Rights versus responsibilities!
We remember the days of our youth when the media of the time was full of the plight of the American bald eagle. It had just been discovered that the eggs of the great American symbol were being softened by DDT, the commonly used pesticide employed by farmers everywhere to kill insects affecting their crops. The congress got together and passed legislation which totally banned DDT and the recovery of the great American bird is now almost complete to the point that there has recently been a ruling that has allowed some tribes of Indians be permitted to hunt the bald eagle for its feathers which are integral to their tribal rituals.
The same goes for the grey wolf. Out in the American west, wolves were hunted to the point that they were placed, as was the eagle, on the endangered species list. We recall the presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain back in 2008 in which McCain cited a study being done on the wolf population in one western state as being part of a wasteful earmark that he would like to see eliminated. As a partial result of that study, the wolf has now been taken off of the endangered list and is now openly hunted in parts of the west due to its plentiful numbers and its proclivity to attack the cattle population.
In this nation, we never question the fact that we must go to a doctor and get a prescription to buy medicines that help to control our diseases and to help make us better from our illnesses. We also never question that if we use these medicines repeatedly that we must visit the doctor in order for him to examine us to oversee there continued use. We even regulate certain over the counter medicines these days because of their use in the illegal manufacture of illicit drugs. We also never question the fact that our professions must be licensed by the state in which they practice. Across the United States for close to a century now, we must buy a license plate if we wish to own and drive an automobile on our public roads. And we do not question the idea that we should own automobile insurance. Most states currently make its ownership mandatory and levy stiff fines for those who are in accidents and who do not own any insurance.
There are so many aspects of our daily lives that are governed by various laws that tell us the things that we can and cannot do. And we do not question these things. We think that it is ridiculous when we hear that a person owns certain kinds of exotic animals in violation of the laws. Those laws were put in place as have most others, because of past experiences that have convinced our government that they should be put in place for our own safety and to protect us from ourselves and from others. Although some protest and question whether they should pay income taxes and state taxes, most of us, this time of year, pony up what we owe without question and go on down the road. And then there is the social security card that almost all of us get! It is always interesting to note how upset we get if anyone steals that particular number!
Most of us like to trumpet our rights but not so many of us like to talk about our responsibilities! With rights come responsibilities! But, this is not true when it comes to guns! It is so fascinating to us that the neoconservative republicans like to trumpet states rights on most issues except when it comes to the second amendment and their rights to own guns. When it comes to that particular issue, they scream to the top of their lungs about their federal rights to keep and bear arms. And, not only that, they scream also to the top of their lungs if anyone brings up the idea that those guns should be registered and the people who own them should be noted in recordkeeping somewhere or other. The latest compromise on the gun legislative front sponsored by West Virginia senator Joe Manchin and Pennsylvania senator Pat Toomey explicitly states that, if further background checks are initiated, there will be no permanent record kept of the people who ask for them in order to purchase the weapon of their choice. So, these people who willingly buy license plates and sit for photos for their drivers licenses want no record of their guns kept at all. It is interesting to note also that these same neoconservative republicans are passing laws all across the nation in the states that they control tightening up on the proof and requirements needed to vote in elections. And, it goes without saying that no one questions the idea that a person should have to register to vote, forming one of the basis for the identity that is created to show that one is an American. Neocons are doing their best to deny that precious right to vote through their control of documents and registrations in areas that do not traditionally vote for them.
It is also interesting to note that some of these same people have been questioning the citizenship of our current president by demanding that he show his birth certificate--another form of identification and registration that they believe that all American should have. It is also interesting to note that they use these same identifiers to exclude illegal aliens such as Latinos. So, it seems to be that when registrations and identifiers are in their favor, they are more than in favor of them. But when it comes to things like guns these things are not needed at all.
All guns and magazines and the like have a serial number on them because that is how manufacturers keep track of what they have built. But God forbid if we should keep track of anything like that or of the people who might own anything like that! There is another thing that no one much questions. And that is death certificates. We use them to file for insurance payments and for other benefits and no one much questions when we are asked for them for loved ones who have left this earth. There are around thirty five of them a day filed on those who are killed due to gun violence and no one much questions that we keep those records either. But, not on our guns, not on our guns!
IOVHO,
Regards,
Joe
To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time.
| 