One of the hardest things to stomach after a shooting, besides the event itself, is the way politicians swoop in to exploit the situation for political gain. Before anybody has even had a chance to breathe we are subjected to politicians getting on screen and blaming the event on whatever hot button issue they’ve been pushing. Obama, for example, decided to take a moment to remind the country that he’s been pushing for stronger gun restrictions:
President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed profound “sadness and anger” at the Charleston church shooting as well as deeply personal frustration that America’s political climate makes it virtually impossible for now to tighten restrictions on who can buy firearms.
“We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun,” Obama said in the White House briefing room, Vice President Joe Biden standing at his side.
Thanks a lot, jackass.
But Obama wasn’t the only politicians exploiting this tragedy. Everybody’s favorite religious zealot, Rick Santorum, was compelled, probably by the voice of “Jesus” that he constantly hears in his head, to talk about religious liberty:
Presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) on Thursday called the attack by a white gunman on a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. part of a broader assault on “religious liberty” in America.
“It’s obviously a crime of hate. Again, we don’t know the rationale, but what other rationale could there be?” Santorum said on the New York radio station AM 970.
This is why nobody likes you, Rick.
I swear America has found a way to politicize everything goddamn topic and event in existence. If a skyscraper full of people collapsed tomorrow every politician would be be on camera within the hour arguing why it was caused by their pet political issue. They’re all a bunch of vultures. Actually, scratch that. Vultures serve a valuable role in the environment. Politicians don’t even do that.