Day: December 16, 2012

National Rifle Association And Its Republican Supporters Silent In Midst Of Tragedy Caused By Guns

The National Rifle Association and its 31 Republican supporters in the US Senate, and gun advocates generally, have become strangely silent in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, which led to the death of 20 six and seven year olds, and six teachers and administrators in Connecticut.

Their Twitter page and Facebook page have been very quiet, and the Senators who support no limitations on gun rights refused to appear on Meet The Press, showing what cowards they really are, unwilling to support sensible regulations on guns, such as a background check, a ban on assault weapons which existed for ten years, and a limit on how much ammunition may be purchased, as one does not need vast magazines to get involved in deer hunting. And all gun owners and buyers should be registered in a national data base as well. If we can regulate other aspects of human existence, then we should be able to do the same with guns!

This is the time to demand action on these ideas, and to drum the NRA supporters out of Congress and the state legislatures, and make it clear that we will not allow our nation to be held hostage by Wayne LaPierre and other NRA leaders, who have enriched themselves at the expense of human lives!

It is time to take our country back from this unlimited violence, between 11,000 and 12,000 deaths a year by guns, overwhelmingly the most violent nation on earth, that has come about because of the recklessness of the NRA and the gun extremists!

And the answer is not to allow guns in schools, except with a uniformed police officer in every school. And the answer is not to allow anyone to carry guns openly in public places, either! This is insanity beyond belief!

John Kerry Joins Distinguished Company Of Seven Former Presidential Nominees Who Have Served As Secretary Of State

The indication that President Barack Obama has decided to nominate Massachusetts Senator John Kerry as the next Secretary of State adds dignity and statesmanship to that office, particularly in light of the exceptional leadership of the present Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Kerry has had a distinguished career as a United States Senator for 28 years, and is the tenth most senior member of the present Senate, and was, of course, the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, losing a close race to George W. Bush, because of the electoral result in Ohio.

Kerry has been Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the past four years, and had he won the Presidency in 2004, he would have been responsible for our foreign policy for the past eight years, assuming he had won a second term.

He becomes the eighth Presidential nominee to lose the White House and become Secretary of State, following Henry Clay (under John Quincy Adams); Daniel Webster (under John Tyler); John C. Calhoun (under John Tyler); Lewis Cass (under James Buchanan); James G. Blaine (under Benjamin Harrison); William Jennings Bryan (under Woodrow Wilson); and Charles Evans Hughes (under Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge).

These Secretaries of State stood out as major figures in their times, and in our history long term, and John Kerry will be seen the same way when he retires from the State Department after serving Barack Obama.