Words Won't Do It Anymore | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics

Words Won't Do It Anymore

After the shooting in Texas, it's time to start holding some people accountable

57
Words Won't Do It Anymore
Author's photo

When Vegas happened, I wrote about it - naturally. It's a gesture of goodwill to be sure. Or maybe it's not, I'm not sure. Certainly, with social issues, a stand means a lot - friends being oppressed or persecuted know they can count on you. Debates and discussion can spark to change minds.

The thing is, after Texas' recent church shooting, this was the fifth time I'd find myself thinking what to write about our latest massacre. Usually, there's a sense of humanity to the whole proceeding, a cathartic expression of feeling human, but this time, it felt routine. Grim. Especially when inaction - though it was wonderful to see Republican senator John Cornyn begin to introduce a control bill - fills in the void after these events.

Honestly, there is nothing more I can say. I can offer condolences, but what uses are those when we recycle them every month because the NRA has their hand up the asses of half of Congress? How much longer until the only people we're concerned about is ourselves as we walk outside the door?

I'll take a different route. At least something might come out of it. And it's no less humane in its absence of eloquence and prose.

Here's a list of every Congress person who has fought against common sense legislation, opposed background checks, or received funding from the NRA. There are some links to their pages with contact info. I doubt they're checking our Facebook statuses or retweets - why don't we tell them directly? Because our writing's not going to do a damn thing. Our thoughts and reflections will do just as good as their thoughts and prayers for victims.

Courtesy of the NY Times, Imgur, and Jimmy Kimmel.

NRA Funding

https://www.burr.senate.govRichard Burr, North Carolina - $6,986,620

https://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/Roy Blunt, Missouri - $4,551,146 (Also a swell opposer of background checks!

https://www.tillis.senate.gov/public/Thom Tillis, North Carolina - $4,418,012

https://www.gardner.senate.govCory Gardner, Colorado - $3,879,064

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi-1oW7n7XXAhUI42MKHfjZBGYQFggmMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ernst.senate.gov%2F&usg=AOvVaw3tIBWo03SePKA_zbFlRxILJoni Ernst, Iowa - $3,124,273

https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/Rob Portman, Ohio - $3,061,941

https://www.young.senate.govTodd Young, Indiana - $2,896,732

https://www.cassidy.senate.govBill Cassidy, Lousiana - $2,861,047

And the others

https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/Heidi Heitkamp, North Dakota

https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/Johnny Isakson, Georgia

http://www.arkansashouse.org/district/53Dan Sullivan, Arkansas

Actually, you know what? Here's an image. Contact these folk, and ask them if their constituents are worth gun lobbyists and a culture of toxic masculinity clamping onto them.



Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

3665
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

302562
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments