Senator Portman with his own sort of coming out. (Photo credit – MSN.com)

Not to pick on Sen. Portman per se but I find it very insightful that we again have a situation where we have a politician who maintains a political position which might be contrary to what their constituents want to see UNTIL somehow it comes home to roost. The following (a part of which I have included) was reported on MSN this morning –

“Sen. Rob Portman, who voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, says he has changed his mind on the matter since one of his sons came out as gay in 2011.

CINCINNATI — Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is now supporting gay marriage and says his reversal on the issue began when he learned one of his sons is gay.

Ohio’s junior senator disclosed his change of heart in interviews with several Ohio newspapers and CNN. In an op-ed published Friday in The Columbus Dispatch, he said the decision came after a lot of thought.

“I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married,” he wrote.

As a member of the House in 1996, Portman voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Portman said his views on gay marriage began changing in 2011 when his son, Will, then a freshman at Yale University, told his parents that he was gay and that it wasn’t a choice but “part of who he was.” Portman said he and his wife, Jane, were very surprised but also supportive.

He said it prompted him to reconsider gay marriage from a different perspective — that of a father who wants all three of his children to have happy lives with people they love.”

I expect the sentiment shared by Portman as to the different perspective driving his change of heart is not one that will change most of those stone-hearted anti-gay politicians (or any other person of influence in any position of authority) who seem to look through political, religious, etc. lens as they continue to treat many of our citizens as 2nd class people, at best, and lesser human beings, at worse. I said the same thing after the Sandy Hook travesty that maybe when the anti-gun control lobby people actually have someone in their family killed in a similar manner (or any manner with a gun to be honest) we might be able to manage our issues with guns with a little more common sense A little sad that it takes a personal event to get someone to take notice and to start to feel a little. I would suggest that empathy is a quality that goes much too unnoticed as we evaluate and elect our leaders and that maybe it is time people begin to not look at caring and understanding as a weakness and maybe see it for the benefit it brings. But this all requires some thinking and empathy to get there. And we have a long way to go.

Now the next question is at what point will one of Ricky Santorum’s five sons comes out – and how apoplectic will Ricky become….

Mar 9 2013

Guns, Guns and More Guns – Whether you want them or not

Just when you think we have reached a point where nothing is really a surprise, news comes along that shows we can still get those “you’ve got to be kidding” moments. With today’s social media impact and how quickly notoriety can be attained, there are those events or happenings where you quickly realize this is really for someone’s 5 minutes of fame – but then there are those that still stand out demonstrating we haven’t reached the height possible when it comes to stupidity at worse, short-sightedness at best. In our paper this morning we had an article citing the number of local governments in several states where the latest focus on new laws are ones that, by law, require citizens to maintain both weapons and ammunition in their homes. These communities in Maine, Idaho and Georgia (all no doubt in my top 10 places I’d want to live) have taken a view that more guns mean a higher level of safety. The good news is that most of these laws, if passed (and I expect they will get passed in some jurisdictions) are unenforceable.

Speaking of Georgia – Georgia has moved to ease rules preventing some mentally ill people from getting licenses to carry firearms. Legislators in Georgia’s House voted 117-56 this week to allow people who have voluntarily sought inpatient treatment for mental illness or substance abuse to get licenses. So apparently knowing you have a mental illness is good enough puts you on par with the rest of the people of Georgia. Maybe that isn’t as far-fetched as it seems at first glance. This is further evidenced by that fact that Georgia is also considering whether to change its laws to allow people to carry guns in churches, bars and on college campuses, contrary to what’s happening elsewhere in the United States. Okay – we can still get more stupid.

Credit: LA Times

In another of those states that make you cringe a bit when you think “civilized”, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed a law giving school boards in the state the ability to allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. I guess that this was the one chance that South Dakota could be first in the country – let’s keep an eye out for that first headline where a student or teacher is killed in a SD classroom.

However, there is some upside to movement in this direction. It is a well documented statistically that homes where guns are present have a considerably higher likelihood of someone in that home getting killed by a gun – I expect this same result can be extended on a town or community level requiring citizens to all be armed can only help thin the gene pool of some of these dickheads and mini-minds. Works for me.

Just waiting for foot to be inserted…

I also can’t help but think that this all also has the makings of wet dream material for Wayne LaPierre – sorry – not a pretty picture but can’t you just see this halfwit drooling while reading these news stories?

Feb 9 2013

Stupidity – the new normal?

