Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Guns, God and Patriotism?
I recently watched a documentary called "Gun Fight" about how the gun lobby is framing their fund raising around an attack on the Second Amendment.
Any 5th grader can tell you that the process to have an Amendment made to the Constitution added is a very difficult process and requires 2/3 of the nation to ratify that amendment before it is actually added to the Constitution. This takes years. It is the very reason the Equal Rights Amendment has not been added. Too many white males decided their masculinity would be taken away were women given equal protection under the Constitution. This is why the 2nd Amendment will never be taken away. There may be reasonable limitations placed on that amendment, just as there are the First amendment - where you are not allowed to yell "fire" in a public place unless there truly is a fire.
One has to ask why it is that the gun lobby and the right-wing are so closely tied together? I don't think you would see anyone with a gun openly strapped to their side at a gathering for a liberal politician unless it was to decry that politician's position on gun rights. Which is again curious, since every piece of legislation introduced since the Brady Bill, has failed to make it out of committee. Why is God only linked with those who are Conservative in nature?
How does that work?
Another curious note - there are approximately 80 million - yes million - gun owners in the US, but only 4 million represented by the NRA. Yet, the NRA is one of, if not the most powerful lobby on Capital Hill. Just goes to show that the squeaky wheel really does get the grease and it also shows just how far to the very fringe right our nation has gone.
I am a responsible gun owner. I do not belong to the NRA - dare I say that I am the type these folks would rather do away with than have amongst them. I am an agnostic, queer, gun owner who voted for Obama.
I am a patriot as much as anyone else. I love my country. I don't love the direction the right-wing fringe is trying to take it, though. I vote in every election and am well versed in the issues when I do vote. I READ the ballot measures and check into the candidates I am voting for. I DO NOT listen to the sound bites or vote based on what I hear, but rather make my own educated decisions - I think for myself - I do the work. I am not a single issue voter. Single-issue is a dangerous place to be, as we have seen with the mid-term election in 2010.
There is a strong push to from the gun lobby to keep private sales at gun shows from having to go through background checks. In case you didn't know this - this is a loophole that the gun lobby is desperately fighting to keep and framing as an attack on the 2nd amendment. Clearly it is not. There is also the issue of what is called the "Straw-man" purchase - where someone who is barred from purchasing a firearm pays someone else to buy the gun for them with their clear name. It's like using someone else's clean pee to pass a drug test when you know you have drugs in your system only this is access to a deadly weapon. If they are barred from having access to a deadly weapon in the first place, why would someone be so willing to place their butt on the line for that person for a few bucks? For a few bucks. These are not educated people doing these things. These are not people who will stop to think about the consequences of their actions before doing them. These are the kind of people the NRA wants among their ranks - not the kind that will question their logic.
There is also a push to remove the assault weapon ban. When you do that, you open up anarchy in the streets of our cities. More so than we see currently. AK's are already in use with the gang-bangers. The argument goes that if more people are armed, there will be more chance that those assaults will be stopped before a lot of people are killed. Just one problem with that logic. The one doing the assault, has the element of surprise on their side.
Even the best trained officer will not react fast enough if they are surprised. As was witnessed in Kirkwood, MO when a man shot not one but two police officers - on in the parking lot and the other in the city council chambers before killing the mayor. Both were armed and trained. The perpetrator had the element of surprise on his side. Surprise will win out every time.
Jared Loughner is another example. There were people who had concealed weapons on them at the time of the shooting in Arizona. The problem was, they had to assess the situation and make sure they did not shoot innocent people as they attempted to get to Loughner. when Rep, Franks suggested that the answer was to have more people armed at the scene, he was mis-informed and had never been faced with that type of situation. Having a weapon and being able to use that weapon in a surprise situation, are not one-in-the-same. That type of situation must be repeated trained for. That is what our law enforcement is trained to do.
I for one do not want to go out in public where now we have an armed constituent with itchy fingers expecting the worst at any moment, because they are looking for the surprise factor. Talk about paranoia run rampant. Talk about the ultimate in fear mongering. This is what, in my opinion, the NRA, Faux News, Religion and the Right-Wing have become.
Any 5th grader can tell you that the process to have an Amendment made to the Constitution added is a very difficult process and requires 2/3 of the nation to ratify that amendment before it is actually added to the Constitution. This takes years. It is the very reason the Equal Rights Amendment has not been added. Too many white males decided their masculinity would be taken away were women given equal protection under the Constitution. This is why the 2nd Amendment will never be taken away. There may be reasonable limitations placed on that amendment, just as there are the First amendment - where you are not allowed to yell "fire" in a public place unless there truly is a fire.
One has to ask why it is that the gun lobby and the right-wing are so closely tied together? I don't think you would see anyone with a gun openly strapped to their side at a gathering for a liberal politician unless it was to decry that politician's position on gun rights. Which is again curious, since every piece of legislation introduced since the Brady Bill, has failed to make it out of committee. Why is God only linked with those who are Conservative in nature?
