Because it’s plain that is its last priority. Our nation’s Federal law enforcement has now spent over a year investigating politically charged claims that President Trump somehow colluded with Russia to “steal” the election away from Hillary Clinton. (After all, how else to explain the anointed one’s failure to ascend to the throne?)
But apparently that same apparatus had no resources to spare when told specifically and repeatedly about the threat posed by Nikolas Cruz. More than FIVE MONTHS before the troubled young man shot up a school on Wednesday, a YouTube channel owner alerted the FBI to online comments Cruz made under his own name about wanting to be a “professional school shooter.” Today the FBI admitted it was also given very specific threat information about Cruz SIX WEEKS ago… and did NOTHING:
‘The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting,’ said the FBI in a statement on Friday.
The agency went on to state that this information, which came in over their Public Access Line, should have been classified as ‘a potential threat to life’ and the Miami field office notified about the information.
Those protocols were not followed however for reasons that are still not clear, and on Wednesday Cruz shot dead 17 people.
Maybe too many agents were busy trying to trap Trump associates. Maybe they were all busy sending thousands of text messages to their lovers. The truly cynical part of me can no longer dismiss the possibility some in our government allow such things to happen because the public then willingly surrenders more of their rights in an elusive quest for security from Uncle Sam. Whatever the reason, Florida Governor Rick Scott is right to call for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray. But accountability shouldn’t stop at that mostly symbolic gesture. EVERY agent who was privy to the information that citizens had provided should be fired and prosecuted for gross dereliction of duty resulting in loss of life.
We’re constantly told we need a perpetual surveillance society, and that if we “see something, say something.” But what good does it do to surrender our rights to privacy and accept an Orwellian panopticon if those in authority fail in their part of the devil’s bargain and refuse to protect us?
And the Left wants us to give up even more of our rights by disarming? I think not. In fact, it’s plain the opposite needs to occur: more citizens need to arm and train themselves. At the same time pundits are praising the willingness of Coach Aaron Feis to give his life shielding students, they’re asking what needs to be done to prevent such tragedies. It shouldn’t be so hard to connect the dots: train and arm willing teachers so schools stop being inviting soft targets. No teacher who is willing to risk their life for their kids as Coach Feis did should have to face an attacker unarmed. I saw this graphic online recently and it speaks for itself:
Nothing in the above list is more precious than our children — our future. The utter failure of the FBI in this case reinforces the adage that “when seconds count, the police are just minutes away.” We have a God-given right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” and that includes the right to defend those things. We may delegate some of that authority to police agencies, but one of the first things I learned as a military officer is that while you can delegate authority, you cannot delegate responsibility. All of us, as citizens and parents, are ultimately responsible for the defense of our families and communities. That responsibility means facing head-on the fact there is evil in this world that requires the average person to be prepared to confront it at any moment.
It also includes the responsibility to punish those we empower to act on our behalf, but who fail to do so. There MUST be a revival of accountability — and personal responsibility, including self-defense — in this country!