under seige, gun control, and defining americans...

the other day I was driving around albuquerque and noticed a billboard doing its best to convince me to join the local police force so that I could be "in step with my community." (side note - you will never see current episodes of COPS in albuquerque because mayor marty decided it made the city look bad and won't let them come back). the thing is, the whole "in step with our community" slogan did not quite fit in with the character on the board, literally ready for combat. reminded me of the night a head popped up in my window and told me to turn off all my lights before setting up shop with a high powered rifle on my porch. I know it is not exactly kosher to ever question law enforcement or the "war on drugs" or getting "tough on crime" and all the other bullshit used an excuse to control joe q. public...but when are we going to seriously examine ourselves and consider whether we truly want to live in a nation where police roll down the street in tanks and position snipers on rooftops. there is something frighteningly unamerican about that picture...but is a reality in every metropolitan area in the country. your local police have at least a wing that are basically para-military. perhaps that is why nobody noticed when the actual military was notified it would be stationed and ready for action in the united states. seriously people...something is very, very wrong here.

and I know many will claim it is necessary because "the bad guys" have arsenals to shoot up the local sheriff with and so they need to counter with ungodly firepower. which begs the question...why do we allow so many guns of such power into our communities? which leads me to a recent dilemna I am having over gun control. I am a firm believer in the constitution of the united states. call me a homer, but I believe it to be the single greatest political advancement of modern history. if you read it, and I mean really read it, and put it in context of the times...it is incredible in its audacity and beautiful in the framework it lays out to push the people towards the ideals embodied in the declaration. and I cannot imagine that when it says no infringing on my right to speak and assemble, it meant anything but none. or when it says no unreasonable searches and seizures it means none. or when it says no mixing of church and state, it means none. which is my problem, I support gun control...but the second amendment says no infringing on my right to arm myself to the teeth, and would it not mean none? now, I've typically read the text to mean you get a gun if you are in a militia, and used that as an excuse to try and tweek the document to modern times. but then I have to admit that there is just as strong an argument that not only am I parsing the text wrong, but even if I am not, it is just as logical that you get a gun in case you ever need to join a militia - you'll have some handy. and if I fall back upon the evolving standards of the document&183;does that not also provide fodder for those that would curtail my write to speech, press and assembly? so what is one to do?

finally, the modern GOP has informed me that I am not a real american. the irony of this is apparently lost on them. afterall, thirty years ago, it was people like me that brought the GOP into power..."middle" class white men. see, I was born in the suburbs...not rural virginia, hence, I am not a "real" american. I do not go out of my way "worshiping" the christian god...not a "real" american. I spend my days defending the bill of rights...not a "real" american. my father was born in a small farm town along the mississippi...one would think he was a "real" american, but then one must remember his family came from "old" europe and german americans were rounded up by mobs in the early days, and especially during WWI. my mother was from red wing...too similar to "un-american" virginia to be classified as "real" america. so here I am, a white male, raised on the bible and home cooking, college educated, professional degree, and deeply in touch with the history of my nation. and I am called "un-american" because I think...

that is a frightening prospect. this is where the party of lincoln has come...the man would cringe if he were alive. he once told americans that millions of their sons were being slaughtered on the battlefield because every drop of blood drawn by the lash was being repaid with one drawn by the sword. his blistering attack on the modern GOP would make colin's appearance on meet the press seem like a slap on the wrist. and he would be right...and it is the reason the GOP is in for a long few decades. they have lost the next generation of politically active americans...enjoy the wilderness asshole.

we were born to fuck each other one way or another...