SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Finding an emotion after the Texas church shooting

Nov 6, 2017, 12:11 PM | Updated: Nov 8, 2017, 12:08 pm

shooting...

Law enforcement officials move flowers left at the scene of a shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Monday, Nov. 6, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A man opened fire inside the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing and wounding many. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

I hate to admit it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to read the stories about the latest mass shooting at a Texas church service on Sunday.

I was having a great weekend enjoying the snow flurries, going to a big gala dinner, and looking forward to watching the Hawks game. Then I received a news alert and I didn’t click the link. I saw it again on Twitter, and didn’t click the link.

RELATED: We’ve failed at talking about gun violence

Then I saw it in a headline — 26 people were murdered by a man with a gun. In a little over a month, we’ve had two of the most deadly mass shootings in U.S. history. I finally clicked a link and started reading.

But if I’m honest with you, I didn’t feel any strong emotions. I just felt an embarrassed numbness. Intellectually, I know I should be outraged. I know I should try, again, to find a different way to express my opinion on guns and mental health.

I just don’t know if I have it in me this time. I guess this is what helplessness feels like, at least in this arena. I always thought that love wins and that good guys finish first. I was wrong.

Should I point out the starkly different reactions that President Trump had between the “terrorist” that killed eight in New York to the “thoughts and prayers” reaction to the white man with a gun in Texas? Will that make a difference?

Should I dust off my soap box and attempt, again, to poke holes the good-guy-with-a-gun theory, or compare the rates of gun violence in the U.S. to every other first world country? Would that move the needle?

We already know the answer. So you’ll forgive me for waiting until show time on Monday to get up to speed on the details of this latest tragedy.

I’m naturally an optimist, but this seems to be a glass half empty situation. To quote a recent all-caps message from the Tweeter in Chief, “DO SOMETHING!”

You can hear “What are we talking about here?” everyday at 4:45 p.m. on 97.3 FM.

Find more “What are we talking about here?“

A reporter photographs a display showing people accused of illegally voting during a news conferenc...

Associated Press

Justice Department urges sanctions for database analysis critical of its noncitizen voting claims

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Sunday defended the accuracy of a list of what it says are more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California and suggested that a federal judge consider whether an immigrant rights group and its lawyers should face contempt charges after they published an analysis of the […]

3 hours ago

A sign explaining the restoration work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is displayed on a fe...

Associated Press

Trump signals he’ll give closing election pitch at the Reflecting Pool, a revamp plagued by problems

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signaled Sunday that he’ll make his closing pitch of the midterm elections at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, pushing his slow, expensive and problem-plagued efforts to repair it back into the spotlight as Election Day looms. In comments to reporters as he deplaned from Air Force One for a […]

5 hours ago

The aftermath of a suspected DUI crash on I-5 near the Kent/Des Moines exit Sunday morning. (Photo:...

Tom Brock

Another State Patrol Car Hit on I-5, Renewing Calls to ‘Move Over’

On Sunday morning, an officer was responding to a disabled, blocking vehicle on southbound I-5 near the Kent Des Moines Exit when a car slammed into his patrol car.

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Business jet carrying 9 people crashed in a Florida neighborhood, erupting in a massive fireball.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A business jet carrying 9 people crashed in a Florida neighborhood Sunday, erupting in a massive fireball. The Learjet 60 was carrying nine people when it crashed in a residential area in Florida’s Palm Beach County, federal officials said. The Bahamas-bound jet departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, […]

6 hours ago

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers speaks alongside Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., righ...

Associated Press

The Latest: Democrat who lost Michigan Senate primary backs Republican in general election contest

Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, stunned party officials on Sunday by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers in the general election contest after Democratic tensions boiled over. The move came after Stevens was uninvited to a joint event the same day with El-Sayed as he campaigned for the Michigan […]

6 hours ago

Pickup trucks are submerged along Highway 160 in South Fork, Colo., on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (Sout...

Associated Press

Flash floods trigger evacuations in Arizona and Colorado amid heavy rains in southwest

SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) — Flash flooding prompted mandatory evacuation orders in parts of the Southwest on Sunday as heavy rains in the normally arid region have already brought deadly flooding this fall. Officials in the tourist destination of Sedona, Arizona, ordered residents in areas near Oak Creek to leave immediately as flood waters were rising […]

7 hours ago

Finding an emotion after the Texas church shooting