Another school shooting. Eight miles from Columbine. Ten miles from Aurora.
What a sick society. What a tragically ignorant society. One that deludes itself into thinking that, in attempting to found a democratic republic, the framers of its constitution somehow intended to invent an inherent human "right" to bear lethal arms. One that shrugs and tolerates carrying firearms into schools a year after the callous slaughter of 7- and 8-year-olds in a grammar school. One whose bloody history records thousands of killings of fellow mortals by gunslingimng vermin somehow transmogrified into "heroes" of our past. One that willingly finances massive lobbying of corrupt elected officials to sustain a brotherhood of beer-swilling bubbas with shotgun racks on their pick-up trucks who insist that guns don't kill, people kill, and that THEIR rights are guaranteed by Smith & Wesson.
What infantile madness! Our intimidated media respond to events like the school shooting in Littleton the other day by reviving the myth of a national "debate" about gun control, by giving equal weight to the reactions of, say, Wayne LaPierre and Gabby Giffords. What garbage!
Nothing. Nothing. NOTHING in a modern civilized society justifies the possession of lethal arms by anyone who is not part of a legitimate, controlled police organization or of the military. There is no debate. This is a moral absolute. When it comes to årms, Wayne LaPierre is a bloated bag of bovine excrement. Gabby Giffords is a lucky survivor of a mindless, moronic, vile shooting by someone who should never have been allowed to have a gun, and she speaks from the deep, deep pain of having her career and nearly her life ended because of the cowardice of those who should be making laws against the possession of firearms.
Don't give me the responsible hunters and sportsmen bullshit. Nobody in these United States needs to hunt to put food on the table. Population, profiteering and political patronage have reduced the acreage in which game can be safely hunted in this country to to a paltry few plots of public land that must, by law and by reason, be shared with a host of other users with equal rights to its use, without risking their lives in a barrage of quail season, or deer season, or whatever season gunfire.
No society respectful of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by every single one of its citizens can reasonably tolerate the "right" of some of its citizens to possess the means of assassinating others.
Is it any wonder that in a country with such an insane gun culture, " we the people" are unable to find solutions to hunger, racism, war mongering, inequality, ignorance, unemployment, sickness, death, pollution, pestilence, intolerance, bullying, deceit, thievery . . . . all of which, like the myth of the "right" to bear arms, are part of the American Way.
Ready. Aim . . . . . .
Great post, Pianist! Paramount among these demented extremist's motives to lustily embrace their Smith & Wessons, Glocks, etc.against seizure is their ultimate right to protect us against an increasingly oppressive government and its encroachment upon rights guaranteed us under the Constitution. Ironic, in that in their lust for their guns and stockpiles of ammo, thousands die while their f**king other "guaranteed" rights to privacy, assembly, speech, etc., etc. are being increasingly seized DAILY, making their efforts to defend against the malignant growth of tyranny pathetically laughable. Tyranny that with a simple push of a drone strike button can take out a wedding party over there, or will likely take out any number of these poor, ignorant bastards here. Viva your Remingtons! May they save us all!! (While sacrificing any number of children or other innocents of us daily.)
ReplyDeleteWhile defending their right to keep their peashooters, they have lost a nation.
Great comment, artist! Precious little remains of those precious other rights -- and the silencve is deafening.
ReplyDeleteMost every gun killing of late has been to despondent individuals that have a history of violent video game usage and they have for a period of time in their life been on Ritalin or other behavior modification drugs. Additionally the media has sensationalized their violent crimes so that copy-cat behavior is looked upon somewhat like martyrdom where the shooter feels in some sick way, that their life had a purpose.
ReplyDeleteDo you advocate eliminating all usage of cigarettes, marijuana, cigars, etc. in our country due to the high incidence of tobacco related illnesses that drive up our medical care costs due to cancer, COPD, and the like? Not to mention second hand smoke that effects those of us that due not smoke?
Do you advocate taking away all liquor in our country because there are some people that are addicted to alcohol and lead to an astronomical loss of life and injury via motor vehicle accidents?
As for guns, I do not understand a person wanting or needing an assault rifle. Obviously when our Constitution was written, no one had any idea that there would be anything but flintlocks. Regardless it must be emphasized that gun ownership is protected by the Constitution.
As a generalized statement:
1) It is not the tobacco farmers or RJR that causes lung cancer, it is the smoker
2) It is not the bottle of liquor that causes alcoholism, cirrhosis of the liver, or many of the other complications. It is the one that abuses the liquor.
3) It is not the gun that kills, it is the person that pulls the trigger.
So whether the person lifts the cancer stick to his/her mouth and breathes the smoke into the air causing carcinogens that effect every one else, lifts a bottle to their mouth and gets behind the wheel of a vehicle and injures/kills someone, or pulls the trigger on a gun and kills/injures someone…….in all these instances, they should be held equally accountable for THEIR OWN ACTIONS!