In the wake of the shootings.

Let’s get real here. All the conservatives are up on their soap boxes yelling 2nd amendment at the tops of their lungs after the deaths of these children, some started before the bodies even had a chance to cool off. But if I chime in with my opinion I am being insensitive to the victims by politicizing this event. The same asshats, who screamed Benghazi at us for months now, have a moral compass on how to treat death in a political environment? How long are we going to let these people hide behind their fake security blanket while lives are being lost? And I mean security blanket because that’s what it is; it’s nothing more secure than a blanket. It offers no more protection than the TSA does at the airport doing random searches of dark skinned minorities and the occasional Grandma to piss people off. It’s an illusion of security and while the TSA has yet to find a single terrorist, the right to easily purchase assault weapons has saved no lives, NONE.


I understand their view, we need to be able to protect ourselves, and the 2nd amendment includes protection even from our own government. Now here is where the reality needs to set in. Do we have the right to unmanned armed aerial drones, GPS guided missiles, heavy artillery, military aircraft, aircraft carriers, high flying surveillance aircraft and satellites, and nuclear submarines? Do we have the ability to turn off the global GPS system with the flip of the switch, direct EMP pulses to disable the electric grid, switch off the internet at the sign of threat? No, we don’t have any of those things as individuals, these things are left in the hands of our military. I know the thinking is that “something” is better than “nothing”, but the truth is that if it came down to it, even if every person in the USA had access to an assault rifle the government could easily shut down any resistance, if it wanted to, in no time at all. They have had this ability for some time now and here we are as a nation still clinging to our weapons so we won’t be left just sucking our thumbs in comfort.

Ironically it’s the same republicans that want to spend trillions more on our military, who want to let us keep our assault rifles. Therein lays the problem, if they really want us to have protection from our own government then why are they pushing to expand its power in the first place? We already spend 3 times the budget of the next most powerful military. We spend more on it than the next 9 countries combined. I think a powerful military is great, keeps other countries on their toes but if you think you and your AR15 are going to save your town from a tyrannical U.S.A. dictator (which is what conservatives seem to truly think Obama is) then you are lying to yourself. It’s a joke, except for the fact it’s just sad.

We need to rethink our system and come up with a series of regulations to combat these problems. I know statistically that my chances of dying from a gun wound are slim to none, but the chances of dying from a terrorist attack are even less, by a huge margin. You are more likely to die from hurrying down the stairs, driving a car, visiting a hospital and walking through the woods then being attacked by a terrorist. But that didn’t stop us from starting 2 long expensive wars and creating the useless TSA, which is a violation of our rights in its own regard.

We need to fix the system we have of purchasing guns, if it inconveniences a few rednecks I’m not sorry. Because if it saves at least one child’s life then it is worth it, wait in line for your mental health check Billy Bob. We all saw you tweeting about how the president and Democrats should be killed after he was elected, now get the hell out of here and hand over the rest of the guns you have you lunatic! No offense to any Billy Bobs out there who actually have half a brain. I would love to start getting calls from my local authorities doing background checks asking me questions on my buddies and neighbors and if I thought they were mentally inept and should own an assault rifle. The burden of proof should be on us to prove if thought they shouldn’t own such a weapon, I couldn’t say my neighbor couldn’t have one because his dog barks nonstop all night and that he sometimes leaves his trash bins out after the dump truck leaves. It would have to be legit, with documentation or eyewitness accounts to block his eligibility. This is what I consider common sense gun laws, nobody is controlling our weapons, we just need to keep them out of certain people’s hands. I think if you want to purchase an assault weapon you should have to provide proof they will be locked up securely to a set standard, they should know who else will have access to these weapons. All this with a basic background check, and mental health check would be leaps and bounds ahead of what we have going on right now. Will it stop all the killings, of course not, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Inactivity has done nothing for us so far and we should at least try to do something.

Democratic Apocalypse.

The old America is dying! All our traditional values, theology, and way of life are gone! So what, am I supposed to cry about it? And, who gave the republicans the copyright to the American image? The reality is that the definition of what it means to be an American is always changing. Every generation gets the opportunity to re-invent itself, prioritize its values the way it sees fit. We have processes, like elections, that we follow that encourage these changes. We exercised that process, our voices were heard, and change happened.
     There are a lot of things to be proud of in life, but I think that pride should be restricted to things you achieve, not accidents or things that are reduced to chance. Are you proud to be born an American, proud to be the color that you happen to be, proud to worship the "one true god" that your parents and your peers told you was the "one true god?" All these things are not something to be proud of; you did nothing to achieve them. Any perceived advantages that come from them are just that, perception. You can be "Happy" to be an American, or happy from any of these things, that's fine. I'm happy that this genetic improbability put me where I am, right here, right now, and I'm fine with that. Genetics and Geography, you personally had nothing to do with either.
    The face of America may not look like it did 50 years ago, but why should it? Do you really think it's a good idea to want to return to the way it was? American history is full of great achievements, but it's also full of poison. What we call Manifest Destiny could be referred to as an apocalypse to the Native Americans. Is a white face the only one that should be considered American? Ask any Evangelical republican pundit from the south and they would say yes. This is the America they are referring to. It's selfish, unsatisfying, and down right racist.
     Let's go back to this pride thing. Assume you are born here in America like me, raised in a middle class family, went to school and now have a decent paying job and can afford to take care of your family, buy a house and drive a newer car. All of these things are (relatively) as easy as falling off a truck when you are born under the right conditions. Where I work we have a carwash, almost 100% of the carwash personnel is Hispanic. Now these people left their home country, everything they knew, everyone they loved to try and better their lives. They come here to raise a family in the country of opportunity and are starting with nothing. And when I get off work everyday sometimes I'll ask one as he or she is leaving, "Time for cervesa huh?" And the answer is almost always, "no my friend, I have to go to work." They work from 7am to 5pm, outside in the sun all day in all weather, and now they still have to go to work at their second job just to survive. And off they go, riding a bicycle. Their kids pledge to the same flag every morning as mine. If anybody has the right to be proud to be an American, it's people like this, they earned it.
     I voted Obama, according to all my Facebook friends, Fox news, and people at work this makes me one of the 50% of takers that feels like it's entitled to "stuff" as Bill O'Reilly put it. I contribute every paycheck to the tune of over 30% and I just happen to prefer that my money be spent trying to help people rather than support war.