Kevin FoleyKevin Foley

“…We are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good.”
--President Trump, June 14

Senate and House Republicans personally experienced the horror of a mass shooting last week. A deranged gunman armed with a legally purchased assault rifle pinned down a number of lawmakers in a baseball dugout. But for the presence of two Capitol Hill police officers, said the senators and congressmen, there would have been another senseless slaughter.

So now that they’ve seen firsthand what one of these weapons can do, now that they’ve been the victims, the first order of business for Republicans when they returned to their respective chambers was to consider the sensible gun safety legislation advocated for years by their Democratic colleagues.

No, not really. Actually, the first order of business was to mouth the usual mass shooting bromides; praise the quick action of the courageous officers who saved their lives, pray for the wounded, and lie again about how more guns will cure the mass shooting epidemic.

Not one Republican asked how it came to pass that a crackpot living out of his van could possess such a lethal weapon, one designed for the exact purpose it was used. In fact, the very day of the shooting, the House was scheduled to debate a measure to legalize silencers.

Just imagine if the shooter had used one of those last week. Governors and voters across the country would be replacing deceased GOP representatives en masse.

Despite Trump’s calls for unification after the latest mass shooting - the 154th of 2017 - and even as cops were stringing crime scene tape around the ballpark where the attack took place, shameless Trump shill Newt Gingrich was blaming Democrats.

“It's part of a pattern," Gingrich sniffed. "You've had an increasing intensity of hostility on the left."

As his colleague, Rep. Steve Scalise lay in a hospital clinging to life, Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King declared, "I do want to put some of this at the feet of Barack Obama.”

“I can only hope the Democrats tone down the rhetoric. The rhetoric has been outrageous, of the finger-pointing, just the tone, and the angst, and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters,” lamented New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins.

Blaming Democrats for the Arlington shooting is like saying all Muslims are responsible for the heinous acts of a few. How do you facilitate unity talking like that? How does blaming anyone other than the perp bring America together?

President Trump’s soothing words might mean more if he hadn’t suggested that if Hillary Clinton were elected president “Second Amendment people” might do something about it.

The scolding from Gingrich, King, Collins and others would be sincere if they had condemned the antics of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. The half term Alaska governor put gun sight crosshairs over House districts represented by Democrats. The former radio shock jock and recovering drug addict gave a mannequin posing as Nancy Pelosi “poison” to drink.

Conservative leaders are silent because such polemicists play to their base; chronic Fox News watchers and Rush Limbaugh listeners, the low effort voters Republicans prize.

One of the most glaring examples of their double standard took place in 2014, when Fox News devoted hours of airtime to Nevada rancher, Cliven Bundy, who claimed he didn’t recognize the United States government so the $1 million in grazing fees he owed the Bureau of Land Management were illegitimate.

The crusty cowpoke became a fixture on Sean Hannity’s show, the host enthusiastically encouraging Bundy’s anti-government tirades. Fox News producers cynically presented Bundy an avatar for its angry conservative viewers and the BLM as a stand-in for Barack Obama.

Sure enough, hordes of commo-clad militia types crawled out of the woodwork with assault rifles and itchy trigger fingers. They descended on the Bundy ranch and when BLM employees arrived with a lawful court order to confiscate Bundy’s cattle, a bloodbath very nearly ensued. It was a ratings bonanza for Fox.

Civil discourse doesn’t serve the right’s purpose because, as Fox News producers and President Trump know, it’s far more profitable to sow confusion and exploit anger than thoughtfully debate opposing views. That’s especially true for the National Rifle Association, where selling more guns trumps all, including public safety.

Last week, as Rep. Scalise underwent a third surgery to repair the damage done by the shooter’s bullets, the NRA responded on its web site to the president’s plea for civility this way: “how the left incites violence, then spins it into justification for more gun control.”

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Kevin Foley owns KEF Media Associates, Inc., an Atlanta-based producer and distributor of electronic publicity. He can be reached at [email protected].