“Counting or not counting gang violence?”, Kirk replied. A rhetorical question, of course. He smirked and leaned forward, but to his surprise, he didn't find the hypnotic gaze of his audience, but a gray void. Instead of any thing at all, really.
AH, YES. THE QUESTION OF MASS SHOOTINGS IN AMERICA. A TOPIC OF MUCH DEBATE, I UNDERSTAND.
"Exactly. It’s an important distinction! So-", Kirk said.
I DARE SAY, I AM QUITE FAMILIAR WITH SOME NUANCES MYSELF. IT'S NOT IMPORTANT ANYMORE. NOT TO YOU, ANYWAY. THE UNIVERSE SEEMS KEEN ON IRONY. DESTINY AND SUCH. NOT REALLY MY DOMAIN.
"What- No! What irony?"
YOU WERE, AS THEY SAY, HOIST BY YOUR OWN PETARD. OR, IN THIS CASE, BY SOMEONE ELSE’S. BUT THE PRINCIPLE REMAINS.
"I was just talking! I am not finished yet.", Kirk objected infuriated. Well, the anger wasn't actually amounting to much, as one needs a body for these things.
TAKE IT FROM ME, YOU ARE IN FACT FINISHED. DO NOT WORRY. I AM SURE THEY WILL FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO ARGUE ABOUT STATISTICS. IF YOU PLEASE…
"But- This isn't fair!"
LIFE IS RARELY FAIR. DEATH, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS ALWAYS PUNCTUAL. NOW, IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND AS TO FOLLOW ME. THERE IS PAPERWORK.
I remember being grateful about how that doesn't really happen in the US (Trump being the most recent, but he survived). I guess I was wrong... and, in that case, Garcia Marquez might agree with you.
You could be forgiven for not knowing, since the collective coverage and attention to it since has probably been less, total, than what this received in the last couple hours.
> By the way, if some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area wants to really be a midterm hero, someone should go and bail this guy out, I bet his bail’s like thirty or forty thousand bucks. Bail him out and then go ask him some questions.
[1] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/charlie-...
I mean a lot of people are saying that. Big if true etc.
You are clearly not paying attention.
The difference is the public nature of the execution. That is what makes it more similar to, say, Colombia or Venezuela _to me._ Within the context of 'magical realism', it is the perspective and mass dissemination of the violence that heightens that feeling.
Going back to the original topic, there is a reason that most of 100 Years of Solitude's pivotal moments happen around the staging of public executions (and not so much the off-screen violence, of which there is some but it's not focal).
Excuse me? Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman were less than 3 months ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_shootings_of_Minnesota_le...
Ruby Ridge was 1992, Waco was 1993.
1993 was the bombing of the world trade center.
This is worse, but we have always lived in "interesting times" depending on where you were in the globe.
Doomscrolling, mostly.