Connecticut School Shootings and the Media

The shooting yesterday in Newtown, CT was horrible.  It was bad enough to hear about the numbers of people killed but even worse to hear that the majority were kindergartners.  There is a special place in hell for people who commit these crimes! At least the coward did society the favor of saving money by taking himself out at the end.

I watched a decent amount of the coverage yesterday and thought that, for the most part, the media seemed to handle themselves properly but that seems to be changing today.

Today I was doing work around the house and has CNN on.  For the most part, the coverage was decent until they started harping on the whole gun control issue.  Soledad O'Brien started beating up on Congresswoman Mary Bono about it and then Don Lemmon started in on a minister from Colorado whose church had experienced a shooting in the past.  These two (2) reporters crossed the line and began interjecting their own personal feelings into the interviews.

Then when they mentioned what the NRA's response (which was no comment) as well as another gun owner's association (expressing sorrow and no further comment) were, they almost got to the point of rolling their eyes.

While I have an issue with the NRA's at times, uncompromising stance on most gun regulation, they were correct not to address the issue at this time.

I am a big believer in the 2nd amendment and believe that we need to ensure that guns remain available to sane, responsible law abiding citizens but need to have some controls to keep them away from others.  This is easier said than done but needs to be the goal.

Draconian, knee jerk reactions are NOT the answer.  What we need are common sense solutions. Norway, with very strict gun laws still had their own similar tragedy last year, so draconian laws won't stop these incidents.

Unfortunately illegal guns are out there and we can't put the genie back in the bottle.  A very true bumper sticker that I don't see anymore was, "If we outlaw guns only the outlaws will have guns."  We can't risk this!

Unfortunately what some of the draconian laws do, is prevent law abiding citizens from intervening when someone goes nuts.  If, for example, one of the parents who had been meeting with the principal when it all started had been legally carrying a gun, perhaps, they could have intervened.  Unfortunately, due to the draconian laws, that parent could have been prosecuted for carrying a weapon on school property.

Common sense and compromise is what we need before we can even think about solving these issues.

The Election is Over. Let's move FORWARD.

I supported Mitt Romney in the Presidential Election and Scott Brown in the MA Senate race.  Unfortunately both of them were defeated.  Unlike the reaction of some people when Bush was elected I DO consider Obama as MY president as he was lawfully elected, and, while I disagree with many of his points of view, hope that he succeeds in moving our country Forward.

We are approaching the Fiscal Cliff which, if not resolved, will cost all of us too much money.  I am sick and tired of the obstructionism on BOTH sides of the aisle.  For the good of the country, Congressional leaders and the President need to grow up and work TOGETHER.  No solution will be perfect, but if NOTHING is resolved, THAT will not be good.  I think the word COMPROMISE must have been removed from both sides' vocabulary as that is what we need.  Forget the PR, lock yourselves away and come up with a compromise with an agreement to review the compromise at certain checkpoints along the way to tweak any part of the agreements that may not be working as planned. 

It seems like this is impossible but there are some recent precedents for this.  Do the names Reagan/Tip O'Neil, Clinton/Gingrich, and Bush/Kennedy ring a bell?  These were people of different viewpoints who worked TOGETHER to resolve issues and move our nation FORWARD.  I want to be able to add Obama/Boehner to this list!

The Ultimate Nanny State! - Parents Should Lose Custody of Obses Kids

I heard today that Boston area "experts" have issued an opinion that parents of very obese children should have the children taken away and put in foster care.  If this isn't the ultimate in a Nanny State, I don;t know what is.  I can just see the headlines now, "Governor Patrick Sign First-In-Nation Legislation..."  He'll probably have his buddy's wife Michelle Obama at his side as he signs it!

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/07/12/local-expert-proposes-that-parents-should-lose-custody-of-super-obese-kids/

While obesity is something that we should be concerned about, the way to go about it is through education and the people will decide on their own what should be done about it.  Personally I don't have an issue with having restaurants provide nutritional information similar to packaged foods.  Give me the information and I will make an informed decision as to what I want to eat or not,  Let supply and demand dictate what restaurants and food producers offer and tell government to stay away. 

It is not good to indulge in fatty, high caloric foods once in a while, but doing it everyday is the issue.  Even our Nanny-In-Chief, Michelle Obama would be forced to agree as she just ordered a 1,700 meal for herself at the opening of a burger joint in Washington DC this past Monday.  Although, I do have to laugh, she ordered BOTH a Diet Coke AND a Chocolate Shake!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/44/post/michelle-obama-has-1556-calories-meal-at-shake-shack-outing/2011/07/11/gIQAgwPE9H_blog.html

The Debt Crisis

Make no mistake about it, I am not an economist or wel versed in the details of the current debt crisis but, while there are complicated underlying facts, the basics are simple, our country is living beyond it's means.  If run into the same situation in our own personl lives that simply means, cut spending and increase income.  Asking the credit card companies to raise the limits on our credit cards simply provides a temporary release of pressure and extends the extent of the problem.

Many politicians (on both sides of the aisle) are too ennamored with re-election concerns or hopes of advancing that they are not doing what we need them to do.  I think the theory of what needs to be done is somewhat simple, someone needs to review expenses (budgets) and income (the tax code) and try to simplify things as much as possible as the problem is that no one really knows how much we are spending or collecting.

As for the tax code, it truly needs to be simplified.  I'm not saying that we should raise taxes, but simply ensure that everyone is paying their fair share.

A Nation of (Legal) Immigrants

When the discussion turns to illegal aliens (or, for the PC crowd, undocumented individuals) if one has views that these people should not be rewarded for coming here illegally, then one is considered anti-immigration.

I am pro-immigration but anti illegal immigration.  Our nation was built on immigration and will continue to prosper and grow by welcoming productive new citizens from around the world, of which, there is no shortage.  The process to come here legally is difficult, as it should be.  We want to continue to be known as the land of the free, not the land of the free-loaders.

While reading the Boston Globe yesterday I came across an article about newly minted citizens taking their oath on board the USS Constitution yesterday.  To these people, some of whom have already served in our armed forces prior to becoming citizens, I say, “Welcome.”

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/05/new_citizens_naturalized_on_constitution/

In the same paper was a column talking about the “injustices” perpetrated on illegal aliens by them facing deportation when caught up in legal system. 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/04/lets_deport_this_program/

The columnist makes the point that they are not bad people and we should feel bad for them and eliminate a program put into place to identify illegals.  Trust me, I do feel bad for the population of hard-working illegal aliens, but, the issue is that they are here ILLEGALLY, not that a lot of them are nice people.  I cannot blame a single one of them for wanting to come here from whatever terrible life they and their families have elsewhere.  If I were in their position, I would probably try to do the same.

We need to set consequences and deterrent to people trying to come here illegally.  If you do not want to go through the proper steps to come here legally, then prepare to suffer the consequences when you are discovered.  By coddling the people in the second article, we are only spitting in the face of the people in the first article.

Spot On Editorial

Hope all had a great Independence Day yesterday!  Yesterday's Editorial in the Boston Herald perfectly sums up Independence Day for me.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view/2011_0704a_beacon_to_the_world/

Happy Independence Day!

This is my very first Blog post and find it very appropriate that it is Independence Day.  The Fourth of July is our nation's birthday and I want to be one of the first to say, "Happy Birthday America.!"  This is probably one of my favorite holidays.  The weather is usually nice, there are no presents to buy and traditional meals are cooked on a grill.  It is a no fuss holiday!

To paraphrase a quote I have heard before, our nation has to be the worst on the planet, except for all others!  Our nation is certainly not perfect but there is no other place on Earth that I would want to live.  God Bless America!