Author: R J Adams

Today, in Britain, a Member of Parliament was murdered. Forty-one year old Jo Cox, a Labour MP for the Yorkshire constituency of Batley and Spen, was gunned down, then repeatedly stabbed, as she left her local office. It has been said that the man who committed this crime shouted, “Britain First,” as he killed her.

Sparrow Chat is no friend of politicians, but Jo Cox wasn’t of the usual breed. She actually cared, and not just about those she represented. She had compassion for the whole human race, a rarity indeed in today’s politicians.

Shootings are virtually unheard of in Britain. Witnesses described the gun as either ‘very old’ or ‘homemade’. Hand guns have been banned for many years. Incalculable numbers of lives have been saved because of that law.

Britain is not America, and guns are considered only weapons of destruction, not to be glorified but avoided and shunned at all costs. The British do not have a diseased mindset about firearms, like so many Americans. Shootings are commonplace in America. Most never make the headlines. The disease is covered up, except when it explodes into mass murder such as occurred this week in Orlando.

When news of Jo Cox’s assassination reaches the United States one can be sure the ‘gun lobby’ will react as they always do when a shooting occurs in their own country: “if she’d only carried a gun, she could have defended herself,”; “if only the bystanders had been allowed to ‘pack heat’ (Americans gun owners adore that phrase, it makes them feel macho) they might have saved her.”

It’s a disease of the mind; a sickness that has spread over America like an epidemic. It’s to be hoped the ‘American disease’ will never take hold in Britain.

Undoubtedly, Mrs Cox’s killer was unhinged. He was possibly a supporter of the far right-wing party, ‘Britain First’, that believes Britain should shun the European Union, Islam should be banned in the U.K.(Donald Trump?), the death penalty re-introduced for paedophiles, terrorists and murderers, the BBC abolished, introduction of ‘chain gangs’ for prisoners, new laws guaranteeing citizens the right to protect their own homes (shades of “Stand Your Ground”?), and other nefarious ideals.

Jo Cox believed Britain’s place was in Europe. With a referendum on whether the nation should remain in, or leave, the E.U. only a week away, she was likely murdered for holding that view.

Jo Cox’s death could probably have been avoided. This forthcoming referendum should never have been proposed in the first place. It was voiced by the British prime minister, David Cameron, as a means of securing votes to ensure his election victory in 2010. Had he been in favour of leaving Europe, it might have been more comprehensible. As it was, when campaigning to be leader of the nation, he turned the decision over to the general public, even while he, himself, firmly believed it was best for the country to retain its membership. It’s rather like a wartime general saying to his troops, “Well, lads, I’m in favour of engaging the enemy – but I’ll leave it up to you.”

The result has been a long and bitter round of infighting between politicians on the “Remain” side, and those dedicated to the “Leave” campaign (many of the latter, it must be said, spurred on by the possibility of achieving greater political power by adopting the stance). The media has, of course, whipped up both sides to a frenzy and forced the public to take sides as though the whole thing was a political football match (which, in many respects, it is).

Cameron’s self-centred, promise of a referendum on Europe should he be elected, and proffered only to boost his chances of becoming prime minister, has served to generate ill-informed passions and hatreds that may well have indirectly contributed to the foul assassination of Jo Cox this afternoon.

One can only wonder if Mister Cameron has a conscience.

Jo Cox was a rare breed of politician. The nation couldn’t afford to lose her – unlike many who take on the job. She’ll be sorely missed, not least by her husband and two small children.

An isolated case of the ‘American disease’ reared its evil head in Britain today. Let us hope there’s not another like it for a very long time.

Once again the U.S. media switches rapidly to ‘hysteria mode’ as yet another mass shooting occurs. This time it’s in Orlando, Florida. For a moment, there almost seemed a hint of celebration from some, as the total killed becomes a new record for America – the most ever slaughtered in a single mass shooting, possibly since records began.

It’s a great excuse to bandy about the emotive word, “terrorism”, and it may well have set another record, for the most used word on U.S. television in a single half-hour segment.

It’s strange how words can be changed to suit the mood. Surely anyone who points a loaded gun at another is guilty of terrorism. Who wouldn’t be “terrified” to be on the receiving end of such an act of potential violence? But now, it means something much more narrowly defined – the act of a person, or persons, acting on behalf of, or at the behest of, a politico/religious organization generally of Middle Eastern origin.

We were told by half a dozen reporters, local Orlando dignitaries, politicians, the police, and eventually, the President himself, that it’s vital to discover whether this man acted alone, or was part of a “terrorist plot”,

Why? Why is that the factor of over-riding importance in this disgusting affair? Will it bring the dead back to life? Will it make the despicable act of mass murder of innocents anymore acceptable if this man is found to have been perusing Islamic State websites?

It’s likely the murderer did peruse such sites, but it doesn’t make him a ‘terrorist’ in the sense of working for I.S., or al Qaeda, or any other Muslim fundamentalist organization. He had a grudge against gay people; that’s why he chose a gay bar.

One more sad result of this mass shooting in Orlando is that only two days earlier, less than twenty minutes from the scene of this latest carnage, a young singer, Christina Grimmie, was senselessly gunned down as she was signing autographs after a concert. Her death, at the age of twenty-four and with a promising career ahead of her, has been totally eclipsed by this latest tragedy.

Two major shootings in two days is rapidly becoming a norm in America. Most don’t make headlines anymore.

This one did. But then, it’s one for the record books – until another surpasses it.

Orlando, Florida, was once known throughout the world as the home of Disney World. Now it’s earning a less enviable reputation.

^{[1] “Orlando gay nightclub shooting: 50 killed, suspect is Omar Mateen” BBC, June 12th 2016}

^{[2] “Former Voice contestant Christina Grimmie shot dead in Orlando” BBC, 11th June 2016}

It may be risking an accusation of churlishness, but isn’t “going somewhat over the top” a reasonable criticism of the world’s media in its reaction to the death of Mohammed Ali?

He was, after all, a man who made his fame and money from pummeling the senses out of his opponents, in what is probably the most barbaric activity still considered a “sport” in the 21st century.

While applauding his stance over the Vietnam War, for which American society of the time crucified him, and begrudgingly accepting his work for black equality – although the Nation of Islam was a highly suspect organisation – it’s ironic to note that the thousands of white people pouring out their grief at Ali’s passing were more than once condemned by Ali as his ‘true enemies’.

His poor health can almost certainly be attributed to the damage he suffered in the boxing ring over many years. In this way he was no different to other boxers who rose to fame, and died early, from their beatings.

With a lull in the U.S. election, and the boredom of ‘Brexit’, it’s easy to see why the media is making such a fuss of Ali’s passing. Less easy to understand is the political fawning over a man quick to condemn the white political establishment. Ex-president Bill Clinton will give a eulogy at the funeral, and the present incumbent, Barack Obama, on hearing of Ali’s death, stated:

Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it.”

Unfortunately, he failed to explain just how the world is so improved, and how worse off we would all have been had this man never existed.

There is no wish to belittle Ali’s achievements in the boxing ring, nor as a champion of the U.S. black community, but he was no ‘God’ in life, and neither should he be treated as such in death.