Connecticut

The Growing Role Of Vice President Joe Biden

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Any thought that Vice President Joe Biden, who was a major factor in the successes of the first Obama term and in his reelection efforts, might start to “disappear” after the election is effectively dormant!

Biden has been asked by President Barack Obama to head a team to come up with some kind of plan for gun regulation, which does not take away the Second Amendment, but shows a level of responsibility to protect the American people from gun maniacs, who are now able to buy large magazines of bullets and assault rifles without any regulation. If anything, the killing of volunteer firefighters outside Rochester, New York, by a crazed murderer, only adds to the tragedy of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, and earlier this year in Colorado and too many other places, the mass death or wounding of innocent people!

But also, Biden is working behind the scenes to try to come up with a deal to avoid the “Fiscal Cliff”, and he is highly respected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and more importantly, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

There is no guarantee that Biden will have a magic potion on the issue of gun control or the “Fiscal Cliff”. But the point is that he is in the game, always willing and able to help the President and the nation, and this cannot but help his potential, and likely, candidacy for the Presidency in 2016.

Biden is a man of energy, who acts much younger than his age of 70, and should not be dismissed as the heir to Barack Obama in 2016!

Craziness Of State Laws And State Leadership On Gun Regulation Is Mindblowing!

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Florida and Iowa allow ex felons the right to purchase guns, but make it nearly impossible for them to gain the right to vote.

Texas Governor Rick Perry and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell want teachers to be armed when they teach their classes to students of all ages.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Florida Governor Rick Scott see no reason to pass stronger gun laws, with both allowing concealed weapons, and Arizona allowing guns in bars and restaurants.

Other mostly “Red” states have state legislators and Congressmen and Senators totally unphased by the Sandy Hook Massacre in Connecticut.

The National Rifle Association has encouraged more purchase of guns as a safety measure, although already, there are more guns than people in America.

This country is living, at least in some parts, in their own delusional world, a world of bloodshed and violence, with people having paranoia about “enemies”, and our entire population endangered by the likelihood of continued “Sandy Hook” events in the future, and no plan to do anything constructive about it!

President Barack Obama has commissioned Vice President Joe Biden to come up with plans in the next six weeks for serious action, but the odds of actual accomplishment of goals with Republican opposition so severe, is highly speculative and unlikely!

Two Heroines Of Gun Control: Senator Diane Feinstein And Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy!

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This nation is fortunate to have two heroines in Congress, ready to fight for realistic gun control in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in Connecticut.

Senator Diane Feinstein of California and New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy have both known what gun violence has done, and how it has affected their lives.

Senator Feinstein became Mayor of San Francisco in 1978, after the assassination of gay Councilman Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, and she fought for the Brady Bill’s passage in 1993-1994, named after the press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, wounded during the attempt against the President’s life in 1981 by John Hinckley. She achieved the impossible two decades ago, and the Brady Bill remained law until 2004, when President George W. Bush refused to support an extension of this gun control law. Feinstein is now willing to lead the fight for an equivalent ban nine years after the last one expired, with the horrible record of violence ever since, much of it with assault rifles and vast magazines of ammunition, something that no hunter, and no civilian, needs!

Congresswoman McCarthy lost her husband in 1993, due to violence on the Long Island Railroad, and nearly lost her son, who needed many months of rehabilitation. She lobbied for the Brady Bill, ultimately signed by President Bill Clinton, and ultimately ran against the Long Island Republican Congressman Dan Frisa when he refused to support the Brady Bill, and was elected in 1996. She has made it clear that she intends to fight for another Brady Bill, alongside Feinstein and other courageous men and women in the House and Senate, including New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who worked on the Brady Bill in the House back in 1993-1994.

These two women are indeed true heroines, and let’s hope they can accomplish their goal of a safer America, as we cannot continue to live in a nation where 11,000 to 12,000 men, women, and children are killed annually by gun violence!

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

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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!

Our Tendency To See “Quiet, Intelligent, Socially Shy” As Problems, And Autism And Aspergers Syndrome As A Threat, All Of Which Is Untrue!

