'Thoughts and prayers' save the day again

This cartoon was prompted by Sandy Hook massacre in 2012

Or do they?

After yet another mass shooting at a school, NRA-backed Republicans showed how much they cared about the massacre by offering their "thoughts and prayers" for the victims.

But, does it depend on what thoughts, what prayers?

If the prayers are to Allah, Buddha or Ra, do they count?

Or, do the prayers have to be only to Jesus or God?

And, what thoughts are allowable?

Can someone have thoughts that this country finally join the developed world in curbing access to military-grade armaments?

Or, are the only "thoughts" that count are the ones that hope this anti-gun outrage blows over like in all the other mass shootings?

Well, I think we know the answer to these questions. It doesn't matter.

"Thoughts and prayers" mean "tough luck." Wrong place. Wrong Time. Keep Calm and Carry On.

The GOP/NRA knows there is one right that is above all others: It is the right to kill schoolchildren with an assault rifle.

All those who support the GOP/NRA are complicit in all these mass killings.

The GOP/NRA response to this latest outrage will likely call for more gun ownership, not less. They'll say that if those high-school victims had their own AR-15s, they wouldn't be dead today.

It wouldn't be surprising if the GOP/NRA introduced legislation similar to "motor-voter" registration laws that Democrats pass to enfranchise more potential voters.

The GOP/NRA version, let's call it the motor-revolver law, would require all those who apply for a driver's license must show proof of gun ownership before getting approved to drive a car.

Nevermind that you can't even rent a car in this country until you turn 25.

The alleged shooter in Florida on Ash Wednesday/Valentine's Day was all of 19 and bought his AR-15 legally last year.

I once had a discussion with a gun-fetishist who claimed that the murder of 20 first-graders in Sandy Hook was a small price to pay to enshrine the 2nd Amendment and its right to bear arms.

This is where we are as a nation. We now tolerate a school shooting every 60 hours.

Even the Supreme Court denied the District of Columbia, and by extension all jurisdictions, the ability to regulate gun ownership. In other words, the Supreme Court said that the right to kill with a gun supersedes the right not to be killed by a gun.

This is called American "exceptionalism."

No developed nation, except the U.S., allows the relentless carnage caused by men firing assault rifles or handguns.

And, no "thoughts" or "prayers" will ever change that.