We have come a long way since Hollywood first splattered red blood on the screen in the Depression era movie about two young bank robbers, Bonnie and Clyde. Now we have a young girl’s green sneaker as her only remains. There has been a debate about whether it would help to see what the bodies of mass shootings look like after an encounter with a semi-automatic weapon and high-capacity magazines.
Showing such photos are not necessary for the general public who already favor some gun regulations and too cruel for the parents but maybe members of Congress would be the perfect audience, especially those who are committed to the National Rifle Association. These members of Congress hide behind the Second Amendment but their real concern is a loss of campaign funds and getting on the NRA’s blackmail list.
The words of grieving Uvalde parents fell on deaf ears for Republicans in the House of Representatives but as of this writing there is a compromise brewing in the U.S. Senate. There may be enough support from retiring Republican senators to get some modifications at least in requiring red flag laws. When nothing happened after Sandy Hook, many wondered what it will take to get any gun restrictions passed. That’s why some are advocating showing the photos of what remains of these Uvalde children and their two teachers. Already New Yorkers are worried the U.S. Supreme Court may invalidate the city’s tough fire arms laws.
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Election post mortems: I have to eat crow after predicting Diane Papan’s negative mail would hurt her numbers.
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Not so.
She had an overwhelming victory over her nearest Democratic rival, Giselle Hale. I underestimated how much people detested Facebook and associating Hale with big tech hurt her. Even so, according to a longtime observer of state and local politics, Papan ran a brilliant campaign. “Diane’s big win was helped by the very effective campaign against Giselle. Yes, negative, but based on facts, and very well messaged. The ‘Apprentice’” hit and leveraging Giselle’s oversight in not registering as a Democrat played a role, but the messaging around Giselle’s tenure at Facebook, and then taking significant campaign dollars from tech execs, and tying that to the deep frustration voters have with Facebook in particular, was brilliant. The Facebook hits were one of the most effective negative campaigns I’ve ever seen.”
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Surprised at how close San Mateo-Foster City school trustee Noelia Corzo came to Belmont Councilmember Charles Stone in the election to fill Carole Groom’s seat on the Board of Supervisors. It appears they will compete again in November. Is Corzo too progressive for San Mateo County? She was one of the first elected officials to come out for defunding the police after the George Floyd demonstrations. She has backed the same sixth-grade math for all students until the superintendent convinced his board to do otherwise. She is a darling of the progressive Democrats who are flexing their political muscle. She is a good friend of Nicole Fernandez, former chair of the Democratic Party and now chief of staff to state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Ms. Lempert – I’m all for showing whatever you want, just as long as you also show photos of what you don’t want. How about pictures of all the homicides in Chicago this past year? Over 250 photos, so far.
Why focus on Chicago? Homicides are up throughout the country, including in rural areas. The focus on Chicago in a local California newspaper seems misplaced and potentially motivated by prejudice.
Why not Chicago, since Chicago has numerous gun control laws yet is still the highest, or is among the cities with the highest, gun homicide rate in our nation? However, B Street, please feel free to choose whichever city you like – there are plenty to choose from.
Is rural gun violence not important? If not, why not? The idea that gun control in a city would be particularly effective when the surrounding areas do not have such gun control laws is fanciful.
As a school board trustee, Noelia Corzo seemed closely aligned with the board members recalled in SF. I would say that puts her out of step with San Mateo County.
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(5) comments
Ms. Lempert – I’m all for showing whatever you want, just as long as you also show photos of what you don’t want. How about pictures of all the homicides in Chicago this past year? Over 250 photos, so far.
Why focus on Chicago? Homicides are up throughout the country, including in rural areas. The focus on Chicago in a local California newspaper seems misplaced and potentially motivated by prejudice.
Why not Chicago, since Chicago has numerous gun control laws yet is still the highest, or is among the cities with the highest, gun homicide rate in our nation? However, B Street, please feel free to choose whichever city you like – there are plenty to choose from.
Is rural gun violence not important? If not, why not? The idea that gun control in a city would be particularly effective when the surrounding areas do not have such gun control laws is fanciful.
As a school board trustee, Noelia Corzo seemed closely aligned with the board members recalled in SF. I would say that puts her out of step with San Mateo County.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.