In all seriousness, Trump "monitoring" the situation from Japan is much pointless since it's a law enforcement issue right now that the President has nothing to do with. He just wanted to make the situation about him somehow.
Believe me, his silence would have solicited nothing but applause from me. When he doesn't comment, the country is better off.
I don't care for him or his terrible leadership or character. I'll leave it at that so that the thread will not be derailed.
FWIW, 72% of the folks in Wilson County, TX, where Sutherland Springs is located, voted for Donald Trump. This is 2017, an era of instant communication and nearly instant details. These folks expect Trump to make a statement on their situation, and that's really not an extraordinary expectation in this day and age. Trump's statement may inflame folks here, but it may be positive to the folks in Sutherland Springs, TX.
I don't know how many folks at that church came armed. I do believe that there are gun owners at that church who survived the shooting who left their guns home that wonder if they could have saved lives if they came armed. I'm a gun owner, and I haven't brought my gun to church to date, but if this happened and I were not carrying my gun to church, I'd wonder if it would have made a difference.
I will also say this: We had a potentially deadly situation at my church 10 years ago. While people were in the church, at a time where folks knew church would be open and people present, a distraught individual drove his truck right through the main entrance toward the sanctuary. Had there been folks in the foyer and lobby, there would have been casualties; he was driving rather fast, and his truck was a full-size vehicle. This was unexpected and unprovoked. The man turned out to be mentally ill and was deteriorating as his marital and family situation was going down the tubes, but he had the capacity to kill. And without a gun.
I believe that the right of citizens to keep and bear arms is as fundamental as the right to free speech and a free press. As such, I believe that an enumerated Constitutional right is something that applies ESPECIALLY in extraordinary situations. I will also note, respectfully but definitely, that many folks here who advocate that this right be rescinded because of actions such as this are closed-minded to any sort of travel ban, regardless of events in Orlando, San Bernadino, et al. And, in this case, I suspect that the folks of Sutherland Springs, TX agree with me. That they may have experienced tragedy and agree with the position I have espoused doesn't automatically make them right, but I wonder if the folks here who hate gun owners might want to ponder what the sincere views of these ordinary people might be.
