The scope of the horror with so many dead so violently in so short a span of time is difficult to contemplate.
In addition to the horror, there is rage and frustration at the ignorant hatred that spawned this heinous and cowardly act of mass murder. 28-year-old white supremacist Brenton Harrison Tarrant posted a jumbled 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto online before the attacks and apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to broadcast live video of the slaughter. This son of a bitch wore his ignorance, his hatred as a badge of honor. He was proud to show off this deadly work in pursuit of his fear and hate mongering ideology.
Tarrant also cited his sources in his manifesto, citing American white supremacy as an inspiration and naming Donald Trump specifically “as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”
Yeah, Trump. Sadly, we'll get back to this moron in a moment.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders struggle to cope with a tragedy on a scale they are not used to. Before Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history took place in 1990 in the small town of Aramoana where a gunman killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbor.
But the people of New Zealand in their grief are united in their repudiation of Tarrant's hateful perspective. It has been uplifting to see people come together, aspiring to humanity's better nature in the wake of humanity's worst impulses.
Across the water in nearby Australia, senator Fraser Anning did not get that memo. Anning put the blame for the massacre on New Zealand's immigration policy. In other words, it's Muslims fault for being there to be shot. A teenage boy struck Anning with eggs; then Anning punched the boy in the head.
Over here in the United States, Trump did express sympathy to those affected by the “monstrous terror attacks” in Christchurch. But when asked if he was concerned about rising white supremacy around the world, Trump said he didn't see this as a problem.
Well, of course not. Trump doesn't see white supremacy as a problem. For Trump, white supremacy is a solution. White supremacy is a strong core of his base of supporters. White supremacy is behind the whole "national emergency" debacle at the Mexico border. White supremacy is coded deep in the DNA of every strategy and position taken by Trump and his sycophantic enablers in the White House, in Congress and the right wing media.
But that, perhaps, is the subject for a different day.
What matters now is the grief and pain from such a dreadful and violent loss of life.
What matters now is in the depths of darkness of despair and loss is the light of those who unite, not divide, in the sharing of that grief and pain, the unity of spirit that helps us to make it through today and towards the ideal that we can make a better tomorrow from the ashes of today's loss.
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