Like many, many, MANY other people I realize, I have spent years (and probably decades now that I think of it) doing what I can to call for what I would call common sense gun reform in this country (in light of the latest horror show on this issue that we can all read about here). I’m not saying this in an effort to say, “hey, I’m so great – look at me.” Far from it. There are probably marches and protests that I could have participated in but didn’t for whatever reason. I’ve written to politicians of both parties, I’ve written to newspapers, I’ve tried to discuss the issue with family and friends (trying not to incur anyone’s wrath, but trying to win the day with the most intelligent persuasion I could muster), and I’ve posted all kinds of content online that I tried to make as well informed as I could (along with videos sympathetic to my point of view of course), in particular at this dippy little blog that you happen to be reading at this moment (and as always, thank you for that).
But really, nothing has worked. I would say that too many Democrats have not shown what I would consider the necessary fortitude on this issue, with notable exceptions such as Connecticut Dem Sen. Chris Murphy, as well as Dem Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who have horrific first-hand experience viewing the carnage from gun violence that I hope and pray none of us ever have to experience (it’s bad enough others had to go through that ordeal). And of course, the “party of Lincoln,” for my money, have been the most steadfast advocates for our nihilistic status quo on the issue of guns among anyone else in this country.
Are we really going to go through this ridiculous cycle once more? No, I’m not saying the proper measure of expressions of sympathy for the victims and their families and friends is “ridiculous” in any way. You know what I mean – our side quite rightly IMHO says that we should reduce clip sizes on assault weapons (or banning them entirely and advertising a buy-back policy, which makes more sense to me – and please spare me another lecture on “fully automatic versus semi-automatic”…both kinds will kill you equally dead), enable sharing of bullet tracing data along with gun purchases in a federal database, mandating a background check for ANY GUN PURCHASE OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, ALONG WITH A MANDATORY WAITING PERIOD OF AT LEAST A WEEK (and yeah, I’m sure that will put the whole “gun show” industry out of business – too freaking bad!), federalizing gun laws to strict standards (and getting rid of the whole “gun law reciprocity” BS favored by this guy among others), sharing mental health data across the country if someone wants to buy a gun, particularly in matters of spousal or domestic partner abuse (another common thread in all of this), more federal $$ to police right-wing sites online (yeah, I know which Orange Pestilence will go bananas over that – heh)…I think that covers a lot of where we come down on this. And of course, the other side, as usual, will offer virtually nothing in response.
Well, in my quest to come up with some kind of a deterrent given this horrible vacuum we deal with on this issue that leads to ever more violence, ever more destruction, ever more ruin, I came up with an idea. And I’ll admit that it’s by no means the best idea out there, but I don’t see anyone else coming up with anything close to a solution on this, so here goes.
Apparently the shooter in our latest gun atrocity actually managed to NOT kill himself also. Given that, I think we should make an example of this life form.
Here’s what I mean – if this person is found guilty by a jury of his peers, then instead of lifetime incarceration or death by a mix of chemicals, electricity or what have you, then we should go “full medieval” on this person, tie him to a stake, disembowel him and hack off his limbs. And with the TV cameras rolling of course. And HBO could broadcast it or another cable service, or standard cable networks – whatever. Hell, they could make it a Pay Per View event. The video clips might end up running on YouTube, Hulu or Netflix forever.
Aw, c’mon conservatives – you KNOW something like this is what you’ve dreamed of! Make a statement to the entire world that this country has truly descended into the dark ages in the Trumpian era, just like you’d been planning for really ever since Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy.” This will satisfy your lust for violence and uphold what constitutes law and order as far as you’re concerned. Stop “talking the talk” and try “walking the walk” instead!
Yes, the ACLU, God bless them, will sue to try and prevent this. But with the Gropenfuhrer and #MoscowMitch packing the courts at record speed, and with a conservative majority on the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, I’d lay even money that this could pass legal muster.
I mean, as long as we’re not going to address this issue in a manner that makes actual sense, let’s do this in a way to puff up ourselves on the world stage like the clueless, narrow-minded ignoramuses we’ve turned into as a country (with notable exceptions of course) and provide at least a minimal deterrent. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!...
(And with all due respect to Cenk, I think guns are a worse issue than corruption, though both are terrible…I read online that, when the cops got to the Walmart, there were so many people with weapons they didn’t know who to try and apprehend first – more here)…
…and I realize I could go after a lot of politicians for the reasons Cenk just noted (including plenty of Dems, including the subject of this piece), but I’m going to highlight these two in particular since they’re particularly craven and compromised on this issue (more here)…
…and before you feel any impulse of gratitude towards “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey on this issue, you should know this (from here)…
(The Center for Responsive Politics) asserts on Open Secrets that Toomey received $79,908 in pro-gun rights money during the 2016 cycle. But that number doesn’t just count contributions from pro-gun rights groups like the NRA or the SCI – the overwhelming majority of that $79,908 is from individuals who CRP classifies as pro-gun rights based on other donations they have made.Now to the clip…
If someone donates to a pro-gun rights group like the NRA and also donates to a candidate the group has supported at some point, CRP decides that the donation made to the candidate is motivated by gun rights. Even though the NRA didn’t support Toomey in 2016, CRP classified some individual contributions as gun rights money because the NRA has given to Toomey in the past.
...and I don't believe I need to offer an explanation for this tune - here it is.
Update 1 8/4/19:
The House passed two gun safety bills months ago, but you continue to block them.
— Katherine Clark (@RepKClark) August 4, 2019
Since you tweeted your prayers, another American community, Dayton, has been shattered by gun violence.
Americans are dying, and you’re blocking us from helping them.
Who exactly do you serve? https://t.co/r0GdjBpmdA
And that assclown Kevin McCarthy blamed video games of course (here). Because, as we know, video games are all over the place in Japan and they have the exact same problem we do (smh).
Lather, rinse, repeat...
Update 2 8/4/19: I wonder if "Squee" would approve (here)?
Update 3 8/4/19: Definitely not helpful (here)…
Update 4 8/4/19: Hard to correctly communicate what I think of the utter cowardice behind this statement…
We took the lead in winning World War II and we put men on the moon. Yeah, if we summon the courage and political will, we can definitely fix this (and something in that spirit is here).
Update 5 8/4/19: And speaking of cowardice (here and here...and yes, Cornyn actually DID compare gun violence to homelessness)...if this isn’t a reason for Beto O’Rourke to suspend his presidential campaign and run against Cornyn instead for the U.S. Senate, I don’t know what is.
Update 8/6/19: Gee, "No Corporate Tax" Pat, I would consider "remaining alive and unharmed" to be "popular" too (here).
