By Catherine Haig.
On November 6 2012, America re elected President of the United States (POTUS) Obama for his 2nd term in office by an overwhelming margin, across party lines, cultures, race, creed, sexual preferences and age. Not just the 18-30 set this time around; most everyone I spoke to days before the election were my age or older. The reason they were voting for Obama is because they feared what the tyrannical right had in store for America in the embodiment of a billionaire capitalist named MITT ROMNEY. He kept dodging questions with regards to his paying taxes and releasing information that enables the public to learn more about the man who would be hired for the most important job on the planet.
Since Mitt Romney’s failure to become POTUS, he and his family have renounced any further public work, telling the world they were not serious about running for the office of President (thank the heavens he wasn’t elected!) He promptly went back to work in the rich private sector for a large hotel chain. This happened after POTUS Obama had a meeting with him and offered him a job. Since the beginning of 2013 the man MITT ROMNEY was has not resurfaced and I wager he won’t but his money is backing any and all of the Republican, Tea Party fanatics in and outside of Congress. This is another reason we need to get rid of all the Conservative Republican Tea Party Poopers who cannot compromise with our present White House Administration.
Never in the history of America has one President been so demeaned by so many hired hands (government officials). The devastated masses that incorporate the Republican/Tea Party/Conservative/Gun Toting members were so chest fallen when Romney lost the Presidency they have still not recovered the loss. During the days following the election there were rumblings of disgruntled states in America threatening succession, sounds of daily howling wafting off Fox News Channel and their shows, dismay and the end of the world sightings on the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck shows and numerous Republican House Representatives declaring Obama a socialist. Billionaire Real Estate mogul, Donald Trump was less than happy with the Republican failure to overthrow “socialist” Obama and “allow” him to regain his Presidency. Liberal and Progressive eye rolls were rampant and bloggers for and against Republicans spewing their nonsense clogged the internet. I know. I was one of them. I have since retreated to the boundaries of my WordPress blog and others of whom I am an invited guest because trying to brave the stupidity of the right is too much to bear for just one person.
Then on December 14 2012 life changed drastically for a town in Connecticut. One week before Christmas. Life changed for the rest of the world on that day too. In the early morning in Newtown, CT 20 year-old, ADAM LANZA killed his mother with one of her assault rifles while she slept because he was furious that she was planning on institutionalizing him. He drove her car to the school he used to attend when he was a teen forcing his way inside to shoot 20 children between the ages of 6-7 years old and four of their teachers, the principal and the psych councilor. They all died and then he committed suicide when first responders arrived to capture him. This tragic set of events drove the nail into the coffin of our already decaying Gun Laws which have been overdue for revision. As the ordinary citizen called for the end to the gun violence; the call to end the 2nd Amendment set off a typhoon of crazy men screaming and yelling about their right “to bear arms”. However, no where in our constitution does it say Americans have the right to use ASSAULT WEAPONS which is mainly used by military and police, which I also think should be done away with. Our Military would need these weapons in time of war although I hate the idea of war and disagree that war is a necessary evil for the world in the 21st Century. But for local and state Police to have the use of these guns is ridiculous. These assault rifles can take out many people with a few shots. Why would our police need that kind of excessive force don’t they already have too much power? What is good for me should be good for our public servants after all we hired them and pay their salaries to help protect us. These assault rifles should be banned from anyone using them because the only thing they are used for is rapid mass killing of people.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) was mum on the events that went down at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec 14. They said not a word for one whole week until their CEO, WAYNE LaPIERRE came out and told the world boastfully “we have 100,000 new members since the shooting” and on top of that statement 500 more shootings have been reported since Dec 14 2012 and counting. On the PIERS MORGAN CNN TV show members of gun groups were livid when Piers came out against guns and more for banning of them or at least enforcing gun control laws that have never been enacted by congress. That is when conspiracy theory cable host ALEX JONES started a petition that landed on the White House site with thousands of signatures to have Piers Morgan deported back to England just for his opinion. The White House tossed the petition saying it fell under the guidelines of FREEDOM OF SPEECH…the 1ST AMENDMENT of our constitution. Imagine people signing this ridiculous petition to have a man ousted from our country because he has an opinion that is the polar opposite of someone else’s? Imagine how screwed our world would be if everyone looked the same, wore the same things, held the same opinion. In Germany that kind of thing was called patriotic; in America we call it NOT SEE. 🙂
