Andy Parker is that courageous father of the beautiful and intelligent young woman who was shot at that news station a few months ago. Mr. Parker is all in on doing 'whatever it takes' to end this cycle of gun violence that so cruelly took his young daughter from him.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/my-daughter-was-killed-on-live-television-i-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-end-gun-violence/2015/08/30/2f4d233c-4e94-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html
As President Obama says, this has become shockingly routine. He challenged the news media yesterday to do its own research on comparing gun violence to terrorism-which the Right wing is so obsessed with.
The Washington Post did something like this. They determined that in the last 279 days there have been 294 shootings
"CAN’T WE GO JUST ONE WEEK WITHOUT A MASS SHOOTING?"
"There have been only 274 days this year. The shootings are captured in this calendar, drawn from the the Mass Shooting Tracker. The tracker draws some criticism because its definition is broader than the FBI's definition, which requires three or more people to be killed by gunfire. But the broader definition is nonetheless a useful one, because it captures many high-profile instances of violence — like the Lafayette theater shootings — that don't meet the FBI's criteria."
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/dad-slain-wdbj-reporter-reacts-ore-shooting-article-1.2382313
So I think this is a fair question for Bernie as his track record isn't great. Bernie Maniacs may not like Andy Parker's description of Bernie's record as 'terrible'-his word on Lawrence O'Donnell last night-of course while Lawrence never would defend Hillary he fell all over himself defending Bernie- but why would Mr. Parker lie?
Do the Bernie Maniacs believe he has any motive for saying this other than ending this epidemic?
Whether you want to call the record terrible as Mr. Parker does his record does raise legitimate questions. He voted against the Brady bill which a police officer on Chris Matthews explained is a very effective measure against gun violence.
Bernie insists that he's strong on gun control.
"In the wake of last week's deadly shootings at a church in South Carolina, some Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the front-runner for the party's 2016 presidential nomination, have issued a renewed call for gun control, which she described as "common-sense gun reforms."
"So obviously, we need strong sensible gun control, and I will support it," Mr. Sanders said. "But some people think it's going to solve all of our problems, and it's not. You know what, we have a crisis in the capability of addressing mental health illness in this country. When people are hurting and are prepared to do something terrible, we need to do something immediately. We don't have that and we should have that."
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/06/bernie-sanders-gun-control-wont-solve-all
People who say gun control is 'not a cure all' usually don't end up supporting it. With the current epidemic of gun violence in our country is this what we want to hear a President say: it's not a cure all.
If it's not a cure all then let's at least do a 'cure some.'
Because for years we have shamefully cured nothing and we owe the Andy Parkers of the world much better than that. Praying for them after the lose their daughters or their mothers, fathers. or sons is not enough as Obama says.
We have to prevent more of these from happening.
One week without a mass shooting? Can we achieve even this?
P.S. By the way, to Bernie's point about rural communities, not that yesterday's shooting at Umpqua Community College is in a rural community as a number of these shootings have been.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/my-daughter-was-killed-on-live-television-i-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-end-gun-violence/2015/08/30/2f4d233c-4e94-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html
As President Obama says, this has become shockingly routine. He challenged the news media yesterday to do its own research on comparing gun violence to terrorism-which the Right wing is so obsessed with.
The Washington Post did something like this. They determined that in the last 279 days there have been 294 shootings
"CAN’T WE GO JUST ONE WEEK WITHOUT A MASS SHOOTING?"
http://reverbpress.com/news/us/mass-shooting-umpqua-oregon/
According to the gun nuts that's a Utopian idea. This morning just as POTUS predicted Mike Huckabee criticized him for 'exploiting a tragedy.'
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mike-huckabee-obama-exploit-shooting
I guess in Huckabee's mind any attempt at fixing the problem is exploitation. At least one shooting every week-but fixing it is Utopian and political.
The President is right. It's time to politicize this. Way past time to solve it. The idea that we let these tearful families bury their loved ones again and again and do nothing is shameful.
As Andy Parker correctly says those who fight this have blood on their hands.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/andy-parker-takes-america-shame-gun-violence-article-1.2342478
So it is time to politicize this. In addition we keep hearing that Bernie Sanders hasn't been given the respect he deserves-he's a real candidate. .
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/10/paul-waldman-is-wrong-that-bernie-hasnt.html
Ok then lets look at his positions. The ones the Bernie Maniacs usually focus on is that he opposes Keystone and TPP and that he is very critical of the money in our system though he doesn't have a magic bullet to stop it.
They seldom discuss gun control or immigration where he is more ambivalent and problematical on. Where Hillary is to his Left.
This of course doesn't mean that Bernie has a terrible record on all the issues. As the Bernie Maniacs ignore he and she agree on most issues. But on some issues he is questionable like anyone else is. The Maniacs make is sound as if he's the Immaculate Politician-so pure as to be above any criticism-did they ever squawk when Black Lives Matter questioned him. No, he has a record that isn't perfect. He's not Jim Smith goes to Washington anymore than Hillary is.
And we are in an epidemic of gun violence-we can't go a week without a shooting and we've had 294 mass shootings in 279 days this year
"Shooting in Oregon: So far in 2015, we’ve had 274 days and 294 mass shootings"
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/andy-parker-takes-america-shame-gun-violence-article-1.2342478
So it is time to politicize this. In addition we keep hearing that Bernie Sanders hasn't been given the respect he deserves-he's a real candidate. .
