A Handy G.O.P. Guide to “Getting Over” Your Mass Shooting

Wes X
4 min readFeb 16, 2024
Donald trump at a Iowa rally. “We have to move forward.”
Illustration by Author

Before the ink dried on the Des Moines, Iowa school shooting at Perry High, Donald Trump famously belched to a crowd of Iowans that they must “get over it”. He told the crowd that a shooting involving a gun “wasn’t a gun problem”. Then he went into dog-whistle mode, blaming the shooting on transgender people, marijuana and mental health. But he did not explain how one should get over it.

I’ve taken the liberty of mapping it out for him and people who don’t know. My family weathered the shooting in Highland Park, IL. I’ve learned some shortcuts to share with you.

Denial

First and foremost, you’ll need to snap out the shock of this happening to you. This is America and America is a gun, and it was only a matter of time before the statistics came crawling for you like drooling zombies. Depressing, I know, but true. It’s best to go with a technique like denial. You could tell yourself the shooting was “just a loud noise” and nothing else. Ignore the white tents that national news crews propped up around your town. Ignore the visit from Vice President Harris. It’s time to convince yourself that you’re in a video game, or ask yourself “what’s reality, anyway?”

It was only a matter of time before the statistics came crawling for you…

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Wes X
Wes X

Written by Wes X

Politics, gun safety, & society–with a curious mind. Join the conversation!

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