I’ve read several articles that raise the question whether people in general are less intelligent today than in the past. I actually like the phrase “more stupid” as it gets more to the core of the issue but the question raised is one that should not be taken lightly. On an individual basis there is no doubt that there are many more smart people today than in the past. One need only look around at the conveniences of daily living we enjoy to see there are obvious signs that there are many out there who have put their education and native intelligence to work. But the bigger issue is society in the US as a whole. There is thought that with the proliferation of many modern technologies, there is less to stress and exercise the brains of most people. Just look at the result of the use of calculators. Watch a lot of cashiers work out change when you provide the challenge of giving them extra coin so you get back a whole bill. Something is missing. People have gotten lazy as there is less to work at. That too adds to stupidity as a brain unexercised doesn’t grow. Now I don’t need to see large scientific studies to prove this – just look around. Lazy and stupid aren’t too far apart on the continuum of human conditions.

First example – the blizzard that just hit the Northeast. Seems that despite the rather advanced warnings, there were many in Long Island who figured they knew better that everyone else and took their cars out for some reason that only they can probably make sense of. Now, I know that New Yorkers are smarter than most of the rest of us and are much more experienced and worldly (they always seem quick to make it clear that they know more than those of us that don’t live or haven’t lived in New York) but in looking at the number of vehicles that figured they could traverse the blizzard based no doubt on their superior intelligence, let alone vastly better driving skills, I offer up the following picture.

What do you mean I can’t get my car thru here? It has FWD.

So bad enough that they are that stupid to go out and get quickly stuck, most of them ended up abandoning their cars causing other issues with getting roads cleared or put emergency workers at personal risk when they had to go out to rescue them from their own stupidity. My suggestion would be that any vehicle that was abandoned be picked up and immediately brought to a junk yard to get crushed and recycled. My guess is that those individuals would be a little less stupid next time around.

I do believe that stupidity is our biggest problem at the moment. It invades most every other issue and it is the common denominator across most every situation where anyone who can actually think looks up and scratched their head and says “WTF”. Stupidity hides itself in many ways and is core to many other shortcomings people consistently demonstrate. I have to believe that if you are a Tea Party member, stupidity is at the core. And admitting it is just one more piece of evidence. If you can today still take the stance there is no reason for further control of guns in our country, your proclamation of patriotism and 2nd amendment rights is a cover for stupidity.

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” – Albert Einstein

Just look at the current political landscape. A lot of stupid people in politics – the likes of Rand Paul and Ted Cruz demonstrate that quite nicely. But we also can’t ignore those who actually felt the urge to vote them into office. So without stupidity, many of our politicians would not get elected, let alone be able to take the political stance they do. While I think the Republicans have it down pat (one of our current favorite phrases is from Bobby Jindal where he called on the Republican Party to “stop being the stupid party” – and they still don’t get it), the Democrats aren’t without their share.

To a great extent I think organized religion and most “devout” religious belief is steeped in stupidity – not in whether one believes or even what they believe but that most of these assholes feel they have to have the rest of us live in the same aura of stupidity and bow to the same inane beliefs. Hey – you don’t want to take birth control, fine, but keep it in your own family – and by the way, the likelihood is your son or daughter is out there screwing around anyhow. And by the way, at least 1 in 5 of you have a gay son, daughter, aunt, uncle, cousin, mother, father…pay attention – but then again, you are stupid.

Most prejudice is about stupidity. And there is a lot of that going around. I think the Boy Scouts of America are clearly a beacon of demonstrated stupidity. To think that they are upholding a more “moral” standard by discriminating against gays is monumental stupidity. They have enough moral challenge when it comes to patrolling their own ranks of child molesters. Another level of moral question when one looks at the effort to cover it up – more stupidity to think they could actually get away with it. Only to be outdone by the Catholic Church – but that is a another whole story.

Future Leaders of our country?
credit: http://m3foto.tumblr.com

And speaking of Boy Scouts, that shitbag of a human being, Ricky Santorum managed to squeeze into the public eye again as he felt it important to identify another area where he could help report the demise of old and prejudice opinions as he continued his assault on gays – concerned the BSA was abandoning the “founding moral principles that nurture boys into men”. BSA and morals in one sentence is a problem to begin with – having Santorum in your corner doesn’t speak to mainstream longevity.

Ricky with what he thought was a new Ipad 4.

