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So the president wants to sit down with representatives of various firearms and anti firearms groups to hammer out some sort of compromise about guns in America. Bull. Shit.
He makes this announcement with a Republican congress whose reason for existence is to cock block anything he does no matter what. He knows it, we know it, he knows we know it and we know he knows we know it. The only people who don't have a clue are the die hard partisans on both sides of the debate.
The purists on the left don't like guns because everyone knows purists on the left don't like guns. They don't like them because the purists on the right like them enough to consider them a fashion accessory. This way he gets to broadcast his liberal credentials to the alphabet soup on the left (VPC, CSGV, MAIG, PSR, SHV, LWV, LCAV, BC, AGSF etc.). He gets to throw a little red meat to his disaffected base and blame the Republicans when it doesn't come to pass.
Of course the NRA won't attend. Why? Because the bulk of their membership consists of conservative Republicans who support the cock blocking strategy of the Republican party. "We don't wanna play" is the perfect message to squeeze membership dues from people who think the divine right of kings is an idea whose time has come.
The tragedy is that the most powerful man on the planet, the leader of the free world, the man duly elected to serve the interests of three hundred million citizens is reduced to negotiating public policy with a cluster of corporations that exist to profit from the production of partisan ideology.
Here's what will happen: Paul Helmke will make money. Wayne LaPierre will make money. Pundits, talking heads, blowhards and bloviators from one end of the content free media to the other will make money. The president and every other elected official involved with the process will get paid to do nothing. And the people of the United States will get no closer to anything resembling workable public policy regarding technology that has been around for over 150 years.
Don't get me wrong. I like the guy. I sent money to his campaign. I voted for him. But he's wasting his time. I mean it's not like he doesn't have enough to keep him busy. The parts of Japan that are not flattened are melting. We're squandering our children's birthright to deprive the children of the third world of theirs. We're setting the stage for socioecomic and environmental problems of biblical proportions, and he has to fuck around with a bunch of ideology whores in an inane performance of political theater that will get us exactly nowhere but to the polls for four more years of silly bullshit like this.
Listen. Guns are here to stay. They are portable, thus people will carry them around. They are useful for self defense, thus people will shoot bad guys with them. They are dangerous if mishandled, thus good people will make bad mistakes with them. They are a little scary, thus many people will always be uncomfortable around them. Stop carrying water for lobbyist groups that exist to profit from your fears. Stop asking government to create a bubble of good karma and emotional reassurance around you. Most importantly, stop being ideological consumers feeding at the corporate produced ideology teat. Look around you. Think for yourself. Talk to real people and concern yourself with the reality of their lives. And demand that your elected representatives do the same.
Okay, so I've got the red ass today. Sue me.
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