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/10/paul-waldman-is-wrong-that-bernie-hasnt.html
Ok then lets look at his positions. The ones the Bernie Maniacs usually focus on is that he opposes Keystone and TPP and that he is very critical of the money in our system though he doesn't have a magic bullet to stop it.
They seldom discuss gun control or immigration where he is more ambivalent and problematical on. Where Hillary is to his Left.
This of course doesn't mean that Bernie has a terrible record on all the issues. As the Bernie Maniacs ignore he and she agree on most issues. But on some issues he is questionable like anyone else is. The Maniacs make is sound as if he's the Immaculate Politician-so pure as to be above any criticism-did they ever squawk when Black Lives Matter questioned him. No, he has a record that isn't perfect. He's not Jim Smith goes to Washington anymore than Hillary is.
And we are in an epidemic of gun violence-we can't go a week without a shooting and we've had 294 mass shootings in 279 days this year
"Shooting in Oregon: So far in 2015, we’ve had 274 days and 294 mass shootings"
"There have been only 274 days this year. The shootings are captured in this calendar, drawn from the the Mass Shooting Tracker. The tracker draws some criticism because its definition is broader than the FBI's definition, which requires three or more people to be killed by gunfire. But the broader definition is nonetheless a useful one, because it captures many high-profile instances of violence — like the Lafayette theater shootings — that don't meet the FBI's criteria."
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/dad-slain-wdbj-reporter-reacts-ore-shooting-article-1.2382313
So I think this is a fair question for Bernie as his track record isn't great. Bernie Maniacs may not like Andy Parker's description of Bernie's record as 'terrible'-his word on Lawrence O'Donnell last night-of course while Lawrence never would defend Hillary he fell all over himself defending Bernie- but why would Mr. Parker lie?
Do the Bernie Maniacs believe he has any motive for saying this other than ending this epidemic?
Whether you want to call the record terrible as Mr. Parker does his record does raise legitimate questions. He voted against the Brady bill which a police officer on Chris Matthews explained is a very effective measure against gun violence.
Bernie insists that he's strong on gun control.
"I've been strong on this issue," he said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, citing his votes in favor of background checks at gun shows and a ban on sales of semi-automatic weapons.
"Sanders did take those votes, as well as many others in favor of stricter gun control. Over his long career, though, he's also stood against gun control on several crucial pieces of legislation, as this voting history compiled by the Tampa Bay Times shows. Sanders did not discuss those votes in Sunday's television interview."
"Sanders said he voted for instant background checks, which he called "probably the most important thing we can do." Yet many gun-control advocates favor longer waiting periods to instant background checks to allow for the authorities to more thoroughly vet someone who is trying to buy a weapon. Current law requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to approve or deny a gun purchase within three days. Dylann Roof, accused of killing nine people at a church in Charleston, S.C. in July, was able to buy a gun because it took the feds more than three days -- the legal maximum -- to determine whether he was eligible."
"During the debate over the Brady handgun bill, which established the background-check system, Sanders did vote in favor of instant background checks on an amendment. Ultimately, though, he voted against the Brady legislation, which imposed a five-day waiting period. Former aides told the Times that Sanders's aim was to represent Vermont, a sparsely populated state where many people own guns for hunting. Sanders's constituents there did not want a waiting period for gun purchases, they said."
"Gun-control advocates were also frustrated when Sanders voted for a 2005 bill to bar victims of gun violence from suing firearms manufacturers. Although legal experts say that such lawsuits would have been unlikely to succeed in most cases, since the manufacturers could argue that a third party was responsible, the bill still gave the industry a level of legal protection unique among makers of dangerous consumer products."
"And a year later, Sanders voted to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to identify and shut down unscrupulous gun dealers. While data on the black market for guns is limited, an investigation by The Washington Post, among other studies, has found that most guns used in crimes come from just a few gun stores -- about 1 percent of licensed dealers. The bureau lacks the resources and the legal authority to prevent those dealers from doing business."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/31/bernie-sanders-tries-to-clarify-his-record-on-gun-control/
Then we have him saying things like this:
"I think guns and gun control is an issue that needs to be discussed," Mr. Sanders told NPR's David Greene in an interview that aired Thursday. "Let me add to that, I think that urban America has got to respect what rural America is about, where 99 percent of the people in my state who hunt are law abiding people."
"In the wake of last week's deadly shootings at a church in South Carolina, some Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the front-runner for the party's 2016 presidential nomination, have issued a renewed call for gun control, which she described as "common-sense gun reforms."
"So obviously, we need strong sensible gun control, and I will support it," Mr. Sanders said. "But some people think it's going to solve all of our problems, and it's not. You know what, we have a crisis in the capability of addressing mental health illness in this country. When people are hurting and are prepared to do something terrible, we need to do something immediately. We don't have that and we should have that."
People who say gun control is 'not a cure all' usually don't end up supporting it. With the current epidemic of gun violence in our country is this what we want to hear a President say: it's not a cure all.
If it's not a cure all then let's at least do a 'cure some.'
Because for years we have shamefully cured nothing and we owe the Andy Parkers of the world much better than that. Praying for them after the lose their daughters or their mothers, fathers. or sons is not enough as Obama says.
We have to prevent more of these from happening.
One week without a mass shooting? Can we achieve even this?
P.S. By the way, to Bernie's point about rural communities, not that yesterday's shooting at Umpqua Community College is in a rural community as a number of these shootings have been.
No comments:
Post a Comment