Who are the criminals?
This ramp-up to 2016 elections has been noted for outrageous statements from the wannabe presidential candidates, most notably from the GOP side. Just recently Ted Cruz opined publicly that all the criminals are Democrats. He went on to say that’s why liberals or progressives are so easy on crime and want to reform prisons and reduce sentences. This buffoon’s bombastic and bloviating blathering (I can alliterate with the best) might have its genesis in the Canadian’s desire to out-trump Trump, but it’s an insult to most of the voting public: does he actually believe any sane person will buy into the sewage effluent springing forth from his mouth? (Note that I said “sane person”; there are rabid elements in our society who will believe anything—Trump depends on that.)
Only two states allow felons to vote while in prison. I assume a corollary to that factoid is that only two states allow felons to register as a member of a political party while in prison, but maybe that corollary is wrong. Some people argue that disenfranchising felons isn’t a good idea—I’m not one of them (if they want their civil rights, they can stay out of prison, except when it comes down to wrongful convictions)—but the current state of affairs implies that the prison population isn’t comprised of registered Democrats. So, the brilliant senator who should be a terrible embarrassment to the state of Texas (they have to own up to many embarrassments, of course) must be saying that there are criminal elements who haven’t been caught yet…and they’re all Democrats?
I won’t dwell on the absurdities Cruz has said and is saying more than this. Instead, let me turn the question around: why doesn’t the GOP own up to the criminal label? Let’s start with the NRA (there are many other examples, including the pro-life rhetoric—the GOP has no commitment to protecting lives AFTER birth!–but the slavish pandering to the NRA is the most deadly one). Every NRA member is a criminal because s/he enables murderous elements to commit atrocities against innocent victims. This lobbying group pushes back on every reasonable move to limit arsenals like the one the recent California shooters possessed. It’s become so bad that the NY Times decided to put an editorial about this on the front page last Saturday (the first one since 1920 and not strong enough in my opinion—I don’t have to coddle readers, but the Times still does).
Sen. Lindsay Graham mounted his NRA-supplied soapbox (how much money has he received from the NRA and their sycophants in his career?) to explain that no changes are needed in gun control because the Muslim Bonnie and Clyde bought all their arsenal legally. This is the perfect example of the GOP’s evil, immoral, and ignorant sophism. Most of that arsenal couldn’t have been legally purchased with tougher laws on the books! The guns were assault rifles—hundreds of rounds were fired in four minutes! Sure, maybe these radical jihadists could purchase the arsenal on the black market even with a renewal of the assault rifle ban, but it would have been harder—just the black market cost alone wouldn’t fit as easily into the terrorists’ $700/week income. These specious arguments right-wing gun lovers use make them accomplices to murder. Graham is also an accomplice to murder. And their artificial tears and promises to pray to God for the victims is a cop-out and a smoke screen.
Long rifles, my ass! (The media is even complicit here by using this term: Are they using it to conjure up images of American patriots with their muskets, fighting for our independence?) Killers going on rampages have access to automatics, both pistols and rifles, just like the San Bernardino killers. The “long rifle” is an AK, Uzi or some other automatic rifle, an auto-loading shotgun, or sniper rifle. The NRA panders to gun nuts and the gun lobby. They are criminals. Those who accept their donations are accomplices. A majority of the American public believes this now, although Republicans are evenly split (see the graphs in the inside pages of that same Times issue), and they’re so fed up that the GOP is signing its own death warrant. Gun control is now a major issue (there are many other issues the GOP where the GOP is pandering to a small, fanatical minority, though); their being sycophants to the gun manufacturers and the NRA will only hasten their defeat in the coming election. Endless funding for absurd causes has made them completely brain dead (a possibility, considering the current presidential candidates), but endless funding for absurd causes doesn’t win people’s votes.
To be fair, let’s return to Cruz’s statement and turn it upside down to ask what percentage of Republicans are NRA members. If he wants to link criminality to party affiliation, he’d better look at his own party first. Corporate America might have a few Dems at the helms of big businesses, but I’m willing to bet the CEOs and other biggies in the gun manufacturers’ boardrooms are both GOP and NRA members. If anyone thinks that a hunter needs an automatic rifle for his hunting pleasure (those deer can mount a massive attack against you, don’t you know), or granny needs an automatic pistol to protect her home from a SWAT team invasion from the federal government, or a hobbyist needs lots of firepower to get some R&R out at the gun range, s/he’s a criminal, and those kind of people are legion among Ted Cruz’ cronies, NRA members, and gun manufacturers.
