by John W. Whitehead \/ November 6th, 2017<\/p>\n
\nThis country has been having a\u00a0nationwide nervous breakdown since 9\/11<\/a>. A nation of people suddenly broke, the market economy goes to shit, and they\u2019re threatened on every side by an unknown, sinister enemy. But I don\u2019t think fear is a very effective way of dealing with things\u2014of responding to reality. Fear is just another word for ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Another shooting<\/a>, another day in America.<\/p>\n
Or so it seems.<\/p>\n
With alarming regularity, the nation is being subjected to a spate of violence that terrorizes the public, destabilizes the country\u2019s fragile ecosystem, and gives the government greater justifications to crack down, lock down, and institute even more authoritarian policies for the so-called sake of national security without many objections from the citizenry.<\/p>\n
Take this latest mass shooting that took place at a small church in a small Texas town.<\/p>\n
The lone gunman\u2014a former member of the Air Force<\/a>\u2014was dressed all in black, wearing body armor, a tactical vest and a mask, and firing an assault rifle. (Note the similarity in uniform and tactics<\/a> to the nation\u2019s police forces, SWAT teams and military.)<\/p>\n
Devin Patrick Kelley, the 26-year-old gunman, had served a year in military prison for assaulting his wife and child in 2012. Domestic disputes aside, Kelley\u2014like many of the other shooters in recent years\u2014was described as a \u201cregular guy<\/a>\u201d by those who knew him.<\/p>\n
This…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n