Granted our constitution is old and out of touch with modern times but that is why we have amendments to bring it into, at least, the 20th century. Earlier this week it was reported by every conservative or Republican newspaper, blog or pundit that Vice POTUS JOE BIDEN told the media that POTUS Obama was considering using Executive Order to override Congress to pass a gun ban. No where did I see in my research where Liberal or Progressive sites online or on Television or magazine or newspaper say this same thing but it was all over the republican sites. Seemingly in answer to this factitious Obama “threat” came a vicious video response from one CEO from a company in Tennassee named JAMES YEAGER, who threatened to start world war 3 (I believe he meant another CIVIL WAR) urging “patriots” to grab your bag of ammo and guns and start fighting. He called POTUS Obama a dictator and said he would start killing people if his guns were taken away. This is seriously treason against the United States and its people and sure you may have a strong opinion about guns or gun control but to take a video of it and consciously place it on YOU TUBE is a recipe for disaster. I know the Federal Government is sending FBI to this dude’s house – that’s a given – but he may go to jail because of this and will it be worth it? I don’t think so. The song by The Beatles “Happiness is a Warm Gun” is NOT about guns-it’s a song about drugs. When did Republicans loose their way?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/10/unhinged-tactical-response-ceo-threatens-to-start-killing-people-over-obamas-gun-control/ re: James Yeager video rant – check it out!
Many people in America are so adamant against guns that hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions which have been sent to the White House and they ARE taking notice. The President has been asking a deaf Congress to enforce the rules we already have in place for gun control but because guns are such big American business these laws are widely being ignored. Meanwhile the NRA is busy trying to get Congress to pass new gun laws that would give teachers guns to protect their students in every school. Their stance is “more guns; less death” which I believe is the opposite to what would happen if everyone in schools were armed to the teeth; there would be no one left to tell the world what happened.
There was yet another school shooting on 1/10/13 Thursday in Taft, California and their “armed guard” was not there to protect the students. This guard is always armed but if he had been there the results may have been more deadly. As it was the student had a rifle – not an assault weapon but still a weapon – that he shot two kids with; one is injured and the other is stable but critical in hospital. Two administrators were able to talk him down until police could take him into custody while ushering the rest of the school body out to the football field saving them from harm.
At the same time the Taft California shooting was taking place; Veep BIDEN and NRA CEO LaPIERRE were meeting at the White House about gun control but this shooting did not deter LaPierre and he fought tooth and nail for his organizations right to uphold the 2nd Amendment no matter what else happens. LaPierre believes that people should be allowed ownership of guns in America and that it is a right. The NRA is a lobby group much like the many pharmacological companies who lobby for drug sales and trials and fete the Congress members richly so they vote in their favor over the wants and needs of the regular citizen who pay Congress their salaries. Americans need to rid our country of these special interest groups that give our Congress money for favors. Most times in Washington DC our Junior Senators and House Reps go into congress poor as church mice and retire as millionaires or billionaires from doing the bidding of these lobbyists and NOT the bidding of the People.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/nra-gun-control-firearms-industry-ties_n_2434142.html – (NRA Gun Control Crusade Reflects Firearms Indsutry Financial l Ties)
If you check out the NRA internet site (NRA site http://home.nra.org/#/nraorg) they are talking about a lot of misinformation from the left but in truth America is not leading the world in the killing of people by guns. However not many people around the world own and use Assault Rifles. Not many people can easily buy guns like we do in America and in some states it’s easier to buy guns and alcohol but not beer. In America, Guns are the extension of male dominance over other species and the idea of taking their guns away injects a fear of being unprotected. It is something incomprehensible to people who have never fired a weapon or have any use for guns in their lives.
