Don't you mean Guns and Roses you might be saying, referring to the rock group? Nope.....these are a couple of the leading stories today that have been reported by the Associated Press. They also make for some interesting thoughts. Let's start with the e-mails.
These are the unsolicited e-mails from the White House that they vehemently denied sending out. The White House has continually said that no one recieved unsolicited e-mails from them but today White House Online Director Macon Phillips changed course and admitted that this actually had happened. He admitted that such e-mails were in fact sent out, which included a message from top political advisor, David Axelrod, urging support for health care overhaul. But in true political fashion, Phillips also immediately aimed the blame at independent, outside political groups which he didn't name. (Have you ever noticed how hard it is to pin the blame on a particular group or person when you don't have their name or any evidence to back it up?) Phillips stated, "It has come to our attention that some people may have been suscribed to our e-mails lists without their knowledge - likely as a result of efforts of outside groups of all political stripes" (A great way to blame everyone but yourselves huh Mr. Phillips!)
Keep in mind that this comes on the heels of pressure from Darrell Issa,(R-Ca)who is the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee. He also expressed concern about a separate e-mail account that was being used by the White House to track "fishy" claims about the health care overhaul (interpreted..."critics speaking out"). Incidentally, this e-mail account was disabled this afternoon. Now THAT sounds fishy to me! Especially in the light of the admission by White House officials that they had asked the public to share e-mails of critics with them so they could "fight back" and correct the misconceptions.
So what we have here is a classic case of, "We didn't do it......(Uh oh, they know)....Wait a minute, we did it....(quick, get rid of the evidence)..But it was all THEIR fault!" What this tells me as it percolates inside my average American mind is that they, meaning the White House, didn't expect to be caught or called on the carpet for it. Are we really expected to believe that the White House had NO idea this was going on until others started looking into it? I personally don't buy that idea as Washington politicians have their fingers and noses into so many places inside the beltway, that a fly on the wall is probably caught on tape each time it rubs its wings together.
Lastly, this situation represents one more incident in which the lack of integrity or transparency is seen yet again. Rather than have enough intestinal fortitude to admit they did something wrong and apologize for it, it's so much easier and convenient to blame it on someone else.....anyone else!!! What a great set of role models and leaders we have out there at the White House setting an example for our kids. Don't you want your kids to learn these lessons that the politicos are teaching???? I don't.
Now on to the real firepower.....the guns! As you might have seen, about a dozen people that were outside the convention center in Phoenix, AZ while Obama made a speech inside, came with their guns. One of them had a semi-automatic assault rifle. This is the second time this has happened and has sparked some controversy and I want to throw my thoughts in the ring.
For starters, I support the constitution and our right to bear arms. This is one of the fundamental rights given to us by our constitution and is one that is constantly under attack by the anti-gun crowds. As a result of Arizona's adherance to the constitution and what it stands for, that state allows law-abiding citizens to openly carry a weapon in public. For this I applaud the state of Arizona. If Obama has his way, we will eventually lose that right and keep in mind that once you lose a right, it is very difficult if not impossible to get it back. As far as this situation in Phoenix, the gun-toting citizens didn't break any laws, were not disorderly, made no threats and consequently were not arrested. Wow!!! What an unbelievable thought for the liberal crowd out there. Conservatives showed up carrying guns, were well-mannered, obeyed the law and nothing violent happened? How can this be? (Or more likely, "How can we spin this to our benefit?")
When interviewed, the gun owners stated they were simply making a political statement. In a nutshell, they believe we should maintain our right to possess and bear arms, which is completely removed from what Obama wishes to do. I applaud these people for their beliefs and their courage to stand up for what they believe in. If only we all had that kind of conviction and courage.
Now there are those out there that are fully against this and these are the same people that would disarm you, the private citizen, completely if they got the chance. Take for instance a Northern Arizona University political scientist, who called this a "disturbing trend" or Paul Helmke who is president of the Washington, D.C. based Brady Campaign to Prevent Violence. Mr. Helmke is quoted as stating, "When you bring a loaded gun, particularly a loaded assault rifle to any political event, but particularly to one where the president is appearing, you're just making the situation dangerous for everyone". I find his comment particularly interesting because in NONE of the news accounts regarding this rally in Phoenix did I find ANYTHING that stated the weapons were loaded. In fact, I would challenge that they were not loaded. So where did he get his information from??? I truly believe that people like these in Phoenix not only feel strongly about their rights, but as law-abiding citizens have probably educated themselves, taken safety classes and are extremely aware of gun safety. I would be willing to bet as well that they never loaded the weapons as a result of this and only brought them, as they said, as a political statement.
Lastly, a few thoughts I would like to share. Remember the saying, "Guns don't kill people....people kill people!"?? Well I happen to agree with that. I also think that we should ALL be allowed to wear firearms if we so desire......IF, we pass a back-gound check, take mandatory safety classes, complete periodic refresher training snd take the right safety precautions about storage of the weapons and ammo. If this were the case, I believe we would have a lot less violent crime because gun-toting criminals would know they could very well be on the losing end of a situation as a result. Also, when is the last time you heard of a school shooting or gun-man going on a wild killing rampage in Arizona??? Coincidence? I don't think so.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
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