Now is not the time to talk about gun control (1 Viewer)

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    The moose said:
    This is what chaps my hide.

    A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.


    The fact that the third word of the amendment says the government can regulate arms is exactly what it says gets lost in any discussion.

    That is why I can't even talk to most people about it because they want to ignore the first part that is obviously important because it is first.
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    It's not necessarily that clear. And interpreting the 'plain meaning' of a legal text is almost always in the eye of the beholder. From my view, the 'well regulated Militia' part isn't saying that the right to bear arms can be regulated, merely that the reason for the right is to ensure the viability of a well regulated Militia.

    Obviously what that meant in the late 18th century versus today is yet another reason why its foolish this country operates on a centuries old document. States still have what are known as 'state defense forces' so one could argue the right to bear arms only needs to be as expansive to sufficiently support the arming of those forces. That said, I'm sure the people in those forces are provided weapons by the state regardless. These are entities duly created by state governments and not random Joe Sixpack with his leisure collection of two hundred high magazine assault rifles.
     
    This is the problem. Our gun culture is severely corrupted and dangerous. Until we address our cancerous gun culture, nothing will get better. But that would required Republicans stop pushing fear and violence and I see little hope of that happening. How do you defeat a gun lobby with no moral and an ever expanding thirst for profit at any expense, coupled with a Republican constituency that has lost it's mind? It's so dystopian, yet feels impossible to correct. Like how do you convince a Republicans that a heavily armed society with ever more powerful guns where gun violence and mass shootings are daily occurrences is a bad thing? You would think that wouldn't be a hard thing to convince somebody off, but it's impossible to get Republicans to act accordingly because they think it's everything but the guns causing this. Just down right crazy.

    It has been only two weeks since the school shooting in Uvalde, Tex., that left 19 children and two adults dead. Since then, the United States has seen at least 34 more mass shootings along with numerous individual shootings, gun suicides and even a political assassination. This is what happens when you live in a country with more guns than people — and where many teenagers can purchase a military-style assault weapon before they can legally buy a drink.

    Yet, as if denying that heavy rain causes flooding, Republicans continue to insist that the prevalence of guns has nothing do with the prevalence of shootings. They blame doors, video games, mental illness, “emasculated” men, family breakdown, demons, the lack of prayer in schools, Ritalin, antidepressants, social media, social isolation — anything and everything except the weapons used in these crimes.
    All such explanations ignore the obvious rejoinder that our culture is pretty similar to those of Canada, Australia, Britain and other countries that don’t have anywhere close to the same levels of gun violence. We don’t have a monopoly on mental illness, family breakdown or video games. Americans are actually far more religious than adults in other wealthy nations, so we are not suffering from a prayer deficit.

    But Republicans do have a point about American culture — just not the one they’re trying to make. There is a sickness in America. It’s our gun cult, which has no counterpart in any other advanced democracy. Republican politicians, the gun lobby and gunmakers — the unholy trinity — are complicit not only in weakening gun laws but also in glorifying firearms and encouraging their sale. After every mass shooting, Republicans inspire more gun sales by warning that Democrats are planning to confiscate guns. By increasing the number of firearms in circulation, that makes the next mass shooting more likely.

    Guns have overtaken flags as an obligatory accessory in Republican campaign commercials, and people who have used guns allegedly for self-protection, such as Kyle Rittenhouse, have become Republican folk heroes. Gun ownership has become a mark of tribal identity in red America. More than twice as many Republicans as Democrats own guns, and by far the most popular reason for buying one is personal protection.

    Protection from what? Well, it’s no mere coincidence that gun sales have been soaring (primarily among White men) while right-wing politicians and propagandists have been hyping two phantom menaces: First, the criminal threats supposedly posed by desperados from “Democrat cities,” Black Lives Matters protesters and undocumented immigrants. Second, the political threat from Democrats who are supposedly “grooming” children, replacing “legacy Americans” with immigrants of color, and bringing communism to this country. The message to Republicans is that only the Second Amendment can protect their lives and liberty. Republicans are so alarmed about imaginary Democratic plots that 40 percent say violence against the government can be justified.
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    coldseat said:
    This is the problem. Our gun culture is severely corrupted and dangerous. Until we address our cancerous gun culture, nothing will get better. But that would required Republicans stop pushing fear and violence and I see little hope of that happening. How do you defeat a gun lobby with no moral and an ever expanding thirst for profit at any expense, coupled with a Republican constituency that has lost it's mind? It's so dystopian, yet feels impossible to correct. Like how do you convince a Republicans that a heavily armed society with ever more powerful guns where gun violence and mass shootings are daily occurrences is a bad thing? You would think that wouldn't be a hard thing to convince somebody off, but it's impossible to get Republicans to act accordingly because they think it's everything but the guns causing this. Just down right crazy.