Another fantastic example of special interest groups swaying our congress away from the needs of the people is the non-profit organization “Americans for Tax Reform”. This non-profit is run by Conservative Libertarian lobbyist GROVER NORQUIST who demands that all Republican Senate & House members sign a pledge to NOT raise ANY TAXES on ANYONE. Since its rollout with the endorsement of President Reagan in 1986, the signing of the pledge has become mandatory for Republicans seeking office, and is a necessity for Democrats running in Republican districts. Why should our congress be shackled by a pledge that binds their hands? After all without taxes being raised we won’t be able to close the trillions of dollars we have in deficit that pushed America into the red when George W. Bush (jr) stole the presidency for 8 years. The Tax situation in the United States is uneven with middle class and the working class paying more Federal taxes than the rich 1% of people. There are two sure things in our lives; death and taxes but for the taxes to be so disproportional is unfair. Why should I pay 27% tax when billionaires and multi-millionaires pay between 10-15% annually? That’s nuts!
Check the link for more info: http://www.atr.org/taxpayer-protection-pledge
In the last 2 years the 112th Congress has not been able to compromise with POTUS Obama on almost ever issue and the Speaker of the House JOHN BOEHNER is too busy crying over stupid issues like “the America that used to be”. He refuses to speak to POTUS and relay the info to his members in the house and it’s all due to racism and a complete disregard for our first Black President. Never in the history of America has any president been so hated by other members of government who refuse to work with President Obama because they cannot believe he is an elected official. There is also a large majority of our more conservative citizens in radical right southern states who continue to re-elected these terrible representatives again and again which is unproductive as they tend not to compromise on issues. It becomes THEIR WAY or THE HIGHWAY and in turn these ridiculous representatives re elect the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, who’s poll rating are in the low digits after doing absolutely nothing to work with POTUS Obama on many of the important issues of the day. These Conservative Republican/Tea Party members have elected to commit political suicide with their constitutents instead of performing the duties they were hired to do. There is nothing the US voters can do to impeach the Speaker of the House; only House members can do that but as voters we can vote the representatives out office. The problem with doing that is the “gerrymandering of the congress”. The definition of GERRYMANDERING is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan or incumbent-protected districts. The resulting district is known as a gerrymander(/ˈɡɛrimændər/, alt. /ˈdʒɛriˌmændər/); however, that word can also refer to the process. The word gerrymander (originally written Gerry-mander) was used for the first time in the Boston Gazette on March 26, 1812. The word was created in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under the then-governor Elbridge Gerry. In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party. When mapped, one of the contorted districts in the Boston area was said to resemble the shape of a salamander. The term was a blending of the governor’s last name and the word salamander. This process holds true in today’s America and one of the principal points of why these bible pounding so-called Christian Right Winged Conservatives retain their political seats in Congress. This is one of the processes America must change about our system of government.
The problem concerning guns is two fold. Congress has got to stop accepting money from gun lobbyists and do their job for the people and put into place and enforce gun control laws. Parents have to be more vigilant concerning their children and their access to guns. Apparently the TAFT shooter was bullied and this is a constant problem in public high schools all over America and must be addressed by all the Parent Teacher Organizations (PTO) around the country. It is imperative that as responsible parents, we teach our children that being a bully does not pay and has consequences for those who would bully others. All of these shootings should also hold the parents responsible for their children’s actions and if that were to happen and parents were put on trial and sent to jail – shootings would become less and less because parents would become more vigilant.
It is wrong for society to put the burden of parental duties on teachers and teaching staff as they have more important things to do like teaching our kids their lessons so they can become productive citizens once they go out into the world. We no longer live in the wild wild west; our cities and towns are brimming with people living on top and to the sides of each other layer over layer and guns just don’t fit into our normal everyday lives nor, in my opinion, are they even a necessity.
