Rep. Ted Lieu walks out of moment of silence for Texas shooting: 'I can't do this again'

[kpete]

(D-Calif.) says he walked out of a moment of silence on the House floor for victims of the mass shooting in Texas, saying he “will not be silent” after yet another massacre.

Lieu posted a video on his Facebook page Monday night after the moment of silence, during which he said he was “heartbroken about the children and adults that were killed in the worst mass shooting in Texas history this Sunday.”
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1503791146374986&id=167643896656391

“My colleagues right now are doing a moment of silence in the House of Representatives’ chambers,” Lieu said. “I respect their right to do that and I myself have participated in many of them.”

“But I can’t do this again, I’ve been to too many moments of silences. In just my short period in congress three of the worst mass shootings in us history have occurred. I will not be silent.”



MORE:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/359057-dem-lawmaker-walks-out-of-moment-of-silence-for-texas-shooting-victims#.WgEnLV_LVkM.twitter

[Stuart G]

1. k and r..Ted Lieu is correct, "moment of silence" means nothing..

[Scarsdale]

5. Add this

"If you or any of your colleagues are shot, do not expect ME to declare a moment of silence" These cretins have had plenty of opportunities to prevent these massacres, and have done nothing except take the $$$ from the NRA.

[Duppers]

7. +1000

[maddiemom]

22. Same here to the above suggestions!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

9. Whooop... there it is!!

[smirkymonkey]

11. I'm with you. At this point "moments of silence" and "thoughts and prayers"

are downright insulting. It's just bullshit to make people feel better about themselves and the fact that they will do NOTHING to even think about trying to solve the problem.

[calimary]

37. Neither do I! I want the damn laws changed!

Strengthened, with tons of muscle and truckloads of money for enforcement!

Hell, I'd go even further. I want the damn 2nd Amendment changed! DESPERATELY needs updating!

KEEP your flaccid, useless, meaningless, toothless, spineless "thoughts an prayers". DO SOMETHING about it, dammit!

[LisaM]

50. People should be kicking and screaming.

I'm with you on this.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

52. I'd sign it for sure!

Excellent idea.

[Angry Dragon]

58. I will sign your petition

[loyalsister]

45. I think he was pointing out that it really means a lot

The silence that follows mass shootings is part of the problem.

[Iliyah]

2. K & R

[MineralMan]

4. A moment of silence is just another way not to do anything.

Like "thoughts and prayers," it only helps the people who go silent feel a little better about themselves, and does nothing to reduce the number of incidents. Instead of a moment of silence, we need lots of time to shout angrily.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

13. Seriously!! Here are my thoughts and prayers: Fuck you NRA!! I hope you get sued up the ying yang!!

Can I get an "amen"?!?!

[lagomorph777]

15. AMEN!

[wendyb-NC]

62. 10,000 times AMEN!

[lindalou65]

28. Amen to that!!

K&R!

[NastyRiffraff]

42. AMEN!

[lagomorph777]

16. Let's re-label it: "A Moment Of Inaction"

[MineralMan]

17. Great Idea!

[bluestarone]

32. yep

like that

[Saviolo]

18. Yeah, everyone should call Paul "Prayer Works" Ryan

And tell him that "a moment of silence" literally means that he is ritually doing nothing about the problem. There is no less he could possibly be doing than a moment of silence.

[LanternWaste]

44. Much as Silent Threads on DU do nothing...

Much as Silent Threads on DU do nothing...

[MineralMan]

46. That's true. I don't participate in them, as a rule.

[VOX]

47. Precisely. How many moments of silence are human lives worth?

The “moment of silence,” the candlelight vigils, the lowered flags, the “thoughts and prayers.”

They’ve all become hollow gestures, mere routines to be run through after another massacre. In the meantime, Americans rush out and purchase more weapons to feed their addiction.

Yes From the New York Times, 11/7/17: “...Americans make up about 4.4 percent of the global population but own 42 percent of the world’s guns. From 1966 to 2012, 31 percent of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were American, according to a 2015 study...”

[flamingdem]

6. Ted will not be a phoney

[Politicub]

8. Reverence for the sacred gun

These moments of silence have nothing to do with the victims, and everything to do with worship of the massive killing power of firearms.

Silence in the wake of a mass shooting is an insult to the victims. Crocodile tears shed by right wing talk radio hosts are pornograpic. Apathy in the face of human carnage guarantees there will be more suffering.

Is it any wonder republicans pay tribute to the gun? It’s a source of money and votes. Sacrifices of innocent people are a small price to pay by the GOP to stay in power.

[Ligyron]

48. We're suppose to be "praying".

That's a totally useless activity given the fact that if there actually was an all-powerful being who cared about us, she wouldn't allow shit like this to happen in the first place.

