Goodness.We have a President!
It's been a long time, folks.
And the world is paying attention.
And may we pay attention to the world.
Our love of guns is just plain silly, and we're not likely to ever figure out what the framers of those words, "the right to bear arms," really meant, so let's put on our thinking caps for a change, let's take a look at the civilized world and admit that our lax gun laws, our infatuation with guns, our admiration of violence, creates a highly violent culture, and the rest of the world looks on with amazement.
And hats off to Iowa for a unanimous Supreme Court decision declaring gay marriage a constitutional right, and contrary to California with its initiative politics, it will be a lot harder to undo.
And maybe we can finally grow up with regard to "illegal" drugs. Secretary of State Clinton is right - our drug appetite is fueling the drug cartels and their violence. Our drug war is ridiculous - makes about as much sense as outlawing milk. Let's legalize it like the Netherlands; let's tax it and make some money, and above all else, let's put the cartels out of business.
Prohibition failed, and so will the drug war.
I have never been a user and at this stage of life, not likely to become one. I decry the sorrow of drugs, but even worse is the clogging of our legal system with prosecutions and making millionaires out of criminals.
We can do better; we can be smarter!
Who knows where it'll go, but this much I know - we finally have a President fit for the office, and a President fit for the 21st century.
We do know. They intended for each citizen to have the freedom to possess firearms, free from the incursion of government. A University of Pennsylvania law professor, writing on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer said in a column celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights:
ReplyDelete"We have all seen the bumper sticker that says 'If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.'"
He went on to say that the Framers saw it differently. They would have written:
"If guns are outlawed, only government will have guns. And that scared the hell out of them."
You can look it up.