Guns don't kill people, people kill people. At least that's what the gun lobby tells me. I do think that it would be disingenuous to state that guns don't make killing exponentially easier, especially for multiple murders in one sitting.. They are less personal and quicker than any hand-to-hand method. To kill by firearm is cowardly, all one need do is point the barrel and squeeze the trigger. One need not soil their shirt with blood by thrusting a weapon into their victim.
No other legal weapon is as effective when committing mass murder. How many people in a crowd could be killed with a knife before the killer was overtaken by his potential victims? With two guns in hand, the shear fear injected into the masses would be enough to keep the crowds at bay. The ease of killing any who approached or tried to escape defines a scale of power projection unmatched by any other personal weapon. The number of mass murderers who committed their crimes in one sitting using hand to hand weapons attests to this fact: zero.
You may believe the NRA is right. You may believe in the Second Amendment. But beware: to allow firearms to be unrestricted in the U.S. will lead to continued disaster on scales of Columbine, Austin, and now Blacksburg. It's just naive to believe that situations can be easily controlled when a mentally unstable person gets ahold of firearms. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. But people with guns can kill lots of people. Unfortunately, they can kill lots of people pretty quickly.
Showing posts with label Socio-Political Commentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Socio-Political Commentary. Show all posts
Friday, April 20, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Oh yee suckers!
I was a sucker. I will fully admit that I have had my political favorites over the years, and that I gave them some leeway with regards to their actions both personal and professional. However, by and large I don't tolerate most illegal or immoral acts by such men and women. This administration is the bottom of the barrel.
I am not sure I have seen as much blatant disregard for US and International Law in a seven-year period. Illegal wiretapping for five years straight is one example. While during a related civil court case, a US judge declared that the President "undisputely violated" the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, and also statutory law. The Justice Department did not move on filing criminal charges.
The administration organizes illegal prisons world wide, in countries where torture is acceptable. The Bush Administration feels that if we torture abroad, our agents are not subject to US law. I don't care what has been done to Americans, torture is never an acceptable measure. It has always been what separated us from so many of our enemies, and never been any more important than it is now.
We watch movies like "Clear and Present Danger", where the President oversteps his bounds. We cheer the main character as he uses US law to put him in his place, to make him pay for his crimes against the people. Now, as we are faced with a real life example of the illegal misuse of power, I shudder that most Americans will ignore the threat to their liberties that it poses. The Monica Lewinsky affair got Clinton into some serious trouble, but Bush's illegal wiretapping is apparently acceptable. Perhaps if they knew their name was on the list of those affected Americans might feel differently.
Haliburton, Bechtel, and other US firms getting unbidded construction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan? Bush's ties to these firms aren't just traceable; their executives are some of his best friends. In addition, these contracts are not only construction based; they are far more intricate, and it explains the core of US involvement there. Read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man; do it now. It will open your eyes to how these firms work, and our government's foreign policy with them. You may never look at our relations with the Developing World the same way again. If, after reading it and learning about how our world works, you find this acceptable, prepare for a long, unending war. A war with no winners, no real solution. We may not have started the fighting, but you may be shocked at how many seeds of violence we have planted.
No American wants to think that we (the US) hold any blame for terrorism. But then, that's what makes us such suckers...the mover and shakers in many of our corporations and government count on that. We are becoming those enemies that the US has fought in past wars; Nazis, Communists, British Imperialists. Now we wiretap our own people, torture our prisoners, and form a global (though unspoken) empire for our economic gain.
It is one of the scariest things I have had to come to terms with, to admit and understand.
But you don't have to believe me. Read all you can and find out for yourself.
The evidence is there.
Don't be a sucker.
I am not sure I have seen as much blatant disregard for US and International Law in a seven-year period. Illegal wiretapping for five years straight is one example. While during a related civil court case, a US judge declared that the President "undisputely violated" the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, and also statutory law. The Justice Department did not move on filing criminal charges.
The administration organizes illegal prisons world wide, in countries where torture is acceptable. The Bush Administration feels that if we torture abroad, our agents are not subject to US law. I don't care what has been done to Americans, torture is never an acceptable measure. It has always been what separated us from so many of our enemies, and never been any more important than it is now.
We watch movies like "Clear and Present Danger", where the President oversteps his bounds. We cheer the main character as he uses US law to put him in his place, to make him pay for his crimes against the people. Now, as we are faced with a real life example of the illegal misuse of power, I shudder that most Americans will ignore the threat to their liberties that it poses. The Monica Lewinsky affair got Clinton into some serious trouble, but Bush's illegal wiretapping is apparently acceptable. Perhaps if they knew their name was on the list of those affected Americans might feel differently.
Haliburton, Bechtel, and other US firms getting unbidded construction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan? Bush's ties to these firms aren't just traceable; their executives are some of his best friends. In addition, these contracts are not only construction based; they are far more intricate, and it explains the core of US involvement there. Read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man; do it now. It will open your eyes to how these firms work, and our government's foreign policy with them. You may never look at our relations with the Developing World the same way again. If, after reading it and learning about how our world works, you find this acceptable, prepare for a long, unending war. A war with no winners, no real solution. We may not have started the fighting, but you may be shocked at how many seeds of violence we have planted.
No American wants to think that we (the US) hold any blame for terrorism. But then, that's what makes us such suckers...the mover and shakers in many of our corporations and government count on that. We are becoming those enemies that the US has fought in past wars; Nazis, Communists, British Imperialists. Now we wiretap our own people, torture our prisoners, and form a global (though unspoken) empire for our economic gain.
It is one of the scariest things I have had to come to terms with, to admit and understand.
But you don't have to believe me. Read all you can and find out for yourself.
The evidence is there.
Don't be a sucker.
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