Uvalde shooting: The GOP gameplan of whataboutism, misdirection, and distraction is in full force. And if those don't work, run away

First, the names of the victims, lest we forget they were real people with real families and friends mourning them, from KABC (Los Angeles) -

Nevaeh Bravo

Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares

Makenna Lee Elrod

Jose Flores

Eliahna Garcia

Irma Garcia, teacher

Uziyah Garcia

Amerie jo Garza

Xavier Lopez

Jayce Carmelo Luevanos

Tess Mata

Maranda Mathis

Eva Mireles, teacher

Alithia Ramirez

Annabell Rodriguez

Maite Rodriguez

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio

Layla Salazar

Jailah Nicole Silguero

Eliahana Cruz Torres

Rojelio Torres

We saw most of the R plan on full display in Arizona.

From Athena Ankrah at KJZZ -

Tensions high at Arizona Senate during Texas school shooting debate

Tensions were high on the Arizona Senate floor Wednesday as lawmakers debated the root causes of this week’s shooting at an elementary school in Texas.

Democratic leader Rebecca Rios told fellow legislators that the lives of 19 children and two teachers could have been saved with stricter gun control laws.

The video of the full Senate floor session is here; when I make a time reference, it's based on that video.

Rios' comments begin at around the 37:00 mark, and they're far more eloquent, and heart-rending, than anything I could have said.  I recommend watching them in their entirety.

After her, R Sens. Rick Gray, Kelly Townsend, and Sonny Borrelli spoke.  More may have done so, but three was all I could take before I wanted to throw something at my computer.  Since I can't afford a new computer, I chose to view something else. :)

Even after just those three though, it was clear that the GOP is going to recite its favored talking points.

"Chicago!" was one of them, as was citing California.

Also a favorite? Lack of religion.  

Of course, they didn't cite the mass shootings in churches (except to defend their "more guns" position), including one where the shooter prayed with his future victims.  The last time I checked, there's a LOT of religion in churches.

Rick Gray posited that the American state religion is "secularism", basically blaming the separation of church and state for the killings in schools.

Kelly Townsend started speaking at around the 58:20 mark, and she hit all of the high talking points, and added one of her own -

She blamed abortion, gender identity, gun free zones, and lack of religion for the shooting.

On the other hand, she did switch it up - at the 59:15 mark, she compared shootings in the U.S. to stabbings in England.

I just *love* it when they Rs do that - that stuff is so easy to look up.

From the U.S. CDC -

 

From the U.K. Office of National Statistics

[begin sarcasm] Yup.  The over 45K gun deaths in the U.S. is very comparable to the fewer than 230 knife homicides in the U.K over the same period. {/end sarcasm]

In the end, Townsend fell back upon the old GOP trope of "we need to arm our schools." (1.00:02 mark)

At the 1.03:47 mark, an outraged Democrat (of course), Sen. Christine Marsh pointed out, "Are you kidding?!?...The members across the aisle do not trust teachers to even teach content and now you're suggesting you do trust them though to carry guns to school?"

And Republican Sonny Borelli wasn't subtle in his quest to blame-shift.  He actually yelled "Where are the parents?!?  Unwedded mothers, deadbeat dads - the shame is on their forehead!"

Still, the most outrageous comment may have been uttered by Rick Gray at 49:47, early in the discussion.

There were 21 bodies in a school, 21 dinner tables with an empty chair there, but he was offended by a tweet from a reporter, Steve Irvin, since retired but then still with ABC15 in Phoenix.

I think this is the tweet that so ruffled Gray's feathers -

If it will help Gray, I'll send some thoughts and prayers his way.

Oh and as for the "run away" part.  Ted Cruz of Texas has that covered.

From NPR -

Ted Cruz walks away from a reporter who asked why the U.S. has so many mass shootings

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, walked off on a British journalist after he was pressed about reforming gun laws, and asked why mass shootings happen so frequently in America.

The exchange happened two days after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, making it the second-deadliest mass shooting at an elementary, middle or high school in U.S. history. Cruz was attending a vigil for the victims.