Independence Day 2022

The weirdest/eeriest thing just happened.  I was having a very peaceful, restful 4th of July holiday Monday today.  I was just making some tea.  While waiting for the water to boil, I was putting some clean dishes and utensils away in the kitchen, and thinking about how I was going to go into another room and turn the TV on once I got my tea.  All of a sudden, I got a feeling.  And I said out loud to my cat, Kioko, "I have this feeling there's been another mass shooting."  I had a strong feeling that, when I turned on the TV, there would be some sort of horrible news, and furthermore, it would be a mass shooting.

Now, one could argue that this truly is "an INFJ thing".  I'm an INFJ and we do tend to have such strong intuition that it can border on, and, in some cases, at some times, even BE to the level of what some call "ESP" or extra sensory perception, and I've experienced this in the past:  precognition.  I just experienced it again.  Because I just turned on the TV and:  at least 6 killed, 31 injured in yet another mass shooting carried out with what should be, and is in other countries, a weapon of war that is not accessible to civilians.  But in America, where we seem to value being the wild, wild west above almost all else, we are "free" to carry around weapons that have no other purpose at all except to kill the maximum number of people in the minimum number of moments.  So one really doesn't have to be an INFJ to think "I have a feeling there was another mass shooting", turn on the TV, and see that it's true.

Friends, I love my country, America, very dearly.  I'm patriotic.  For all her faults, she's got so much that is very, very special in very, very awesomely good ways about her.  But in this way--this way of having more and more and more and more mass shootings, massacres--we are "special" in a very, very terrible way.  And we don't have to be.

This is the 4th of July.  A day to celebrate all that is good about America.  A day to celebrate our Independence and that we exist.  When Benjamin Franklin emerged from Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, someone called out an eager question to him:  “What have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” Ben Franklin responded, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

A republic, if you can keep it.  Already a phrase I've been reflecting on so much, in the wake of 45's reign of terror.  The republic held, but in some ways, barely, and it was and remains a close call.  Our very foundations were shaken, and some cracks happened and/or were exposed.  We have a lot of work to do.  We have a lot of shoring up and rebuilding and we have also reached a moment of reckoning in our country about a lot of our history that isn't so star-spangled, and that is ugly, and that was wrong.  Yet there is so much beautiful and to cherish and to fight for--to shore up, to build up, to fix where needed and to lovingly preserve and/or restore where needed.  So I was, in the midst of all that is wrong, also celebrating the 4th in my heart, mind and imagination--wherever one's ideals live--as always.

But turning on the TV and seeing that six worlds just ended and 31 more are shattered and imperiled, and all because we think "freedom" includes wielding weapons of mass murder, makes me, and this day for me in 2022, indescribably sad.  How many times can I and others say:  BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION FROM CIVILIAN HANDS?

Freedom is the freedom to go to church, synagogue, mosque, the grocery store, work, your elementary school, or a 4th of July parade without the very real fear of being gunned down in a massacre.  This is the wild, wild west on steroids.  This is not what our, or any, country should stand for.  We should reflect on this, this 4th of July, as six worlds just ended and 31 more might from one massacre, and then we should do a lot more than reflect on every day after this 4th of July until we get a full, federal assault weapons (and ammo) ban.

Another thing about us INFJs is that we are very idealistic.  This--an assault weapons ban--is considered a pie in the sky ideal.  But is it?  How pathological is a society in which just being able to leave the house without being gunned down is considered a pie in the sky ideal?  And how pathological is a society in which the "freedom" to own a weapon of war, of mass murder, that can kill hundreds of people in moments, is somehow considered a "right"?  Guess what, it is not mentioned in the constitution.  So let's sic Clarence Thomas on this one, since he's very big on anything not explicitly mentioned in the constitution:  there is ZERO right to carry military assault weapons of war, let him write a draft opinion on THAT.  And then, my Democratic President and Congress, LET'S ENACT A NEW LAW BANNING ASSAULT RIFLES FROM CIVILIAN HANDS, so that we can celebrate our independence with a parade and not fear being gunned down in the process.

The March for Our Lives

Today is the March for our Lives, being led by a bunch of fired up, fiercely eloquent, social-media-savvy high school kids. As Lawrence O'Donnell put it last night on his program: "The President has fled to Florida, while kids from Florida are taking over Washington, DC."