How does that work?
Another curious note - there are approximately 80 million - yes million - gun owners in the US, but only 4 million represented by the NRA. Yet, the NRA is one of, if not the most powerful lobby on Capital Hill. Just goes to show that the squeaky wheel really does get the grease and it also shows just how far to the very fringe right our nation has gone.
I am a responsible gun owner. I do not belong to the NRA - dare I say that I am the type these folks would rather do away with than have amongst them. I am an agnostic, queer, gun owner who voted for Obama.
I am a patriot as much as anyone else. I love my country. I don't love the direction the right-wing fringe is trying to take it, though. I vote in every election and am well versed in the issues when I do vote. I READ the ballot measures and check into the candidates I am voting for. I DO NOT listen to the sound bites or vote based on what I hear, but rather make my own educated decisions - I think for myself - I do the work. I am not a single issue voter. Single-issue is a dangerous place to be, as we have seen with the mid-term election in 2010.
There is a strong push to from the gun lobby to keep private sales at gun shows from having to go through background checks. In case you didn't know this - this is a loophole that the gun lobby is desperately fighting to keep and framing as an attack on the 2nd amendment. Clearly it is not. There is also the issue of what is called the "Straw-man" purchase - where someone who is barred from purchasing a firearm pays someone else to buy the gun for them with their clear name. It's like using someone else's clean pee to pass a drug test when you know you have drugs in your system only this is access to a deadly weapon. If they are barred from having access to a deadly weapon in the first place, why would someone be so willing to place their butt on the line for that person for a few bucks? For a few bucks. These are not educated people doing these things. These are not people who will stop to think about the consequences of their actions before doing them. These are the kind of people the NRA wants among their ranks - not the kind that will question their logic.
There is also a push to remove the assault weapon ban. When you do that, you open up anarchy in the streets of our cities. More so than we see currently. AK's are already in use with the gang-bangers. The argument goes that if more people are armed, there will be more chance that those assaults will be stopped before a lot of people are killed. Just one problem with that logic. The one doing the assault, has the element of surprise on their side.
Even the best trained officer will not react fast enough if they are surprised. As was witnessed in Kirkwood, MO when a man shot not one but two police officers - on in the parking lot and the other in the city council chambers before killing the mayor. Both were armed and trained. The perpetrator had the element of surprise on his side. Surprise will win out every time.
Jared Loughner is another example. There were people who had concealed weapons on them at the time of the shooting in Arizona. The problem was, they had to assess the situation and make sure they did not shoot innocent people as they attempted to get to Loughner. when Rep, Franks suggested that the answer was to have more people armed at the scene, he was mis-informed and had never been faced with that type of situation. Having a weapon and being able to use that weapon in a surprise situation, are not one-in-the-same. That type of situation must be repeated trained for. That is what our law enforcement is trained to do.
I for one do not want to go out in public where now we have an armed constituent with itchy fingers expecting the worst at any moment, because they are looking for the surprise factor. Talk about paranoia run rampant. Talk about the ultimate in fear mongering. This is what, in my opinion, the NRA, Faux News, Religion and the Right-Wing have become.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Jon Stewart's must-see takedown of Paul Ryan
This was a beautiful way to show exactly what the GOP is trying to hide...
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Theocratizing of America...
When I went through government class, back in the day, I remember being taught about the three bodies of our government and how they were set up as a check and balance on each other. For most of my youth, that appeared to be the case and government functioned with civility and there was respect for each governing body and their function within our form of government.
Today, I see civility is gone and there is no longer any type of check and balance functioning within the three governing bodies. Gone is the impartiality and reverence for the law that was to be the cornerstone of the Supreme Court. That flew out the window with the overreach of the Citizen's United Case. Gone is the civility between the Congress and the President. When the President invites the leaders to the Whitehouse and they snub the advance in lieu of a fundraiser - you know there are serious issues.
Gone is the idea of settled law. Now states have thumbed their noses at the Federal law and said - " We don't care what the US law says, we are banning abortion in our state."
Daring anyone to challenge the laws being passed with the Supreme Court listing so far to the right, it would be a death knell for Roe v. Wade should anyone even THINK about it.
I have to ask myself - what has happened to the women? We still outnumber men here, yet our bodies, we are being told, are no longer ours to take care of and choose when the time is right for us to have a child. It doesn't matter to the men if we can't feed or clothe or care for the child after it is born. All that matters is that it is born. If they really cared about the child at all, then there would be healthcare for everyone - so that those children born - because abortion is being banned - would have wellness visits. The mother & the father would have parenting classes - there would be government intervention to locate the father and require the man to take responsibility for the children he fathers.
