I'm Gobsmacked!

The reports that Jewish students at Cornell University have been so threatened and harrassed that they no longer gather in their designated spaces have deeply saddened me. I grew up in Ithaca, New York in a time when it took me until my junior high school years to become aware of the Jewish faith and the Holocaust. I remember a Jewish classmate of mine wondering at the fact that she had a budding relationship with a male student of German heritage. I'm not sure the relationship survived past junior high but it was my awakening to the history of one group hating another one so much that they feel they have to obliterate them from the face of the earth. This was a concept I found hard to understand then and stiil find it abhorent today. And certainly, growing up in Ithaca with its large concentration of foreign students and families associated with Cornell, I came to think that the world was more complete with the entire spectrum of humanity included. That concept has been shattered around the world and in the United States in the past decade. We have a Congress that cannot even agree on enough issues to get the peoples' work done to prevent a government shutdown without last minute histrionics. Those in charge have abdicated their responsibility to keep the citizens safe and free from worry. Theu do not seem to understand that the more drama they create in Washington, the more everyday people fear for their lives and freedoms and want to strike back at anything that appears to be a threat. This feeling came out of the shadows with the election of Trump, who normalized and even authorized crazy behavior and conspiracy theories. Without his bloviating on everything he misunderstood (which is about 99% of everything he claimed to be an expert on!) we would have felt more secure and safe. Instead we have a large group of citizens who have armed themselves - sometimes heavily - so they are ready for the perceived threats. And that is how Maine landed in the national news this past week for all the wrong reasons. Someone who who claimed to have heard voices, had access to high-powered guns and went to settle a score, then took the coward's way out. He will never have to own up to the chaos and heartache he created, but his family will. I relize it's early in the investigation still, but I hope the reporters keep asking how he was not separated from his guns. All the signs were there - when the police were warned and searched but could not find him. Now we find out he was involved in a series of confrontations over the past weeks - no one wanted to call the authorities? No one wanted to step in? I find that hard to believe but it's a symptom of our society now. No one wants to confront anyone because we cannot determine who is packing a firearm or other weapon and will lash out. And I admit, if faced with a similar encounter, I might not step in but I sure as hell would make sure someone with the ability to disarm would.