“The end of the day, it’s, the problem is the human heart. It’s not guns. It’s not the weapons. At the end of the day, we have to protect the right of the citizens to protect themselves, and that’s the Second Amendment.” -- Christofascist weasel and January 6 coup plotter House Speaker Mike "Shriveled" Johnson, on Sean Hannity's poo-fling on Fox, explaining it's not the guns, it's the hearts.
The Washington Post's superb Alexandra Petri has a response to that sick nonsense. Here's an excerpt, but please read her whole op-ed:
"Obviously the problem is the human heart. The human heart cannot stand the strain of living in the United States (a nice place, were it not for the nagging suspicion that any time you gather in a public place you might be gruesomely murdered with a gun). The human heart was not built for this low whine of anxious terror. It is the human heart’s fault — not strong enough. Sometimes the human heart just stops. (Only in America, like this.) You never see a gun get stopped by something as routine as despair. You never see a gun get stopped by anything.
The problem is not guns. It’s not weapons. We have to protect ourselves. (From what, Mike? From what?) We must have our guns, to protect ourselves. (Then what are we arming the police like this for? Why are they laden with all this military-grade equipment, if protecting myself is not something I’m supposed to be outsourcing to them?)
The problem is the human heart. It breaks a little bit each time we see another mass shooting. If only they were a harder target. That is the problem. That so many hearts are aching for something to change, for a framework of laws that does not accept gun violence as inevitable.
Think what a different country we would have if we wanted to protect the human heart instead of the gun." (our emphasis)
A number of people noted Johnson's sick remarks, and had some things to say on Twitter ("X"), the first from Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree:
No, it’s the guns. https://t.co/H1a3a1n8Uw
— Congresswoman Chellie Pingree 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@chelliepingree) October 27, 2023
Humans have hearts in every nation on Earth. This is the only country that has a mass shooting almost every day. It’s the guns. https://t.co/EnpcA3jI03
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) October 27, 2023
How many rounds can the human heart fire per minute?
— Dennis Mersereau (@wxdam) October 27, 2023
Every country has people with 'bad hearts.' But we're the only developed country where daily massacres are a routine part of life.
It's the guns. But they know that, and they don't care. https://t.co/2OVAbK9wXW
Yes, it keeps stopping when it gets a bullet in it. https://t.co/Af1B51V3P1
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) October 27, 2023
I agree with Johnson. The problem is heart. More specifically, it's lacking the tiny sliver of heart required to choose children's lives and fellow humans over campaign donations. https://t.co/nuiC7eFmtW
— Josh Moon 🇺🇸 (@Josh_Moon) October 27, 2023
