Stopping blood

I've hunted and killed animals.  And I have enjoyed both activities, even when I didn't even get to see a deer let alone take aim at one.  I don't do those things anymore, but I don't begrudge anybody their right to do the same, nor their right to own and use the weapons which allow them that opportunity.

Still, enough is enough.

The majority of firearm deaths and injuries occur in cases where victims know the person who shot them, and a large portion of those are relatives.

I wish people would actually read the entire 2nd amendment.  It says a well-regulated militia is necessary.  Now you can argue all you want that the populace is what comprises the militia, but the truth is, today, we have the largest and most advanced military in the world, and, along with police departments, they are pretty damned well-trained.  You can also argue that the military is different from the militia, but the key phrase remains "well regulated." 

Right now the populace is not, despite what the NRA and the "pry it from my cold dead hands" crowd say, well regulated and certainly not disciplined or trained.  There is absolutely no reason private citizens need clips larger than ten shells.  There is absolutely no reason private citizens need assault rifles that are solely designed to kill people in a random fashion rather than actually aiming at a target.  There is absolutely no reason that gun shows should be allowed to sell weapons or ammunition without a stringent background check and waiting period.  Will this stop the flow of illegal guns to criminals?  Probably not much, but it will decrease the easy access to weapons to the people who do the majority of killing in this country, namely the people you know.

The recent school shooting in Connecticut, the theater shooting in Colorado, the shopping mall shooting in Arizona have all cost lives.   By most accounts, young men with mental problems were the killers.   By most accounts, they purchased high capacity weapons legally and with relative ease. 

Probably Congress will do little if anything to stem this tide of violence.  Oh sure, they will wring their hands decrying the fate of so many lives cut short.  Collectively as a nation we will also wring our hands.  Some will demand that something, anything be done. 

But like so often before, nothing will change.  Already, as Christmas Day approaches, the hue and cry for gun control is fading in the noise of the Fiscal Cliff. 

We are much to blame ourselves, I think.  We watch with horror at the outrage of murder, yet death comprises our most popular television and film.  Our children double tap the zombies in video games.  We become fascinated with the 24 hour coverage of death and put another pork chop in our mouths.

Vote for someone, not against someone

Since Barack Obama took his oath of office:

• The Stock market is almost doubled. 
• Although it could be better, the unemployment rate is lower.
• The deficit spending is actually down .1 trillion dollars.
• Veterans’ benefits have been increased.
• Counselors and mental health specialists have been added to the VA and have reduced the suicide rate for our veterans.
• You can get insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions.
• FEMA is at work already helping victims of Sandy.
• Jeep is NOT, despite the continuous lying of Romney, shipping jobs overseas.
• Government jobs have been reduced by over 500000
• Private jobs have been added to the tune of 5 million.
• The Lilly Ledbetter Act helps improve the ability of women to get equal pay for equal work.
• Oil imports have been decreased.
• Our auto manufacturers are thriving.
• Osama bin Laden is dead.
• The respect of the United States globally has improved greatly.
• Average hourly wages have risen by almost two dollars and hour.
• Our men and women have come home from Iraq.
• Our men and women will be coming home from Afghanistan.
• As Barry Goldwater once said, “It doesn’t matter if a person is straight.  The question is whether they can shoot straight.  Now gay men and women can openly serve the country they love just as much as the rest of us.
• No new gun legislation has been passed or even introduced.  No one is proposing any either.

So when Mitt Romney says that this President has been a failure, or when any of his supporters say that this President has been a failure, I have to look at them and say, “How?”  When they say Obama is destroying the American way of life, I have to look at them and say, “How?”  When they say Obama is violating the Constitution, I have to look at them and say, “Which parts?”

Yes, the recovery has been slow, but for god sakes, the country was in near shambles.  It took nearly a decade to get into trouble, and people expect miracles to happen overnight?  Heck, even Romney said it would take 8-10 years to make a full recovery.  Most economists say that the 12 million jobs Romney claims he will create would be created anyway.  Jobs are the last thing to go in a recession and the last thing to come back in any recovery, yet people are buying into a snake oil fantasy that things will get better right away.

Many supporters of Romney are good Christian people, but I don’t see much of anything in Romney’s plans that fulfill the social justice doctrine of the New Testament.

So it seems to me that many of Romney’s supporters are voting not for Romney, but rather against Obama.  To me their motives are not based not on real adherence to the Romney plan, but rather on blind hatred of the President.  When people show up at rallies wearing t-shirts that read, “Put the White back in the White House,” they are not voting for Romney.  When they show up with signs saying, “Send the nigger back to Kenya,” they are not voting for Romney.  When they continue to ignore fact checking, they are not voting for Romney.  When the campaign itself ignores that same fact checking, it is clear that they too are not truly for Romney and are solely driven by the same motives as his supporters.

Obama has accomplished much in his first term, and could have probably done more if the GOP congress had not viewed compromise as a dirty word.  He has earned a second term.