Today is Monday, April 10, 2023. In yet another sickening spasm of violence, a young, white gunman took the lives of four innocents in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, this time around in “bloodbath America.” The gunman was identified as an employee at Old National Bank, where the carnage occurred just after 8:30 a.m., police said, about 30 minutes before the bank opens to the public. These details are reported in a CNN article for my smartphone entitled “Gunman live-streamed mass shooting at Louisville bank that left 4 dead and 9 injured, police say,” by Eric Levenson, Kristina Sgueglia, Celina Tebor, and John Miller.

The lone gunman was killed by police after a shootout with authorities. He was only 25 years old. The four victims ranged in age from 40 to 64. One of the victims, Tommy Elliott, 63, was a senior vice president at the bank and was even eulogized by the governor himself, Andy Beshear, who is a Democrat as a personal friend.

Of the nine people injured, three are hospitalized in critical condition, including a 26-year-old police officer who graduated from the police academy just 10 days ago and was shot in the head. Three of the injured are in noncritical condition and three have been released, the chief said.

The mass shooting happened during a morning employee meeting, with some workers appearing in person and others virtually, Rebecca Buchheit-Sims, a manager of the bank, told CNN. This poor woman has been traumatized for life since she watched from her computer as coworkers were gunned down by this heartless fiend.

Officers got to the bank within three minutes of being dispatched and found the shooter was still firing. They then got into a shootout with the killer, felling him before he could do more damage.

With this newest mass shooting, the number of serial murders in this country has reached a shocking 145 since the beginning of the year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

What firearm would you think this shooter used in his assault at the bank then? You would not be surprised to hear then that he used an AR-15-style rifle, a federal law enforcement source informed CNN. As a former president was accustomed to saying during one particular presidential debate, “Here we [even though he did say “you,” I’m changing the pronoun to “we” here] go again!” And here we go again, with this rifle being used as the weapon of choice in this 245th mass shooting. The AR-15 and its offshoots have been used in many of the worst mass shootings in recent memory, including in the Sandy Hook school in Connecticut; an Aurora, Colorado, theater; a San Bernardino, California, holiday party; and a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. Just two weeks ago, a shooter used an AR-15-style weapon and two other guns in a mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school, killing three adults and three 9-year-olds.

Unlike the Nashville case where the motivation for the shooter in that situation is still not that totally clear, in this case, it was known that the shooter did work at the bank for more than a year, but had been notified he was going to be terminated, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. The shooter also wrote a note to his parents and a friend indicating that he was going to open fire in the bank, the source said. The shooter wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he interned at the bank for three consecutive summers between 2018 and 2020 before joining full-time in June 2021. No actual reason for his imminent termination was provided, though.

President Joe Biden, apprised of the latest spilling of Americans’ blood in yet another senseless mass shooting, condemned the act and called on the GOP (Guns Over People) in Congress to take action on gun laws. “Once again, our nation mourns after a senseless act of gun violence – Jill and I pray for the lives lost and impacted by today’s shooting. Too many Americans are paying for the price of inaction with their lives. When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?” Biden said in a tweet. Knowing who they are, I would say they never will, Mr. President. Everyone in America tonight should be saying to themselves, “Am I next?”

Just in from Rachel Maddow: one of those injured has succumbed to his wounds; thus the shooter took the lives of five people, not four.

A more heartening story just broke late today in which one of the ousted Tennessee lawmakers is now heading back to the House legislature after a unanimous vote by the Nashville Metropolitan Council to reinstate the Black and passionate representative to his seat. Tennessee law allows local legislative bodies to appoint interim members to fill the seats of expelled lawmakers until an election is held. This has to be a fucking total humiliation for those repugnicans who ousted him in the first place and must be viewed overall as a triumph for democracy. Rep. Justin Jones was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives just four days ago for the trumped-up charge of breaking decorum rules in a protest about gun violence. The only rule he and the other two broke is that they stood loudly for gun reform. And you can’t have that when all repugnicans are owned by the NRA.

The second representative who was expelled, Rep. Justin Pearson, may also be reinstated. The chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners has called a special meeting for Wednesday to consider his reappointment.

So does anyone out there really think those white, antiquarian repugnicans have learned their lesson after being so publicly shamed and having one of the lawmakers reinstated after just four days away? Let’s see if that shitbag state House speaker Cameron Sexton tries to do anything funny after this national humiliation. He would be a total asshole if he did!! In fact, I think that Jones has asked for Sexton’s resignation after this incident, calling him “an enemy of democracy” in a rousing speech to constituents before reentering the state house this afternoon.

So in the midst of more violence shattering this nation’s serenity, there was a more optimistic situation emerging out of backward Tennessee. I’m sure that Sexton did not believe for one instant that he would create superstars in both Jones and Pearson after miscalculating bigly over his misguided attempt to stifle the voice of the people. And create rockstars he did! I wonder what he really thinks now? How stupid could I be, he must be wondering right now. If he hadn’t expelled them, they wouldn’t have stirred so much passion after being ousted. He certainly mishandled this volatile situation and now he might be forced to resign if enough pressure is applied by other lawmakers in the House against him. I’m not confident this would happen anyway since there has to be a majority of repugnicans to vote for that eventuality. And they stick together like thieves, unfortunately.

Anyway, it’s getting late here. I was almost late filing my blog yesterday. I don’t want to be late today.

Stay safe and be well.