Tuesday, August 18, 2009

If THIS is America, I'm ashamed to be an American

According to the Associated Press:

PHOENIX – About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday — the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.

Gun-rights advocates say they're exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control say it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Phoenix police said the gun-toters at Monday's event, including the man carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder, didn't need permits. No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested.

The man with the rifle declined to be identified but told The Arizona Republic that
he was carrying the assault weapon because he could. "In Arizona, I still
have some freedoms," he said.

Where the hell were these people when the PATRIOT Act was passed? When the Bush administration illegally monitored our phone and e-mail? In the past decade our freedoms have been systematically undermined at every turn and yet the outrage is over gun control???

Hmmm...I could swear the president was in town to talk about health care.

I am so tired of the lack of rational discourse in this country. One idiot from Alaska says "death panels" and the entire discussion gets derailed, despite the fact that it's a blatant misrepresentation of the truth. (aka a friggin' lie!) Pull your guns out of your asses and do some research, people! Or is all the "righteous indignation" simply a mask for the real reason you hate Obama?

Grow up, America.

And while we're on the subject of the health care debate...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4_8kPKeXTQ

Why aren't we outraged? Why aren't we taking to the streets? Calling for boycotts? Maybe we're just too stupid to research anything or think for ourselves. I'm not saying Obama has all the answers, but at least he's inviting discussion. These people are using a massive P.R. campaign to end the debate and maintain the status quo. According to leading economists, if the health care system doesn't get fixed, it will bankrupt this country. So who's the "terrorist"? The man in the White House with the funny name or the corporate for-profit health care system hell-bent on maintaining a course that will destroy our economy and bring this country to its knees?

Is this what America is about? Mob mentality? Clinging to the right to bear arms while rights of privacy and illegal search and seizure are stripped at every turn? Blindly believing whatever the right-wing pundits vomit onto the airwaves because it's easier than actually considering that the black man in office might have a good idea? Scare an American and he'll do anything for you. Reason with him and he'll shoot you.

Screw that. I'm moving to the moon.

2 comments:

Miriam Latour said...

Big thumbs up on this post, Brandon. Thanks for being one of the smart people that makes me think maybe it's okay to be human.

Unknown said...

Thanks Mir. I'm not usually a ranter, but I get so frustrated by blind acceptance of absurdity that sometimes I need to vent. You know how they say "If something seems too good to be true it probably is"? Well I think people need to live by "If something seems too stupid to be true...it at least warrants investigation before you forward it in an e-mail or disrupt a town hall meeting over it or carry an assault weapon to a public rally..."