By 2-1, an appeals court has overturned the District of Columbia's long-standing ban on guns. Basically, D.C. had the harshest gun control law in the nation--as a resident, you can't own a handgun or semiautomatic weapon, muchless carry one. You can only own a rifle if you keep it unloaded and have the barrel of the gun in a separate place of your house in the gun itself (huh?!). Since this law was enacted in 1977, gun violence has actually increased and law-abiding citizens of the District have been prevented from defending themselves and their families from people who buy guns illegally or just cross the line into Virginia or Maryland to buy a gun.
So finally DC residents will have their 2nd amendment rights back and wouldn't it be so ironic if the city's crime rates decreases in the year after the ban is lifted! Although, if you're in DC, don't rush out to buy your guns yet, the District's government is appealing...
New Moveon.org poster child John Edwards announces over the weekend that "Jesus would be appalled" at our selfishness as Americans for ignoring the plight of the poor and getting involved in a senseless war.
Now forget for a second that as a country, Americans give more to charity than any other nation on earth, and we give more of our wealth to the downtrodden in less developed nations around the world than any other nation. Hell, if it wasn't for the United States there would be no United Nations--we created the institution! If we withdrew our funding of the UN tomorrow, it would cease to exist--that's how much we contribute.
But what really gets me going is anyone (Republican or Democrat) who claims to speak for Jesus. Falwell, Pat Robertson on the right, and now we have Edwards on the left. Would Jesus be appalled that Edwards has two houses valued at over $10 million? How much does Edwards contribute to charity? Maybe he can turn his 28,200 square foot estate with 102 acres into a theme park and invite all the inner city kids to experience his life of luxury.
And would Jesus feel appalled to know that back in 2003, Edwards owed $11,000 in back property taxes for his plush Georgetown row house in DC? (see here). Is this the same Edwards who wants to raise taxes for everyone else, but fails to pay his own taxes on time? What would Jesus think about that? If I ever hear another politician claiming to speak for Jesus, I think I'll go insane...
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1 comment:
Brandon,
Calm down....
I agree that John Edwards is a first class looser, but no need to let your blood pressure rise !
Bringing in the name of Jesus opens up a whole bunch of doors with regards to the place of "morality" in politics. It is noteworthy that we, as a nation, have slowly separated ourselves from our religious roots (the founding fathers having thought that religion was the repository of our moral reserve), and yet we make statements like Edward's to try and engender sympathy or agreement with their causes.
Edwards is a member of a group of people who get lots of visibility and seemingly have lots of influence on our society (litigation attorneys).
He stands up for the little guy against the big money guys (and takes a hefty fee for doing so....thus becoming rather rich himself....and becoming a big money guy...all the while bragging about how he stands up to them....I am laughing at the irony).
But we create these kinds of creatures by allowing our system to do what it does.
There is no getting around the fact that lawyers play up income redistribution and siphon off a lot of that income themselves.
I work for a large company, but am no fan of them. I don't like the way they concentrate weath. But we are the ones who make them wealthy by allowing them to operate in a free market and by supporting them with our purchases.
Lit. Attorneys glut themselves on the mistakes of these companies and do it in the name of the little guy.
I have many friends who are attorneys who make a modest living (these are not lit. people). I have a lot of respect for most of them.
But I got past the blood pressure increases a while ago....so don't let it wear you down.
SLW
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