There's a debate going on in the US about what is and isn't terrorism.

Some think what happened in Orlando was terrorism, also in San Bernardino, but not in Charleston, last year at this time.

I read in a NYT piece with survivor stories from Orlando, really horrifying stuff. They mentioned that the Orlando shooter had been studying the Charleston church shooting. It's all part of the same thread. If one is terror, it's all terror. They're learning from each other. Passing on best practices. (The Charleston shooter is still alive. I wonder what he thinks about Orlando.)

The fact that the Orlando shooter was checking Facebook to see if his posts, from inside the night club, during the attack, were going viral. A sick feeling. It's the same impulse we all have, a desire to be noticed in social media. 

Then a story about how a Chicago gang murder was broadcast live on Facebook. It wasn't planned that way, but it happened. How long before the next Orlando or the one after that is shown live on Facebook from the insider's perspective, as part of the programming, for the next guy to study, and for all of us to feel ever more helpless. Terror for the masses filtered by Facebook's algorithm. 

I read another story, this one I don't remember where, that asked why are people buying AR-15's, why is it the most popular product at gun stores. Why? They think we're being invaded by ISIS. Although people say they don't trust news media, they actually believe what they tell them. They fill in the blanks, because that's how human minds work. This is what they talk about with their friends. (You see these people sometimes on Facebook, I always thought they were outliers, but they are not. Over 40 percent of Americans will vote for Trump. Now go listen to what Trump says.)

I heard this first in an interview with a man who assaulted a protestor at a Trump rally. He said with a straight almost innocent look that the guy he attacked was from ISIS. They've been taught that people who disagree and who have dark skin are from ISIS. This, for many people, is a fact, not in dispute. They want to own assault weapons because they believe they will have to defend their homes soon. One in every room for every member of the family.

America is jammed to the gills with guns. People are getting ready to use them. What comes next? I guess they use them.