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In the midst of the coverage about the young man, Adam Lanza, who murdered his mother, 20 children and six other adults in Newtown, Connecticut, with high powered weapons owned by his own mother, a lot of attention is being given to the fact that Adam is described as “quiet, intelligent, socially shy or backward, a loner” as personality traits that are troubling. And it has also been reported that he may have had “mental issues” such as Autism and Aspergers Syndrome, that may be factors in the violence that ensued.

This is totally preposterous, as being “quiet, intelligent, socially shy or backward, a loner” describes millions of people, both young and older, and it is somehow made out to be that if one is not the “life of the party, a social butterfly”, that something is wrong. So the aggressive, outspoken, braggart, boaster, bull artist, who often teases and bullies such “quiet, intelligent, socially shy or backward, loner” type people, is idolized as a model, because everyone wants to be “popular”!

And if someone has learning disabilities such as Autism and Aspergers Syndrome, which Adam Lanza may have had, it has ABSOLUTELY no effect on him behaviorally as a danger to others, as having such conditions is NOT mental illness, just an intellectual disorder!

And in the case of most mass murders or crimes, it is a person who is “perfectly normal” on the surface, who is “well liked and popular”, who does the dirty deed, but uses his charm and good looks and ability to bamboozle people, and to commit the crimes he perpetrates!

It is time that people stop stereotyping people by their being “quiet, intelligent, socially shy or backward, a loner”, as most will overcome such personality traits with growth, maturity, and building of confidence over time, and in many cases, such people end up as bigger successes in life than those who are the “life of the party” as adolescents or young adults.

One such person is this author, who was very different as a high school and college student, who blossomed as an adult, given time and patience.

And people with Autism or Aspergers Syndrome are not to be seen as dangerous, but instead as special young people who have a lot to offer, including friendship and sincerity, if only those who are the “life of the party”, and “popular”, would only give them half a chance, and stop being “braggarts, bullies, boasters, aggressive” in their behavior toward those not born as fortunate as they were.

My younger son is such a person, who is sweet, kind, decent, and has matured a great deal, and only wishes to be a friend of those, who in middle and high school, made fun of him. He is a happy man in his late 20s now. He is no threat to anyone, and never has been, and is a better person than any so called “popular, life of the party” type who needs to learn to tame his or her ego and treat others with dignity! He is a son his father and brother are extremely proud of, and would not exchange for some other young man who needs to learn how to treat his fellow human beings with respect!

Enough of stereotypes, and making the braggarts, the egotists, the bullies the show offs of society, as being normal!

Sandy Hook Elementary School Another In A Long Line Of Tragedies That Will Never End Unless There Is Effective Gun Control Legislation!

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The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut is just the latest in a long line of gun tragedies, while the gun industry and the National Rifle Association, in the mad dash for capitalistic profit, resist ANY regulation of those who are able to obtain weapons, including assault rifles that no one needs!

If it is not elementary school children in Connecticut; or patrons in a movie theater in Colorado; or worshipers in a church in Wisconsin; or shoppers in a mall in Oregon; or constituents of a Congresswoman in Arizona, it may very well be a President of the United States, or a United States Senator, or a rock musician, or an actor, or an athlete who in some way triggers mental illness in some crackpot who wants fame, and makes for new gun victims!

Of course, no gun legislation will prevent all murders, but with 11,000 murders per year because of gun violence, more than any nation in the world, we cannot sit by and just “tsk tsk”, and do nothing!

We need effective gun regulation, and background checks of people before they can purchase weapons legally, and banning of all assault weapons. We can also decide that people cannot carry guns into bars, onto college campuses, into public schools, into hospitals, into government buildings, and prosecute anyone who endangers others by his or her recklessness!

We have to teach our children that guns are not fun, or not just to be used for target practice, and to stop glorifying hunting of birds and animals, as that is worshiping and glorifying death!

We must promote protection, but not think that everyone being strapped with a gun is going to promote safety in all public places, as just the opposite is true!

And this has nothing to do with God, as in the name of God, we have seen loads of bloodshed and death and warfare in human history, and religion has done more to promote hate and division, because of those fanatics believing their religious beliefs justify such crimes!

We are on the road to civil war, if we do not control the level of violence that we claim cannot be controlled, throw up our hands, and just keep on counting corpses!

For some gun nuts, only when they lose their own loved ones will they finally “get it”, and we need our government leaders to stop fighting politically, and look at gun violence as just as needy of a response as when we were attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001!

