Thursday, April 18, 2013

Finding the Cowards

On Monday, April 15, two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people, including a twenty-nine year old woman and an eight year old boy. It seems the entire law enforcement community of the country is now engaged in a fevered effort to apprehend the people responsible for this and bring them to trial. I really hope they find them soon. The whole country is asking itself who would do such a disgusting and cowardly thing, attacking innocent people, and for what?

Though I too want answers about what would motivate such an act of psychotic cowardice, the more important question is not what demented, pathological splinter group is responsible for this, but rather, what is going on in out society as a whole that we are so removed from each other. We have completely lost sight of the fact that we are all connected, and whatever violence is done to one part of the human body is done to the whole. The only cure for violence is to end violence. Violence is a sickness of the spirit and a weakness. It is not sexy or cool or necessary.

On Wednesday April 17, two days after the bombing in Boston, the United States Senate voted on a federal gun control bill. Fifty-five senators voted in favor of it, and forty five voted against stricter measures on gun safety. Forty-five elected American government officials looked straight into the faces of the parents of the victims of the shootings in Newtown and said it was OK with them if we continue to make it easy for criminals and the mentally ill to obtain guns. Forty-five human beings, presumably with families of their own, bowed down to the NRA and the weapons industry in the face of overwhelming evidence and public desire. I would like to ask each and every one of those Senators: What the fuck is wrong with you? Where is your soul? Do you have children? Do you really think giving more people guns will make people more safe? Is your car registered? Do you have a passport for traveling? Do you take off your shoes and belt at the airport when you travel? If we submit to all of these regulations in the name of safety, why not regulate the weapons that are clearly responsible for so much death and misery in our country? Why not advance and join the ranks of the civilized world?
While we continue to look for the murderers responsible for the Boston bombing, here is a list of the people responsible for a crime with much larger repercussions. There are about 31,000 gun-related deaths each year in the US. Here are the people who think that's just fine:

Begich, Mark
Murkowski, Lisa
Sessions, Jeff
Shelby, Richard C.
Boozman, John
Pryor, Mark L.
Flake, Jeff
Rubio, Marco
Chambliss, Saxby
Isakson, Johnny
Grassley, Chuck
Crapo, Mike
Risch, James E.
Coats, Daniel
Moran, Jerry
Roberts, Pat
McConnell, Mitch
Paul, Rand
Vitter, David
Blunt, Roy
Cochran, Thad
Wicker, Roger F.
Baucus, Max
Burr, Richard
Heitkamp, Heidi
Hoeven, John
Fischer, Deb
Johanns, Mike
Ayotte, Kelly
Heller, Dean
Portman, Rob
Coburn, Tom
Inhofe, James M.
Graham, Lindsey
Scott, Tim
Thune, John
Alexander, Lamar
Corker, Bob
Cornyn, John
Cruz, Ted
Hatch, Orrin G.
Lee, Mike
Johnson, Ron
Barrasso, John
Enzi, Michael B.