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    was just coming to post this article should probably go on EE too
     
    Did anybody else see Matthew McConaughey's speech from the White House just now? Man, that was powerful. One of the best speech's I've heard for gun reform that I can remember.
     
    coldseat said:
    Did anybody else see Matthew McConaughey's speech from the White House just now? Man, that was powerful. One of the best speech's I've heard for gun reform that I can remember.
    Click to expand...
    He should run for governor of Texas.

    Timing is everything, and the time is right.

    he would be one of the few people who could run as an independent and not affiliate with any party and have a chance.
     
    samiam5211 said:
    He should run for governor of Texas.

    Timing is everything, and the time is right.

    he would be one of the few people who could run as an independent and not affiliate with any party and have a chance.
    Click to expand...

    I'm not usually one to be in favor of entertainers running for office, but he would be so much better than what we have right now in Texas. Maybe with someone like McConaughey Texas voters can discover their independent nature again instead of always being stooges for the right wing. Like back in the days of Ann Richards.
     
    I don’t even know what thread to put this in
    ========================

    Garnell Whitfield was testifying about his 86-year-old mother, Ruth, shot dead last month along with nine other Black people in a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket, allegedly by a white supremacist motivated by the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.


    “What are you doing?” Whitfield demanded of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at their hearing on Tuesday. “Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires?”

    With breaking voice and sniffles, he added: “My mother’s life mattered. Your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you.”


    Then, Republicans on the panel answered — with accounts of violence committed by Black people and antifa.

    “The Brooklyn subway shooter was a known Black supremacist who called for racial violence,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.). “The Waukesha attacker … was a viciously left-wing Black nationalist bigot. Another Black nationalist gunned down five police officers in Dallas.”
    Cruz went on, about “the violence of the antifa riots and the Black Lives Matter riots.”


    Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the panel, spoke of 2016, when “two Black racists killed eight police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge,” and of 2018, when “members of antifa in Philadelphia assaulted two Marines.” Extremism, Grassley said, “includes Black racism and antifa ideology.”

    And Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) focused on a (Black) man and (Asian American) woman who “had thrown a Molotov cocktail into a police vehicle during the antifa riots.”

    Their illustrations served to build a case that the focus on white supremacy is “diminishing” violence against others, as Cruz put it, including “violence directed at White people” — and that, as Grassley asserted, “even though many in the press only focus on far-right attacks, the most deadly ideology often changes year to year.”


    But that’s just not true. Since 2015, when the recent upsurge in political violence began, the brutality has been overwhelmingly perpetrated by the far right.

    According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, right-wing extremists (generally either white supremacist or anti-government) were involved in 267 plots or attacks and 91 fatalities from 2015 through 2020. Far-left extremists (anarchists, anti-fascists) were involved in 66 incidents and 19 deaths.

    The proportion of left-wing attacks and plots increased in 2021 (40 percent of the total, compared to 49 percent by right-wing extremists), but right-wing attacks remained far deadlier, accounting for 28 of 30 political-violence fatalities in 2021…….

     
    Optimus Prime said:
    I don’t even know what thread to put this in
    ========================

    Garnell Whitfield was testifying about his 86-year-old mother, Ruth, shot dead last month along with nine other Black people in a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket, allegedly by a white supremacist motivated by the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.


    “What are you doing?” Whitfield demanded of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at their hearing on Tuesday. “Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires?”

    With breaking voice and sniffles, he added: “My mother’s life mattered. Your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you.”


    Then, Republicans on the panel answered — with accounts of violence committed by Black people and antifa.

    “The Brooklyn subway shooter was a known Black supremacist who called for racial violence,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.). “The Waukesha attacker … was a viciously left-wing Black nationalist bigot. Another Black nationalist gunned down five police officers in Dallas.”
    Cruz went on, about “the violence of the antifa riots and the Black Lives Matter riots.”


    Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the panel, spoke of 2016, when “two Black racists killed eight police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge,” and of 2018, when “members of antifa in Philadelphia assaulted two Marines.” Extremism, Grassley said, “includes Black racism and antifa ideology.”

    And Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) focused on a (Black) man and (Asian American) woman who “had thrown a Molotov cocktail into a police vehicle during the antifa riots.”

    Their illustrations served to build a case that the focus on white supremacy is “diminishing” violence against others, as Cruz put it, including “violence directed at White people” — and that, as Grassley asserted, “even though many in the press only focus on far-right attacks, the most deadly ideology often changes year to year.”


    But that’s just not true. Since 2015, when the recent upsurge in political violence began, the brutality has been overwhelmingly perpetrated by the far right.

