Wind in the Hair Speaks

"I am not the thinker Kicking Bird is. I always feel anger first. There were no 

answers to my questions." Wind in the Hair (Rodney A. Grant), 

Dances With Wolves (1990).

Fifty people dead. Fifty-three wounded. The shooter is a man with ties to ISIS, a medieval organization who have apparently taken responsibility for this act of cowardice. It is a declaration of war.

I feel anger first. 

At work, I am able to submerge my emotions and do the job I've been trained to do. I have dispassionately put handcuffs on murderers. I've sat calmly and listened to child rapists spill their guts. I've looked at the exposed skull bone of a DV victim, and helped arrest her lover. I've done all of those things remembering the oath I took.

I've taken no oath not to hate people who have sworn an oath before their faith to kill us all. Fifty people dead. This was not an attack on one community. These were someone's friends, co-workers, family members, lovers. Americans, enjoying each other's company.

I feel anger first.

The picture is of a helmet worn by an Orlando SWAT operator, struck in the exchange of gunfire. We worried that the war would come here. It has.

I feel anger first.

Mr, President, your words were too conciliatory. Let's get on with it.