“The wise understand by themselves; fools follow the reports of others” – Tibetan Proverb

Lastly, I did want to share a few experiences that I had recently that brought it home very clearly to me the level of stupidity we are dealing with out there. The first occasion was when I stopped by our local township office to make a “Right to Know” request. I had asked for an organization chart of all our public employees indicating all reporting relationships. As the woman at the desk reviewed my form, she very seriously asked “Why do you need to know who is related to who in the organization”? I will say I managed to keep a relatively straight face as I explained the concept behind the term reporting relationships – maybe I’m expecting too much but really?

Lastly, while getting an order from the deli counter in our local supermarket, I asked for 1/3 of a pound of turkey breast – yes, 1/4 was too little and 1/2 was too much but I digress. As I watched the deli guy get my order, I overheard him ask another deli guy how much 1/3 of a pound was. I was even more amazed at that point that he was actually allowed to operate the deli slicer and that he had all his fingers intact.

End of it all, stupid takes a lot of forms – I recognize that some people are doing their best but the vast majority of stupid is there because of laziness and an unwillingness to think. Unfortunately, I don’t see it getting much better.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Jan 16 2013

Fire with Fire

Credit: http://www.bradblog.com

It has now been probably 10 minutes since President Obama finished the news conference on actions to curb gun violence in our country. While I don’t tweet or watch trending issues among those that do, I expect the internet is swarming with irate NRAers and the rhetoric will take on an even higher dimension of fear and threat as the efforts Obama has put into play become more real. I expect there are those already heading out to re-supply their food and ammunition coffers as they undoubtedly see this as only one step from the government knocking down their doors to take their guns. Just that picture alone and that there are those who actually believe it is pretty amazing. I have to wonder how some of these people would score on an MMPI, Rorschach Ink Blot or even Myers-Briggs Personality test. But I digress. It is obvious that Congress will likely be a large part of the problem in making change so depending on that will be futile. As the President said it will be incumbent on all of us to make sure our politicians not only understand what we want but that we will hold them accountable for their actions – or lack there of – in not taking the wants and needs of the majority of the US public into account when making the decisions they do. We need to make it clear that while these politicians might fear a loss of money from the NRA and other related lobbyists, those we elect must realize that all that money won’t make a difference when they are no longer in office. It is time to tell these politicians we will not only not support and not vote for them, we will actually vote against them – no matter who is running. Start the letters, emails, phone calls, whatever works for you.

In the meantime, speaking of fire with fire. While not really surprised at the depth of human nature the NRA has stooped with their latest ad drawing the President’s children into the issue, it becomes increasingly clear we are not dealing with thinking and feeling human beings. It is obvious that common sense, compassion, empathy, and a myriad of other real capabilities will not work with these people. It is time to take it to a level they understand. It would be nice if the group Anonymous had some sort of signal like Gotham City had for Batman when they needed him that we could just shine it up onto the clouds but let me just reach out and make a suggestion to them – I doubt they haven’t started down this path on their own but wouldn’t it be a nice gesture if we could see the names, home addresses, pictures, personal email addresses, telephone numbers of not only all the leadership of the NRA (both past and present) but also have the same info for all their families – wives, children and grandchildren as the case may be – posted somewhere out for all to see. Of course they would cry “foul” but maybe this would jolt some of them into some semblance of human form. If it was good enough for the Westboro Baptist Church, why not the NRA. Both pretty despicable organizations.

Jan 12 2013

Stupid is as Stupid does…

credit: http://www.sodahead.com

One thing I’ll say for Republicans – they really don’t know when to keep their mouths shut. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia can take his place with the likes of Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana with what we can only hope is a similar result. At a Chamber of Congress meeting this week in Georgia, Gingrey not only defended both Akin and Murdock to some extent, he shared his own experience that “adrenaline can prevent pregnancies, and that women who are frightened during sex will not ovulate”. Sounds like just another take on Akin’s view of pregnancy after rape that “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” We have here another discourse by a man who seems to be somewhat out of touch with the reality of women’s lives – demonstrating, at best, insensitivity – at worse, a rather pompous and callous view of women. As Gingrey has been an OB-GYN physician since 1975, this gives pause to never lose sight that 50% of doctors finish at the bottom of their class.

Of course Gingrey, after having time to think about it (or at least beginning to hear the proverbial shit hit the fan) subsequently followed up with a further explanation and said the comments he made on rape “misconstrued” his own position on the topic but here we again have the chance to see the real view of a politician when he responds off-the-cuff and without monitoring his own sound bite. Again, I can’t tell anyone what they should believe and what they can say. I’m just more amazed at the stupidity that gets displayed – and these are people in position to make decisions for our country – scary and disturbing.