    According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, right-wing extremists (generally either white supremacist or anti-government) were involved in 267 plots or attacks and 91 fatalities from 2015 through 2020. Far-left extremists (anarchists, anti-fascists) were involved in 66 incidents and 19 deaths.

    The proportion of left-wing attacks and plots increased in 2021 (40 percent of the total, compared to 49 percent by right-wing extremists), but right-wing attacks remained far deadlier, accounting for 28 of 30 political-violence fatalities in 2021…….

    Click to expand...

    Republicans are the party of white supremacy. As disgusting as it is, it's no surprise. Same old, tired, racist deflection to avoid addressing the problem of white supremacy and thereby pissing of their base. Cruz is the worst. He should legally change his name to something more congruent with his views/image. Any suggestions? Maybe Edward Bedford Forrest or something.
     
    Last edited:
    coldseat said:
    Republicans are the party of white supremacy. As disgusting as it is, it's no surprise. Same old, tired, racist deflection to avoid addressing the problem of white supremacy and thereby pissing of their base. Cruz is the worst. He should legally change his name to something more congruent with his views/image. Any suggestions? Maybe Edward Bedford Forrest or something.
    Click to expand...

    Ted Bootlicker?
     
    samiam5211 said:
    He should run for governor of Texas.

    Timing is everything, and the time is right.

    he would be one of the few people who could run as an independent and not affiliate with any party and have a chance.
    Click to expand...
    I believe he already stated he was not running. And I think the time to qualify has passed. Maybe he does something more interesting like run for Ted Cruz's senate spot in 2024.
     
    Optimus Prime said:
    I don’t even know what thread to put this in
    ========================

    Garnell Whitfield was testifying about his 86-year-old mother, Ruth, shot dead last month along with nine other Black people in a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket, allegedly by a white supremacist motivated by the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.


    “What are you doing?” Whitfield demanded of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at their hearing on Tuesday. “Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires?”

    With breaking voice and sniffles, he added: “My mother’s life mattered. Your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you.”


    Then, Republicans on the panel answered — with accounts of violence committed by Black people and antifa.

    “The Brooklyn subway shooter was a known Black supremacist who called for racial violence,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.). “The Waukesha attacker … was a viciously left-wing Black nationalist bigot. Another Black nationalist gunned down five police officers in Dallas.”
    Cruz went on, about “the violence of the antifa riots and the Black Lives Matter riots.”


    Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the panel, spoke of 2016, when “two Black racists killed eight police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge,” and of 2018, when “members of antifa in Philadelphia assaulted two Marines.” Extremism, Grassley said, “includes Black racism and antifa ideology.”

    And Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) focused on a (Black) man and (Asian American) woman who “had thrown a Molotov cocktail into a police vehicle during the antifa riots.”

    Their illustrations served to build a case that the focus on white supremacy is “diminishing” violence against others, as Cruz put it, including “violence directed at White people” — and that, as Grassley asserted, “even though many in the press only focus on far-right attacks, the most deadly ideology often changes year to year.”


    But that’s just not true. Since 2015, when the recent upsurge in political violence began, the brutality has been overwhelmingly perpetrated by the far right.

    According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, right-wing extremists (generally either white supremacist or anti-government) were involved in 267 plots or attacks and 91 fatalities from 2015 through 2020. Far-left extremists (anarchists, anti-fascists) were involved in 66 incidents and 19 deaths.

    The proportion of left-wing attacks and plots increased in 2021 (40 percent of the total, compared to 49 percent by right-wing extremists), but right-wing attacks remained far deadlier, accounting for 28 of 30 political-violence fatalities in 2021…….

    Click to expand...
    I would've cussed each of those racist forkers out and walked out of the hearing room.
     
    coldseat said:
    Here's the speech, in case anybody is interested in seeing it.

    Click to expand...



    Moving, but we know this is not "both sides", and that as long as all of those responsible gun owners keep on voting Republican, nothing is really is going to change, not in the foreseeable future anyway, especially with a 6-3 SCOTUS.
     
    GrandAdmiral said:
    The odds that it was that FNC reporter who ask "Were you just grandstanding there, sir?"

    butt crevasse...
    Click to expand...
    "As McConaughey left the briefing room, however, Newsmax reporter James Rosen asked “Were you grandstanding just now, sir?” Newsmax is a right-wing cable news channel and website known for its close support of former president Donald Trump, and it’s consistent with their track record that its journalists would resist any so-called politicization of a mass shooting tragedy."

    www.indiewire.com

    Matthew McConaughey Gives Emotional White House Speech, Accused of ‘Grandstanding’ by Newsmax Reporter

    His wife Camila Alves held the green Converse sneakers that were the only way to identify a 10-year-old victim.
    www.indiewire.com www.indiewire.com
    Click to expand...
     

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