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It's now a well-rehearsed routine, almost a Pavlovian reflex: whenever a new massacre has occurred in a church or high school, leaders of the Republican Party make the following statement: that, first, their thoughts are with the loved ones are.
Secondly, that they send very, very intense prayers to heaven.
And that, thirdly, they would like to thank the "heroes" from the police and the rescue workers on site, who helped so quickly and possibly prevented even worse.
Ted Cruz, the Republican Senator from Texas, tweeted these three tried-and-tested text modules as a reaction to mass shootings of all kinds last Tuesday.
Earlier, an 18-year-old killed 21 people at an elementary school with a semi-automatic rifle.
So far, Republican circles do not seem to have come up with the idea that one could possibly save all the thoughts and prayers for the relatives if their relatives had not been murdered in the first place.
Over the decades, Ted Cruz has earned his reputation as the scumbag, when it comes to bigotry and hypocrisy he is outstanding even in Texas.
But on gun laws, he is in line with many of his Republican counterparts who have staunchly opposed stricter rules, such as a full review of anyone who wants to acquire guns, in the US Congress.
Appropriately, Cruz' colleague Greg Abbott, the current governor of Texas, tweeted a few years ago: "I'm embarrassed.
Texas ranks #2 in the country for new gun purchases.
Behind CALIFORNIA.
We should try harder, Texans.” Such Wild West thinking has consequences: in 2020, around 4,300 children and young people in the USA were killed by guns.
This makes gun death the leading cause of death among young people.
And that is nothing less than sheer madness.
Incidentally, in Texas, not too far from the site of the massacre, the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association is taking place this weekend.
In the invitation, the powerful lobbying association advertised "a weekend of freedom for the whole family as we celebrate liberty, firearms and the Second Amendment."
How, if you please, can one be guided by a completely perverted concept of freedom?
How can you allow yourself to be so corrupted by a powerful lobby organization?
Typical America!
They're crazy, the Americans!
Luckily there is no such thing in Germany.
The fact that we still do not have a speed limit on motorways because of a misunderstood understanding of freedom must remain unmentioned here.
It would only unnecessarily dilute the clear and self-righteous message of this column.