This photograph depicts, Senator, Ted Cruz, comforting the police officer, who didn’t do enough about children being shot to death in Uvalde, Texas.

I saw this picture, and then I saw comments about on Reddit.

No one is going make the mistake of thinking Reddit commenters are endlessly gracious…but in this criticism, they get it wrong.

I’m going to say a thing that I never imagined myself saying: this is not the thing to pick on Ted Cruz for. Nor the police chief, no matter how neglectful he may have been.

These are two men, grieving, comforting each other, and a moment of unbelievable sorrow. Comforting each other in grief is something we should encourage. Grief over loss is human and appropriate.

We can critique the decision making of elected officials that led to being shot to death as the leading cause of death in America for young people. I critique that all the time.

We see the very people who have been advocating for relentlessly free access their own children’s destruction, here, in grief. We should grieve with them. This is a thing that is sad.

From me, directly:

Senator Cruz, I’m sorry for the loss of your constituents, I’m sorry for the difficulties of your own family if, I’m sorry if you have suffered, and I’m sorry for those who failed to stop this tragedy. They too should, justly, weep.

Please, the next time you’re given the opportunity to change the course of affairs, for the safety of children, yours and mine, take it.

Grief and accountability, we get more of the later if we recognize the former.

If I don't recognize my fellow humans’ sadness and grief, when it is appropriate, they will never feel seen, they will never have a reason to change, they will never have a reason to listen to me. I believe strongly that children should not be shot to death. I believe that those deaths are sad. I believe they're sad for the people who make decisions that led to them also. And I'm not gonna be a jerk about it, because I’m accountable for my empathy or lack thereof also.

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The Frontier Psychiatrists

In Defense of Ted Cruz…