So let’s take a roll call –

Todd Akin – Defeated 2012

Richard Murdock – Defeated 2012

Can we go for #3?

I’ll just hoping they keep up the good work – this is one way to reduce the number of seats the Republicans hold.

Jan 11 2013

And in this corner, representing the gun nuts…

In the face of the tragedies we’ve seen in this nation in the last couple of years that have resulted from our inability to control firearms in the face of providing safety for our people, the one in Newtown should be haunting everyone in this country. Surprise! In less than three weeks, the faces of the children and the heartache of the families seems to have been lost on those gun advocates and right-wing nut jobs who claim to be the real patriots and who seem to feel that more force is the only way to deal with the ever-growing problem we have with guns in this country. It is everything else that is wrong that needs to be addressed before there is any consideration of changes in gun law. I, for one, am glad to see how vociferous and angry these zealots get as it demonstrates very clearly the edge many of these gun owners walk when it comes to being a bit crazy. I am also hoping that the rest of our country – the ones who haven’t historically been convinced that unbridled gun ownership and rights isn’t necessarily a good thing – might take a look at some of these people and the interviews or videos they are putting out there and start to think that maybe something is wrong with this picture. When you finish looking at these people and really listen to what they say, I ask you “Are these the people you want roaming the halls of our schools protecting our children?”. They seem a bit on the crazy side to me – from watching the spittle build in the corners of NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre’s mouth as he worked himself up with David Gregory on “Meet the Press” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDgvHJ8ZkTc)

or wondering at what point Radio host Alex Jones was going to knock Piers Morgan off his chair on “Piers Morgan Tonight” in his lesson on world history around what happens when governments (although I didn’t hear one example of a democracy) taking guns from the people (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/alex-jones-piers-morgan-guns_n_2429161.html)

to a rather disturbing video by James Yeager, CEO of Tactical Response, a Tennessee company that trains people in weapon and tactical skills (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/10/james-yeager-start-killing-people-obama-gun-policy_n_2448751.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular) – if I were a neighbor of this dipshit, I might be a little concerned. (Note: if you attempt to view this video using your Ipad it will not be successful as it appears this requires Flash to play correctly – I’m looking for an alternative way to post – apologies. In the meantime, I believe you can get this directly using the YouTube app on your Ipad – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9sMv9mcdc4 – not the best copy but give it a shot).

These are only a couple of the people who are driving an agenda that will undoubtedly lead to more deaths. There are more out there that fear government takeover or confiscation of their weapons – not sure what they are hearing that the rest of us seem to be missing but it gets scarier. One last perennial favorite nut in this space shouldn’t be ignored. Ted Nugent, long time nut, shared this opinion of what it coming – “There will come a time when the gun owners of America, the law-abiding gun owners of America, will be the Rosa Parks and we will sit down on the front seat of the bus, case closed.” You should take a look at this article (at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/ted-nugent-gun-owners-the-next-rosa-parks/#sYG7lmuWXlow7jbx.99) but I would suggest you take a look at the comments to the “news” story – even more scary. Also, keep in mind, Ted is such a great patriot that he made an interesting choice when faced with going to Vietnam. What a patriot!

Credit: progressiveerupts.blogspot.com

Last thought – specific to Ted, given his remarks prior to this past presidential election that he (Ted) would either be in jail or dead by April 2013 if Obama is re-elected. Well, let’s hope he doesn’t end up in jail in the next couple of months.

And which side do we believe this fine individual stands?

And which side do we believe this fine person stands?

Dec 31 2012

Wrapping up 2012

I am never one to lament the completion of another year as I spend relatively little time looking backwards. To be honest, much to the chagrin of my wife (who is quite the planner), I spend relatively little time looking forward either as I’m usually absorbed in the here and now. I find there is enough to deal with in the present. As with most of my years on this earth (and there have now been almost 60 of them), 2012 was a year with some good and some bad – and in some cases pretty horrid. Luckily, my life and my sphere of influence fell mostly on the side of the good stuff. I am happy with that but I am disheartened by all the not so good stuff I see around me – again feeling lucky that most all of it has chosen to remain outside of me and my family but never feeling so insulated and safe to not recognize that at any moment it could easily intrude. That possibility is never that far away and with everything going on in this country at the moment, nothing is a certainty.

While most anyone else probably doesn’t care about the personal side of my life, this is really for me – by seeing it in writing it re-emphasizes the gift I have and how lucky I am to have the people around me who are my immediate family. It ensures I never take it all for granted.

Let’s talk about the good first.

