All of you who take the time to read Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and other little niches of the Internet are, or at least should be aware of transpiring events regarding the “revelation” that the NSA has apparently been spying on average Americans via their phones and use of the Internet.  This is of course the “short attention span” version of what Greenwald has presented to all of you. Many like me have mixed and often conflicted feelings over this story. Honestly, I think there is actually much more to subject matter than anyone outside the NSA and the principal people involved are aware of. That being said, here’s my humble take on the matter.

The majority of people hearing of this story, including myself are quite enraged at the thought of our government invading our privacy over our phone calls and internet use. Many have expressed their outrage of their loss of privacy via their Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, Blogs along with all the private little things about themselves they give the public for free. People place so much of their privacy on Facebook for example I wonder why the need for the United States Intelligence Agencies to take the time and effort to “steal it”.

Now people will counter that what you voluntarily provide is your business, they are opposed to it being taken without our knowledge. They see it rightly as an invasion of our fourth amendment rights. They propose that with this information, jack-booted federal troops could break in to our homes without warrants and take us all in for interment in FEMA camps. I have actually read this on the Internet. What I also find amusing is that some on Twitter, who have angrily denounced this practice have been known to Dox others they don’t like. Doxing is the practice of gathering as much personal information of people into one place and presenting it in a way that not only violates people’s privacy, it’s designed to intimidate, harass and embarrass.

However, we all know that the internet has all kinds: good and bad, kind and malicious, helpful and demanding, sane and insane. But I digress.

The points listed above have to some degree or another relevance. However there is something about the whole NSA story that doesn’t quite get the play it should when it’s described to the public in mainstream media or the internet.

In reality, there isn’t any actually spying on citizens going on per se without benefit of a FISA Court warrant. The system being spoken of is actually a method to collect en masse, phone and internet records from the various companies mentioned in the story and creating a data bank of this information. The way this is supposed to work is that when information is obtained providing a suspect’s name based on some intelligence, they can go to the FISA Court and get permission to “data mine” the data collected from all those phone and internet records to gather additional information. So it’s not direct spying, more like indirect spying by proxy.

Now I don’t take comfort in this. If this data is stored indefinitely who’s to say someone somewhere with new authority granted them by law via the Congress and Executive Branch couldn’t “data mine” this source of data for other not so “national security” related business. The very real problem exists that people could find a way into this data storage facility to find reasons to harass, intimidate embarrass others for political reasons. Though the chances are small, they none-the-less do exist.

From my perspective however, the major issue not getting play here is that it’s not actually the government collecting this data. It’s a private corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton who is collecting and collating this data from Verizon, Google, etc and the United States goes to them to access the information.

In fact, nearly a third of all “top-secret” classifications are given to people outside the United States Government. You would think this would please Libertarians no end, the United States outsourcing their intelligence operations to private business. Keep in mind these business owe their allegiance to their boards and stock-holders, not the people of the United States. Further, because Booz Allen isn’t a government agency, there is no “Inspector General” someone like Snowden could have gone to in order to express there was something wrong and filing an anonymous complaint. In government agencies, the Inspector General has complete authority to investigate wrong doing and protect the “whistle blowers”. This doesn’t exist in the private sector. Our national security shouldn’t be outsourced to private industry trying to turn a profit. Indeed, neither should our privacy.

As for Snowden, much of the “bio” presented on him leaves me feeling it’s “manufactured”. Something doesn’t smell right about his motivation or his personal history as reported. What bothers me most is him going to China for protection. There are many other countries he could have gone to for asylum that practice far more control of invasion of privacy than the United States would do on her worse day. We’re nothing compared to China in this regard. China is the overreaching and powerful government the Libertarians complain we are becoming.

I’m awaiting more information to get out on this guy. If what he states on the record is completely factual and true, I do see him more as a traitor to our National Security than a Whistle Blower. However, I suspect he didn’t actually have the clearance he claims and only did this for notoriety. This is just my suspicion, I have nothing to back this up, but then again those who praise him as “a hero” really have nothing substantial yet to prove their opinions either.

For those of you shocked that our government, after implementation of the Patriot Act, would use resources to spy or at least monitor and have the ability to get information on suspected terrorists and criminals, all I can say is (as someone on Twitter pointed out) I have some bad news about Santa Claus too. The convenience of the information age really has made this inevitable. This is not to say I agree. I would like to see firewalls in place to protect our private information that is currently being gathered (without complaint or legal restriction) of all private business for whom people do business with. Your information is being gathered each time you use a credit card, do a Google or Bing search, get on the Internet, send an email, post a blog, complete a bank transaction, purchase a big-ticket item, book a vacation, the information is being gathered, stored and our government will find a way to access it. So from a realistic point of view, either enact laws to keep private businesses from gathering and storing this information or make sure the government representatives you elect into office to lead you, are not so predisposed to make nefarious use of this information.

