Just to make things clear, I was born in the Intermountain West and raised in a military family. Most of the people I knew growing up owned and used guns. Even so, I’m convinced they are appalled by what the gun lobby does to make our children less safe.
When did it become acceptable for people, mostly men it must be said, to strut around in public with assault rifles, weapons of war? Despite what the NRA says it seems obvious that many consider military style arms to be nothing more than expensive if deadly toys. Carrying a flag and a gun is about all it takes to style yourself a hero these days.
Meanwhile children are paying with their lives for our lack of gun regulations. They are in the terrible position of having to learn to hide from gunmen at school and sometimes dying. Even though Americans have always owned guns this is the first generation to be subjected to the real possibility of violent mass death at school.
Guns are a problem. They need to be regulated in a serious responsible way. However the bigger problem is the lack of respect and care with which we treat the lives of our children.
The distortion field surrounding politics becomes more absurd with each passing day. The question; “Where are the responsible adults who used to make policy decisions?” may not be worth asking anymore. Unfortunately the lack of leadership we are experiencing is not just election season hype. Newspeak and misdirection are practiced with a straight face by our leaders who offer us little beyond “Bread and circuses”, magical thinking.
Government ain’t baseball, something to watch on Saturday afternoon. We cheat ourselves at the peril of our children. Make your voice heard.
I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone that we are living in a pretty strong reality distortion field these days. Turn on a television and you are likely to see someone trying hard to convince you that night is day or some equally absurd nonsense. It’s the interesting times we live in as the ancient and probably bogus proverb says.
My Tale of Woe
I find myself living through some interesting personal times at the moment. As I write this post I have a foot long incision in my chest, bruises all over my body, several new plumbing modifications and a certain shortness of breath.
Here’s how the thing went down. Heart attack on Monday, quad bypass on Tuesday, by Wednesday it took all my energy just to brush my teeth. A couple of days in the ICU followed by a few more in the cardiovascular unit and then a ride home. It was your basic whirlwind tour of modern medicine.
The Distortion Field Strikes
After a week of what I can only think of as pain induced blurred vision it turns out I’m really just a crazed drug fiend after all. The litany of physical issues I described are not the cause of my certain irritability. Rather it’s the pain killers I’m taking that are making me dangerous to all mankind. That seems a little far fetched to me but of course I’m on drugs and not to be counted as one of the currently productive members of society. Well I guess we all get to pay our money and choose the distortion field that feels most comfortable.
Please accept my apologies for not doing an audio post. I did mention I’m not breathing very well at the moment and looking at my chest reflected in the blank monitor is down right scary.