Friday, December 14, 2012

14 December 2012 Inquisition or witch-hunt



“…Thursday’s humiliating denouement fooled no one who has been around Washington for more than a minute and a half. If the president wanted Rice, her withdrawal never would have been accepted.
It never should have been allowed to come to this. On that score, Mr. President, as you say, I’ve got a problem with you.
It never should have been allowed to come to this.”

Cassi Creek:  Marcus is right!
          This demonstration of political bullying should never have taken place.  The choice of cabinet officials does not reside in the out of power party.  The long and short is that Rice, by virtue of gender and race, yet another reminder to the GOP/teavangelists that they lost the election; has become a unwilling participant in a witch hunt.  The GOP/teavangelists are looking for anything at all that they might be able to use in trying to impeach Obama.  This seems to be the pattern since the Clinton era.  If you lose, impeach or try to.  It is time for this idiocy to stop. 

          Connecticut grade school shooting. 
          This is the third high profile shooting within the last 14 days, carried out with assault style weapons or with high capacity handguns.  Motives remain uncertain.  Fatalities have occurred with each of the three incidents. 
          The NRA will go into full defensive mode.  “If more people were armed they might have prevented as many injuries or deaths by taking out the shooter.”  Yet the thought of a bunch of would-be commandos shooting at who they may think is the initial shooter is more frightening than the thought of a single shooter such as the 22 year old in Oregon or the Aurora gunman. 
          The sale of guns will mushroom over the holidays.  We’ll watch as self-proclaimed Christians celebrate the mythical birth of the “prince of peace” by giving guns as gifts.  The local newspaper has been running ads for gun sales all month.  My morning hiking partner is a 2nd amendment voter.  He makes his living selling hand-made handgun holsters.  They’re quite good, very durable, I own two of them. 
          I’m caught on the horns of this dilemma.  I’m writing this with two rifles and a shotgun within 3 feet of my desk.  I have a concealed carry permit, as does Gloria.  I don’t expect to ever have to defend us or our home with firearms.  I hate the thought of such an event.  Yet, if it were necessary, I have no doubt I would be capable of doing so. 
          I’ve been trained to use a rifle, shotgun, and handgun by military and NRA instructors.  I know about target identification, and about the need to avoid shooting at anyone who is not a threat.  That means, if I should wind up in the conventional mythical convenience store/gas station/grocery store/theater/school, along with a dozen other people carrying a concealed weapon, I must first determine who is unarmed, who is armed, then which armed people are actually the initial dangers.   By the time I secure my own safety, the initial shooters will have had several seconds to keep shooting.  I will have to be concerned about bullets coming from all directions. The smartest thing I can do is to wait for a break in the gunfire and further my escape.  By that time, the poorly trained or untrained concealed carriers will likely be adding their contributions to the bullets flying about. 
          I disagree with the NRA on almost everything.  No one needs an assault rifle to hunt game.  No one needs to own a machine gun or fully automatic rifle/machine pistol.  No one needs thirty round magazines for handguns.  No one needs to be able to buy multiple guns per day.  Gun shows need to close the loopholes that let people buy and sell firearms with no records and no background checks. 
          We don’t need the NRA lobbying for any of those things.  We don’t need the NRA scaring people into buying more guns to “prevent Obama taking your guns.”  We don’t need vigilantes, middle-aged militias, and people with a pathologic loss of contact with reality planning to “retake the government and country from “Those people”.”
          There is a place for the NRA.  They have excellent hunter and gun safety classes.  One of those classes should be a requirement for any gun purchase. 
          We still have two weeks to go in December.  How many more victims will we ring up before we ring in  2013?

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