If you’re going to say national security trumps privacy, then you are in no position to complain about these events because that is the rallying cry people who set this up use to justify its existence. If your privacy trumps everything else, then get more politically active. Better yet, get more politically aware and take a more pragmatic view of the world around us before mindlessly ranting about how good or bad it is and who is or isn’t a hero. The only thing that is certain and I’m sorry to say this, the government does know more about you than you do of it. And this is your fault by not staying politically active. Another reason to give the 2014 midterms more thought.

Considering the rhetoric that came out of the recent NRA convention in Houston, coupled with the inflammatory comments from members of their leadership and supporters, many speculate whether a charge of Treason can be made against the NRA when they insinuate a call for an armed response to the “tyranny” of the United States Government. And of course when they say United States Government, they actually mean President Barack Obama. Mind you, not the actual President Obama, but the caricature they made up about him from whole cloth.

So what does it take to be charged with Treason in this country?

Article 3, Section 3 of the United States Constitution states “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving aid and comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.” This act is currently codified in 18 USC Chapter 15 – Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities revised January 3, 2012. http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C115.txt And by the way, the penalty for Treason, Sedition and Subversive Acts can be anything from five years in a Federal Prison up to death.

Despite the boisterous cries that came from those people; to date, no actual war has been declared or executed against the United States, nor have they aided and comforted any group within the United States. At least not formally. Although we are still at War in Afghanistan and with the “Terrorists”, other than the NRA opposing any law that would make it difficult for terrorists to purchase weapons of war in this nation, very little can be proven in Court to show they willingly and knowingly are aiding and comforting our enemies who wage war against us. They are only aiding the gun and ammunition manufacturers who continue to profit from selling, unopposed and uninfringed, weapons and ammunition to terrorists, convicted criminals and the mentally ill. They do aide the gun runners who could possibly be charged at this time, but it would be a stretch to charge the NRA with Treason, at this point in time.

Now an actual call to War against the United States Government in an armed uprising would cross the line and could be construed as Treason. The best example would be the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1861, ushering in the Civil War by the Confederates. Sorry Jim Porter, the “War of Northern Aggression” actually began with Southern Treason and firing the first shots. But I digress.

This is not to say that if the rhetoric and apparent game plan of the NRA was to come to fruition, which a case of Treason couldn’t be made against their leadership. It is more and more apparent that a club once founded on the principals of safe gun ownership and hunting rights is morphing into a Paramilitary force with the aim of having armed civilians firing upon US military and police in an armed resistance to what they childishly cause “Tyranny.” Should they formally or even informally gather with that in mind and go so far as to fire upon the government of the United States, that would be as treasonous as those first shots of the Civil War Mr. Porter.

The NRA continues to say that the Second Amendment is there to keep the government honest and beholding to the people of the United States. This is of course pure bullshit. They continue to leave out reference to the conditional clause of “A Well Regulated Militia being necessary to security of a free state…” or the Militia Act of 1792, http://www.constitution.org/mil/mil_act_1792.htm or the Federalist Papers and letters from Jefferson that clearly state that the Second Amendment was there as a way to prevent this country from having a standing army.

Further, it exists to make sure the nation had a well regulated Militia for the defense of the Nation and her government as demonstrated when President George Washington used the Militia Act of 1792, which supplemented the Second Amendment, to call out the State Militia to put down the armed Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.

This was a founder, using the Constitution and laws written and enacted by fellow founders to protect the Government of the United States against an armed insurrection against the “tyrannical” government of the United States over taxes. Sound familiar?

Further, they leave out what is cited at the beginning of this rant, Article 3, Section 3 that defines “Treason” against the United States. You can’t outlaw Treason in the Constitution then give the people the tools to commit treason in the same Constitution. At least you can’t do it from a logical perspective and logic is something those who follow the rantings of the NRA propagandists sorely lack. But the NRA caters to idiots and fools and this country is full of them.

You walk a very dangerous line when you use false arguments, lies, and misrepresentations to an angry, not very well educated group of armed paranoid nuts who are very capable of being led to slaughter by taking up arms against the United States.

We have record number of Paramilitary militias formed in this country; we have nuts looking for any kind of validation that it’s perfectly reasonable or mandated that they shoot up representatives of our government, or our military or our police. They look for an excuse and the NRA is working to provide them with that excuse. The results? We already had Oklahoma City due to this sort of talk. How many innocent men women and children died due to inflammatory rhetoric from idiots from the right saying government is tyrannical?

