Reply #22: Sad. If those who oppose firearm ownership...

[spin]

and those who favor firearm ownership would work together, we might successfully reduce firearm violent crime in our nation. Instead those who oppose firearms keep trying to pass "feel good" laws which will do nothing but cost money and waste the time of law enforcement. Those that believe in RKBA often believe that those who oppose gun ownership are socialists who only want to ban firearms and overturn the Constitution. They often fear the government without proof or reason.

We play in a political environment that resembles a football game. Both sides are interested only in winning the game. It matters not what the issue is. Both sides promote hatred without facts or commonsense. The name of the game is propaganda and fear.

For the future of our country we need to find common ground on many issues. Gun control and crime control is possibly the simplest issue we face but both sides of the issue face off like the Steelers playing the Browns.

Politicians play the game and appeal to their base without any consideration to the future of our county. Nothing ever gets solved and at the best we end up with law that only benefits only the big corporations. We are all in the same boat and we are trying to get to the other shore. If we all row together we will reach our goal, but if some of us refuse to row and some drill holes in the bottom of the boat we will at the best go in circles.

What I'm talking about is far deeper than gun control. It really doesn't matter. Healthcare, taxes, employment and immigration reform are all suffering from this idiotic "win at all costs" approach. Compromise appears dead.

Our future is grim unless we can realize that we need to all work together. We elect people to represent us and we trust that they will be honest and responsible and make a serious effort to improve our country for the sake of every citizen. All too often they fail us because of greed and the appeal of power.

I shouldn't be surprised. The great American experiment will probably end in failure as in history the rich and powerful always win in the end. I've watched the demise of the middle class in my lifetime and I've also watched the level of education decline to the point that a high school graduate in the sixties has almost as much education as a college graduate today. I suspect that the rich and powerful really don't want the middle and lower classes to be well educated as it threatens them and their offspring.

We are entering a modern feudal society where the lords and the royalty of corporations and the rich are in charge and the mere citizen is fulfilling the role of a serf or wage slave. We receive crumbs while the ruling elite eat cake protected by those we elect who are supposed to represent us. The banks get the bailouts while we lose our homes. The big corporations use illegal immigrants as modern day slaves to make enormous profits while our government refuses to develop a fair and reasonable immigration policy.

But I still have hope. I voted for Obama and change. I may have made a mistake but I still have confidence. Obama faces a daunting task but in reality I feel he is a far better President than Bush the Junior. I seriously believe he has far more compassion for the middle and lower classes of our country. I also believe that he has a realistic approach to gun control and crime and will support many of the ideas I believe in. His biggest problem may be to overcome the propaganda machine led by Fox News.

I realize that this is a long answer to a post that really had little to do with my reply. Perhaps it's just a bad day and I need to vent. I just heard that a friend is having his house foreclosed on despite his attempts to get some relief from the government. He is currently working three jobs to try to meet his financial obligations. His wife has just discovered she is pregnant and while she has been attempting to find work this will probably eliminate any chances she had.

The bankers who are "too big to fail" will survive. My acquaintance will go under. That sucks.