on behalf of some brokerage house or real estate company.
No idea how my son will die, but I know it won’t be cowering like a bitch at UC Santa Barbara. Any son of mine would have been shooting back.
Or Erik Erickson, who is more offensive with each passing moment… Susie Madrak of Crooks & Liars and Digby of Hullabaloo fame and now Salon too, both joined me on the show today to talk about the madness and what we need to do to change things.
Once again, my idea to get Washington to finally act on the gun issue is to hit them in the pocketbook. Please read this post, listen to the interview with Australian Tim Fischer, and share it widely…
Tomorrow, we’ll lighten things up a bit with John Fugelsang, She’s History’s Amy Simon, and a sneak peek at this summer’s Netroots Nation!
And for those who asked, the song I played at the end of today’s show comes straight from YouTube.
And finally, Rest in Peace Maya Angelou. The caged bird is now free….