The new President of the NRA Jim Porter, the ever paranoid and idiotic Wayne LaPierre, and other NRA board member nut jobs like Ted Nugent like to talk tough. It makes them feel powerful and gives them an audience willing to listen. Problem is, that audience is full of angry violent and inhumane assholes waiting for any excuse to cause harm. If the NRA leadership continues with this rhetoric to maintain gun sales for gun and ammo manufacturers and it leads to any attack against any representative of the United States Government or military or Police, then the full weight of 18 USC Chapter 15 should be prosecuted upon the board of the NRA and they should all hang together like the Patriots they pretend to be. In reality, they’re cowardly corporate shills playing a con game on the dumbest people we have, but you already know that.

There are over 300 million Americans in this nation that also happens to be the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. It’s only logical to assume that such a large and powerful nation, a nation that boasts about being the beacon of freedom and self-governance would have a government large enough to support “government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Our representative Republic depends on our representatives doing their job to ensure the borders are secured, our military is strong, our intelligence apparatus is working, our food is safe, our air and water is clean, our infrastructure is in good order, our Courts, law enforcement and first responders are well staffed and funded, our elderly, poor and indigent people are cared for and protected, our economy and consumer base is vibrant. These things are necessary and we need not only a big government to ensure all of the above and more, it must be a working, unobstructed government free from purposeful constipation. Obstruction inflicted to block up the works in order to make one man and one party look weak and incompetent.

That has been the mission of the Republican Party since inauguration day in 2009. Worse yet, despite the President winning a second term with a huge mandate from the majority of the nation, this same Republican Party continues to openly and maliciously obstruct the workings of this nation. Such acts only harm Americans for petty political aims. A case can be made that this is at minimum malfeasance, at worse treason.

We are a violent nation with the highest gun violence rate in the world, yet the Republicans block the appointment to lead the ATF and laws to deal with the gun violence that plagues the nation. They also block appointments to the Federal Courts to handle the log jam of criminal and civil cases. Although the NRA says we have too many gun laws that go unenforced, they neglect to mention that due to their lobbying of Congress, funding to enforce those very same gun laws is almost non-existent. Though millions are in poverty and are starving, the Republicans not only refuse to address simple fixes to the sequester to fund safety net programs such as meals on wheels, they instead fund the manufacturing of Abrams tanks that the military doesn’t want or need. Though people are dying due to lack of funding for chemotherapy for cancer that was cut due to the sequester, the Congress instead quickly changes the law to fund the FAA so that Congressmen and wealthy won’t have to wait in long lines at the airport to go home, even though they were warned months ago that the cuts to the FAA and the consequences and had plenty of time to head off these problems by simply working with the President and Democrats.

We send representatives to Washington D.C. to work, to do the people’s business. Not obstruct and spend more time in the Green Room for Sunday talk shows whining about how nothing is getting done in D.C. If they actually worked, things would get done. It’s like the arsonist complaining about how bad the fire has gotten.

90 percent of the nation wants gun control legislation, but the Republicans block it.

The majority of the nation wants jobs, but the Republicans block the jobs legislation.

The majority of the nation want infrastructure repair, but the Republicans block legislation and funding.

Rather than working on the issues the nation wants, they focus on repealing ObamaCare, restricting women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions, outlaw same sex marriage, tear down the wall separating Church and State, things the majority of Americans do not want them wasting time on.

If the majority of the nation wants it, they’ll block it. If the majority of the nation doesn’t want it, they’ll push for it.

And the only reason this is so, is because there is a black Democratic President in the White House serving out the remainder of his term.

Senator Toomey came clean about the fact that the Senate has been told, any progress made by this Congress would only serve to make the President look good, so they can’t progress on anything despite the harm caused the nation.

God forbid the nation does well under the President the majority of the nation voted for. The Republicans who lost will punish Obama and the nation for her choice.

You cannot clear an obstruction by just sitting back and doing nothing. It takes some sort of action. My suggestion, send a message to your Senator and your Member of Congress who will not do the people’s business that they were sent to do.

Since they insist on obstructing the people’s business, send them a box of Ex-lax with a letter of instruction to use it to free up their obstruction of government. This symbolic act just might let them know we have had enough of them and that if the Ex-Lax doesn’t work, we can use a 2014 enema to clear the system of this solid piece of Republican shit obstructing our progress.

Here are some of the most constipated members on Capitol Hill, you can see it in their faces:

A common definition for terrorism applies to violent acts which are intended to instill fear (terror), perpetuated for religious, political or ideological goals and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians) or group for whom the act is perpetrated against.

