Before you rush to second guess the stressful and unfolding events in the Robb Elementary School shooting or make snap judgments…

We have just learned that it appears to be the Chief of Police, Pedro "Pete" Arredondo, of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District School Police that made the fateful decision to wait for backup before taking decisive action in the Robb Elementary School active shooter situation.

In hindsight, it appears to be a mistaken assumption and a wrong decision that may have cost the lives of nineteen school children and two teachers. Whether or not there were training failures or other issues is up to a Board of Inquiry.

“The on-site commander, the chief of the school district’s police department in Uvalde, Texas, believed at the time that [the shooter] was barricaded inside and that children were no longer at immediate risk, giving police time to prepare.”

Since the Parkland shooting, the rule for active shooters has been to engage immediately -- whether it is one, two, ten, or more officers present. You keep pressing forward -- even at the expense of any wounded you may encounter -- until the assailant has been neutralized.

My only observation at this time would be to ask why a school police chief would remain as the incident commander with the arrival of municipal officers with command experience. And why the public is not turning their backs on those that would inject politics to exploit this tragedy -- or the media with its 24/7 repetition of events using talking head "experts."

It is unlikely that any individual will legally be held responsible for their actions on this fateful day. The overwhelming life-altering burden of conscience will far exceed any potential punishment imposed by a court or the public. Conviction in the court of public opinion is another matter altogether.

However, there is much to be learned. From some reports, federal marshals may have been present and attempting to subdue a crowd of parents and others calling for immediate police action. This is both unconscionable and unacceptable.

The one thing that stands out above all is that the authorities, through their various spokespeople, were perhaps the greatest source of politically-manipulated misinformation -- much of it looking like a cover-up of readily observable facts. Non-stop nonsense. These are the same officials bemoaning disinformation and their lack of credibility on social media platforms. 

But this brings to light an equally serious issue, one affecting the entire nation.

Where is the Congressional equivalent of a Board of Inquiry to hold various elected officials and government employees accountable for decisions that have resulted in hundreds of deaths, the destruction of both public and private property, and the depletion of critical healthcare, educational, and social safety net assets? Where the deadly consequential actions were and are deliberate and purposeful with the goal of destroying our nation from within on behalf of a foreign ideology or hostile foreign actor.

Since the Obama era, the United States has experienced an age of rapid metamorphosis, where healthcare and energy policies have profoundly altered the nation's economy, national security, environment, and culture. 

To say there needs to be a discussion of capitalism versus communism and a day of reckoning is an understatement.

Until we decide to hold those elites and others responsible for their actions, we are so screwed.

-- steve