🇺🇸 Nashville's Nightmare

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🐘 Thursday, March 30, Republican Presidential Nomination 2024: Trump 54, DeSantis 24, Pence 6, Haley 3, Cheney 3, Noem 1, Pompeo 1, Sununu 1, Christie 1 (Fox News)

📉 Thursday, March 30, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 44, Disapprove 56 (Fox News)

📉 Thursday, March 30, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 48, Disapprove 51 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Wednesday, March 29, Republican Presidential Nomination 2024: Trump 47, DeSantis 33, Pence 5, Haley 4, Noem 2, Cheney 1, T. Scott 1, Pompeo 1, Youngkin 1, Sununu 1, Christie 1 (Quinnipiac)

TRENDING

Left: Why a Youngkin 2024 Run Makes Sense for the GOP John Harris, Politico

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Left: Liberalism Is Winning. What Comes Next? Robert Kuttner, American Prospect

Right: Twitter Cannot Be Saved. It's Time To Let It Die Sean Davis, The Federalist

Right: Elon Musk Is Right To Take On the Blue-Tick Elites Brendan O'Neill, Spiked

Right: Stanford Law School—Exposed Hans von Spakovsky, PJ Media

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QUICK CLICKS

Trump Indictment, Crash in Kentucky, Ethanol Evacuation

US: Donald Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury on more than 30 counts related to business fraud (CNN) + Trump declares he 'cannot get a fair trial in New York' after 'disgraceful' indictment (Fox News)

US: Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter on spying charge (AP)

Business: DeSantis, the Disney board and King Charles III: A power struggle, explained (NPR) + Disney blocks Ron DeSantis’ Florida power play with a royal family clause (CNBC)

US: 9 soldiers killed in Army helicopter training crash in Kentucky (NBC News)

World: Pope could leave hospital in days after bronchitis (BBC)

US: Evacuation order lifted, residents allowed to return home after train derailment in Raymond, Minnesota (KSTP)

GUN VIOLENCE

Nashville's Nightmare

On Monday, a school shooting claimed the lives of three children and three adult staff members at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter was a 28-year-old transgender man (born female) who previously attended the Covenant School.

Reporting from the Right: Nashville Covenant School head of school hailed as hero in wake of shooting: 'She protected her children' (Fox News)

Reporting from the Left: What we know about the Nashville shooter Audrey Hale (CNN)

From The Flag: Police say the shooter may have resented attending the school and that there was a manifesto written out ahead of time, which hasn’t been published. The shooter was also receiving treatment for a mental disorder of some kind. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Keep the Focus on Guns: Congress, We Need Enhanced Legislation

• It’s painfully simple: no one needs an AR-15 style weapon, and yet they continue to be used in mass shootings like this one.

• The feigned concern about crime that overtook the nation’s airwaves last summer was clearly just a passing moment for the right.

• One Republican lawmaker from Tennessee is truly only offering “thoughts and prayers” while noting his daughter is homeschooled.

“No one needs an AR-15 — or any gun tailor-made for mass shootings” Editorial Board, Washington Post: “These attacks are always heart-wrenching. But they’re not surprising anymore — neither the massacres themselves nor the weapons used to carry them out. Ten of the 17 deadliest mass killings in the United States since 2012 involved AR-15s. … Newtown, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Parkland, Uvalde and beyond. … The AR-15… is materially different from traditional handguns. The rifle fires very small bullets at very fast speeds. The projectiles don’t move straight and smooth through human targets like those from a traditional handgun. … No single action will stop mass shootings, much less gun violence more generally. … Rules restricting how many rounds a gun can fire before a shooter has to reload are more difficult to skirt than flat-out assault rifle bans, which sometimes prompt manufacturers to make cosmetic changes that will reclassify their products.”

“Nashville Proves GOP Doesn't Care About Crime” Charles F. Coleman, MSNBC Opinion: “The cycle of ‘thoughts and prayers’ is laughably insufficient. So, too, is the rhetoric on safe schools and protecting our children. Because the truth is that lawmakers, especially GOP lawmakers, are only concerned about certain crime. … Republicans are very protective of their guns — more than they are of the children and educators forced to leave in fear of these weapons. We have considered ideas like bulletproof shelters in classrooms and arming teachers; these are on top of sad but necessary steps like active shooter drills. Even as there will always be an outpouring of empathy for communities that experience tragedy, there can be no question that the proper prescription here is preventative… GOP House members proudly wore AR-15 lapel pins to espouse their commitment to protecting Second Amendment rights during the State of the Union. Do they remain proud today? Probably.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: GOP Rep Shrugs Off Nashville Shooting: ‘We Homeschool’ Our Daughter Justin Baragona, Daily Beast

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

We Need To Pay Attention to the Mental Illness Crisis Behind Shooting

• Most media outlets have actually framed the shooter as a victim rather than taking a closer look at mental health.

• Amid treatment for a mental disorder, it’s highly likely the shooter was legally barred from owing guns in the state of Tennessee.

• It’s presently unclear if the shooter’s gender identity played any role in this, but to hide the pre-written manifesto would be a cover-up.

“When a Trans Person Murders Christian Schoolchildren” Ben Shapiro, Creators Syndicate: “The legacy media have a preset narrative machine when it comes to mass shootings. … White shooter, black victims: systemic racism. Black shooter, white victims: alienation caused by systemic racism. Muslim shooter, gay victims: Christian homophobia. On Monday, a self-identified 28-year-old trans man shot up a Christian school in Nashville… And here's what pops up: America is systemically cruel to trans people, who apparently cannot be blamed for losing control and targeting small children at Christian schools. A hate crime… transmuted into a generalized societal crime against the mass shooter … But if we truly wish to prevent future acts of violence by unhinged lunatics, we ought to utilize a lens other than the lie of victimhood. Instead, we ought to consider the possibility that it is dangerous to promote the idea that mentally ill people ought to be celebrated… and simultaneously told that their suicidal ideations are caused by the intolerance of a broader society.”

“Nashville Shooter’s Gun Purchases Could Have Been Blocked, and Weren’t” Jim Geraghty, National Review: “Nashville police chief John Drake… said that the parents of the shooter told the police the shooter had been in a ‘doctor’s care for an emotional disorder.’ … It is chillingly clear in retrospect that the shooter should have been institutionalized, or at minimum, legally ruled a potential threat to herself or others. … The evidence was there for her to be declared legally mentally defective and barred from owning firearms. The shooter’s parents believed she should not be allowed to own a firearm, indicating the shooter had said or done things that made her parents believe she was a potential threat to herself or others. But no one acted upon those concerns, and no one reached out to police. Tennessee does not have a ‘red flag’ law… (But) under Tennessee law, anyone who has been deemed ‘mental defective’ cannot purchase a firearm in the first place.”

On more opinion piece from the Right: Audrey Hale’s identity is no reason to cover up her ‘manifesto’ Editorial Board, New York Post

FLAG THIS

Who Owns AR-15s, and Is More Gun Control the Answer?

Per a survey released on Monday, before the shooting unfolded, the typical AR-15 owner in the US is a white male between the ages of 40 and 65. Most typically they have a military background and vote Republican.

The same poll determined 33% of people who own AR-15s report that they do so for self-defense (Washington Post-IPSOS).

A separate survey found 63% of young US adults aged 18 to 29 believe gun laws should be stricter, while 22% say they should remain as they are (Harvard Youth Poll).

But polling conducted last year at this time from a Right-leaning organization suggested over half (51%) of all likely US voters don’t believe stricter gun laws are the solution (Rasmussen Reports).

FLAG FINDS

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