After Benghazi, the right-wing and those from Fox News criticized President Obama and his administration for not immediately calling it a terrorist act. After the Boston Marathon bombing they said the same thing. Problem is, both times the President correctly called these acts, “acts of terror”. To be honest, he didn’t have to say it because the world was already calling these acts of terror. For a President of the United States to label anything as “Terror” gives it far reaching meaning since he is the leader of the most powerful nation on the planet and can employ the full force and resources of the nation to bear down on the perpetrators. So the President actually needs to be careful what words he uses at all times.

Fox, right-wing radio and the right-wing fringe are quick to call any violent act “terrorism” especially if there is the slightest indication that “Muslims” are involved. In fact, they go so far as to say that all Muslims are terrorists. Of course we all know that isn’t true.

Why would they do this? Well one of the techniques of propaganda is to get a message out that some group that is easily identified and already hated or mistrusted is out to get you and do you harm. It calls to the most primitive aspect of the human mind; to hate something they don’t like and in return, support those leading the charge against it.

History is replete with examples of people, a movement or group gaining power or influence by going after another group already not particularly liked by some. The KKK going after Blacks, Jews, Catholics in the 19th, 20th and now 21st Centuries. The Nazis going after the Jews, Communists, Gypsies, Homosexuals in the 1930’s and 1940’s. And of course now, the extreme right-wing fringe going against the Muslims, Homosexuals, and “Liberals” to gain legitimacy, control, influence and power. So to portray themselves as the only group calling “Muslims” out as terrorists and claiming that others not being so vocal are condoning or even supporting the behavior works for the right-wing ideology and grows their base of support.

It’s easy to say that all Muslims terrorists because they are a misunderstood group in this nation and world thanks to the propaganda, a lack of understanding. Further, a group of radicalized fanatics causing harm in the world only serves to legitimize the claim. Problem is, we all know that fanatics from the Muslim faith are not the only ones committing acts of terrorism. In fact, they don’t even make up the majority of fanatics and “mad-men” so inclined to harm innocent people for their self-perceived and so called “legitimate” aims. In this country alone, and since 9-11, most terrorist acts planned out and orchestrated have not come from Muslim fanatics.

The terrorist act of 9-11 was perpetrated by radicalized Saudi Arabians at the direction of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. However, the terrorist act of Columbine was perpetrated by two white American boys. The terrorist act at Sandy Hook was perpetrated by one white American Boy. Oklahoma City was perpetuated by two White American Christian Conservative men. The cold blooded murder of Dr. Tiller was perpetrated by a white American Christian. All of these and more were terrorist acts. They were perpetuated to create fear and terror against a group and/or cause harm to innocent unarmed civilians. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are more terrorist organizations creating, planning and exercising terrorist acts in this country by White Christian Organizations than all other classifications put together.

http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/hate-and-extremism

Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Map:

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map

According to Fox, when an Adam Lanza, or a Timothy McVeigh commit such an act, they are simply deranged, they are not classified as terrorists. Well in my humble opinion, they are terrorists. Their aim was to create harm and terror in the community. The reasons can be political, religious, racial, or some sense of self-aggrandizing thought; however, if you cause harm, you are a terrorist and should be called one and prosecuted as such.

Calls to go after all Muslims for terrorist acts are only a method from the right to play to the intellectually lazy and racist among us to make them seem important and get them to follow. That is why they don’t call the acts of conservative white male Christians acts of terror, because that’s the base they’re trying to attract to their own cause. Terrorists are Terrorists regardless of their background, motives and methods and should all be disdain by all of us for the harm they cause. They are deranged, and they are also terrorists.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00097

It was a simple proposition on April 17th, 2013 on Senate Amendment 715 to Senate Bill 649 to proceed to a vote to decide if this country needs to expand universal background checks to make it more difficult for convicted criminals, suspected terrorists and mentally disturbed from easily purchasing guns from gun shows and the internet. It was a watered down version of what currently 92% of the nation wants. It had loopholes in it you could drive an Abrams Tank through, but it was a start. It was filibustered so there was no up or down vote on it. 54 Senators voted to proceed to a vote, 46 said no. As I have posted in the past, here’s the list of those who are more beholden to campaign financing from the NRA despite the fact that NRA support usually doesn’t get you the support of the voting public. Some voted out of fear of losing their seats in upcoming elections. Some Democrats voted to uphold the filibuster. They should be primaried.  Senator President Harry Reid did change his vote to uphold the filibuster so he can invoke a Senate Rule that will allow him to put it back on the floor for another vote. However, he should have thought about that a few months ago when he backed off on filibuster reform.

