The Blame Games

Yup, mass shooting again, I thought
kittens this time? Adorable, right? Take
your time, the news isn't getting better.

Well, I'm glad that's sorted. Perhaps now in the wake of two mass shootings within hours of each other, we'll finally do something about the underlying cause: video games. Wait, what did you think I was going to say? Violent right-wing terrorists and recklessly inadequate gun control? Ridiculous! If everyone would just man-up and walk around armed all the time, mass shootings would be a thing of the past. Here, by all means, let's listen to what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had to say:

The idea of these video games, they dehumanize individuals to have a game of shooting individuals and others. I've always felt that it's a problem for future generations and others.

-Kevin McCarthy,

wordsmith

Above: actual footage of Representative Kevin McCarthy
attempting to lay the blame for America's near-constant gun violence
 at the feet of anything but the gun lobby and white supremacists.

Tragically, NRA spokesperson Dana Loesh's
hand has become permanently locked from
years of constant finger pointing.

Ok so, the idea of video games is to dehumanize individuals to have a game of shooting...what? No, it's not just you. His comments are gibberish. He's just stringing together half-remembered talking points the Republicans spout in the aftermath of America's increasingly frequent mass-shootings when they need to sound like they're doing something but in a way that doesn't require any soul-searching or hard truths and certainly doesn't risk the NRA money they rely on for reelection. He then went on to site some studies:

We've watched studies show what it does to individuals, and you look at these photos of how it took place, you can see the actions within video games and others.

-Kevin McCarthy and others

Although it's hard to tell in a medium close up shot like this, Representative
McCarthy's pants have literally combusted as he refers to "studies" he's watched.

At worst D&D might lead to
a vitamin D deficiency. 

What studies is he referring to? He's seen studies that link violence in video games with violence in real life? Holy shit, can we see these studies? Because all the other studies, that is, the ones carried out by people who know what they're doing and that Kevin McCarthy didn't make up or dream, show that there is no such link. Remember in the 80's when conservatives tried to convince us that Dungeons and Dragons was leading to satanism? And in the 90's it was rap music? Like, why does anyone still listen to these people?

What is it that most of these mass shootings, including the one at Walmart yesterday and the one in Gilroy, California last week do have in common? White supremacists. I know because I've seen studies. Anyway, what I'm saying is that when they raid the home of a suspect in one of these shootings they usually find racist manifestos railing against brown people and not say, old copies of Nintendo Power.

Breaking News: law enforcement raided the home of suspects Mario and his brother Luigi
early this morning where they recovered what officials are calling a virtual how-to guide of turtle
stomping along with maps of Bowser's castle. Authorities also discovered several unidentified yellow
boxes. The bob omb squad is on the scene and we'll have more on this as it develops.