Activist Wednesday: 2,000,000 Signatures, and A Lack of Comprehension
Posted on: July 25, 2012
Look, a Gun-Shaped Breakfast!
Morning, Widdershins! I’ll be overwhelmed until Labor Day, at which point I hope to move on to the next Big Thing (in New York! please, o Goddess!)…so I beg ye, forgive me if I don’t comment. I am catching up when I can, and enjoying everything I read!
First, today’s activist news. Last night, the Coffee Party delivered almost 2,000,000 signatures to Congress for review by the Senate….these were all signatures calling for the overturn of Citizens United via Constitutional Amendment. Many, many liberal groups have joined in this effort to bring the severity of this corrupt Supreme Court decision to the attention of our fellow Americans. I know that the Coffee Party is taking a while to start itself up, but let me tell you, I think it’s really on the right track. Surely there is nothing so threatening to our democracy as the corruption of all three branches of government by the infusion of megatons of corporate cashola?
As the National Field Organization Director of Move To Amend stated:
“In community after community citizens are making clear through ballot initiatives and resolutions that they want their elected representatives to pass an amendment to overrule the Court by abolishing corporate personhood and the doctrine of money as free speech. These hearings are one step toward achieving that amendment, and we won’t stop our efforts until the majority of the members of Congress are behind us and show that they understand that their job is to serve the people, not corporations or the privileged few.”
Word, sister!
I can’t help but think that with Move To Amend and at least 10 other groups joining this effort, plus the 2 million signatures, the citizen outrage against the “corporations are people” ruling will be very difficult to ignore. May the movement continue to grow and flourish!
Now, as Pat did yesterday, I feel compelled to weigh in about the shooting in Aurora. I find myself completely unable to comprehend the American obsession with guns. I know, I know, I am a commie pinko leftist hippie pacifist type, but d*mn! How f*cking infantile are we in America? Will we ever connect our insistence on our “rights” to blow up a bunch of sh*t to Kingdom Come, with our extremely high incidence of domestic terrorism?
For that’s what the Dark Knight shooting was: domestic terrorism. Unfortunately for those who continue to insist that all terrorism is committed by people with brown skin and Muslim names, the reality is that we have plenty of white terrorists here too. We are a uni-racial (if not unisex) breeder of people who are really, really, REALLY pissed off about something. And thanks to all of our precious “freedoms,” we allow these nutjobs to express their anger with bullets and bombs.
The man who committed this act of insanity was 24 years old. This man, who was once a neuroscience major, is now responsible for an unbelievable number of deaths and injuries. And yes, he was able to order everything he needed on the Internet. Is this really what the information superhighway envisioned in the 90′s was supposed to lead to? An easy way for mentally imbalanced anger junkies to commit mayhem?
You know, I try to be understanding of people who insist that they must have guns. They won’t kill anyone with them, of course! They just like shooting them at targets. And if they want to have ten or fifteen guns, whose business is it, really? And if some of those guns are rifles, and could perhaps be modified to be automatic, well, that’s also none of my business. These people have RIGHTS!!!1111!!! And if the law permits, they get to kill anyone who is Walking While Black too. No one, NO ONE shall get in the way of the American with his gun!!
As a person whose relatives were murdered in the Holocaust, I cannot comprehend the mentality of people who embrace guns and violence as a way of life. When we arrogate to ourselves the right to own guns and use them against other people, then we are declaring that we have the power to take others’ lives away with the simplest method imaginable…a bullet. It is far, far easier to kill with a gun, than it is to kill up close and personal-like, isn’t it? The gun is just another way in which we declare our separation from each other, our superiority to those without that talisman of godlike power. And once we start celebrating our separation instead of our commonality, it’s all downhill from there. The Other is everyone that we don’t know, everyone with a different skin color, or religion, or sex. And it’s just another small step to get those with guns and bombs to act against The Other.
We truly do need to beware of ourselves. We humans are the top predator in our food chain, and unfortunately, we seem most likely to prey upon ourselves.
A culture that glorifies guns, and turns a blind eye to the consequences, simply makes that so very, very much easier.
This is an open thread.
20 Responses to "Activist Wednesday: 2,000,000 Signatures, and A Lack of Comprehension"
July 25, 2012 at 7:58 am
Like you, I do not understand the gun culture that puts us at risk.
No parent would leave matches within the reach of a toddler so why are we permitting access to these military weapons of mass destruction within purchase of the mentally disturbed? Why does anyone need to own a semi automatic weapon in the first place?
If we can ban texting while driving and smoking in public places, why are we not able to ban the purchase of these weapons designed for military use?
Oh wait, the NRA may just threaten to “primary” any politician who stands in opposition even when the public itself is demanding more leadership in this area.
When you are unable to enjoy a night out at the movies for fear some fool with an axe to grind is on the prowl then we may as well concede that the battle has been lost.
July 25, 2012 at 11:22 am
I am not a gun owner, but I am the only member of my family who is not. I am the only member of a circle of friends who are health care professionals who is not. My family and friends would fight you in the parking lot to keep their weapons. My family and friends would tell you to enforce the laws that you have on the books, and we would all, myself included, tell you to increase mental health care.
That said, it would have been so much better had the shooter’s name been Abdullah rather than James. Right wingers would have been throwing fits about bulk ammo purchasees to a guy named Abdullah.