[Crunchy Frog]

56. Or maybe she'd figure she'd given us the brains to solve the problem ourselves.

[Animal Chin]

10. Really not being silent

I wish instead of walking out he (or someone) would have really not been silent and actually interrupted the moment of silence. Use the time to make a speech while everyone else is being silent, or shout some anti-gun slogans. Disrupt and don't allow them their BS moment of silence.

I'm not slighting his walking out...that is great. Just fantasizing about someone taking it to the next level.

[Wounded Bear]

12. If moments of silence and declarations of thoughts and prayers actually helped...

maybe we wouldn't still have mass shootings. Instead we get, "Sorry about your loved ones. Here's a coupon for 10% off your next gun purchase."

[world wide wally]

14. Just change it from a "moment of silence" to a "vow of silence"

[GETPLANING]

19. Moment of silence is exactly that -

silence. And silence is all you will ever hear from these bought politicos.

They must be thrown out of office.

[whathehell]

20. Ted Lieu rocks!..He's a straight talk, kick ass Democrat...

Wouldn't mind seeing him on a presidential ticket someday.

[iluvtennis]

31. Agree. LIke his frank, honest, and no nonsense approach

[whathehell]

68. Yes.. Without being abrasive, he gets right to the point. n/t.

[dbackjon]

36. Unfortunately he is not eligible to be President or VP

Born in Taiwan

[Retrograde]

63. Can we annex Taiwan before 2020?

That should make him eligible

[whathehell]

67. Unfortunate..

Hopefully, he'll at least stay in Congress s long time.

[uponit7771]

61. +1

[ffr]

21. He's such an activist. I wish he was my representative.

Go man, go!

[SeattlePop]

23. NRA Spikes High Capacity Magazine In End Zone - Cheers 26 More Victims - NRA Loves Seeing Dead

NRA should be treated like a terrorist organization.

The are directly responsible for 10 times as many deaths as Al Qaeda.

DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE.

[HughBeaumont]

24. Good. Stop normalizing McMassacres.

Start goddamned biting some bitter pills and DO something.

My right to live trumps the gun-nutter's right to murder me.

[sarcasmo]

25. Right on Ted.

[gademocrat7]

26. Thank you, Congressman, Lieu.

[Faux pas]

27. Kicketty Kickin'

[oasis]

29. My kinda guy.

[Achilleaze]

30. #IwillNotBeSilent

#Iwillnotbesilent

[shenmue]

33. Yay Rep. Ted!

[Golden Raisin]

34. Bravo! If this were Nazi Germany

Congressman Lieu would be one of those who, "stood up and was counted" in his PUBLIC and constant opposition to Trump and all manner of Republican congressional horseshit. He ceaselessly and bluntly calls it like it is. Normalizing Schumer and Pelosi should take notes.

[dbackjon]

35. Ted Lieu is a hero. We need more like him

[More_Cowbell]

38. #TedLieu getting hammered on twitter

I tweeted support and liked the few supporting tweets I found.

[Hekate]

39. Thank you, Ted Lieu. No more silence.

[Iris]

40. This is how I feel.

I did a great and run on Facebook on a friend’s lengthy list about “since when do we shoot children and pregnant women” by relying Sandy Hook. And also, it’s been done in a church before. People need to quit a acting incredulous about this shit and start fucking paying attention

[ailsagirl]

41. Perfect-- time to stop the BS!!!!!!!!!!!

[SpankMe]

49. To really stir the shit...

...Dems in congress should take a knee during the moments of silence as a protest over Republicans who accept mass death as a celebrated part of American life.

Fuck the right. Fuck the conservatives. Just, fuck them!

[Pacifist Patriot]

51. I like the way you think.

[Gothmog]

53. I understand and appreciate how Congressman Liu feels

[Paladin]

54. This Texan thanks you, Rep. Lieu.

Way too many shallow, after-the-fact showings of meaningless piety. Please feel free to skip the next dozen such ceremonies; God knows, there will be occasions for them.

[geretogo]

55. If America could be condensed down and become a person , that person would be immediately committed

to an insane asylum .

[More_Cowbell]

57. "To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth" - Voltaire

Ted Lieu was right. I've been tweeting this with #only the truth hashtagged.

[keithbvadu2]

59. To the gun lobby, the victims are collateral damage/acceptable loss.

[lindysalsagal]

60. Wringing the hands instead of doing something meaningful. I'm done, too.

[AtheistCrusader]

64. Risky.

I approve and appreciate the risk he's taking. We need to be ALL OVER controlling the narrative here. Rethugs are going to mis-cast it as HARD as they can.

[Upthevibe]

65. I'm so proud that Ted Lieu is my Congressman! He's an

awesome Representative

[Doreen]

66. There should be NO moment of silence!

We need to scream about gun control 24/7. Being silent is disrespecting the murdered people. We need to be their voices and very very loud voices.