of COURSE it’s not partisan — the republicans are simply shitting themselves over the sotomayor nomination because they really, really have a problem with her vis-a-vis the second amendment: the right to bear arms.
it’s not because she’s a liberal. it’s not because she’s a latina. it’s not because obama nominated her and any nominee he likes will not sit right with them.
let’s pretend, for a moment, that all of the above is true.
why is the right to bear arms so important? when the constitution was drawn up – hundreds of years ago by back-room politicians (likely not so different from the politicians of today) who rode in horse-and-buggies, wore curly bug-infested white wigs above their knickers and considered telegrams state-of-the-art – it was thought that ensuring the citizens’ right to own guns would keep the government honest: if we don’t like what you do, we’ll have another revolution.
no one is naive (or stupid) enough t0 believe that in this century we can take our rifles and our .57 magnums (or, for that matter, our assault weapons) out in the street and successfully overthrow the government. there were no fighter jets, tanks, land mines, atomic bombs, missile launchers, supermax prisons etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum ad infinitum when the constitution was created. the entire ground on which that amendment sits no longer exists.
here’s what’s really at stake: the republicans need guns in order to shoot doctors who perform abortions in the name of the sanctity of life.
got that? murder in the service of life. saving unwanted babies that republicans wouldn’t spend three cents on once they got born. they’d just point their bony white fingers at an overlarge family living well below the poverty line and say look at “those people” how they have no discipline.
planned parenthood is painfully eloquent in its open letter concerning the murder of dr. tiller:
…we ask you to recognize women’s health care for what it is — a necessary part of life itself. We urge you to work with us to achieve full equality for women, which includes the fundamental right to privacy and the right to make decisions about having a family.
We, who add our names to this letter, are striving for the day when doctors can provide women’s health care without threat of violence and women can enter clinics without fear of harassment.
And surely, we can do so without resorting to the murder of a physician on a Sunday morning in his house of worship.
in 2006, more than 30,000 americans were shot to death. only about a third of those were intentional, which puts the lie to that old saw that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” — sorry, but guns DO kill people. they fall off shelves and shoot toddlers in the head.
conservative republicans — and their guns — are the worst disease this country has. to them we owe the wall street fiasco, gitmo, approved waterboarding, suppression of stem cell research that could already have prevented thousands of painful deaths. these are the people who want to listen — who have HAD their minions listening — to your phone calls.
sleep tight.
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{ 8 comments }
I agree, guns kill people. I remember the stories growing up about the boyfriend who would get shot by the dad while serenading/etc the daughter, you know, mistaken for a burglar or killer. Guns are like an insurance that you don’t have to notice your own vulnerability.
I also agree, the Second Amendment does not feel like a fundamental human right but a dangerous and pig headed anachronism.
There is much to ‘get angry with you’ in this blog, and I consider it the best one of yours to date. You made valid points, did your homework, and backed it up with real statistics. As far as I am concerned, you have sparked some serious conversation at many a tale tomorrow. And that is what it’s all about. I hate guns, I have never wanted one in my house for protection (how many have died when their own guns were used against them?) I do realize criminals will get their hands on them regardless. *In my own town last year a 12 year old boy was shot to death by another 12 year old boy who picked up his fathers gun (He had 112 in the house where this boy lived with his father and grandmother- apparently a ‘collector’) and did not realize it was loaded. Gun went off—and you guessed it, one boy is dead, and another was put in juvenile, so he has essentially been killed off (he’d already lost his mother, now he loses his gran- but I could care less about his arse hole of a father). Two families destroyed by a gun because this man had a ‘right’ to bear arms.
Trouble is, both sides tend to speak of extremes: no guns or all guns. Let scholars and lawyers debate the 2nd Amendment, but let local communities regulate gun ownership. In rural areas, where hunting is popular, allow rifle ownership; in NYC, put tough restrictions on handgun ownership. But ban automatic weapons nationwide, because they are the weapons of choice for mass killers (Va Tech, Columbine, Binghamton, etc.) and they give criminals the advantage over police in shootouts.
Personally, I would not enter a state, like Texas, where it’s legal to pack a gun on the street, so if some fool doesn’t like the way you look, he can shoot and kill you with pretty good odds that no jury will convict him.
To follow up on George, I think it is safer overall to have open-carry rather than concealed be the norm. I like to see in plain sight who the lunatics are.
Speaking of lunatics, I once saw a Hell’s Angel packing a gun in one holster and a cell phone in the other. If I didn’t laugh, I’d cry.
Alright, I’m conservative and I buy guns to piss off liberals; I have 24 total, and haven’t hunted in years. These anti-gun/ second amendment tree huggers piss me off, but no matter what they do, they can’t take the guns I already have. Call me stupid if you like, but be aware of those pitch fork willding men who call themselves patriots(militia); as we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, the less superior, less funded, less organized, guerillas can put up a hell of a fight. They have kept the all might U.S. military at bay because they believe in a cause and they believe inthemselves. The liberal americans would rather give in and quit then stand up and fight; remember, we are no longer a nation of men, we are a nation oc cowards!! Men aren’t real men anymore, they’re sissys. The day the government takes away the basic human right of defending ourselves is the day the country burns. Nobody is responsible for my safety but me, and yes, not even the government. I lived and come from a communist country and that’s exactly where your President Barack Hussein Obama is taking this nation. Hope I didn’t affend anyone, if I did get over it you soft eared, anti freedom of speech sheep. Fall into the hurd of other silenced, disarmed, and government assisted individuals. I will keep my guns and religion, you can keep your change.
Lets see, Motor vehicle deaths account for over 45,000 deaths annualy, accidental drownings account for over 3,000 deaths annualy, nearly 1,000 work related deaths occur every year, the list goes on. I have an idea, let’s ban swimming pools and the individuals right to own and drive a car, maybe the government can drive me to and from point A-B. Oh, and why we’re at it, lets ban work as well; I think the government should take care of all of us. If you are hinting at banning guns because people use them to commit suicide/ homicide and accidentally shoot themselves or others, you are insane. Quit making excuses, it’s time for people to become more responsible and be held accountable for their actions.
Why is James so angry? Does he think this blog is called “getangryAtme”?
The only way to delay a modern gov’t putsch against its citizens would be thru insurgency, so he’d be better off learning how to make a molotov cocktail or other IED and storing the equipment for it and getting a shoulder-fired missile launcher. Owning 24 guns is redundant: he can’t fire them all at once. In Iraq & Afghanistan, the insurgents have an edge because they love their country and are defending it against an invader (see Vietnam), and they know their terrain intimately. No invader has ever conquered Afghanistan, and neither will the US. But how long does James think he and the militias, guns or no guns, would last against an all-out assault by the US Army & Marines, who also love their country and know its terrain?
This whole discussion is skewed and as usual, getting thrown up again party line politics. It is false to believe that only republicans want and do own weapons. It is a false premise to believe or advocate that only hunters should own weapons and that, only for the purpose of hunting/sport shooting. It is naive to believe that citizens can always rely on the police to protect them from outlaws wielding illegal weapons that effectively are not subject to any gun laws.
In my home state of Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, the majority party is the Democratic. And many of my friends had/own guns…both for hunting and for self protection.
I wonder what is it that members of the DEMOCRATIC party love their guns, as well.
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