I just read an April 18th article by Bill Keller of The New York Times.
I think the two of us see fairly eye to eye when it comes to guns, and his article got me to thinking about the issue again. He quotes some politicians who have been digging their proverbial heels into the legislative dirt following the terrible shooting tragedies of late.
The emotion associated with all the violent events over the last 3 or 4 years tends to cause us to lose sight of some pretty commonsense principles. (Tom Coburn, R- Oklahoma)
We should not react to these tragedies in an irrational manner here in the Senate. (Richard Shelby, R- Alabama)
It is largely a mistake to talk about issues in the wake of crisis, in the wake of tragedy. (Rand Paul, R-Kentucky)
(Emphasis mine.)
Rand Paul’s comments pretty much coagulate things for me. I’ll give him the little “due” he’s got coming; he did say gun control “is a legitimate issue for our country to debate and decide where and how we can fix the problems of violence.”
But let’s get real here, folks. That, in the reality behind political surreality, is simply Republican-speak for, “Get me Fox News, STAT!”
These guys want to debate and decide this issue?
Really?
That’s obviously why Senator Paul was leading his posse of fellow Republican senators who promised to filibuster any effort to strengthen gun safety laws. They simply want to let everybody cool down so we, America, can have a really good (but calm) debate about the slaughter of innocents.
I find it curious that the ideologues of the far Right get all “familial” when it comes to things financial, like national debts and budgets and stuff. They constantly compare family budgets and debts with government budgets and debts, as if they’re the same thing and cut from the same cloth. (They’re not.) And they want changes NOW, dammit! Debate? We don’t need no stinking debate! We need to act now. And if you don’t agree with the way WE want to do things, we’ll just filibuster your ass until we get our way.
Sequester, anyone?
But I digress . . .
So, when it comes to money things, Republicans don’t want a cooling off period or a rational debate of ideas. Do it our way, they say, or we’ll filibuster this ship into an iceberg.
But when it comes to anything about guns, Republicans insist the country needs to chill out and let the bloody dust settle before we can calmly talk about what we need to do and how we should do it. And the thousands of innocents who die violent, bloody deaths while congressional Republicans turn a deaf ear? Just leave things alone until the issue of gun control fades out of the daily news cycle.
Or say hello to Mr. Filibuster.
Again.