I remain happily married and in love – kind of corny on one hand but having the type of relationship I have with my wife after 32 years is one that happens far too little in our society – I am very fortunate.
All four of us in the immediate family are healthy. Those of us over 55 are feeling our age but that’s it. There is nothing life threatening we need to deal with and we can do most everything we want – and I am thankful for that. My joints make much more noise than they ever have but I take this over most of the alternatives.
As a family we have remained pretty much unscathed by the economic travesties of the past couple of years.
My two kids continue success in their careers and jobs – and they have good jobs. Not as a result of luck because they have both worked hard and have not waited for things to be handed to them. And I am (we are) extremely proud to have raised these types of adults.
I can also see the fruits of the time and effort we put into parenting over oh so many years (and it never really stops – it just changes). I believe my kids are contributing members of society. Perfect with no faults – not at all – they were raised by imperfect but caring parents. They are thoughtful, intelligent and caring of everything that is around them. They are not myopic and self-centered which seems to be more the rule than the exception any more.

On the personal “not so good” side, I actually can’t come up with too much that has happened this past year. In fact there is only one thing that has been bad that I can really think of. For anyone who has a family pet, you will understand. For the rest of you, probably not. If you look at the photos in my blog header and probably dispersed around other places, you will see a few of Gunther – our Jack Russell who has been a member of our family for the past 13 years. I’ve had a good number of dogs over my time but there has been none that have been like him. He is the embodiment of attitude and coolness. This was a dog that was all id, in your face, spirited beyond belief but loveable and warm through it all. His health issues began actually almost two years ago but it has been this past year we’ve watched him change the most. Where he was a friend to any person who walked into our house, he now moves away from everyone other than a couple of us – even those he readily jumped on just a short time ago. He is often confused and seems disoriented – his cataracts have gotten worse so it’s hard to tell if it is because he can’t see or if it is really the canine dementia the vet has diagnosed. We are lucky (again) that we have the resources to make sure he gets the treatment and care that he needs. Not sure if cataract surgery is in the future or if the medicine for the dementia will actually help him but I am hopeful. I know I’m blessed that this has been the only real downer on my year but that doesn’t take away the pain of watching the changes taking place and knowing what is happening to him – hoping his discomfort is more evident to us than to him.

On a broader note, some of the most recent happenings in our country have been tough to watch and often harder to understand. I don’t have answers to all the problems as I don’t believe there is any problem that has one or two causes and given the complexity of people and their varied ways of perceiving that around themselves, there will never be a “fix” that everyone sees the same way. That being said, there is some common sense that might factor into what we do or at least how we approach some of our issues of the day. Nothing magic or deep on my part or even maybe helpful but given this blog was a way to dump that which is in my head, so be it.

Guns and killing in America – Good topic top of mind – and one that could use some common sense applied.

Let’s start with the premise that I don’t think that anyone really wants to take everyone’s gun away from them. I could give two hoots about what animals you want to kill – I don’t do it, I don’t really understand it. I have had guns and I’ve hunted – first time out deer hunting I quickly realized I couldn’t ever shoot a deer – and luckily one never showed up. I hear the talk of personal freedom, 2nd amendment, it’s an equalizer, etc. etc. I look around and see the evidence that guns breed more violence and death. There is no other civilized country with the number of guns we have in the US and there is no other country with a murder rate that comes close to ours. Not sure that adding more guns to the mix will improve the situation if we are really focused on reducing gun violence. Banning assault weapons and mega-clips seems to be a logical step forward. Yes, it won’t get rid of the guns and clips already out there. But if logic were to prevail, if we are not making more assault weapons then there won’t be more people with them. Does it fix the problem and make sure that no-one will again use an assault rifle or use a mega-clip to kill a bunch of people? Not at all but if it keeps someone who doesn’t have one now from getting one and creating another Newtown incident then maybe it makes sense.
Armed guards in our schools – unfortunately, the state of our society has already resulted in some surprisingly high number of schools where there are already armed guards protecting something. I would surmise it might not be a result of protecting against terrorist or crazy person attacks but more for internal school problems but that is neither here nor there. As has been heavily discussed, Columbine had armed guards. Will it possibly stop another Newtown? It might and if I follow the logic I see on an assault weapon ban, if having an armed guard saves lives in one instance, maybe it makes sense. That being said, having the likes of a Wayne La Pierre walking the halls to protect our children sends chills down my spine. While I have no doubt there are NRA members with the right skills – both gun and people – to maybe pull it off, sorry, if armed guards is the answer, then we need to talk about some real special people. The last thing we need is an internal disaster resulting from this “fix”. Arming school administrators and teachers – sorry – that is another disaster waiting to happen. Pretty sad this is even a topic we need to discuss.
Violence in the movies and in video games – nice, easy target but if we again use common sense, the US isn’t the only country with violent movies and video games. Take a look at Japan – not without violent movies and definitely not without violent video games – take a look at their murder rate. Is the amount of violence a problem? I think there is something wrong here but focusing on this area isn’t going to get the desired results.
Taking religion out of schools – Mike Huckabee, a man who never saw a barbecue he didn’t like, was quick to jump to this one. Not much to say other than “what an asshole”.

