Monday, July 23, 2012

"Rights" and More American Exceptionalism

Once more, with the issue of mentally ill and isolated individuals going on murder sprees, we hear the "debate" (read: shouting match) about gun rights etc. No amendment in the US is as ardently defended as the second. I'm really not sure why. It's not like a bunch of untrained civilians with pistols and assault rifles can take on the US military, should it turn on us. We already can't own tanks and bombers. So that argument is complete nonsense. But, in the spirit of fuck you NRA, let us take a look at the other amendments we lose out on, assaulted by the same pro gun politicians the NRA keeps supporting.

1st Amendment: This one at least has a few lobbies, such as the ACLU (demonized by the GOP) and the EFF. But mostly we can't say certain things or be labeled terrorists, unpatriotic, evil, etc. Non Christians (and some Jews) are shoved around constantly at the state and local level, and blatantly illegal theocratic laws are pushed and passed even at the federal level. Wonderful. On top of the abuse of the Occupy protestors, who are literally beaten for their right to assemble.

5/6th: So much for due process. Guantanamo bay, Private Manning's illegal detainment, horrific lawsuits over copyright, the historic expansion of the Fed's wiretapping into all traffic, foreign and domestic, almost never with a warrant. Fantastic.

13/14/19th: Voter suppression laws in states like Florida, where they de-registered millions of minority voters and put up barriers like arbitrary limits and fines on registering "wrong" in order to discourage low income, minority and young voters because they tend to vote Democrat.

These all can get their own books, much less posts, but this was just an overview. Fuck you NRA, fuck you gun rights activists. We have bigger problems than your "right" to have a weapon designed only to kill other citizens.

Logic Priest

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