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don't speak...don't speak! rant

Prior to 1954….

Are we better today then before 1954? I wish I had the resources and researchers to do the numbers and find out if we were.

Daily Kos

“I was having dinner with my 82-year old mom last night and we got to talking politics. Tis the season, after all. I don’t remember exactly how this came up, but I think it was in the context of the Republican apoplexy over Democrats dropping reference to God in their party platform and Romney pledging to keep the word God on our coins (’cause I guess that’s a key element of his Jobs Program, or something). My mom said she remembered that as a young girl, the Pledge of Allegiance they recited everyday in school was simply, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” No mention of God anywhere.

My mom my be old, but she’s not senile, so I assumed her memory was accurate. Still I decided to Fact Check this morning (it’s all the rage these days). A simple search of the tubes confirmed that the words “under God” weren’t added to the Pledge until June, 1954 by a Joint Resolution of Congress.

But just as interesting, if not more so, was the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written back in 1892 by an avowed Christian Socialist who thought Capitalism was “idolatrous and rooted in greed”. That’s right, our nation’s Pledge was written by a stinkin’ Socialist. How’s that for insidious? I don’t suppose too many of our Republican friends know this, or I think we’d be seeing a mass epidemic of spontaneous cranial implosions on the streets by now.

Do you think we should tell them and enjoy the ensuing meltdown, or just smile with smug satisfaction every time we see a Republican reciting the Pledge?”

My Mom, someone I consider very religious says, I got along very well before 1954. So that says to me or makes me think, is this our problem?

Did we hate as we do today? Did we take life for granted as we do today? Do many of us live at a pace that tramples and gives no consideration to those around us? Are we accountable for our contribution to the emotional wake we leave? Did we have easy access to machines that can kill hundreds of people or children just going about their day? Did we individually think that our way was the only way, my way or the highway?

I said it in my last post and will repeat it.

I don’t believe that we need God in the schools for us to be the good descent caring human beings. We are stronger and better than that. Be accountable at home; take care of your own house. We have to be responsible for our families and ourselves in terms of goodness, spirituality and religion. That responsibility lies nowhere else.

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don't speak...don't speak!

Some Control?

There is a 2nd Amendment, yes. All the other amendments are read and viewed expensively and not through …(the site of a gun) … No amendment is absolute.

1st amendment, you can’t scream “fire” in a crowded movie theater. There are limits on liable and pornography.

Is there a middle? At least maybe an attempt to see if a change could help? A ban or limit on assault weapons and limit the size of the clip. Isn’t there something, anything we can do to try to limit access to those with mental issues?

BTW – This is only part of the conversation that needs to happen. But no Republican was available for this conversation this morning on Face the Nation.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, Face the Nation

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rant

Most days, everyday actually, my heart aches. And I ask, what do I do about that?

Somewhere along the way, in my opinion, things have become askew. The health and welfare of those around us are lost in mean spirited, self-serving conversation.

I’ve been interviewing for jobs lately. And I find myself saying, I’m a stickler for accountability. But I know in my heart, in my brain that most people are not and won’t be accountable for their actions or words. That they will tout it is a personal responsibility for people to not act violently or act out in anyway because of something they said. Pointing their finger, they did it I didn’t do it.

Words and actions have consequences whether we like it or not. If you have ever been influenced by someone, good or bad. You then have to understand that your actions, your words can and will be used in some manner to justify someone else’s actions.

Some one sells a box of ammunition to someone. They plug it into a semi automatic gun take it to a grocery store and spay 15 or 33 bullets into a crowd. Who is responsible?

I don’t think guns should be so easily obtainable. I think they should be sold at a police station. And if they are going to be sold, do we really need semi-automatic guns that shoot’s 100’s of bullets at the single pull of a trigger?

And I certainly question a place selling bullets, but not birth control. But then there’s that pro-life/pro-birth conversation. If people truly believed in “pro-life” then they would do something to improve the resources to help care for the child after birth instead of letting them, go hungry and with out health care. That’s not pro-life! If life starts in the womb, then it certainly shouldn’t stop at birth.

If guns are for sport, then the sport should be to have to be a good shot and not be able to just spray the fucking land and by chance hit something. How about a bow and arrow? How about a shot gun that you have to reload after one shot.

What is the purpose and need for a semi-automatic weapon?

I have 4 small children in my life. They aren’t biologically mine in any way. But I am enough part of their life that I am more than worried about their future.

At 3 & 4 we worry now that they watch to much TV. Or that they don’t eat the right foods. Or that they don’t understand consequences and that their actions are of no consequence.

In 10 or 15 years will we be worried that they are carrying the right gun to school with them so that they won’t be teased because it’s too small or too old. Will we have to worry that they can do anything they want to anyone because there are no consequences to anyone’s actions. That we live in a world were we no longer value each other, the value of life and the value of community.

I used to be able to say, “boy am I glad I don’t have kids.” Well I can’t really say that anymore, but what am I to say or do to make a difference?

It overwhelms me like when I think about the stars and space and what is out there. I have to shake myself back to reality. But I don’t think I like very much the reality that is around the corner.

The Daily Show