The movie theater shooting in Lafayette, LA, last week that left two innocent young women dead has all the hallmarks of classic Americana in 2015.
The shooting was carried out by a white male with a thousand-yard stare named John Russell Houser. Media reports labeled him as a mentally ill drifter who was estranged from his family. His online activities through the years suggest he is an ultra-conservative Tea Party member, with a touch of racist leanings and a dash of woman hatred to round out his warm and fuzzy personality. And, as per usual, it is unclear how he obtained his semi-automatic murder weapon.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, calling for prayers in the wake of this “senseless act of violence.” It’s a far cry from Jindal’s reaction to last month’s shootings in Chattanooga, TN, carried out by a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kuwait. He immediately labeled that as “an act of terrorism,” that “underscores the grave reality of the threat posed to us by radical Islamic terrorism every single day.”
There is another grave reality posing a threat to Americans today. A group of citizens who, in the depths of their diseased minds, feel they are being persecuted. They have access to a wealth of weapons and a serious belief that their whiteness—and mostly, manhood—is under constant attack by the media and society at large. This group of dangerous citizens is the radicalized right and with every mass shooting, it becomes more and more apparent that “terrorism” goes beyond shades of skin color.
After his rampage, Houser turned that murder weapon of unknown origin on himself., ridding the world of yet another radical extremist. No word yet on what his particular belief system promised upon his entrance into the afterlife.
—Steve Mosco
