Everyday Erinyes

Just one thing this week which seems to me to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with. Just as a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

The thing is, ladies, this guy lives just the up the street and around the corner from me.  (OK, the "street" is I-25 and the "corner" is the interchange with I-70, but he's still in my state.)  His name is Jerry Sonnenberg.       

He is in a position of authority, to which he was elected by the people who live around him.  (Many of them voted to "secede" from the state a while ago.  Maybe you could chase them all into Kansas.  Not everyone there, just those who voted for him, would be fine.)

Recently our President gave a speech about putting some reatrictions on guns – I know you don't need them for your work, but I'm sure you know what they are.  They kill people.  That's what they are made to do is kill people.  Unless they are killing animals.  They are not like swords and spears; they kill from a distance; sometimes a very long distance.  And they aren't limited to killing one person at a time.  Some can kill many prople with just one motion.  And people here have been using them to do just that.  A little over three years ago, one person used a few of them to kill six adults and 20 tiny children in their achool. 

When our President referred to that incident, he had tears in his eyes.  The tears that this Sonnenberg person wants to use as gun oil to lubricate his rifle.

Our President is a humble man.  He doesn'r grab publicity for a lot of the things he does.  So it's possible, maybe even likely, that this Sonnenberg person didn't know this about him.  But when he went to Sandy Hook after those 26 deaths, this is what he did, as described by an eyewirness:

 

I went downstairs to greet President Obama when he arrived, and I provided an overview of the situation. “Two families per classroom … The first is … and their child was … The second is … and their child was … We’ll tell you the rest as you go.”

The president took a deep breath and steeled himself, and went into the first classroom. And what happened next I’ll never forget.

Person after person received an engulfing hug from our commander in chief. He’d say, “Tell me about your son. … Tell me about your daughter,” and then hold pictures of the lost beloved as their parents described favorite foods, television shows, and the sound of their laughter. For the younger siblings of those who had passed away—many of them two, three, or four years old, too young to understand it all—the president would grab them and toss them, laughing, up into the air, and then hand them a box of White House M&M’s, which were always kept close at hand. In each room, I saw his eyes water, but he did not break.

And then the entire scene would repeat—for hours. Over and over and over again, through well over a hundred relatives of the fallen, each one equally broken, wrecked by the loss. After each classroom, we would go back into those fluorescent hallways and walk through the names of the coming families, and then the president would dive back in, like a soldier returning to a tour of duty in a worthy but wearing war. We spent what felt like a lifetime in those classrooms, and every single person received the same tender treatment. The same hugs. The same looks, directly in their eyes. The same sincere offer of support and prayer.

I would say our President earned every tear that was shed during that speech.  I would speak differently about this Sonnenberg person.  But I will let Amy Runyon-Harms, the director of the group Progress Now Colorado, say it for me instead: 

"Thanks to Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, the right wing’s boundless contempt for the President is now an insult to the victims he wept for.  Sen. Sonnenberg is a disgrace to the Colorado Senate, and to the victims and survivors of mass shootings that have occurred in our state,  We want President Obama and all victims of gun violence to know that Jerry Sonnenberg does not speak for Colorado.”

Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone – I don't care which of you takes this guy on, or if you all want to share the job.  Just – get him out of here.  Thanks.

The offensive photo has been removed from the story; but I had seen it and found a copy.  I thought the Erinyes needed to see it.  The photo of ammosexual Sonnenberg handling his – ahem – is from the story.  Amy Runyon-Harms is better looking; her photo is a publicity still from PBS.

The Erinyes and I will be back with more new material when we can.  See you then.