It's America Baby

As our brains sizzle through triple-digit heat, an election looms like a fatal diagnosis that wants to be ignored. How did we get here - when felony counts are as consequential as discarded love me not daisy petals.

And then there's an attempted assassination with media headlines claiming violence is not America. It's absolutely America. It is what has always defined us. A friend texted after the assassination in disbelief. Yes, I'm in disbelief - I can't believe no one believes this. 4,994 individuals have died from gun violence since February. It's what we do with our violence that I cannot believe. We cajole it like those who took potshots at Nancy Pelosi's husband when his head was bludgeoned with a hammer. We malign it like Alex Jones' claim that the Sandy Hook massacre which killed 20 children and 6 teachers was a hoax. We tout it like a mega sports brand - with a trademarked fist of vengeance.

Maybe we should take the 10 Commandments back out of the schools and glue them to our foreheads. There's only 10 bullets - simple enough for even those Americans with amnesia to remember. Or better yet, design an app that alerts someone right before they're about to break one. That ought to keep most Americans home and safe - in their red, white and blue state of denial.