It’s been about a month since President Trump told Americans that he favored universal background checks as a pre-condition for purchasing a weapon. The "chosen one" made those remarks in the wake of the mass shootings that left 31 dead in Dayton, Ohio and El Passo, Texas.

Now comes Odessa, Texas where another seven Americans have lost their lives to senseless gun violence. Not surprisingly, however, Trump has flip-flopped on universal background checks and now claims that the real problem is not unbridled access to guns, but mental illness.

What produced this about face? Well, it probably arises from his recent chat with the omnipotent ones at the NRA who pointed out that any concessions to reason and common sense would jeopardize his standing in the 2020 election among white guys who like guns. And, of course, that is about the only constituency who hasn’t figured out that if anyone is burdened with a mental illness, it’s Trump.

The sad reality here is that Trump and the atrophied GOP are not about to do anything to change course. For Trump, four more years of occupying the Oval Office is far more attractive than getting indicted and sent to jail. Stay tuned for more “thoughts and prayers.”

John Welch

Ledyard