Four Republicans voted to proceed to a vote and should be commended for this act. I’ll list their names after the names of the cowards for voted to uphold the filibuster. Not only am I listing names, I am listing their Twitter Account names and their Senate phone numbers.

These people should be required to explain their votes to Gabby Giffords and then spend a week in Newtown and explain to the victim’s families their votes. They should also be made to view the photos of the crime scene. They should be treated as Germans were treated after the War ended when they were made to see up close the result of their complacency and lack of care for human beings.

These people need to be contacted and need to hear what you think so it’s fresh in their mind if and when they get another chance to vote on this.

If the name has a “$” it means the voted to filibuster all debate on gun safety reform on the first vote and lost.

If the name has a “*” it means they were part of the original 14 who threatened to filibuster early on to show support for the NRA merchants of death.

13 have two strikes against them. What should we do to those who get the third?

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)             @SenAlexander                            (202) 224-4944

Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)                     @KellyAyotte                                 (202) 224-3324

John Barrasso (R-WY) $             @SenJohnBarrasso                      (202) 224-6441

Max Baucus (D-MT)                    Unknown                                        (202) 224-2651

Mark Begich (D-AK) $                 @SenatorBegich                            (202) 224-3004

Roy Blunt (R-MO) $                     @RoyBlunt                                     (202) 224-5721

John Boozman (R-AR) $              @JohnBoozman                            (202) 224-4843

Richard Burr (R-NC) *                  @SenatorBurr                               (202) 224-3154

Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)             @SaxbyChambliss                        (202) 224-3521

Daniel Coats (R-IN) $ *                @SenDanCoats                             (202) 224-5623

Tom Coburn (R-OK)                     @TomCoburn                                (202) 224-5754

Thad Cochran (R-MS) $               @SenThadCochran                       (202) 224-5054

Bob Corker (R-TN)                       Unknown                                        (202) 224-2934

John Cornyn (R-TX) $                  Unknown                                        (202) 224-2742

Mike Crapo (R-ID) $ *                   @MikeCrapo                                  (202) 224-6142

Ted Cruz (R-TX) $ *                     @SenTedCruz                                (202) 224-5922

Michael Enzi (R-WY) $ *               @SenatorEnzi                                (202) 224-3424

Deb Fischer (R-NE) $                   @SenatorFischer                           (202) 224-6551

Jeff Flake (R-AZ)                          @JeffFlake                                     (202) 224-4521

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)               @GrahamBlog                               (202) 224-5972

Chuck Grassley (R-IA) $               @ChuckGrassley                           (202) 224-3744

Orrin Hatch (R-UT) $                     @OrrinHatch                                 (202) 224-5251

Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)                  @SenatorHeitkamp                      (202) 224-2043

Dean Heller (R-NV)                        @SenDeanHeller                           (202) 224-6244

John Hoeven (R-ND)                      @SenJohnHoeven                        (202) 224-2551

James Inhofe (R-OK) $ *                 @JimInhofe                                   (202) 224-4721

Johnny Isakson (R-GA)                  @SenatorIsakson                          (202) 224-3643

Mike Johanns (R-NE) $                  @Mike_Johanns                           (202) 224-4224

Ron Johnson (R-WI) $ *                 @SenRonJohnson                         (202) 224-5323

Mike Lee (R-UT) $ *                       @SenMikeLee                                (202) 224-5444

Mitch McConnell (R-KY) $ *           @McConnellPress                         (202) 224-2541

Jerry Moran (R-KS) $ *                   @JerryMoran                                (202) 224-6521

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) $                @LisaMurkowski                          (202) 224-6665

Rand Paul (R-KY) $ *                     @SenRandPaul                              (202) 224-4343

Rob Portman (R-OH) $                   @RobPortman                               (202) 224-3353

Mark Pryor (D-AR) $                       @SenMarkPryor                            (202) 224-2353

Harry Reid (D-NV)                           @SenatorReid                               (202) 224-3542

James Risch (R-ID) $ *                     @SenatorRisch                              (202) 224-2752

Pat Roberts (R-KS) $ *                    @SenPatRoberts                           (202) 224-4774

Marco Rubio (R-FL) $ *                    @MarcoRubio                               (202) 224-3041

Tim Scott (R-SC) $                          @SenatorTimScott                        (202) 224-6121

Jeff Sessions (R-AL) $                     @SenatorSessions                        (202) 224-4124

Richard Shelby (R-AL) $                  @SenShelbyPress                         (202) 224-5744

John Thune (R-SD) $                       @SenJohnThune                           (202) 224-4254

David Vitter (R-LA) $                        @DavidVitter                                 (202) 224-4623

