note: I began to draft the following on the anniversary of John Lennon's death and just stumbled upon it. Seems like a good time to post in light of the tragedy at Sandy Hook.
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David Corn of Mother Jones recently posted a link via twitter to his piece from a few years ago re the anniversary of John Lennon's death--you can read it here: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2010/12/john-lennon-30-years-remembrance
Full disclosure: I voted republican for many years because of a perceived threat that gun control was just around the corner if democrats won the election. I was (nearly) a single-issue voter when it came to the WH. Then I noticed that like a like a lot things--the thing that was supposed to happen, didn't. Bill Clinton didn't show up w/ the FBI to take our shotguns and hunting rifles. Like many instances, a culture of what if (aka slippery slope) was propagated--we made to fear what might happen ironically enough, it was the thing that was happening that we should have been afraid of the whole time.
As someone who knows, it's still much easier for me to buy a handgun than it is to buy healthcare for my family. Yes, I know they're two different things (one is enshrined in The Constitution, for goodness sake!--ignore, of course, the part about the usage of "militia") but how many lives could be saved if we did the sensible thing in each case: universal healthcare for all citizens (the only industrialized country in the world w/out it) and sensible gun control legislation.
In each instance, what is sensible and right for the majority of American citizens does not happen--the NRA won't allow it. Big Pharma won't allow it. If we have any doubt that we've become a corporatacracy or at least a plutocracy, we can just look here.
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David Corn of Mother Jones recently posted a link via twitter to his piece from a few years ago re the anniversary of John Lennon's death--you can read it here: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2010/12/john-lennon-30-years-remembrance
Full disclosure: I voted republican for many years because of a perceived threat that gun control was just around the corner if democrats won the election. I was (nearly) a single-issue voter when it came to the WH. Then I noticed that like a like a lot things--the thing that was supposed to happen, didn't. Bill Clinton didn't show up w/ the FBI to take our shotguns and hunting rifles. Like many instances, a culture of what if (aka slippery slope) was propagated--we made to fear what might happen ironically enough, it was the thing that was happening that we should have been afraid of the whole time.
As someone who knows, it's still much easier for me to buy a handgun than it is to buy healthcare for my family. Yes, I know they're two different things (one is enshrined in The Constitution, for goodness sake!--ignore, of course, the part about the usage of "militia") but how many lives could be saved if we did the sensible thing in each case: universal healthcare for all citizens (the only industrialized country in the world w/out it) and sensible gun control legislation.
In each instance, what is sensible and right for the majority of American citizens does not happen--the NRA won't allow it. Big Pharma won't allow it. If we have any doubt that we've become a corporatacracy or at least a plutocracy, we can just look here.
Just wondering if you've been reading William Saletan over at Slate about this. You're absolutely right about "either/or" this debate tends to get. (I'm inferring either/or from your slippery slope remark.) He's been intelligently careful, I think, about what needs to change regarding our gun policy.
ReplyDeleteI'd also be interested in hearing more about what you would take to be appropriate measures in light of what happened in Newtown. I'm kneejerk, froth-at-the-mouth anti-gun, which I realize just isn't practical, or at least not politically viable.