Gun control is that subject I try and stay away from, probably the only issue where you can be seen as too extreme by both sides of the argument, but after twenty children were slaughtered yesterday I really can't do it anymore. Be warned that post is on its way but this isn't it.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may sometimes be a bit full of himself, imperial is word thrown around in the city, but at times he is the most rational politician in America. Maybe that comes with having a personal fortune large enough to say fuck you to any group he cares to. Honestly he may be the one non-Democrat I would like to see run for president, one I would seriously have to think about voting for.
What follows are Bloomberg's words after yesterday's Connecticut shootings, italics are mine ....
"With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it’s still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that. Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe. We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again. For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year olds. President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem. Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response. My deepest sympathies are with the families of all those affected, and my determination to stop this madness is stronger than ever."
The madness has to end.
update - Sometimes simple is the best, at left is Google's poignant homepage since the Newton shootings.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may sometimes be a bit full of himself, imperial is word thrown around in the city, but at times he is the most rational politician in America. Maybe that comes with having a personal fortune large enough to say fuck you to any group he cares to. Honestly he may be the one non-Democrat I would like to see run for president, one I would seriously have to think about voting for.
What follows are Bloomberg's words after yesterday's Connecticut shootings, italics are mine ....
"With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it’s still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that. Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe. We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again. For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year olds. President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem. Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response. My deepest sympathies are with the families of all those affected, and my determination to stop this madness is stronger than ever."
The madness has to end.
update - Sometimes simple is the best, at left is Google's poignant homepage since the Newton shootings.
The words are beyond me to write a post about this. There are so many directions from which I'd like to come at it, and so many pieces of my background that apply. I come from a huge family, I come from a gun-toting family, I work with children, I work with mentally ill children. But really, I just keep seeing the kids asking "Who is going to play with me?" when told their siblings are dead, and then I can't write anything at all.
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