Tag Archives: bonesparkle

New NRA proposal doesn’t go far enough: has Wayne LaPierre submitted to the liberal gun control lobby?

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CATEGORY: GunsThe National Rifle Association has issued a recommendation for safeguarding America’s schools.

A task force working for the National Rifle Association recommended Tuesday that at least one armed guard be stationed on every campus in America as part of a three-month review on how to make schools safer in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

[sigh]

Why is the NRA soft-pedaling here? Why is it refusing to face up to the single most important data point in the history of American school shootings?

Dear Wayne LaPierre: Here’s the inconvenient fact that you’re skirting. In all of America’s school shootings, from Columbine to the present, every single one of the victims has been unarmed. NO ARMED STUDENT HAS EVER BEEN KILLED OR WOUNDED.

Armed security guards? Armed teachers? Blah blah blah. You want to put an end to school shootings, ARM THE STUDENTS. Every single one of them.

Until you do so, it’s clear that you have no commitment to solving the problem and safeguarding our nation’s most precious asset – its future.

California should secede from the Union: a semi-modest proposal

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The Republic of NevorewashiforniaYou may have heard that the State of California is facing a monster deficit. Figures bounce around a bit, but most estimates have the shortfall at or near $28 billion, and the mess has Gov. Jerry Brown pondering Armageddon: enough posturing and arguing – he seems prepared to let the citizenry see how it feels about the reality of shutting it all down. Don’t want to pay for schools? Cool – we won’t have any.

One sympathizes with the people of the Golden State. They do contribute more in federal taxes than any other state, and the ideology of our times has us all convinced that paying taxes is the same thing as flushing perfectly good cash down the toilet. Read more

The problem with democracy in America…

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In my most recent post, one commenter repeatedly insisted that I offer a solution or an alternative for the problems I was pointing to. As I noted there, I never suggested that there was a problem, and even if there were, it’s hardly my job to be proposing a lot of solutions that aren’t going to be acted on. If you believe there’s the slightest plausibility of change wafting in the wind, you haven’t taken a good look at the likely presidential contenders in your two major parties.

However, for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that I think America’s current condition constitutes a “problem” and that I’m tasked with offering a solution. I would begin with one critical observation about your system of governance: The problem with democracy in America is that too many people are allowed to participate. Read more