YES! People need time to mourn before discussing policy.
17%
NO! It's a perfect time for a gun control discussion.
83%
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Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
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At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"If you wonder why and when giant corporations got the power to reign supreme over us, here’s the story."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"In an age rife with media-inspired confusion and political cowardice, we yearn for a decent, caring, deeply human soul whose grasp of the problems confronting us provides a light by which we can make our way through the quagmire of lies, distortions, pandering, and hollow self-puffery that strips the American Dream of its promise. How lucky we are, then, to have access to the wit, wisdom, and willingness of Thom Hartmann, who shares with us here that very light, grown out of his own life experience."
If not now... when?
If not now... when?
Criminals will always get guns, they don't go to a gun shop, they get them illegally.
It was not discussed on TV because probably out of respect or reverence or silence for the families, or not knowing if they should talk about it, thinking about it first, but rest assured they are talking about it, just not on the news. It is not too soon to talk about it.
Control---- how? How do we control these crazy people obtaining these weapons? Almost impossible.
On the news, they talk about how the mentally unstable should not have guns. They should be screened or forbidden to have a gun. People calling the radio stations say the same. So how do you know who is mentally ill? They want to the government to test everyone psychologically when they purchase a gun? How do you know for sure? Then some people will complain about government control or that they don't want to pay taxes for this.
Again, these people don't go to a gun store to buy guns. I don't see a way to control this. Too many people.
If every adult and children in that school had been armed with there own weapon, and had been wearing body armour there wouldn't have been as nearly many taken-out. And heda got his comeuppance, real quick. We need universal carry laws and universal weapons training starting in pre-school, kindergarden at the latest. Point-made?
We need a cooling off period? NO ! Cooling off is the wrong thing to do. We need to call the NRA out for what it is. In my opoinion, the NRA is a murder facilitator, or at the very least a sociapath facilitator.
My wife is an Academic Interventionist grades K-2nd. She didn't hear about the tradgedy until the end of the school day. She came home crying with a sense of shock and disbelief. She refuses to watch the reports on TV which is OK with me because I truly do not watch Television anyway. So at least in our household little is being said right now, but we're both for major gun control laws.
Right after the Giffords shooting I got a call from the NRA, a real person, not a robo call. I figure I got on their list via a military history magazine subscription I have, mostly ancient history. Anyway the first thing the caller said pertained to 2nd amendment rights being under attack. I went into my, you're just the gun part of the rightwing God, Guns, and Gays, rant. He got so mad he put another guy on the phone, his supervisor, who eventually just hung up on me. I told my wife to expect that same call again in a couple days, I just hope I'm the one getting to the phone first!
The lawmakers need to talk soon about real reform in gun control laws. Get rid of the high- capacity clips and more!
Children, especially young children, should not have to wear bullet proof vests and arm themselves. In fact, putting a loaded gun in a child's hand would probably land you in jail for endangerment. Pre-school children should be given weapons training? You are talking about toddlers whose motor skills are not fully developed. They could seriously harm (or kill!) themselves or those around them. Society combating violence with violence is not the answer. Certainly, teaching our children that violence and living in fear, to the point that you feel they should be carrying guns, is not the answer.
It's not entirely gun control discussion...it should also be focused on psychological health care. Isn't that the most expensive type of helth care on the market? Isn't the fact that these shooters have some sort of psychological instability a part of why this happens?
But no, we can't talk about it. The Lame Stream News can parade around it, poke and prod at the emotionally distraught families to advertise their pain and suffering, but we can't discuss about it
Jon Stewart recently had a show where he brilliantly addressed this problem and asked "when is it the right time?" I was commenting on a Washington Post article about this issue and of course someone commented that out of respect now is not the right time. So, I comment saying then when is it the right time? Out of respect for those who died it is exactly the right time so that their lives were not lost in vain. These mass killings are becoming more frequent with 2012 being a record year with 7 to date and 2 of those just in the past week. It is beyond the time to start the conversation.
Gun control makes perfect sense. It wouldn't infringe on legitimate gun ownership any more than registering for a driver's license deprives us of the privilege of driving. Like owning & driving a car, gun ownership needs to be a privilege that is earned rather than a right we inherit at birth. Since both cars and guns have the potential of being very lethal weapons, it seems reasonable that one be required to demonstrate soundness of mind and some measure of emotional stability along with adequate motor control. Ms. Rieman may be correct about the obstacles, but to do nothing about this problem isn't an option.
Yesterday's massacre at that Connecticut elementary school was the second such incident to have occurred this week. Seem likewise worth mentioning that if it weren't for the overwhelming level of socioeconomic injustice & inequality in this society, and if our current generation of young working class adults weren't so terribly screwed out of any means of self empowerment, we wouldn't have so many young men losing it, popping their corks, crazy enough to take a bunch of innocents down with them in a blaze of carnage. It never ends. I view this as one of the uglier symptoms of a country & society that has become so deeply dysfunctional, the very basics of what keep us civilized are seriously challenged, stretched almost to the breaking point.
How easy it is to simply dismiss these guys as cowards, monsters or whatever. They obviously are mentally ill and need help... help not forthcoming in a country where mental health services are such low priority... not to mention the horrible way such care is often administered! But that's a subject for another blog... - Aliceinwonderland
Hal Fonts- I could hardly believe my eyes just now, reading your response to Thom's last poll question. So what IS your point? Are you actually suggesting five and ten-year-olds should be going to school each day wearing body armor, and carrying loaded weapons? Are you kidding?!
My god... we really ARE having a cultural meltdown. I'd rather be friggin' dead than have to live like that. I can't even imagine a childhood surrounded by an environment so negative & hostile, where such violence is just a routine part of daily life. Is this what we've resigned ourselves to?! Count me out. - Aliceinwonderland
Honestly, parents lost their children. Families lost important adults. Give these people the time to grieve, then take huge steps to see that these types of situations do not happen again because SO MANY PEOPLE will demand regulations.
P.S. One more thought on the subject. Hours ago, while working out at the gym, I heard on their radio a clip from a speech made by the Governor of Connecticut (Sorry! I forgot his name...), regarding Friday's grade school massacre. Just a generic, cliche' sort of statement that went something like: "How could this happen?!" and then, "People are wanting answers... but there are no answers!" And I say, phooey to that; the hell there's no answers. There's nothing mysterious about it, folks, and for reasons already stated. Where greed trumps need in public policy, there comes a point where the strain of it takes too much of a toll on people's mental health. That's when casualties start to mount. It's always the most innocent & vulnerable who pay the ultimate price. These tragedies have occurred repeatedly, even at fairly regular intervals, throughout history... Here we go again. (SIGH)