Life is what is forefront in my mind. Children's lives. Police Officer's lives. Politicians lives. The president's life. The first two, children and LEO's* are more about death than life. Children sent to slaughter, like cattle. The chute is the school hallway. Both are shot in the head. For cattle, that is supposedly humane. For children it is the epitome of man's inhumanity toward man.
For Police Officer's lives. Brave women and men that put on 45 pounds of equipment and armor each day in the guise of trying to keep us safe. In this reckless, careless society. Bad guys have guns, so more good guys need guns. I can't wrap my head around this force needs to be met with force thinking. Gandhi didn't think that, and neither did Martin Luther King.
Let's give teachers guns and ammo. Train them to shoot active killers. A side note here, I do not like the sanitized term of active shooter. These mostly young men are not shooting, they are KILLING. The euphemism rankles me. I'm sure the NRA would prefer the word shooting, as that is what they purport to teach their disciples. In actuality, it is killing. Let's call it what it is.
Back to teachers being armed. I shake my head at this notion. Every single Police Officer ever killed in the line of duty was armed. And trained. And retrained. And certified and recertified in marksmanship. Most likely he or she was wearing a protective vest. This very simple notion keeps me from thinking that arming a third grade teacher with a weapon would be just the right magic bullet to stop gun violence. Pun intended, though I find no humor in this subject.
Please don't hold Israel up as an example. Long before their teachers were educators, they were soldiers. They don't arm and protect against fellow students, they defend the kids from terrorists. Their society is different than ours. America. The only free nation in the world with a gun problem. But guns don't kill people - people kill people. People with guns kill people. Cars kill people. Knives kill people. Strangulation kills people. Lack of healthcare kills people. Lack of compassion kills people. Maybe it is our government that is killing people.
Politicians lives. I'm not in the mood to quote statistics or give attention to the corrupt congressional representatives who take money from the NRA and other special interest groups. Even the name special makes it sound so benign. The NRA is special. You bet your ass they are. They are so special, they literally pay off congress to look away. Turn a blind eye. Send thoughts and prayers. Refuse to refuse donations. Politicians who have lifetime pensions and fabulous healthcare and armed security where they work and play baseball. They must be special too. They certainly belie the notion of democracy.
Now to our president. He lived in a house with gold toilets. He penned the art of the deal. He belittles those with disabilities. He grabs women by the pussy. He cannot even read a book. He has turned the office into a twitter war with anyone who will play along with him. He holds a listening session and says nothing new or profound. He has no original thought. His life is affecting my life. Your life. Can he turn the tide? I guess so, if his Mar-a-Lago guests tell him to. If his sound-bite authors feed him some relevant fodder. I would like to see him do something other than just undoing what our last president did. Something. Anything. But I don't hold hope for this.
Lives. Today I celebrate the day my parents gave me life. 59 years ago. My reflections are my own. Please, take what you like and leave the rest. If you agree or disagree, that is your option. If you have something to say - write your own blog. This forum is for all of us who possess the ability to think and tap a few keys. Nothing special or magical about it.
I'm not here to argue. Today, in this life, in my life, I choose love.
Peace Everyone,
Jane
*LEO - Law Enforcement Officer
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