Death in the Country. And the Second Amendment.

Контент 18+ (лексика, описания жестокости). Remembering those who will never sing anymore, never dance, never cry, never make mistakes...
My esteemed partner and friend Artem has just returned from America, and I hope he will have many interesting tales to tell our readers. Upon my request, he has already sent me a kind of 'like vs dislikes' menu based on his experiences in such contrasting points as New York City and The Grand Canyon (which I am pretty sure is in Arizona.)

I responded by telling my friend that he had escaped just in the nick of time -- which is to say, just before the latest and greatest mass murder in US history. No, I am not talking about the Orlando nightclub (that was LAST year), but rather the shoot 'em up at the Country Music Festival in Las Vegas, which must have happened on Sunday night, if I have my dates in order.

Imagine that: a COUNTRY MUSIC gig. If you have any idea at all about America, you would think that this would be the safest place you could find yourself: a musical rally for mostly conservative white Americans who still believe in God, like to wear cowboy hats and cowboy boots (men AND women) and drive shiny pick-up trucks. and who, above all, support the NRA (National Rifle Association -- the most powerful lobbying force in America) and the so-called Second Amendment which guarantees American citizens the right to bear arms (possess and carry --increasingly -- guns). I know that I would have felt safe there. Safer than in Times Square in New York on a bright September afternoon, safer than in a Memphis ghetto at midnight, safer than in a nightclub (especially a gay one !, like the one in Orlando).

And what happened in this safe haven, this redneck, flag-waving zoopark, was the worst mass murder ever. Who did it? Was it ISIS, was it a Satanic Cult, was it an escapee from a mental hospital?  Not at all. The dark protagonist was a retired 64-year-old white guy who apparently had never caused anyone a problem before. Not a street person, but well-off and soft-spoken, an owner of his own home plus a rental property.

So I guess we are not safe anywhere, are we? And thus, while Artem was applauding such things in America as:  Services ("never such politeness and desire to fulfill wishes before"); Nature and National Parks ("all Russian national parks are closed except for pre-arranged tours"); Opportunity ("you can feel it in the air"); Variety ("You can find anything you want as long as it is legal"); and Food ("anything you want and I always left the restaurant full and happy") ---

pretty good so far, yes? --

...now we are confronted with the great ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, the huge TURD IN THE PUNCHBOWL, of American life: Rat-a-tat-tat-tat into the night, and then it turns out that the one firing the lethal weapon was not a Syrian Rambo look-alike but an old fart who surely had no logical reason or human privilege (but maybe in America the legal right?) to collect such extremely sophisticated and deadly military assault exterminators. 

It would be the same as if a man who liked fish and so had a modest aquarium, suddenly began to collect sharks and whales in his (use your imagination please !!!)backyard swimming pool. WHY, we might ask? Why? To possess the right of mass terror.

But he had them. This was just a guy. No one special. And he had acquired an arsenal. How? Maybe he was trying to protect himself from Negroes and Mexicans who might try to break into his apartment and wake up his sleeping wife and steal his stamp collection???

All was going as it should, as it is supposed to do in America,

But... then what people will now refer to as "Las Vegas" suddenly happened and blew the glamorously grainy cover of the Nevada desert away. It's like some beautiful woman that you just saw on the beach and the next day you hear that she has breast cancer. "No, dammit", you want to cry out, "it can't be true !!!. She was too beautiful, She had EVERYTHING". But it IS true. Big-breasted America has CANCER !! And after "Las Vegas", you will hear others mumble "Orlando". You understand, these are no longer the names of cities, but of mass murder sites.. "Yeah, man,  I was there when Vegas went down. You were on the scene in Orlando?"

Not concerts. Mass executions of people. I will not say 'innocent people' because it is a cliche. We are all guilty of something. So let's leave it at this: people who were not ready and did not particularly deserve to die just then.

Above all, people like you and me. People with babies and grandmothers and cats and dogs. Young people who were hoping for new careers and who wanted to have sex with their partners right on up to the decision to separate and divorce and move on,. Yes, THOSE people. Imperfect fools, like you and me. Dead, dead, dead. Because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time in America. Yes, it could have been anywhere. But usually THERE. Why?

Welcome back Artem. You are safer here. This is not a throw-away line. I mean it. It is safer in Russia than in the USA. The USA LOOKS better, but is it? No, it is not.

America is a lie and a farce. "Bye-bye, Miss American Pie" goes the song.

I would compare it to the oft-told story of the man who found a beautiful snake at the top of the mountain. The snake, nearly frozen, begged the man to carry him down the mountain to the warm place below. The man said "No! You are a poisonous snake, and you will bite me."  The snake replied "Surely you are not serious? Would I do that to a friend? Without you, I will die, and so please carry me down". Seduced by the beauty and allure of the snake, the man picked it up and began the journey.

Gradually, the weather warmed and the snake started to move and squirm about. Near the bottom, the serpent suddenly bit the man on his throat... "Why did you do that?" he screamed. "I saved your life!!!!"  : Thank you", said the snake,"but you knew what I was when you picked me up." The man, bewildered and made furious by this lack of gratitude, died.

In America, one often thinks he has found the treasure he was seeking. But then, slowly, slowly, he may begin to question the nature, not only of the means to acquisition,  but the nature of the treasure itself.

Tomorrow, I will write about American law, the Second Amendment, and try to answer some questions as to why this sort of atrocity only seems to happen in God's Country where all the prayers (and there are a multitude of them) seem to do no good at all, but where GOD is always affirmed. . And why this murderous history of slaughter just repeats itself again and again and again.

It is all Business.As Usual.

===Eric Richard Leroy===