July 25, 2012 at 3:40 pm
There is no doubt that I’m a leftist, commie, pinko, pacifist, whatever (fill in the blanks) and so by those of the heat – piece – gat – toting crowd, this opinion means nothing — I celebrate their right to feel dismissive revulsion toward me. In fact, I encourage it.
Try this little experiment the next time you read or hear someone talking about gun rights, their 2nd Amendment rights, etc. It really works. Each time the person says “gun” or “rifle” or “2nd Amendment” replace it with “my significance” or “I’m significant.” Guns are merely an instrument of demonstrating significance and predominance over others.
When you hear about all these “hero” wannabes — they aren’t really talking about saving anyone, they are talking about enhancing their significance in the eyes of others — case in point George Zimmerman.
Guns are seen by many as the great levelers of humanity — “if I’m a’packin’ you best not mess with me ‘causin’ I don’t care how much ya got or how smart ya are, I got my equalizin’ persuader.” I have had this conversation with so many of my family members I now eat my Thanksgiving turkey straight from the freezer after a short 5 minute respite in the microwave.
July 25, 2012 at 4:15 pm
LOL, Prolix! I understand the entire Thanksgiving scenario only too well.
July 25, 2012 at 4:34 pm
You know, I try to be understanding of people who insist that they must have guns. They won’t kill anyone with them, of course!
Uh-oh. I feel like that was directed at me. 
I do own my 9mm Glock. It is a semi-automatic. That means I still have to pull the trigger to fire it each time, it’s just not a revolver. It is faster to fire a second shot than a revolver is, but not by that much. I have tried to be a responsible gun owner by taking classes which weren’t required in AL for concealed carry or anything else. That won’t be the case in Louisiana; they do require you to take a certain number of hours of classes before you can get a concealed permit there.
Now I know “concealed carry” sounds scary. However, what bothers me more is the states that allow open carry. Now to me *that’s* frightening. And there’s an entire group or market for this.
http://www.opencarry.org/opencarry.html
July 25, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Chat, Thanksgiving had become such a chore in that using plastic knives for turkey consumption was just too much work. I always feared that I would be given some of our family’s finest silver as a parting gift, right between the third and fourth ribs.
July 25, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Now I do happen to think that ole Quick Draw McGraw here should be armed with nothing more than a pea-shooter or a slng-shot at the most.
July 25, 2012 at 4:57 pm
When you see something like this piece from Fox, this is what drives right-wing, 2nd amendment folks crazy, especially since it’s not true.
July 25, 2012 at 6:25 pm
Don’t mess with them little ole women.
http://www.funnieststuff.net/viewmovie.php?id=2998
July 25, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Prolix – YES! That is what people who insist that being restricted from owning assault weapons violates their civil rights, are REALLY thinking.
Chat, I understand. I was at a training session with three gun nuts. We’re talking a guy who was bumming because he could only buy one gun every few months. It was revelatory.
Fredster, you know I love ya, and that line was NOT directed at you. However, we disagree on the gun issue. I do not see the purpose of target shooting with a pistol. Why are you improving your aim? What does that target represent?
Guns are for killing people. We would all be collectively better off if we, as a society, simply acknowledged that fact and dealt with guns in that way. Instead we seem to view them as harmless toys that only cause mayhem by accident. At least that’s how the gun nuts phrased it
To clarify further for the Widdershin gun owners out there: Whether an individual owns a gun is not the point of my post. If Chat’s relatives all gave up their guns, it would not affect the larger problem. I am writing about a societal addiction to guns and the violence they engender.
July 25, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Target shooting is a sport in the South. If Fredster is anything like the males in my family, he got his first weapon between the age of ten and fourteen, and was taught appropriate gun safety as well as how to be a good shot.
July 25, 2012 at 9:16 pm
chat@15: Yep and it was a b.b. gun. At around 14 or so I got a Remington .22. However, my two girl cousins beat me to it, they got their .22s before me!
mb said: Why are you improving your aim? Well, to be able to hit what I’m aiming at. If someone tries to come in my door, they will be trying to get through a storm door with a dead bolt on it plus a steel door with another dead bolt. They start coming through those and it’s pretty evident they don’t have good intentions. I will stop them.
July 25, 2012 at 9:32 pm
off topic but, everyone please take a look here and consider signing the petition.
July 26, 2012 at 12:03 am
Sigh, can’t wait till I start working from home again so I can stop by at night more often….
Fredster, you are improving your aim so you can kill someone with your gun. Right? That’s what you’re telling me, and that’s what I’m saying. It’s not something to be taken lightly. Guns exist to kill people.
I’m not saying you don’t know it, but we as a culture seem to be in complete denial of this fact.
July 26, 2012 at 2:27 am
MB said: Fredster, you are improving your aim so you can kill someone with your gun. Right?
Actually, yes, or to be able to disable them, but actually to stop a threat to me. Believe me Mad, I don’t take using a firearm lightly. And probably if something were to happen where I killed someone the guilt of it would drive me crazy.
I’m not someone who has a gun collection or anything like that, nor am I a hunter. I have no desire to go out into the woods, climb up on a stand and wait for a deer to show up so I can kill it. I don’t care for venison and I’ve tried it several different ways. So I don’t own a 30.06 or any other type of rifle or a shotgun. I have no need for them.
Comments are closed.
July 25, 2012 at 7:24 am
Amen Madamab-I have been having this argument online since the the Aurora Slaughter.