There Are Days…

     …when I want to pick up the entire political class by its lapels and shake it until its brains start to work. Like today:

     ‘I have news for the embarrassment that claims to be our President — try to take our guns and you’ll learn why the Second Amendment was written in the first place,’ [Republican Florida state Representative Randy] Fine wrote on Twitter, in a post that was heavily ratioed….

     On Tuesday evening Fine addressed the Uvalde school shooting as he called for the gunman to spend ‘eternity in hell.’

     ‘I will never forget presenting a bill on the Floor as I watched my colleagues become frenetic as we learned about Parkland. I think of how heartbroken we were — and are — as we pray for those children, staff, and families in Texas. May the murderer spend eternity in hell.’

     I added the emphasis.

     Yo, arrogant asshole who calls himself a Florida state Representative: That’s theological hatred, the worst sort. When you wish an eternity in Hell on someone, that’s what you’re indulging – and it’s a capital sin, perhaps the worst of them. You’re supposed to hope and pray that the murderer repented and begged God for forgiveness before he died. That’s if you actually believe in Hell. If you don’t…what the Hell do you think you were saying?

     It would be forgivable, albeit with difficulty, if one of the victims of the killing spree were a relative or close friend of Fine’s. Distraught people say such things. I believe God forgives them…at least if they return to moderation after they’ve returned to their senses. But a politician looking to leverage a mass murder into personal elevation with that kind of rhetoric is another thing entirely.

     Apologies, Gentle Reader. I had to get that out before it festered. These days, politicians who are also decent people are getting really rare. Politicians who are also sincere Christians are even rarer. And America is in desperate need of both – in quantity.

     No, I don’t care if Randy Fine is a Jew. I don’t care what he is. What he said is still out of bounds. I hope he thinks better of it. You don’t wish eternal, agonizing punishment on a man for any reason. Wishes like that can come back to bite you on the ass in the afterlife.