If these people really care about the children, they would demand that little girls be taught that they are worthy and give them every opportunity to succeed - just as they do little boys. They would take that football money and funnel it into success programs in the schools for these girls so that they can be taught that they do not have to give up a part of themselves to be with a man. Being with a man is a choice and they do not have to do anything they don't want to. Self-esteem is a powerful thing and women's sports programs help create young women with self-esteem. Women need to know that they can succeed in something other than creating babies. If these people really cared about children, every pregnancy would be a wanted pregnancy and there would be no need for abortion.
Until that happens the need for abortion is there. Every woman has the right to choose what to do with her body and if this is a good time for her and her family to bring another life into this world. It is a very private, personal and gut-wrenching decision but it is hers to make. The Federal Law called Roe v. Wade allows her to make that decision without outside intervention. Banning abortion creates a new layer of government intervention. Bigger government, if you will. How many people will have to be hired to make sure that every woman who pops up with a positive pregnancy test goes to term? Wow, that would be a hellacious drain on state budgets - not to mention an intrusion on that woman's privacy having someone follow them around 24/7 for 9 months! Don't expect the feds to help you pay for that one!
If you take away the option of abortion, you relegate women to bad choices. Back alley abortions, self-inflicted abortions, which will inevitably lead to deaths or suicides. Unless, that is the intended outcome of the laws these legislators are hoping for...I ask, how is this any better than Iraq? Iran? The Taliban? Isn't this how Hitler started his march on the masses?
With the current spate of legislation coming through not only at the federal level but at the state level, one has to wonder if the Theocratizing of America will be its undoing while the rest of the world becomes democratized with the ideas that Americans have wanted all along...
The other option is to sterilize the upcoming generation of girls. That would eliminate the need for abortion and also reduce the angst these legislators feel about having to deal with child-bearing women. Sound ridiculous? Yep, about as ridiculous as banning abortion - Settled Law.
Today, I see civility is gone and there is no longer any type of check and balance functioning within the three governing bodies. Gone is the impartiality and reverence for the law that was to be the cornerstone of the Supreme Court. That flew out the window with the overreach of the Citizen's United Case. Gone is the civility between the Congress and the President. When the President invites the leaders to the Whitehouse and they snub the advance in lieu of a fundraiser - you know there are serious issues.
Gone is the idea of settled law. Now states have thumbed their noses at the Federal law and said - " We don't care what the US law says, we are banning abortion in our state."
Daring anyone to challenge the laws being passed with the Supreme Court listing so far to the right, it would be a death knell for Roe v. Wade should anyone even THINK about it.
I have to ask myself - what has happened to the women? We still outnumber men here, yet our bodies, we are being told, are no longer ours to take care of and choose when the time is right for us to have a child. It doesn't matter to the men if we can't feed or clothe or care for the child after it is born. All that matters is that it is born. If they really cared about the child at all, then there would be healthcare for everyone - so that those children born - because abortion is being banned - would have wellness visits. The mother & the father would have parenting classes - there would be government intervention to locate the father and require the man to take responsibility for the children he fathers.
If these people really care about the children, they would demand that little girls be taught that they are worthy and give them every opportunity to succeed - just as they do little boys. They would take that football money and funnel it into success programs in the schools for these girls so that they can be taught that they do not have to give up a part of themselves to be with a man. Being with a man is a choice and they do not have to do anything they don't want to. Self-esteem is a powerful thing and women's sports programs help create young women with self-esteem. Women need to know that they can succeed in something other than creating babies. If these people really cared about children, every pregnancy would be a wanted pregnancy and there would be no need for abortion.
Until that happens the need for abortion is there. Every woman has the right to choose what to do with her body and if this is a good time for her and her family to bring another life into this world. It is a very private, personal and gut-wrenching decision but it is hers to make. The Federal Law called Roe v. Wade allows her to make that decision without outside intervention. Banning abortion creates a new layer of government intervention. Bigger government, if you will. How many people will have to be hired to make sure that every woman who pops up with a positive pregnancy test goes to term? Wow, that would be a hellacious drain on state budgets - not to mention an intrusion on that woman's privacy having someone follow them around 24/7 for 9 months! Don't expect the feds to help you pay for that one!
If you take away the option of abortion, you relegate women to bad choices. Back alley abortions, self-inflicted abortions, which will inevitably lead to deaths or suicides. Unless, that is the intended outcome of the laws these legislators are hoping for...I ask, how is this any better than Iraq? Iran? The Taliban? Isn't this how Hitler started his march on the masses?
With the current spate of legislation coming through not only at the federal level but at the state level, one has to wonder if the Theocratizing of America will be its undoing while the rest of the world becomes democratized with the ideas that Americans have wanted all along...
The other option is to sterilize the upcoming generation of girls. That would eliminate the need for abortion and also reduce the angst these legislators feel about having to deal with child-bearing women. Sound ridiculous? Yep, about as ridiculous as banning abortion - Settled Law.
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