A funny thing happened during the recent mass shooting (I won't say most recent, because by tomorrow there will be another one), which took place at the Highland Park, Illinois Fourth of July parade.
It's "funny," not in the sense of "ha-ha," but in the sense of being odd and interesting and telling in a metaphorical way.
The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band was playing on a parade "float" of sorts (really a flatbed truck like you'd use to carry a disabled car).
Local journalist Lynn Sweet (somewhat famous for disliking Barack Obama and always giving him a hard time) was at the parade, filming the band when the shooting started.
Here is a brief snippet of footage:
To me, this video is a metaphor for American life.
People are constantly being gunned down, in ever more outrageous ways, and meanwhile, other people just go about their business as if nothing is happening.
To be fair, the band couldn't hear the gunshots over the sound of their instruments.
And the Band Played On is the title of a nonfiction book about the early days of the AIDS Crisis in the United States.
The premise of the book is that incompetence and lack of interest among politicians and the Centers for Disease Control, dovetailed with infighting among gay activists, to create a perfect storm where the disease could surge unchecked, killing tens of thousands of people.
The title references the band aboard the RMS Titanic, which kept playing as the ship went down.
That's what our ship is doing. Going down.
Words of Wisdom
"I think at some point this nation needs to have a conversation about these weekly events involving the murder of dozens of people with legally obtained guns."
- Nancy Rotering, Mayor of Highland Park, Illinois, July 5, 2022
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