The Republicans have it Wrong - Again!

Been a member of the Grand Old Party all my life. Surprising really because the longer I remain registered as a Republican the less it means to me. I believe government ought to be minimal. I believe we as a society should choose to provide a safety net for those who can't provide for themselves. I believe that being right doesn't mean you have the biggest Army. I believe in an individual right to bear and keep arms - one real good way to protect against an overreaching government. I believe I know what's good for me and you might know what's good for you. I believe you can worship as you choose without the government interfering. I believe Bowers v. Hardwick was governmental overreaching. I believe if the good people of Alaska wanted that dim bulb as their governor we should have left her there.

I believe in the Monroe Doctrine (google it).

Does any of this sound Republican any more?

The Second Amendment - Still Works

Terrible how we confuse our problems in this country. There is no question that illegal guns, usually illegal handguns, cause lots of hurt and anguish in this country: the suicides, the accidental shootings and of course the crime. But you gotta keep clear that the hardware's not the problem. Criminals are the problem, troubled people are the problem - do we make them illegal. Now there's an idea. But the social scientists closed all the insane asylums in the 70s because we believe we can medicate and talk to everyone for everything. Or was it Reagan, later shot by a madman, whose programs emptied the crazy houses of the mad men? Ad Nausem.

But we continue to sloganize, sermonize and scream about handguns, certainly here in New York City. We have a police force of almost 30,000 men and women with state of the art technology and intrusive minded prosecutors - 30,000 police men and women. That's an Occupying Army!

In D.C. where crime continues to drive the economy - poor people taking advantage of poor people and the powerful ignore it. Name one other national capital where the crime rate is routinely that high (okay, maybe San Paolo Brazil but is that really the parallel we want)? So DC, without 30,000 police officers wants to make it illegal to defend yourself at home.

Well finally the Court gets it right and the radio waves are blaring with the "lots of people will get killed now" wails. Aren't the numbers of people killed the same, it's just that now the law abiding, honest tax paying people can arm and defend themselves.

Read Eugene Robinson's take on this and see if I'm nuts.