By Sherman Frederick/Properly Subversive

It’s part of human nature to lay blame in times of tragedy.

Sherman Frederick

Chunli Zhao, 66, a Chinese national killed seven people when he snapped at the mushroom farm he worked at Half Moon Bay, California. It stemmed from a beef with his supervisor. A day before, Huu Can Tran, 72, killed 12 people at a dance club in Monterey Park, California. Jealousy over who was dancing with whom appears to be the trigger

Modern American culture doesn’t like mundane explanations for these kinds of tragedies. Instead, we look for suspects that reinforce our biases of the moment.

Consider the strange idea from an L.A. Times story last week that “discovered” the  victims at the mushroom farm were paid $9 an hour and living in shipping containers. Rich Silicon Valley people have snapped up real estate to erect McMansions on the coast, leaving the  mushroom people to live in squalor. The headline read: “Shooting exposes deplorable conditions.”

Did the shipping containers in Half Moon Bay somehow play a role in the shootings? In Monterey Park, might dance clubs be the problem?

Of course not. Look, there are no magic answers to human behavior, and that is certainly frustrating. But, can we please stop searching for factors that fit into the popular political narratives of the day – skin color,  the weapon, the weapon’s attributes, come immediately to mind – and simply focus on justice for these victims.

Seems to me that’s the job at hand and it’s about all we can do.

AMODEI APPOINTMENT

Rep. Mark Amodei gained a nice appointment in Congress with Republicans now controlling the House of Representatives. He is the new chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee on the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations.

This should be a good thing for little ol’ Nevada.

BALLOON!

I wonder what would have happened to that Commie-Pinko Chinese spy balloon had that photographer in Montana not captured it on film and alerted his fellow citizens. Would Team Biden have let it drift across America without consequence, out of sight, out of mind?

Look, it only became an issue in mid-week when the administration was forced to admit it was, in actual fact, up there. But don’t worry, they said, because they have been tracking it since it entered U.S. airspace in Alaska. The president said he ordered the military to shoot it down as soon as it drifted over the ocean. That’s a lie. Otherwise, the military would have shot it down over Alaskan waters, before it had a chance to spy on who-knows-what as it drifted over the U.S.

Here’s the sad bottom line: Everytime we catch a glimpse of Biden’s national security decision-making process, it leaves us shaking our heads.

BIDEN  VS TRUMP

In the “well, duh!” file this week comes a no-sh*t poll from the Washington Post: “Neither Biden nor Trump generates broad excitement within their own party, and most Americans overall say they would feel dissatisfied or angry if either wins the general election.”

The Post-ABC poll found that among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 58 percent would prefer someone else other than Biden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 49 percent would like to see someone other than Trump at the top of the ticket.

I get the angst. It’s time for someone else to emerge from both parties. Preferably, someone better, please.

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR

A Lenten newsletter I subscribe to points out that all Christians are required to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This Lent the newsletter will meditate on “Who Is My Neighbor?”

This could not be more timely.

ONE MORE THING

– Cinderella should have lived happily with her animal friends rather than settle for a man who had to try on her shoe because he didn’t recognize her without her makeup.

– I work at a factory making plastic dracula statues. There are only two of us on the line, so I have to make every second count.

– YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are merging. It will be called YouTwitFace.

Thanks for reading a Battle Born Media newspaper. We highly recommend you avoid soreheads, laugh a little, and always question authority.

“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick, a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@ gmail. com.