Roger Wicker (R-MS)                       @SenatorWicker                           (202) 224-6253

Republicans who voted to proceed to a vote:

Susan Collins (R-ME)                      Unknown                                        (202) 224-2523

Mark Kirk (R-IL)                               @SenatorKirk                                 (202) 224-2854

John McCain (R-AZ)                        @SenJohnMcCain                         (202) 224-2235

Patrick Toomey (R-PA)                    @SenToomey                                (202) 224-4254

This isn’t over yet. The President said it himself after the vote. He also quite correctly has instructed all of you to get active and hold your representatives accountable. If they only hear from the few gun worshippers and the people who hand them their bribes from the NRA, why should they vote for what 92% of the nation actually wants. Government of the People, by the People and for the People does require the People to be active. This is up to you.

This marathon is not over.

Below is the audio and text of Robert F Kennedy’s “Mindless Menace of Violence in America” speech he delivered the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. This speech was brought to my attention the day of the bombing in Boston.

Despite those who are quick to blame, quick to exert their anger and threaten violence, even though to date, no one can honestly say who was responsible and what the motivation was, we must wait and see what the investigation by professionals reveal. Speculation over such an act by those who don’t have the facts only causes greater harm and anger in this nation and can lead to more wanton violence.

The only facts are that Boston was a senseless act of violence, of terror, that resulted in death and injuries to peaceful Americans. Whoever perpetrated it is a terrorist, whether they be foreign or domestic, it doesn’t matter. No provocation justifies such a heinous act. But you can’t ascribe all blame to an entire faith, sect, nationality or political ideation, it must remain with those who planned, assisted and orchestrated the act. It’s up to us to let the professionals investigate and sort this out and they will.

RFK’s words ring as true today as they did in 1968. The acts of violence haven’t changed, only the “justification” and players involved. Listen and read and see as I have that this is an eternal speech. Please share with those you agree with and those you don’t. Words like these can unite us all if all will merely open their hearts and mind and realize we are all here only for a short period of time and we are all brothers and sisters sharing this country and planet.

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one – no matter where he lives or what he does – can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr’s cause has ever been stilled by an assassin’s bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily – whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence – whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

“Among free men,” said Abraham Lincoln, “there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs.”

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man’s spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children’s future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

Today in the Senate, there was a cloture vote to proceed to debate Gun Safety Legislation. Rand Paul led 13 other Senators with a filibuster to prevent debate in this matter.

https://azmoderate.com/2013/04/08/13-senators-who-betray-the-people-of-the-united-states-for-corporate-profit/

At the end of the day the filibuster lost 68 to 31 with one Senator not voting. The filibuster lost and debate began.

So who were the 31 who are too afraid to allow the American people here the debate on whether we need changes to our gun laws? Who are these cowards and arrogant NRA stooges who place corporate profits over any attempts to preserve lives of men, women and children in our nation?

Here they are. At the bottom of this post is the link to the U.S. Senate so you can call these anti-American cowards and let them know what you think about their priorities.

And by the way, all but one of the 14 who said they would filibuster voted against cloture, Richard Burr (R-NC) opted instead to allow debate. Maybe he’s learning.

John Barraso (R-WY)

Mark Begich (D-AK)

Roy Blunt (R-MO)

John Boozeman (R-AR)

Daniel Coats (R-IN) *

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

John Cornyn (R-TX)

Mike Crapo (R-ID) *

Ted Cruz (R-TX) *

Michael Enzi (R-WY) *

Deb Fischer (R-NE)

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

James Inhofe (R-OK) *

Mike Johanns (R-NE)

Ron Johnson (R-WI) *

Mike Lee (R-UT) *

Mitch McConnell (R-KY) *

Jerry Moran (R-KS) *

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Rand Paul (R-KY) *

Rob Portman (R-OH)

Mark Pryor (D-AR)

James Risch (R-ID) *

Pat Roberts (R-KS) *

Marco Rubio (R-FL) *

Tim Scott (R-SC)

Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

John Thune (R-SD)

David Vitter (R-LA)

* Co-Sponsored the filibuster

Contact these people and let them know what you think:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

I heard about this group earlier today while listening to Randi Rhodes and imagine my surprise coming home to a letter from these nut jobs. Not sure how they got my address, but this does give me something to be snarky about, so here goes.

Here’s a link to a Politico story that references NAGR and how even the GOP are concerned over their tactics:

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/slew-of-gun-rights-groups-flex-muscle-89781.html

And here’s something from the Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/09/pro-gun-absolutism-the-gun-lobby-s-push-to-privatize-law-and-order.html

I don’t think it’s a coincident they’re using the acronym NAGR, from the tone of the letter they sent, I think they are the types who would certainly use a word that sounds very much like their acronym when talking about the President.

