“In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate,” Dan Hodges, a British journalist, wrote in a post on Twitter two years ago, referring to the 2012 attack that killed 20 young students at an elementary school in Connecticut. “Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.”
August 7th, 2019 at 11:38AM
I remember that Tweet from the time. I also remember briefly being confused about whether, in the second sentence, “it” refers to the US gun control debate or instead to America, before deciding that that ambiguity might be deliberate…
August 7th, 2019 at 11:43AM
V: Hadn’t noticed that ambiguity – I guess I always read it as referring to US gun control. But you’re right- the author possibly intended the ambiguity.
I’m not surprised you remember the tweet. Something about the way it’s written – especially the word “bearable” – makes it unforgettable.
August 7th, 2019 at 6:05PM
In context, the choice of the word, “bearable” was doubly unforgettable, and doubly heartbreaking, because of its echo with CS Lewis’s claim that “humankind cannot bear very much reality”.
August 7th, 2019 at 7:22PM
It was not just ‘bearable’ but a rallying point for false-flag wavers. Aren’t the families still being harassed?
August 7th, 2019 at 7:48PM
Ravi: Yes they are. This blog followed very closely the fate of vile James Tracy, late of Florida Atlantic University.
August 7th, 2019 at 8:47PM
I favor the ‘America interpretation.’ We’re over the cliff.
August 9th, 2019 at 12:28PM
No need to have waited until someone opened an automatic weapon on children. This country has always displayed a contempt for poor children. Dad used to say that there was no poverty like that found in New Mexico, Arizona and West Texas. He was right.
The disdain hasn’t diminished, it may be redirected, but it still exists…