Now Is The Time.

There’s more to ending gun violence than repeating “they deserve a vote” over and over again. The measures on this graphic must be taken. It’s that simple. Nobody’s 2nd Amendment rights are in danger here. The government is well within it’s constitutional realm to determine what types of weapons and ammo we own and use. Furthermore, the government is not stepping on our rights by dictating the terms of how we come to own guns and ammo.

Don’t take my word for it though: ask Tea Party favorite Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

I believe in the 2nd Amendment as much as the next person, unless that next person happens to be Ted Nugent or Wayne Lapierre. I own a weapon for home protection, and I know how to use it. However, I don’t see the need to own a weapon that the police don’t even have access to. It’s ridiculous to own such a weapon, and I’m a firm believer that the government should ban the hell out of these types of guns, along with their insidious buddy, the hollow point bullet.

There is probably very little chance that these regulations are going to be passed. I would encourage you though, to contact your congressman or senator, and give them your opinion. If we put enough pressure on them, then maybe, just maybe we can make this happen.

Related articles

• Justice Scalia on the Second Amendment (philebersole.wordpress.com)

The Republican And Tea Party Response To SOTU 2013

In case you missed it, here’s a summary of what Rand “If I were president” Paul, and Marco “drink of water boss?” Rubio had to say last night:

State Of The Union Address – 2013

You can also go here for full text of the speech.

What are your thoughts on Obama’s SOTU? I have to admit, I only caught the last half hour last night. However, I did get a chance to read the full text of his speech this morning. All in all, I thought it was a very moving address. Here are some points that caught my attention:

1. POTUS finished his speech with an extremely emotional bang. His call for tougher gun control regulations were punctuated with recognition of several victims of gun violence. After each name was called, he implored that each victim deserves a vote. Even John Boehner rose to his feet to applaud. However, I couldn’t help but feel that this was nothing more than emotional grandstanding. Obama never once mentioned an actual passing of a gun control bill, he merely called for some form of legislation to be voted upon. He knows full well that nothing will pass through the NRA controlled congress. His rhetoric did make me tear up a little though.

2. Climate change. Yes Mr. President, our climate has changed. You’re a little late, but welcome to the conversation. For the sake of every living thing on this planet. I implore you to lead the way in reducing our carbon footprint. Climate change is an issue that you should be talking about every single day until something is done.

3. Raising the minimum wage. This is also long overdue. There should be no such thing as the working poor. I like the idea of tying the minimum wage to the cost of living index. Make it happen.

4. Improving infrastructure. Again, long overdue. Want to put people back to work? Want to attract more jobs and boost interstate commerce? Improve our decaying infrastructure. It’s a no brainer.

5. Women do deserve equal pay: Twist some arms and make this happen.

6. Cyber security. This makes me little nervous. I can’t help but feel that more of our civil liberties are going to be stripped under the guise of national security and cyber security. It seemed as this part of his speech was pointed more toward hacktivists such as Anonymous, and less toward global terrorist.

7. Transparency of national security. Obama tells us that congress is informed of every program and action taken by our security and intelligence agencies. He also assured that the public would be kept in the know. This was a pants on fire moment for the president. I’m skeptical, as is a majority of the country. Let’s get a look at that kill list Mr. President!

8. Cut Spending, close tax loopholes. I agree, but why fuck with Medicare?

9. Obama seemed more bi-partisan. He worked very hard to remind everyone last night that we’re in this for the long haul. He seemed to throw a little something out to both parties.

10. What the hell is the deal with Joe Biden’s eyes? I love me some Joe Biden: However, he looked downright scary last night.

The whole time I was watching the speech, Biden’s lack of pupil visibility was freaking me and my partner out. It was very disturbing.
Bonus: Boehner seemed to be an even higher shade of orange.

Over all, I think it was one of the president’s best speeches. He was conciliatory, and he was passionate about issues that are in the fore front of the county’s collective mind. As with every SOTU, I can only hope there’s more action than lip service.

Delusional Indeed.