Dora has more to her than I would have thought!

End of the day, as President Obama has said, because the problem is too complex isn’t a reason not to do something. If we can save one life, it is a start and an action worth taking.

Looking ahead I expect there is much more to rant about and I expect 2013 will offer plenty of fodder to continue my blog. Speaking of fodder, how about that Congress?

At least there is one thing on which we can all agree!

Happy New Year to all. Here’s to a great 2013 for everyone. A little peace and prosperity for all.

Dec 18 2012

Take Action: Petition to remove Westboro Baptist Church from Tax-Exempt Status

Credit: cheezburger.com

While it is the right of any organization to stand up and show the world how degenerate and despicable they are, as the group Anonymous takes their action against the Westboro Baptist Church, we ordinary citizens can also step up and make our voices heard. There is now an open petition to have the Westboro Baptist Church recognized as a hate group and to have them removed from their designation as a tax-exempt organization. I, for one, would prefer that my tax dollars (indirectly or not) are not somehow supporting an organization so heinous the people running it should be sub-human.

An action which you could consider is to not only sign the petition yourself but to also spread the word on the petition that has been started to attempt to get the religious designation the Westboro Baptist Church has that keeps it from paying any taxes. The current petition of the White House has more than 175,000 signatures, and asks the government to “legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.” Whether this will ultimately result in a decision to remove the church from its tax-exempt status is far from a given, this is one small step we can take to make it clear we really see what this organization is about.

The petition is located at:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/legally-recognize-westboro-baptist-church-hate-group/DYf3pH2d

The White House petition reads:

“[Westboro’s] actions have been directed at many groups, including homosexuals, military, Jewish people and even other Christians. They pose a threat to the welfare and treatment of others and will not improve without some form of imposed regulation.”

Dec 14 2012

NRA – What is your rationale this time around?

Here it is again. This time in Connecticut – 26 people, 20 of them young children killed by some idiot who was only powerful because he had a gun. A gun that can kill another person without thought and without consequence. Just days ago, in Oregon, another killer who chose to walk into a mall and just take out two people he didn’t know. Again a gun – this time one he apparently stole but again, an individual who was nothing without the feel of cold steel and mayhem in his hands.

We will again hear the rhetoric and the utter bullshit from the NRA and those staunch believers that it isn’t the gun that kills – it is the person. Tell that to the parents of one of the 1st graders who will not wake up on Christmas morning in a little over a week. Tell that to the spouse of one of the people killed in the mall in Oregon who now gets to face raising a family as a single head of household. Let’s here about the fact that the individual who kills with a gun has something wrong with them and they would kill even without a gun. Nice try – I would submit that without a gun available to the cretin who killed children today in Newtown would not have 27 notches on his belt.

Lest we forget, this is just one more tragedy in a year that has seen this happen more than I think I’ve ever seen it happen before. A quick look back thru the postings I’ve made this year shows me that this is the 3rd or 4th time I’ve commented on this same sort of tragedy. Different day, different place, different number of deaths but at the end of it, people dead because someone had a gun.

Is this time for a debate about gun control? Not really – it is time to actually think and understand what is really important today in society. It is time to move beyond politics. Maybe it is time to think about protecting the rights and lives of the masses rather than focusing so much on the rights of the individual. Of course you diehard NRA dimwits won’t see it. While I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, I’d like to have the conversation with you right after you got the call it was your child, your spouse, your grandchild – someone very important to you was one of the victims. Maybe your cold and selfish heart would open a wee bit and maybe you would look beyond your own need for once. And maybe I would tell you I told you so.

In the meantime, the rest of you who maintain your total anti-gun control stance – take a moment and think about those 25 or so families whose lives will never be the same again because of the power of your lobby. Way to go….

notthebestoftimes…

And it is getting worse – time to get our collective head out of our ass

Stupid is as Stupid does…