Dallas Stars remind us about the Allen mass shooting more than Ted Cruz or Greg Abbott
This space should be reserved to discuss the Dallas Stars’ Stanley Cup playoff run, but a few fellow Texans take precedence.
Why our elected state officials refuse to read the room is no longer bewildering. It’s embarrassing. It’s infuriating.
Before the Dallas Stars’ 5-2 win against Seattle in Game 5 of their Stanley Cup second round playoff series, the Stars held a prolonged moment of silence for the victims of the Allen Mall mass shooting on May 6.
You remember them. There were eight people, many of them kids, who were killed.
Why is the local NHL team taking the lead on keeping people aware that a lot of innocent people just lost their lives, and that a lot of us aren’t just hurting but scared and sick of this?
Where is our leadership on this safety issue?
There they are. They’re on TV. Talking about anything other than this.
During that moment of silence, you could hear the crack of the ice. It was one of those moments when silence had a feel. The sadness permeated all of us inside the American Airlines Center.
The Stars also placed an “Allen Strong” decal on the back of their helmets.
As a frustrated and scared citizen, I don’t profess to have an answer to this complex issue; I also know, “Do Nothing” really isn’t working too well.
As citizens we should not expect an elected official to fix everything, but we do expect them to try to help. We do expect them to try to provide leadership.
When it comes to the Allen mass shooting, our biggest elected officials have provided nothing.
On May 6, hours after the tragic event ended, Texas Senator Ted Cruz issued four sentences about our latest mass shooting. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t done much more.
Where is Texas attorney general Ken Paxton? This is a man who will issue a press release about his latest trip to the bathroom, but this issue merits silence.
This isn’t leadership. This is the stuff of cowards.
As a politician, the liberal-elite educated Ted Cruz is a great political talk show host. No clue what the man does all day (the same can be said for a lot of our elected officials, red or blue).
If you are looking for a state, or nationally-elected, government official to make your life better, prepare to be disappointed. This reality is not specific to Texas.
The alacrity that men like Cruz, Abbott and a long line of others showed in running from the topic of the Allen mass shooting is the issue; the issue is the tragic lack of leadership displayed.
Both Cruz and Abbott preach safety as their priority among priorities, but for some reason this type of safety doesn’t merit any attention.
Rather than fake it, and try to address this continuing problem that plagues not just our state but the entire country, we are force fed a host of other issues.
Border security is a valid concern, as is illegal immigration.
You know what else is a valid concern? Mall shootings. School shootings. Plaza shootings. Dead kids. Dead Americans.
Why isn’t the Allen mall mass shooting receiving the same type of attention as the Texas/Mexico border?
Just saying, “Well, it’s a mental health issue” is not a solution. It’s not even a grade F attempt at trying.
“Well, it’s a mental health issue” isn’t comforting because it’s a blanket full of holes. “Well, it’s a mental health issue” is an NFL-caliber punt.
Our state, and our community, don’t just need leadership right now. We crave it.
When an event like this happens again and again we desperately want someone to stand up and say, “We are trying to solve this.”
We get none of that.
We all realize the odds of serious injury are far greater driving on Interstate 30, Highway 287, or the North Texas Tollway, than a trip to Target.
But now we all realize, and fear, that our next trip to the grocery store we may actually be a target.
We all fear that the next time we send our kids to school, a movie theater or a playground, we might not see them again.
How is this security issue not worth addressing?
None of us should expect Cruz, Abbott or any of these people to be able to fix everything. It’s also not too much to expect them to try. Or, at least act like they’re trying.
Instead, these men have done neither and the only people reminding us that we just had yet another mass shooting where a lot of innocent people died is a local hockey team.
