Fireworks or Gunfire? (A Nation's Lullaby)
2025.02.15.
Yesterday marked another Sandy Hook anniversary. Another year of a nation shrugging its shoulders while holding its AR-15s close. Another year of thoughts, prayers, and deliberate amnesia.
In between the moments of national tragedy—these brief windows where we're not actively counting bodies—we can play what must be our favorite game: "Was that celebration or devastation?" The uniquely American pastime of pretending we can't tell the difference between fireworks and gunfire, between freedom and fear, between rights and wrongs. American exceptionalism, indeed.
Oh, brave warriors of the Own-The-Libs Brigade! Trading their children's safety for campaign slogans, their conscience for conspiracy theories, and their dignity for a plastic straw they’ve been convinced is somehow worth dying for. Here's their anthem.
We live in a country where we've turned mass shootings into background noise, where we're some are more worried about pronouns in email signatures than bullets in classrooms, where some will defend their right to a McRib with more vigor than their kids' right to come home from school.
Rosa Parks of beverages? Sure.
But who's the Martin Luther King Jr. of gas stoves?
Who's the Malcolm X of blue raspberry vape flavors?
The next tragedy is coming. We all know it. The cycle is baked in now. But for this brief moment, while we're not actively counting casualties, let's at least be honest about who we've become.
*WAG TEAM dedicates this piece to the memories we pretend we haven't already forgotten, and to the changes we pretend we can't make.*
Share this if you're tired of pretending. Subscribe to catch the moments of clarity between the tragedies. Comment if you remember what "never again" was supposed to mean.
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence: (202) 527-7190
Everytown for Gun Safety: everytown.org
Sandy Hook Promise: sandyhookpromise.org
This YankoBoop was created in a brief moment away from THIS type of American tragedy.
#NeverAgainIsNow #AmericanLullaby #WhatWeChooseToRemember #SandyHookNeverAgain #ThoughtsAndPrayersAreNotEnough #YankoBoops