# Uvalde, Texas school shooting - the political thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 24, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036 "2022-05-24T21:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/41 "2022-05-24T23:07:17Z")
Okay, so why do voters not seem to believe Democrats are very effective at dealing with crime then? Politics sets the stage for what kind of policies can be implemented, Democrats don’t seem particularly interested in that reality at times. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/42 "2022-05-24T23:08:33Z")
Because those voters are morons. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/43 "2022-05-24T23:10:01Z")
And there it is. The great liberal truism–if people weren’t so stupid, they’d all vote for us. That attitude man, I don’t know of any better encapsulation of what lead to Trump’s election, the impending repeal of Roe v. Wade, probably generational Republican control of the Senate etc. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/44 "2022-05-24T23:10:37Z")
They also might get vaccinated. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/45 "2022-05-24T23:10:53Z")
You left off Stupid Gun News of the Day which is a daily discussion of America’s gun madness. It’s almost as if you’re trying to change the subject. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/46 "2022-05-24T23:10:53Z")
Why do so many voters think that the election was stolen? Because they’re well informed geniuses? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/47 "2022-05-24T23:11:48Z")
I was going to make a joke about him “replacing” a white shooter, but it’s too G.D. soon. Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/48 "2022-05-24T23:12:13Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You left off Stupid Gun News of the Day which is a daily discussion of America’s gun madness. It’s almost as if you’re trying to change the subject. I’m here to talk about the politics of guns (or more specifically incidents like this). What are you here to talk about? > [@steronz](#): > > Why do so many voters think that the election was stolen? Because they’re well informed geniuses? Because Republicans told them to believe it, and they did. It’s almost like political messaging works? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/49 "2022-05-24T23:13:25Z")
There’s your answer then. Voters think Democrats are weak on crime because Republicans said so and they’re gullible rubes. Your words, evidently. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/50 "2022-05-24T23:13:28Z")
Moderating: All, this is a highly emotional thread at a highly emotional time. Let’s try to stay on topic. Let’s also try to not to engage in personal attacks. There are Pit threads for that. Not saying anyone has, but there are some close calls already. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/51 "2022-05-24T23:14:11Z")
I’m curious if we could get some clarity on what the “topic” is, to me the thread title mentions a school shooting and the phrase “the political thread.” Would you say that the politics surrounding this shooting fair game? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/52 "2022-05-24T23:14:45Z")
Nm saw mod note after posting ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/53 "2022-05-24T23:16:19Z")
Because crime is seen as an issue perpetrated by non whites, and Democrats are seen as the party that won’t control non whites sufficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/54 "2022-05-24T23:16:24Z")
My understanding of this thread is that discussion of the current shooting and the politics surrounding it are acceptable. Forays into election stealing and vaccination rates are not. Hope this clarifies. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/55 "2022-05-24T23:27:15Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > “If it bleeds, it leads.” The problem is more general than even that. There is a finite amount of time to report on events. Any category of event that happens on a distribution (pretty much all of them) will have some large outliers among a larger number of more minor ones. Because of the limited time, the news must impose some kind of importance cutoff and thus you only hear about the outliers. You don’t hear about the fender-bender, only the 40-car pileup. You don’t hear about the small kichen fire, only when an apartment building burns down. You don’t hear about someone that embezzled $1000, only $20,000,000. And so on. It’s a fundamental defect in the very concept of “news” and preys on the worst of people’s cognitive biases. At the same time, it’s not evidence of some kind of special treatment of certain events or any kind of conspiracy. It’s the way things have always worked, albeit ramped up to extreme levels with the rise of social media. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/56 "2022-05-24T23:32:04Z")
You can drill down on that too. At the local level, you hear about local events. I know about the dog that’s missing, or the car that got broken into, or the shooting downtown, or the mayor’s DUI. None of those things are on the national news. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/57 "2022-05-24T23:42:34Z")
Right–the basic principle is the same, but since the national news has already covered the national-level outliers, instead you only hear about the local-level outliers. There’s still a strong selection bias at work. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/58 "2022-05-24T23:43:30Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > the United States is literally the only country that routinely—as in more frequently than monthly—has mass shootings in schools, Is that the case? It is not my area of special interest, but on the face of it, your statement seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/59 "2022-05-24T23:48:55Z")
Not sure how reputable this site is, but according to it, the US stands absolutely alone: [https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/school-shootings-by-country](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/school-shootings-by-country) Here is another. Yep, looks like the USA is very unique. And not in a good way. > **[The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other major...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/21/us/school-shooting-us-versus-world-trnd/index.html)** > > There have been at least 288 school shootings in the US since January 1, 2009. That's 57 times as many shootings as the other six G7 countries combined. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036/60 "2022-05-24T23:57:35Z")
[Wikipedia reports](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States) there were 17 shootings in US school in 2020. That is clearly more than one a month. But their list is not of _mass_ school shootings. It includes incidents with only one injury. Still, it is sad that we even need to talk about the possibility of an average of twelve mass school shootings a year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-the-political-thread/965036.md?page=4)