Still think that Wal-mart AR-15 is needed to fight off tyranny? Just to be clear, there is no fucking way that an army of pseudo Rambos is ever going to fight off the most well trained, well armed military the world has ever seen. Seriously, just do us all a favor, and stop frothing about your 2nd Amendment rights. We do have the right to bear arms, but state and federal government has the authority to dictate what we can own, and what we have to do to obtain them. Ask Justice Scalia: He’s the one who made that statement back in 2008.

Besides, if y’all want to keep up the bravado of over throwing the government, you’re liable to find yourself on the business end of a Flying killer robot. Believe me folks, a lack of AR-15′s and 30 round magazines are the least of our worries.

Drone Wars.

The Constitution is indeed under attack from the White House. However, in spite of the rhetoric from the guns nuts, It’s the 5th and 14th amendments we need to worry about, not the 2nd.

The memos regarding the targeting of Americans suspected of being members of Al-Qaida are not only disturbing, they’re down right ass puckering. The White House is insisting that Obama has the right to play judge, jury, and executioner in these cases. Our right to due process is of no consequence. It’s bad enough that we utilize flying killer robots to kill innocents in other countries: now, Obama is insisting that he can turn them on us with absolutely no disclosure of proof, no arrest, no trial, no anything. All it takes is whatever file our crack intelligence agencies happen to lay on Obama’s desk.

The drone program isn’t a war on terror, it’s a war on liberty, it’s a war on human rights. The drone program is the resurgence of Murder Incorporated. The drone program isn’t justice, it’s White House directed vigilantism, it’s fascism disguised as the war on terror.

What’s nearly as disturbing as this total lack of regard for our right of due process, is the lack of protest from our media, or seemingly any liberal for that matter. We should be as outraged over this as we were over the transgressions perpetrated by the Bush Administration. There was a lot of back lash over the imprisonment and torture of people who were deemed as threats to national security under Bush’s watch: Why is Obama seemingly getting a pass on this policy, which is tantamount to scenarios straight out of a Judge Dredd comic? When will this country have a government that actually works for and with the people?

What we have, and have had all along, is a government that works above the people. It’s always been that way, and it will always be that way. The fact that our president can play judge, jury, and executioner when ever he wants, Constitution be damned, is more than enough proof that we don’t matter. All that matters is profit and power. If you get in the way of that, be prepared to get a drone up your ass, with no questions asked.

Obama and Romney concur on war, assassination and reaction- From World Socialist Website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you still trying to understand why Willard Romney and President Obama seemed to agree on most of the talking points from last night’s foreign policy debate? It’s because they are both cut from the same capitalist cloth that has dominated American Imperialism since our inception as a country. Let’s take a look at where our two corporate parties agree, as discussed in this article from WSWS:

1. It’s perfectly OK to “take out” regime leaders in order to enact a more user friendly regime.

2. Support Israel at all costs in an unprovoked war against Iran.

3. Forcing tens of millions of innocent Iranians to suffer by crippling their economy, which by the way, is an act of war by international standards.

4. Invading Iran is always an option if they don’t bend to our demands.

5. Supporting a bloody, sectarian civil war in Syria in order to enact regime change seems to be a priority.

6. Simultaneously allieing with Al Qaeda and other Islamist Militias in both Syria and Libya, while claiming that they are our biggest threats to national security is not a big deal.

7. Drones are good: There’s nothing wrong with killing civilians in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen, as long as we get the bad guys… right?

The article from WSWS absolutely lambastes both parties for our continued involvement and blatant violation of human rights in foreign countries, and I agree. We continuously point our fingers, when it’s convenient, at others who would commit acts of atrocities, yet our government will commit its own atrocities, and turn a blind eye to its”allies” that do as well. We do this because war is profitable for corporations, pure and simple.

Capitalist imperialism is a bipartisan effort, there’s no debating that.

Sums It Up For Me.

A tip of the tinfoil hat to The Other 98% for sharing this. It would be nice to have a party of which corporations are not their most important constituents. Radical right or moderate right really isn’t much of a choice.

Obama Calls Ryan’s Budget” Social Darwinism”

At 12:30 this afternoon, President Obama will be holding a press conference, in which he’ll be slamming Paul Ryan’s rich get richer, poor get poorer budget. As Obama is expected to label the plan as “Social Darwinism,” some excerpts of his speech have been released in advance. Let’s take a look, shall we?

