The decision makers at Guaranteed Rate Field/Sox Park are being roundly criticized for not declaring an “active shooter” situation and telling attendees to leave the park.
I think those in charge made the right decision. A mass exodus of tens of thousands of fans would have been chaos. People would not have done it in an orderly fashion. Many would have been trampled, and the casualties would have been numerous.
Imagine if there were an “active shooter” outside the park. With so many people leaving the venue, a shooter with an AK-47 could have mowed down anyone within range.
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I think the Sox administration acted responsibly. The problem is not with those in charge at Sox Park. The problem is with the ease of access not only to ordinary guns but automatic weapons that send bullets out like water from a garden hose.
The 2nd Amendment was passed at a time when it required several minutes to reload a gun. There was no standing army, so soldiers took their weapons home with them.
Guns are quite different now. Automatic weapons should be banned. Weapons that are legal must be closely regulated and licensed, and those with mental problems should not be allowed to have them.
We must consider the rights of ordinary Americans to live and move in a safe environment, free from the fear of being shot with a purposeful or random bullet.
Freedom from fear and freedom to live should overtake the freedom to own and use a gun.
Karen Wagner, Rolling Meadows
Republicans calling out Biden’s age need to speak up about McConnell’s health
For the second time in weeks, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze and blanked out, staring straight ahead, incapable of continuing to answer questions during a press conference.
Medical experts would likely call them “ischemic attacks,” i.e., passing neurological disconnects temporarily preventing normal mental functioning, precursors of worse to come, sad to say.
Yet, although Republicans often harp on President Joe Biden’s age, 80, though he shows no sign of faltering, they are silent about McConnell’s blank-outs at age 81.
When a referee in a prize fight sees a boxer, still on his feet but knocked so silly he can’t defend himself, he ends the fight. There are no referees in Washington, so it is up to McConnell’s fellow Republicans to counsel McConnell to pass the baton to next in line for the speakership.
Will it be one of the more thoughtful Republicans, or one of their mouthy radicals we could all name if asked? That moment of truth is upon them. And if nothing else, we are witnessing the reality that age alone is not the disqualifier that Republicans try to impose on Biden. Performance decides.
McConnell is flunking that test, while Biden shows no similar symptoms. Winner: Biden. Case closed, until and unless Biden starts blanking out like McConnell.
Ted Z. Manuel, Hyde Park
