Mass shooting at Orlando gay club

[Petralicious]

CarlosAlberto said: "@ Petralicious, you have the right to believe what you want. 

 

"I pray to the Lord I am wrong Carlos

 

[PalJoey]

Why do you keep putting an open quotation mark before your posts? With no closed quotation mark?

Is that a Ukrainian thing?

[Petralicious]

funny bunny, BWW does that when you hit QUOTE MESSAGE. look up and down this and any thread and you will see that.  Can not believe you never noticed that before.

[Kad]

Petralicious said: "funny bunny, BWW does that when you hit QUOTE MESSAGE. look up and down this and any thread and you will see that.  Can not believe you never noticed that before."

It misplaces the quotation mark that is supposed to close the quotation you're sharing. I think most of us just move it to its correct place.

 

[madbrian]

Senators Chris Murphy and Cory Booker are filibustering in the Senate, holding up Senate business until gun control legislation is agreed upon.  I wish them the best.

[SNAFU]

It is about freaking time. This should have been done after Sandy Hook!

[HorseTears]

Although the Dems are FAR from perfect and often have no backbone, at moments like this, when someone tells me there's absolutely no difference between the two major parties, I have to disagree.  

[madbrian]

HorseTears said: "...when someone tells me there's absolutely no difference between the two major parties, I have to disagree"

Antone who claims there is no difference between the two major parties is completely out of touch with reality.

[madbrian]

Perhaps the most touching words I've heard over the last few days, and from an unlikely source: the Republican Lt. Governor of Utah.  

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/utah-spencer-cox-orlando-speech_us_57618a90e4b0df4d586ed732

[dented146]

Indeed!

[Liza's Headband]

Newest article about his potential motives (emphasis mine):  http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen/index.html

 

And he called CNN affiliate News 13 in Orlando to proclaim he was carrying out the massacre on behalf of the terror group.

Producer Matthew Gentili answered the newsroom phone early Sunday.

"I'm the shooter. It's me. I am the shooter," Mateen said, according to Gentili. "I did it for ISIS. I did it for the Islamic State."

[CarlosAlberto]

And in the end did he really?

He was self radicalized he was a wanna-be boasting he had ties to both al Qaeda and Hezbollah — who are rivals.

Former colleagues complained that he boasted of family links to terror groups, but the two organizations he mentioned — al Qaeda and Hezbollah — are rivals.

He told police negotiators during the siege that he admired the leader of ISIS as well as the brothers who bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon, and a fellow Floridian who became a suicide bomber for the Nusra Front in Syria.

Meanwhile, some witnesses said they recognized Mateen as a former patron of Pulse, and a user of gay social media, raising the possibility that Mateen was homosexual — or was struggling with his sexuality and its implications on his religious beliefs.

In short, it is impossible to tell what drove Mateen to kill so extravagantly.

[Liza's Headband]

So we get to pick and choose when to believe or not believe a terrorist? Why would we not take him at his word? What does he gain by pretending to carry out this massacre on behalf of ISIS?

[CarlosAlberto]

Oh lord this SDB....because there is other evidence pointing contrary to what he wanted people to believe. That's why.

[SNAFU]

Meanwhile, in Oslo, Norway, the bell tower rang out "I Am Who I Am" for the fallen in Orlando.

http://dbtv.no/player/4942744895001?autoplay=false

[YouWantitWhen????]

And the Dems are holding an amazing filibuster right now to try and get a minimal gun control law brought to the floor.  Freaking amazing.

[CarlosAlberto]

Well let's hope they get something passed because if little kids being slaughtered didn't move them to do it then I don't know what to tell ya...

[sabrelady]

I'd like to suggest that" Daesh" be used instead of "ISIS" For the reasons given here:

https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/daesh-isis-media-alice-guthrie

[dented146]

It seems to me that the discussion we should be having is this one:

Does it matter whether or not we vet the middle east refugees if the children we admit grow up being taught intolerance and choose to follow rules of conduct contrary to the laws set forth in our Constitution.

Today, would we ever allow a white minister to suggest to his congregation that blacks should be hung? Yet we allow radical Imams to preach death toward certain groups. That can not stand.

[mar6411]

dented146 said: "It seems to me that the discussion we should be having is this one:

Does it matter whether or not we vet the middle east refugees if the children we admit grow up being taught intolerance and choose to follow rules of conduct contrary to the laws set forth in our Constitution.

Today, would we ever allow a white minister to suggest to his congregation that blacks should be hung? Yet we allow radical Imams to preach death toward certain groups. That can not stand.

And we allow Baptist pastors to praise the attack by saying 50 pedophiles were killed today.  Does that work for you?

And we allow Republicans to continue to put forth proposals and bills to trample all over LGBT rights.  Does that work for you?

I guess what does work for you is that you cherry pick your outrage.  

Carry on.

 

[Liza's Headband]

Ah, yes, but is that despicable pastor picking up a gun and killing other gays? What about his followers? His associates? In 2015. In 2016. Right now. Who is carrying out the majority of mass rampages in western civilization? Find the common thread. It's time for a reformation, just as the Jews and Christians had to go through. 

[HorseTears]

 



 

(And before Liza or whomever else wants to jump down my throat, yes, I know there should be a few spots on there for homophobic Islamic leaders, too)

[madbrian]

McCain, ever the warmonger, has said Obama is "directly responsible" for the shooting because he withdrew troops from Iraq too soon. He said nothing at all about that war being basedon lies from the GWB administration. 

[PalJoey]

Liberals think ISIS was created because Bush invaded Iraq.

Conservatives think ISIS was created because Obama withdrew from Iraq.

Neither side will ever convince the other it's wrong.

[madbrian]

What should be beyond dispute is that the invasion of Iraq, based on lies, was the seminal cause. 

[Sondheimite]

I've been weary to comment on this tread because my heart has been broken since around 3am on Sunday morning when I started to get texts from friends in the club at the time of the shooting.  All of my friends made it out safe.  Acquaintances, a bartender I used to share laughs with, and many other did not.  I have so many friends in deep deep mourning right now as they try to process the unbelievable gravity of not having coworkers they used to love working with beside them anymore or friends they used to attend Pulse with who never made it out.  There is an unbearable grief in the Orlando community right now.  

It is so very different when it is "your club."  Not that Sandy Hook, or the shooting at the movie theatre, or the massacre in Charleston, or the many other shoots were not crushing to me at the time.  But it is so very different when you are seeing people you know on television being carried out of the club on CNN covered in blood.  It is so very different calling your friends at 3am, having them not answer, and crying for hours hoping you will see your phone light up with a message telling you they are safe.  It is so very different when it happens in a place where you personally grew to understand and accept yourself as queer.  It is so very different when you are hearing about performers who used to pour shots in your mouth climbing out of AC vents to safety.  It is so very different when you realize you will never be able to see one of the performers you used to throw money at perform ever again.  It is so very different when it is your city, your bar, you people...  I've had to delete social media accounts because I just can't look at all the hate and ignorance going around about this.  This was my community.  And it personally hurts so badly.

I moved out of Orlando in late 2015 to move to New York City.  I am going back down there at the start of next week to help with a benefit show with the artistic and performance community there.  All of your love and well wishes will be taken with me.

<3