Kids of Parkland, Florida, and kids of the entire nation, I stand with you. I've unfortunately seen some comments on social media in recent weeks that try to pit the generations against each other. As one of the younger Baby Boomers (almost Gen X), I want you to know that so many in my generation DID, and continue to, try. We tried (and continue passionately to try!) to change the world. I'm not saying all of us (there are some obnoxious ones we have to claim--but that's true of all generations), but so many of us did try. We didn't have social media back then. We couldn't live stream. We couldn't organize in the same way, nor could we effectively get our message out in the same way, straight, un-distilled, to the world. We were only covered as mainstream television at the time chose to cover our marches and movements, you know? Which was basically not at all for some of them I was involved with at your age (like the Nuclear Freeze movement, for example: media black-out).

Don't let haters pit the generations against each other. I, for one Boomer, LOVE the Millennials (and I hope you don't hate me  ). I first fell in love with you guys when the older ones among you led the Occupy Wall Street Movement. That movement gave me hope for our country, for the first time in many, many moons. Since then, I've realized just what a wonderful, awesome, WISE and eloquent generation you are, in general. And I am so with you now as you lead this fresh and fierce push for sensible, sane gun control.

The 2nd amendment was never intended to protect weapons of mass murder. Semi-automatic, military-style assault weapons are not for self defense. As you know all too well, they mow down scores of people in moments. Joe Schmoe and Joette Schmoe citizen should not ever have that power. Period. The 2nd amendment would not be touched/violated one iota by a complete and total federal ban on assault weapons. This is job one. Job two is a federal, strict background check on all guns sold, with NO loopholes.

Let the march begin.  And again, don't let those who seek to divide us up succeed. That is what Bernie Sanders has always urged, and it is so important to remember during this time in our nation when we have so many, including our President, who seek to divide us, to pit us against each other: white against black, native born against immigrant, Christian against Muslim, etc. We need to stick together! White, black, Christian, Muslim, Jew, atheist, all religions, all ethnicities, all colors, men, women, straight, gay, old, middle-aged, young. It is so beautiful and deeply heartening to see you very young ones leading this. Yet it is so heartbreaking to know the reason why: you have seen far too much--experienced it, up close and personal. You've lost loved ones to this terrible violence. And now, we are ALL going to stop it, together. You have given new life and passion and urgency and eloquence to the cause. And today, the world listens.

The 2nd Amendment Was Never Meant to Enable Mass Murder

We need to ban automatic, military assault-type rifles in this country, PERIOD. There is absolutely no mention in the 2nd amendment of anyone’s right to walk around with a weapon of mass murder. And don’t argue that people will just buy these guns on the black market if they can’t get them legally: people do a lot of illegal things even when they are illegal, but that doesn’t mean that we should just have no laws!!! People commit murder even though it is illegal, should we just throw up our hands and make murder legal? Of course not. States that have tougher gun laws have fewer gun deaths, that is just a FACT. Countries that have tougher gun laws have far fewer of these horrific massacres.

We need to attack our gun violence problem in this country from many angles. There is no one magic solution. We need to fight it like you would fight any disease: attack the symptoms, attack the root cause, and try to make the patient healthier in a holistic way. But just because banning assault rifles isn’t going to completely fix our inherent, systemic and highly intractable gun violence problem in this country/culture, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. On the contrary: automatic assault weapons can mow down hundreds of people in SECONDS. This is madness!!! There is absolutely NO justification—least of all a constitutional one—for citizens to be legally able to get one of these weapons, PERIOD!

We, the people, ARE more powerful than the NRA. I don’t care how much money they throw at our elected representatives, if WE make it crystal clear to said representatives that WE WILL NOT VOTE FOR THEM UNLESS THEY ENACT SANE, SENSIBLE GUN CONTROL LAWS, INCLUDING BANNING AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS COMPLETELY, AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, then they will do it. Because, last time I checked (and, with our current president, you never know if this could be changing!), it is still one person, one vote. WE still have the power, people! So pick up that cell phone with the long-distance included in the price you pay anyway, and CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON, AND YOUR SENATOR. We need to heal our culture from this crazy love affair that we have with guns, and that will take approaching it from many, many disparate angles, as I said. But one thing we can do IMMEDIATELY is BAN AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS. We can demand this and make it happen. Rhymes-with-DUCK the NRA! Call your representatives now: (202) 224-3121.

Too many guns, too little health care...

My thought for the day:  In my beloved US of A, anyone can get a gun, yet very few can get health care. That should be reversed in a healthy society!