Day 1012 – Guns, Hearts, Abortions

Monday October 30, 2023

The Republicans have traded in a not too bright Speaker for what? Let’s take a look. They rejected an extremist election denying firebrand for a weird milquetoast one. What do we know about the new Speaker Mike Johnson? Well, he ran uncontested. As far as I can tell he has only gotten passed one piece of legislation – an act to make a U.S. Marine coin. The rest of his stuff is either in committee, or passed to the Senate (“crossed over”) and a bunch of “Resolutions” mainly about right wing agenda stuff. He also has an adopted black son whom he does not allow to be in pictures with the family and is fourteen years younger than the Congressman. It’s weird. Maybe, it’s a good thing that he took this kid in, but then to not acknowledge publicly in photos etc.? The relationship is weird.

After the Lewiston Maine shooting Mike said guns weren’t the problem it was what was in our hearts. Okay. Let’s run with that. What are you going to do about it? What? The hearts. Ya see, Mike, some of those hearts must be evil – right? So what ya gonna do about it?

Let’s leave that there for a second and look at the Republican political campaign ads here in Virginia. There are several types:

– The other person is bad because they are: soft on crime, support something evil, the economy is bad, they haven’t done anything.

Don’t vote for them.

– Vote for so and so because they stand with Governor Youngkin and together we’ll get stuff done (smile).

– A fifteen week abortion ban is not an abortion ban and it’s something we can live with. Besides, a percentage over 50 is okay with it.

A few questions I have for the Republican ads:

1. Same old attack ads. Nothing new. Nothing specific. You can do better. And why do you hide your deplorable objectives behind high sounding names? Is it because if you called them what they really are no one would want you in office?

2. As for working with the Governor, what exactly has the Governor done to help us so far? I can think of a lot of bad stuff, but nothing positive. What exactly is never made clear. However, in Democratic ads they point out that mostly what these candidates want to get done is ban all abortions, move money out of public schools to private ones, make sure everyone can own a gun, and step on the poor, minorities, immigrants, and women.

3. A fifteen week abortion ban huh? Are you doctors? Are you God? Then what business is it of yours? Why not get rid of the ban all together and let the woman decide along with her doctors and her god? Just throwing it out there to consider.

Now, let’s return to Mike Johnson and the guns aren’t the problem it’s what’s in our hearts. Once again I have to ask: are you a doctor or god? Because if you aren’t how’s this heart thing gonna work?

Okay, time for fun with math.

We are at the end of October that is we are ten months through a twelve month year or 10/12 = 83.3%

There are 400,000 AR-15s currently in the U.S.

Mass shootings this year are either 36 or 566 depending on whose number you take. That’s:

566/400,000 = .1415%

36/400,000 = .009%

So we should finish out the year with 679 or 43.2 mass shootings.

Recall ratios? Here ya go:

(566*100)/83.3=679

(36*100)/83.3 = 43.2

Okay, so I propose a new Republican political ad – nationwide.

AR-15s used in mass shootings are under one tenth of one percent of all AR-15s owned in our great country. That’s only 43 for the year. It’s a number we can live with.

Or

AR-15s used in mass shootings are under one tenth of one percent of all AR-15s owned in our great country. Isn’t that worth it to protect our gun rights?

Moving on. Hours before the gunman in Lewiston Maine began firing the Senate passed a bill making it easier for mentally incompetent Veterans to get guns. There have been many veteran suicides. This bill will allow them easier access to do so.

The other day the Senate actually passed gun legislation that would help curb gun violence. It’s not much, but it’s something. This on the same day that the Supreme Court ruled the Constitution said the Second Amendment allows people to carry guns outside the home. You know I used to think that judges could read and comprehend what they read. Earl Warren warned about the Second Amendment being twisted by the manufacturers of guns and they have once again succeeded. I know the Second Amendment is not the most clearly worded piece of writing but if you can read a sentence you can figure it out. Bear in mind that the version passed by Congress uses two commas and various states passed versions with only one comma, and it was either the first or second comma or no commas…and and different words are capitalized. But if you take the time to read the sentence it is clear that this amendment only applies to “A well regulated militia.” So I would posit the question, “Are you a well regulated militia? No? Gimme your AR-15.”

It’s not like we haven’t run into this kind of thing before. The Thompson submachine gun was so prevalent that we finally regulated them. Of course, it took lining a bunch of mobsters up against a wall and shooting them in the back to do it. Now 18 dead in Maine, 60 in Las Vegas, etc. Are we at a critical mass? Have we had enough? Or is it a number we can live with?