The letter was from the “National Association For Gun Rights” P.O. Box 7002 Fredericksburg, VA 22404. The caption on the envelope, “Will your U.S. Senator cave in to the gun-grabbers’ triple threat trick play?”

They have a website http://www.NationalGunRights.org yet use a style of letterhead and correspondence similar to something you would see from the 1980’s and a dot matrix printer.

It has the familiar salutation of “Dear Fellow American” and goes into what they call “Obama’s Triple Threat gun control scheme that Sen. Reid will push next week.” The letter is dated April 3rd, 2013.

They claim it has three components: “fictitious “gun trafficking” legislation, so-called “mental health” legislation, and “expanded background checks.” Then they say “It’s designed to sound more “reasonable” than a total gun ban — but don’t be fooled, there’s nothing reasonable about it.” Their biggest fear is what they term as the one ultimate goal “National gun registration”.

They encourage the reader to call their Senators to stop the act and praise fellow deranged gun worshipping corporate nipple suckers Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz for their pledge to filibuster “ANY and ALL gun control Legislation.”

In their letter they oppose any “mental health” legislation because in their delusional thought process, they see that as an opening to “gun registration.” They actually are upset that the mentally ill could be denied 2nd Amendment rights to own and bear arms. They cite an interesting statistic that 46.4% of Americans will have mental health issues at some point in their lives and that this would keep guns from half of all Americans.

Well that statistic and paranoid stretch of the imagination has no basis in reality and besides, less than a third of Americans even want to own guns. Though I would imagine those with true mental health disorders, like people from NAGR are among those who want guns. So maybe on this point, their fear is justified. They’re mentally unstable and shouldn’t have guns. I agree that we should keep weapons away from these nuts.

Dudley Brown, Executive Vice President of course signs the letter asking for a donation to protect “gun rights” because as we all know, guns don’t kill people, people kill people and people don’t deserve rights, only guns do.

Even the NRA and Larry Pratt’s “Gun Boners, err Owners of America” think these people are over the edge. They have been going after staunch Republican Conservatives with phone calls and emails demanding a halt to any gun safety legislation, especially background checks.

The reason is obvious, criminally insane nut jobs like the people who voluntarily join up and support NAGR are too unstable to ever be given a gun. I imagine Loughner, Holmes, Lanza and Cho are honorary members of this group of deranged, vile and disgusting gun worshippers, instilling fear not for profit, but for their own paranoia and narcissistic desire to be noticed.

I noticed them, and I am proud to mock them for the idiots they are.

The Constitution of the United States allows each State of the Union to send two Senators to represent the people of the States they are from for six-year terms. Originally these Senators were selected by the State Legislatures and Governors to represent the State. Then the Constitution was amended to allow the Senators to be selected via popular votes in each State. So it seems only logical that those who sit in the United States Senate are there to represent the best interests and needs of the people from the States that sent them there. Instead, it would appear that many of these senators, especially on the Republican side of the aisle, only represent:

Those who fund their campaigns

Corporate and lobbyist interests

Their own egos and deluded sense of what the Constitution stands for

Or a combination of all the above

Few things unite the American people these days. You rarely get majority agreement on any issues. However, over 90% of the nation, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Gun Owners and Non Gun Owners support federal guns laws that require a universal background check for ALL gun purchases.

A majority of Americans also support a ban on Assault Rifles, High-Capacity Magazines, and funding to the ATF to monitor and enforce gun laws that currently lay ineffectual due to lack of funding, thanks to the efforts of the lobbying organization disguised as an American Institution known as the American Rifle Association “NRA”.

There are only 4 million members in the NRA and most of them support a vote on gun safety regulations. However, the NRA is opposed to this because such controls will eat into the profits of their corporate masters, the gun and ammunition manufacturers of America and foreign countries.

This is not about the 2nd Amendment, it’s not about the NRA trying to protect children and people in their homes, and it’s about profit. Anyone who truly thinks otherwise is quite simply a gullible fool.

Despite the overwhelming desire from the American people for a debate and vote on gun control laws in the Senate, a group of now 13 Senators say they will filibuster any vote on gun control.

Keep in mind no final draft of any gun control legislation has been written or approved in debate. They intend to filibuster any vote on any bill regardless what the bill says. They are simply doing what their masters bid them to do. By masters, I mean the NRA, extreme Neo-Nazi fringe of the Republican Party and their money source, the gun and ammunition manufacturers in this country and elsewhere in the world.

