Don't Ignore The Elephant

I’m writing to talk about the enormous elephant in the room - but I must speak softly for fear someone will shoot it.

The elephant, of course, is gun control. No one sees the elephant - or at least most pretend they don’t see the elephant - despite the growing episodes of mass shootings.

In 2013 there were 365 mass shootings, one per day. Don’t believe it? Look it up.  But no one is talking about it.

Political fear has hushed mouths in Congress and in the White House, despite President Obama’s rhetoric in his 2013 State of the Union Speech. His 2014 speech contained just two sentences on the subject. Admittedly, those sentences were strong ones, stating an intention to bypass Congress to enact legislation. But will it happen? Or will fear for the electoral future of the Democratic party prevent it?

But we can’t sit and point fingers at the President about this issue. Nor is it us against the NRA. Despite its leadership, the NRA is made up of good people; our neighbors and friends. They own guns, respect the guns, and are horrified at these shootings, just like the rest of us. But their leadership has convinced them that ANY restriction to firearms, any limit to those who should own them or when they may use them, any common sense approach will ultimately lead to the government taking away their guns. As long as fear reigns, nothing will be done.

The NRA leadership responses - increased training in gun handling,  more armed guards in schools, the creation of a national database of the mentally ill, and eliminating violent games, movies and other media - will not prevent these tragedies. If a person is intent upon causing grievous harm with a gun in a public place, there is no way to stop this person, so long as that person is armed. Like computer viruses, clever defenses only lead to even more clever attacks.

My point is this. The American people need to stop pretending we don’t see the elephant. We need to talk about it, to toss out ideas, to suggest solutions, to keep the dialogue going. This is real. Our children are threatened in their schools, families are threatened at the mall, people are threatened anywhere they congregate.

The elephant will not wander away on its own. 

CONGRESS

It has been too long since I have prepared a post for this page. When I decided to remedy that and began to search for a topic I found the number of possibilities staggering; there have been far too many issues raised and far too few reasonable responses to those issues since I last wrote here. I could not address them all.

But then I realized that my distress over these issues had a common denominator: Congress.

Where to begin? Perhaps with the essential philosophy of this particular Congress, which seems to be "All is fair in Political Warfare, no matter who gets hurt." To hold the American people hostage in order to make a partisan point? To refuse to govern, to pout and posture if they don't get their way? What have we become? I find it particularly insulting that members of this Congress continually represent themselves as acting at the will of the American people. Which people, exactly, are they talking about?

I'll say a quick word about guns and then move quickly to another topic. I've written much on this topic; its all been said. But in deference to those American people who have been devastated by guns that we put in the hands of criminals, I'll say another word. The arrogance of Congress to defeat a reasonable Arms bill in the shadow of the execution of schoolchildren, in order not to incur the wrath of the NRA, astounds and saddens me. Nor does the increase in similar shootings since that time seem to concern these lawmakers. The message from Congress is clear: feel free to go ahead and shoot people when you are in distress; we'll never take your guns away.

And ObamaCare? (The President did a great disservice to his own initiative when he allowed the Affordable Care Act to be so named during the debates).
We fail to remember that prior to the introduction of this bill universal health care did not exist for all Americans, and that the health and welfare of the American people was not assured during economic downturns accompanied by job loss and home loss. The state of health care in America was a disgrace and compared poorly to even some third world countries. Those that could afford it, had it, and those that couldn't didn't. It needed fixing.

And so doing is an enormous task, a great political sacrifice for any politician or governing official who undertakes it. But the first step has to be taken, however imperfect it might be. When the President presented this windmill to tilt against during his campaign and the American people voted him in for a second term, that was their affirmation. And once the bill was passed, it was time for Congress to support it. There would be ample time in the future to remedy the predictable problems with such a huge undertaking.

But this Congress has no interest in being constructive; this Congress is about tearing down, regardless of the fallout. This Congress purports to support American rights. And so they do: the right to die in a fusillade of bullets, and the right to be poor and sick without the benefit of a doctor's care.

Shall I even begin to speak of the environment and global warming and Big Oil? Congress fiddles while Rome burns. There is so much that could be done, that must be done to foster clean energy and minimize the release of greenhouse gases and preserve our natural resources, and here again Congress would rather in-fight and play partisan politics rather than act.

America needs strong leaders; we need Congressmen and Congresswomen who will not only represent their constituencies, but will also govern. The people we elect to represent us in Congress have been given a trust and have been provided a unique, global perspective with which to help guide the ship of state, the entire ship, not just the upper class berths, toward safe waters.

We currently lack these leaders.