The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza on Washington's predictable response to Stephen Craig Paddock's murder of more than 58 people in Las Vegas last night:
Mass shootings are so frequent in America that the political responses to them have become ritualized to the point of parody. The social-media accounts of the N.R.A. — which kicked off last weekend by retweeting a picture of a machine gun, to celebrate #FullAutoFriday — go dark. The politicians funded by the N.R.A.—mostly Republicans—tweet "thoughts and prayers" to the victims. Speaker Paul Ryan said, "The whole country stands united in our shock, in our condolences, and in our prayers." He ordered flags at the Capitol to be lowered. "Keeping #LasVegas in our thoughts this morning after the horrific news," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted. A tweet from President Trump was a model of the form: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!"