“Disguised as [a] deficit reduction plan, it’s really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It’s nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism. It’s antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it — a place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that’s built to last — education and training; research and development — it’s a prescription for decline,”

Obama is right on a few points here: Yes, it is Social Darwinism. It’s survival of the richest at it’s very best. There are a ton of cuts, including eliminating medicare, that are designed to keep the impoverished where they’re at, and drag the middle class that much closer to poverty. In the meantime, healthy tax cuts for the rich widens the gap even further between them and us. However, it is not antithetical to the American Way, it falls right in line with our social and economical history. The poor and middle class never stood a chance in our hierarchal, bust and boom economy.

Obama will also add that the generation of middle class Americans who went to college on the G.I. Bill helped build the most prosperous economy in the world.

This is an outright lie or hallucination. Our economy did become the most prosperous, but it was built upon the Cold War machine. A war on communism that was concocted by American corporate powers in order to generate more profit for a privileged few.

Don’t get me wrong here; Obama is right to lambaste Ryan and his budget. It’s horrible and inhuman; it’s a fiscal and social disaster. Where he’s wrong is in trying to sell us this bill of goods deemed as the American way. Your version of it looks great, but it never existed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=1399080

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Related articles

• Obama Will Shred The Paul Ryan Budget In Today’s Big Speech (mb50.wordpress.com)
• The Republican’s Social-Darwinist Budget Plan (robertreich.org)

More Sordid Tales From Zinn City: Emma Goldman and Mark Twain Speak Out on American Imperialism.

Image via Wikipedia

Feminist and Anarchist Emma Goldman gives her take on the Spanish-American war, many years afterward:

“How our hearts burned with indignation against the atrocious Spaniards!…. But when the smoke was over, the dead buried, and the cost of the war came back to the people in an increase in the price of commodities and rent- that is, when we sobered up from our patriotic spree-it suddenly dawned on us that the cause of the Spanish-American war was the price of sugar…. that the lives,blood,and money of the American people were used to protect the interests of the American capitalists.”

And this from Mark Twain, circa 1900:

“I bring you the stately matron named Christendom, returning bedraggled,besmirched,and dishonored from pirate raids in Kiao-Chou, Manchuria, South Africa, and the Phillipines, with her soul full of meanness, her pocket full of boodle, and her mouth full of pious hypocrisies.”

With the exception of WWII (and even that war was a golden opportunity to extend our sphere of corporate interest) every single war, “police action”, and military intervention has been about making corporations wealthier while our soldiers kill or be killed under the pathetic guise of patriotism. Only the names and locations of our “enemies” change; the motive remains the same.

Tin foil props to Howard Zinn, and “A People’s History of The United States.”

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“Like” Beneath The Tin Foil Hat on Facebook for stuff you won’t see on the blog, or follow me on Twitter: @Tinfoilhatman3

Related articles

• Mark Twain Photographs from Percevoir (fernexpress.wordpress.com)
• Emma Goldman Occupies Wall Street (alwaysquestionauthority.wordpress.com)
• Mark Twain vs. Public Schools (estherstar1996.wordpress.com)

Another Moment of Zinntimacy: Mary Ellen Lease Speaks at a Populist Convention

Cover via Amazon

Mary Ellen Lease – Circa 1890 at a Populist convention in Topeka Kansas:

“Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street…. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags… the politicians said we suffered from overproduction. Overproduction, when 10,000 little children…. starve to death every year in the U.S. and over 100,000 shop girls in New York are forced to sell their virtue for bread….

There are thirty men in the United States whose aggregate wealth is over one and one – half billion dollars. There are a half a million looking for work…. We want money, land, and transportation. We want the abolition of the National Banks, and we want the power to make loans direct from the government. We want the accursed foreclosure system wiped out…. We will stand by our homes and stay by our firesides by force if necessary, and we will not pay our debts to the loan-shark companies until the Government pays its debt to us.

The people are at bay, let the bloodhounds of money who have dogged us thus far beware.”

Another tip of the tinfoil hat to Howard Zinn, and “A People’s History of The United States.”

Posted from my CrapBerry

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• What Democrats Can Learn About Populism (businessweek.com)
• Mass. Senate Race A Battle Over Who’s More Populist (npr.org)