Have you ever had one of those moments that leave you shaking your head in wonder? One of those special reality check moments occurred to me this evening watching the news. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit to having belonged, at one point, to the Republican Party – I have since vehemently disowned both parties and abhor the two-party system. I believe that our political party system (as practiced) allowing for no viable third party, is a major problem; it removes the possibility of new ideas and keeps us heading along the ruts of history never allowing dissenting voices to have input.
"That Ain't Right"
by
Thomas "Fats" Waller
"Baby, baby; What is the matter with you?
Ah! Baby, baby; What is the matter with you?
You got the world in a jug
And you've got nothin' to do"
It is my opinion that the divisiveness that exists today is largely an artifact of the system. The two parties are all about the same thing: the chase for the dollars needed to obtain and hold power. I am sure that if we had a viable third party, the system would be more inclusive and, perhaps, more responsive to the will of the voters.
That being said, this morning I heard on the news further evidence of the craziness of the situation. For months now, members party of the political right has been so dissatisfied with the status quo that they have been courting a person whose stated views could accurately be characterized as misogynistic and racist; an egotist who has shown himself willing to say anything – not matter how inflammatory – to keep himself ahead in the polls. But that primacy has been challenged by another, equally questionable, contender.
The challenger in the contest of crazy comes from way out in left field (or should that be right field?) and is definitely NOT the type of person any sane political system would consider a viable candidate. The latest of his questionable comments is to say that The Holocaust would not have happened if the population of Europe had not been subject to gun control laws.
We’ve all heard of politicians doubling down on bad ideas or questionable comments. Carson did this himself. First, he seemed to be blaming the victims of the college shooting last week for not being armed and therefore, the gunman was able to kill them too easily. When challenged on the seeming callousness of his statements, he claimed not to be blaming the victims; a denial that would have been slightly more believable had he not then gone on to immediately repeat his assertion that they would be alive had they only been armed.
In his latest comments he seem to be tripling-down on the original comments. In his latest (and some may see as his most offensive) comments, he says that Jews are at least in part guilty for The Holocaust because they were not armed. That ain’t right!
Poll after poll has shown that a majority of Americans do not hold these views – most Americans are for some basic protections. Dr. Carson’s (and the gun lobby’s) assertions that the solution to all this gun violence is to add more guns is akin to thinking that gasoline might be the perfect fire suppressant to use on the next grassfire that crops.
“Oh! If only they had poured a little MORE gas on that fire it might not have exploded that way!”
As judgmental as this may seem to say: it is absolutely crazy that the radical right keeps claiming that the lax gun laws in this country are not the problem. If gun control is the problem, why is it that the US has so much gun violence and every other country has so little? Could it be that the gun lobby has no real interest in the second amendment rights and is only interested in protecting their profits? Hmmm…
"That ain't rightWherever you are today, I hope that you will think about what the politicians are saying and see if it is something that makes sense before throwing your support behind them!
Baby, that ain't right at all
Takin' all my money
Goin' out, havin' yourself a ball"
1 comment:
How is *that* for timing!?
Before this could publish (but after the post was written) there was a report on the morning news of another mass shooting. My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the most recent shooting in Arizona.
I wonder how long it will be before Dr. Carson begins blaming THOSE victims and how long it will be before the NRA issues their standard answer the the shooting was caused by the fact that there were not enough guns on the scene. "That ain't right!"
Get the gas cans ready, folks! We've got a fire to fight!
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