I’m the first one to admit that it’s hard to stop a massacre that takes place in five minutes or less when an unprotected soft target is involved. Paris proved that; San Bernardino did too. But allowing mentally deranged persons, from ISIS sympathizers to pro-life advocates and disgruntled workers, the opportunity to accrue legally an arsenal of automatic weapons with thousands of rounds of ammo is beyond the pale. Permitting those persons on the terrorist watch lists to buy weapons is unconscionable (a recent vote in the Senate preferred to give weapons to al Qaeda, ISIS, or Taliban sympathizers in order to avoid the remote possibility that a few true patriots protecting the homeland can’t bear arms). Using an antiquated and mistaken interpretation of the second amendment isn’t patriotic and is morally repugnant—we have armed militias, damn it, and they’re called National Guards. Doing any of that is criminal, and those who do it are accomplices to murder when the shit hits the fan, as it did at least once per day this last year.
A sheriff from NY state’s Ulster County (yes, the name is ironic) has called upon the citizens of his county to carry weapons in order to be ready for events like the one in San Bernardino. NYPD Commish Bratton wants to see fewer guns on the streets of his city. Who’s right? Assault weapons and multiple-round cartridges are banned in NY state, so assassins with assault weapons will ALWAYS have the advantage over an armed citizenry, most of whom would probably mistakenly shoot their fellows in the heat of battle because they have no professional training and are mind-numb from their paranoia. Same for California. So, what type of weapons did the Muslim Bonnie and Clyde purchase legally? There are indications that two others bought them for the jihadists (if so, remember that bill against such activity that didn’t pass?) Perhaps Bonnie Malik and Clyde Farook went online and ordered them? Maybe we should ban online sales of weapons? Do away with the different rules for store purchases at stores and gun shows? Gun legislation is complex for the same reason the tax code is—people with immoral agendas have manipulated the gun laws to leave enough loopholes to maximize the damage to the citizenry as a whole. If there’s any conspiracy, the NRA and its sympathizers own it.
But let’s go beyond the gun legislation debate. That sheriff is from a GOP-dominated rural county in upper NY state. This man and his politics are part of the problem. Big city and suburban law enforcement agencies are almost unanimous in expressing their desire to get more guns off the street. It’s the progressive v. conservative debate that has divided this nation yet again, but in the issue of gun control the conservatives are true criminals, and they abound in the GOP, not the Democratic Party. And pronouncements like this sheriff’s are exactly what gun manufacturers want—arming the citizenry means more gun sales for them, God bless patriotic America! In no other civilized country does this happen! The key word is “civilized”—the U.S. isn’t civilized; it’s more like the Wild West than ever: cowboy gun aficionados trying to enlarge their penises by buying their macho guns and cowgirls either wanting to have a penis surrogate or impress their cowboy studs with their own guns. It’s a mental illness gripping certain fanatical segments of our society. There’s a reason red states are red and the GOP color is red—that’s the color of blood. This goes far beyond killing a defenseless lion in Africa. These people aren’t only crazy, they’re accomplices to mass murders.
Dems who coddle the NRA and its crazy supporters in return for campaign contributions and an insane desire for votes, any votes, are just as criminal as Republicans who do this (this includes Hillary Clinton, who has said in the past she has gone hunting to appease the NRA). I think I can appeal to most Dem voters, though, or at least those who express progressive values, trying to make them see that the NRA’s criminal activities should be anathema to any civilized society. However, if Cruz’ stupid utterances are indicative of the way GOP members think, I won’t even try with them—I have to write them off as a lost cause who won’t give up pandering to those crazy sectors I mentioned above. One can only hope that they die off fast and don’t procreate at a rate fast enough to replenish the population of crazy gun lovers. At this moment in our nation’s history, there’s no doubt in my mind that the NRA should be banned as a criminal organization, and every GOP member or other politician who supports the NRA and receives funding and a good grade from this violence-supporting organization should also be declared a criminal. And thank you, Mr. Cruz, for firming up this opinion. Your stupid, hateful, and insane words at least had that positive effect, and San Bernardino sealed the deal.
And so it goes….
