Rick Perry Calling Charleston Shooting ‘An Accident’ Not Only Dumb, But Misses The Point
Will Rick Perry calling the Charleston church shooting “an accident” bring an end to his political aspirations? That has to be the question the Republican presidential candidate’s camp is asking itself just days after he did just that. Just hours after Dylann Roof walked into the South Carolina place of worship and opened fire, politicos on both sides of the aisle opined about why he did the things he did.
Rick Perry talking about the church shooting as an accident garnered the most news because it so completely underlined what gun control advocates were saying: those who support the NRA will go to almost any lengths to keep the blame away from the fact that a mentally unhinged young man was able to possess a firearm and then use it on a murderous rampage. When Rick Perry said that the shooting was an accident, that really wasn’t even the most offensive thing said about the issue.
That honor belongs to the NRA board member who attempted to blame the victims by saying that there would be only one person dead, Roof, if the pastor of the church had allowed guns to be carried inside the place of worship. But that board member isn’t running for President of the United States. Of course, it could be said that board member also wasn’t dumb enough to say the shooting was an accident. The United States is mourning the death of nine people most of us didn’t know because of how horrific and terrifying the situation was. We’re also mourning because we know the shooting was not an accident.
Rick Perry’s people are trying to keep his political life going by saying that he meant to say “incident.” I suppose that could be the truth, but the fact of the matter is those two words are different enough that it seems improbable he simply misspoke. Whatever the excuse, his blaming drugs, instead of guns also underlines what most who support gun control see as a rather big problem. That admitting guns played any part in the crimes has become nigh impossible, especially if you’re a Republican looking to be elected to anything.
The fact that most of America is looking at the flub, rather than the sentiment behind the statement (even if it had been stated correctly), is part of the problem. As John Stewart said in his opening monologue that night, we know what the real problems are, and we probably aren’t going to do anything about it. The focus being put on Rick Perry calling the Charleston shooting an accident is avoiding the bigger issue.
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