They are not doing this FOR the American people; they are doing this TO the American people.

Below is the list as of Monday, April 8, 2013 of those Senators on record saying they will filibuster a vote on gun control.

Let them know what you think of their abandonment of their responsibility to represent you.

Let them know they will not be returned to the Senate or any other elected office in the future for this act of cowardice on their part.

Let them know they work for you, not the merchants of death.

Remind them of Newtown, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Tucson, and Columbine, the ever-growing list of gun violence massacres that only feed into the profit margin of the NRA and gun and ammo manufacturers.

Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina

Senator Dan Coats of Indiana

Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming

Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin

Senator Mike Lee of Utah

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky

Senator Jim Risch of Idaho

Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida

Anyone with any experience in life, let alone politics know that anything can happen in a month that can change history, let alone two months, six months, a year, or two years. The biggest talking point in mainstream media and to some degree social media is the 2016 presidential race. The mere possibility of a Hillary Clinton run for the White House has them all giddy. Here’s the problem. You place attention, time, energy and especially money on a Hillary Clinton run for 2016; you take away precious resources needed for all the local races between now and the 2014 midterms.

As I’ve blogged before, voter turnout in special elections and midterms is always significantly lower than in the generals. Fact of the matter is, the one strength those on the right have over those on the left is that despite everything, despite frustration with their party, their candidates, their standard of living, they always vote en masse and straight GOP party tickets in all elections. Something those on the left are hard pressed to do.

Now I’m not saying that those in the middle and left need to be as monolithic as those on the right, but they do need to be engaged and pragmatic in all elections. As in the period prior to the 2010 midterms, mainstream media isn’t supporting the Obama agenda. Coverage for the right-wing continues to be more favorable than coverage for the left.

In fact the only coverage the left gets are for those complaining that Obama isn’t delivering for them. He’s not giving them what they want in the manner they want it.

I’ll be frank, I’m not happy with the Obama administration on several factors to include: drone attacks, too slow of a withdrawal from Afghanistan, continued apparent support for Keystone XL, chained CPI, lack of prosecution against Wall Street criminals and those responsible for voter suppression, and a host of other factors. All that being said, I support this president and those on the left running for all local and congressional offices because of the big picture. And as I’ve quoted before from the Stones, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might just find you get what you need.”

To not vote for the left, you guarantee a win for the right and I promise you, you get less and worse from them than you will ever get from the left.

The right has another advantage, money and fanatical lemmings doing what they are told to do. We need to focus our time, energy and money in a smarter and more effective way than they do. We are faced with gerrymandered GOP Districts for Congress and state legislative districts in Red states. That is a difficult challenge, but by no means impossible. Again, we must be smarter and more pragmatic.

South Carolina’s first Congressional District is a gerrymandered Republican District. Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch is polling ahead of Mark Stanford in this district. It’s a combination of the fact he isn’t that popular and that she is a moderate Democrat and successful business person. Someone Republicans can support if they have to.

Many on the left hate moderate and conservative Democrats. In many cases they have good reason, but a moderate-conservative Democrat who can win in a gerrymandered Republican district is far better than a Tea Party Republican in that same district. We need to face reality and be pragmatic. As popular and better a progressive agenda is, it doesn’t always sell to many in this country. The more tea party types in Congress and state houses, the more obstruction we can expect from a progressive agenda. That is reality.

Nate Silver essentially says we have no chance of taking the House back in 2014. Studies show that for this to happen, Democrats must outperform Republican counterparts by at least 6 points. So what can we do to prove Nate wrong?

Get Democrats to register now and constantly check to make sure their registration remains valid.

Make sure all Democrats take advantage of early voting, or get out to the polls on Election Day and prepare to make a day of it.

Educate everyone via social media on the polling and the issues at hand to encourage Democrats and Independents and even some Republicans to vote for the Democratic Candidate.

Discourage those opting to sit the election out or vote third-party, or do a protest vote. Each one who does that is giving a vote to the Republicans. That is a fact borne out by an analysis of electoral history in this nation. Protest votes and third-party votes don’t work and only cause harm to the progressive agenda.

Donate directly to candidates in your congressional districts or other contested congressional districts. Money does make a difference. While the right has corporate America funding their races, we have only ourselves.

When you’re done tweeting, blogging and posting on Facebook, get out and get active. Only boots on the ground will get this job done.

Finally, stop the lame in-fighting and conspiracy theories floating around in cyberspace. Stay focus and pragmatic and keep your eyes on the prize, a Democratic win across the country in 2014.

History is prologue to the future, 2010 is our history and 2014 is our future.

As Ed would say, “Let’s get to work!”