Mitt Romney, Linda McMahon, And Wealth: Total Disdain For Campaign Workers!

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It is amazing how some wealthy politicians make it clear how much they disdain the average American, and only when they lose, do their overly loyal campaign workers realize just how despicable and cheap these losers are!

Right after Mitt Romney lost the Presidency, he cut off the credit cards of his campaign workers, and they had to pay their cab fare home in Boston! This came after his infamous “47 percent” statement, and was followed up by his “gifts” comment after the election, showing he was a sore loser, and in so doing, alienated his own party, who now consider him someone to be repudiated in a total manner!

Right after World Wrestling Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Linda McMahon lost her second straight attempt to “buy” a Connecticut Senate seat, she cur off payment of the last paychecks to her campaign workers, for work they had done in her behalf! One worker received a bad check and a condom! What a despicable, nasty, mean spirited woman this candidate was during her two campaigns to “buy” a Senate seat, and thank goodness she did not win!

This shows the true nature of these wealthy, “privileged” people who think they are “owed” the position they desire, but discover that just because they are “loaded” and willing to spend their own money, as well as others, does not guarantee that they are given power to victimize the average American, in their mad dash to become ever richer!

2012 Presidential Campaign Proved That Billionaires Could NOT Control Result!

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The Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and other billionaires spent tens of millions of dollars in 2012 to make our country a plutocracy, and failed.

Linda McMahon spent $100 million to “buy” a Senate seat in Connecticut and failed.

Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman spent $100 million each to “buy” the Senate seat and Governor’s chair in California in 2010 and failed.

So the Citizens United Case in 2010 failed to change our system as much as we feared, and the Court looks horrible, and it is time for them to accept a case and reverse themselves IMMEDIATELY!

Theodore Roosevelt was right 100 years ago—the powerful plutocracy should NOT control our political system!

The Advancement Of Gay Marriage Rights In California And Washington State

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Events of this week are very promising regarding the expansion of gay marriage rights.

California’s Ninth Circuit Court has declared Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in 2008 as unconstitutional, upholding a district court ruling, and this makes it likely that gay marriage will be on the Supreme Court docket very soon, possibly even this year, already full of turning point cases on the Obama Health Care plan, voting rights, and illegal immigration restrictions in Arizona and Alabama.

Additionally, the state of Washington is about to become the seventh state to allow gay marriage, after passage by the state legislature and a soon to be signing by the governor of the state.

So Washington joins Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Iowa as states that allow gay marriage, along with Washington DC, and hopefully, it will return to California where it was legal for a period of time before being overturned.

Twenty to thirty years from now, when gay marriage is a normal thing, many will wonder what was the fuss back in the early part of the century, much like when one looks back to before 1967, one wonders why the big deal over racial intermarriage, which was not legal until a Supreme Court decision in 1967.

Marriage cannot be forced on any religious group, but there is no legal reason why gay marriage cannot be done outside of religious institutions that reject change. It is a question of basic human rights, and equal treatment under the Constitution!

A Massive Victory For Gay Rights: Gay Marriage Becomes Law In New York State!

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Late today, the New York State Senate, with a few Republican supporters, approved gay marriage rights in the Empire State, although allowing religious institutions to opt out of the requirement to marry two people of the same gender.

This is a massive victory in the march toward civil rights for gays, as New York is the largest state to allow gay marriage. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Iowa, as well as Washington, DC, now allow gay marriage, and California is still involved in litigation over the issue, after having allowed it for brief periods of time.

It is clear that gay marriage is becoming more acceptable, as shown by public opinion polls, as well as by legislative action, and while it may not be available everywhere anytime soon, we are involved in an irreversible course toward greater human rights!

It is the appropriate time for President Obama, who is said to be “wrestling” with the issue, and had earlier in the mid 1990s seemed to be in favor of gay marriage, to have the courage, finally, to endorse it, and stop worrying about a counter reaction by opponents!

If Obama came out squarely for gay marriage rights, his odds of winning re-election would increase dramatically, and he needs to show conviction on this issue, because speaking up for human rights is always the right thing to do, even if it were to lead to defeat.

There are more important things than just winning an election, Mr. President, so show some leadership and assert yourself, and you will have millions of people to back you up!