On the morning of April 17, a gunman opened fire on campus at Florida State University.
As usual, the shooting terrorist — who killed two and injured six — was a white supremacist with a right-wing background.
As usual, Republican legislators and politicians responded with nothing but thoughts and prayers.
As usual, Democratic legislators and politicians called for gun reform.
I’m from Florida, and dozens of my hometown friends attend FSU. Listening to accounts of their experiences — how they were in the same building as the shooter, or how lucky they were to be running late that day — feels surreal. Some of the same friends were mere miles away from the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.
This doesn’t even compare to the victims of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting — who now have experienced two mass shootings in their lifetimes.
I don’t remember the last time the American flag wasn’t at half mast.
The punchline of this story? Naturally, it’s to ask how any of this may have to do with us.
And to be honest? I don’t even know what to write anymore.
Gun violence has been a primarily American issue for decades. Every possible argument has been made — they’ve never been addressed by the American right. It seems all Republicans want to do is saunter around and let their king, President Donald Trump, do whatever he wants.
People dying from guns became a political issue when Republicans decided to try to stop bullets with words and promises.
The hypothetical “good guy with a gun” referenced by conservatives only exists as rhetoric, not reality. Similarly, mental health issues worldwide don’t seem to be causing shootings to the same extent as they are blamed for in American politics.
These points have been made and made again — all to be ignored.
Climate change — another issue that threatens the lives of millions — used to be a major topic, like gun control. Yet the Trump administration seems to have wiped these issues from public discourse.
Now we have to think about what to do if we get kidnapped and sent to a Honduran prison at the hands of FBI director and Trump appeaser Kash Patel.
Now we have to figure out what to do after Trump’s trade war has the potential to wipe the savings from our retirement accounts.
Now we have to wonder whether some of us will still be able to vote in the future.
Trump is actively demolishing American democracy and installing a fascist, authoritarian regime. But the scariest part is: It’s almost entirely undiscussed.
In 2023, the French made their country a literal dumping ground — and set Paris on fire — over possible legislation that would raise the retirement age by two years. In 2019, Hong Kong residents piled shoulder to shoulder in protests over an extradition bill.
Yet while our Constitution is being actively ignored by the White House — as the administration arrests its political opponents, deports citizens without due process and illegally tears apart handfuls of government agencies — Americans are shockingly idle.
There was little anger for the FSU shooting — we’ve become desensitized to such atrocities. But there’s also shockingly little anger for the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, or Trump’s executive orders that illegally restrict voting rights.
I’m honestly at a loss of what to do.
Democrat voters have become jaded and Republicans continue to vote in ways that support killing Americans and violating the Constitution — and no one benefits.
At the very least, we need to support our friends and family who need help. Whether they’re a victim of a shooting, in fear of possible deportation, or financially tight, being there for them is the least we could do.
And in the long run — assuming we can still vote — there is only one option: voting Democrat in the 2026 midterms.
