Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Regular order

As Sen. John McCain says, “ We need to get back to regular order.”
Indeed there is much wisdom in that admonition.
     The way government is supposed to work is when we identify a problem, we analyze the cause. And then try to fashion a reasonable remedy to address that problem. Unless , of course, that problem is massive carnage caused by our loose regulation of high powered guns and ammunition. In that case, we are told not to “politicize” the issue, and to simply pray instead. 
    I don’t disagree that prayer is powerful, and needed, but so is sensible gun registration and regulation. Our Legislative bodies are told by the NRA that any regulation is unacceptable, so Congress refuses to go there. That is far from “regular order”, and it is lamentable, because it makes us incapable of addressing a major issue, to wit: the proliferation of massive gun violence which is unique to our country. No other country is experiencing such gun related carnage. Clearly, they have problems created by terrorists with explosive devices and weaponized vehicles, but not from the guns which bedevil us. 
   Is it not time to try to draw new lines in the sand when a crazed wealthy gunman can shoot nearly 500 people like fish in a barrel out of a hotel window with legally obtained weaponry by the dozens, that may face been illegally modified? Their only sin was enjoying a country music concert, which , in America, we should be free to do without risking our lives. 
     Are we to simply observe a moment of silence, pray, and  and go about our lives as powerless eunuchs who cannot use “regular order” and common sense to do something about it? I think not. We have to take on the gun lobby to take back our country and restore sanity and “ regular order”. If we fail to do so, we have only ourselves to blame.