Say Their Names

The Real Murders Behind the Texas School Massacre

We wake up this morning to more news of American exceptionalism: At least 19 children and two adults murdered at a Texas elementary school.

Opponents of the even the most reasonable gun control policies refuse to moderate their stance, as all 50 Republican senators rebuffed an effort to even vote no a bill that called for background checks of firearm purchasers.

Say their names — not the names of the children slaughtered like cattle in Uvalde, Texas, not the names of the victims who bled to death. Not even the name of the troubled 18-year-old gunman who pulled the trigger. Here are the names of the real killers:

Donald Trump. Mike Pence. Wayne LaPierre, who heads the NRA. Supreme Court Justices Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito who, in one of that body’s most repugnant decisions, voted that the Constitution forbids curbs on gun ownership. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, whose craven followers would rather be re-elected than save the lives of children. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed into law a bill allowing anyone in the state to carry a weapon. And let us not forget Majorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman and self-professed Christian who, in the aftermath of the mass murder called not for gun control but “a return to God.” What, I wonder, would her Prince of Peace have to say?

There are millions more, of course, who say and do nothing as children are slaughtered like cattle. But these are their leaders. These are the real murderers, with blood on their hands.