Don't Call Me Reactionary

Don't call me reactionary. During all the 2010 campaigns and Tea Party rallies we saw on TV, I often noted and discussed probable outcomes of the violent yelling and shouting from folks talking about taking up arms. Shooting people; "using 2nd Amendment remedies" if conservative candidates didn't get elected. The placards against Obama were clearly intended to "mark" him as a target. Politicians rode the wave of "targeting" their colleagues and fellow candidates on the campaign trail, as well as their supporters. One major "targeter" of liberal or not-GOP candidates is Sarah Palin, who's quoted as saying, "Don’t retreat. Instead — reload!" She placed cross-hairs on states where Democratic candidates hailed with their names listed as targets:


I'm not against guns. In my day, I've enjoyably fired guns. I probably own a couple in NC, though I no longer have a hunting license (only for which I would use one). I know card-carrying members of the NRA, who are very proud to have the membership card. A couple of them are also gun-handling instructors, teaching safety in handling and shooting your gun. Though I don't agree with the sheer number of guns and gun lockers some of these folks have, that's them and their lives (and beliefs that the guns will sometime in whatever situation be needed for some purpose). I don't have to live around the guns and I don't feel anymore protected that the guns are all around me when I visit those folks or when they visit me. One of these people has a concealed weapon license, which makes me VERY uneasy - especially in public when this guy brazenly walks into a bank or post office without removing his gun (which is illegal). I mean, who does he think he is? Daniel Boone? Shaq?

How about this? Require the use of psychological tests on people who intend to buy guns. If a person wants to buy a gun, they must subject themselves to a lie detector test to establish the intended purpose. People without ill intent need not worry; however, the assassins and murderers will be weeded out. Gun owners then should get periodic evaluations, as well, to ensure their psychological make up and reasons for purchasing guns remains consistent. There's too much violence in the country and I truly do not believe that this is the last we'll see anytime soon.

Here are some articles that I wanted to save to remind me of the lunacy of quotes that intend to incite people to an unspoken end (violence? assassinations? murder?). One would hope that none of these people intend that their words would be misconstrued to make someone kill another human being for political reasons, but there are lots of crazy people out there.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/1/9/934563/-Guns,-God-and-Incitement

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/boehners-response.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-rise-of-violent-rhetoric/69170/

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/palinspeak-and-violence.html

As Andrew Sullivan highlighted violent posts from Sarah Palin in particular, "This rhetorical background is so deeply part of the narrative we barely notice it any more. But it is not truly the language of politics; it's the language of war."

Thanks to clintswan for this link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/16/sharron-angle-floated-2nd_n_614003.html

I also found this, which is disturbing:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/jared-lee-loughner-gabrielle-giffords-shooter_n_806243.html