Morning sessions with my RSS newsreader have become a new form of daily self-flagellation for me, as each story I read paints a more grim picture of the state of our nation than the last. The information takes hold of my soul and seeks to steer me down into a dark and bottomless abyss of despair, but I refuse to give up. I refuse to allow the people responsible for almost all of the stories to just walk away without, at the very least, throwing my voice into the cacophony of other voices flowing from millions of horrified and outraged Americans... voices that cry out for truth and justice. Even as I write I know that all of my passion and intensity will probably not get George Bush and Dick Cheney impeached and convicted for high crimes and misdemeanors, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Just as many members of the Nazi party walked away without ever facing trial for their actions, the legion of arrogant and deceitful politicos appointed by the President will almost certainly escape justice. The situation can be just slightly frustrating. The angry things I sometimes write serve as a reminder to me that irrational anger destroys credibility, and anger without direction serves no purpose at all. Keeping that in mind, I have a lot of valid points I'd like to make.
The Supreme Court decision striking down a law banning handguns in Washington, D.C., caused me to get into an impromptu debate on the subject of gun control. I'd like to point out that I have never been in favor of banning guns, and that I am happy about the ruling because now Senator Obama's views on the subject will become less relevant to the election, as Mike Madden pointed out. Good news, I can tell gun toting Republicans to shut up about their guns.
My stance on gun control, for a few years now, has been that technology could easily reduce the threat of criminal violence posed by guns. Forensic fingerprints of shell casings could be taken from every new gun intended for sale in the United States and stored in a database, just as criminals fingerprints are. Certainly that wouldn't stop a knowledgeable criminal from altering the fingerprint, but it would likely catch a lot of people ignorant enough to shoot somebody in cold blood. This would also not affect the incredibly high number of guns already in circulation, but it would be a start. New guns could also be fitted with firing pin activated GPS transmitters, and transmissions stored in a database for future cross-reference in order to solve crimes. Both of those ideas could be applied to old guns on a voluntary basis. Another idea would be to provide the general public with high-technology non-lethal, perhaps automated, defensive weapons that could be used instead of guns in home defense. I imagine many gun owners who keep them for self-defense would not mind using such weapons instead. Those ideas are my own (although I imagine many other people have had similar ideas), and I am just a guy who thought about the problem. Imagine what real technicians could come up with if they actually decided to address the issues of gun violence in the United States.
Those ideas almost, but not quite, conflict with my views on domestic surveillance programs. Long before September 11th I warned people that not only was it possible for the government to collect almost all electronic transmissions, it was probable that such a thing would happen in the future. The idea was dismissed as paranoid, but I knew better because the only place where my mind intersects with science is in IT (I love languages, even programming languages). I would greatly have preferred to be wrong about data mining and our Big Brother in Washington. The idea that everything I have ever said in my posts may be forever saved for future reference and analysis sends chills down my spine. Innocent conversations, sarcastic comments, cynical ideas... these are all things that can easily be twisted and used against somebody for the sake of an agenda. Obviously I am against keeping all-encompassing databases of electronic information on United States citizens, but guns aren't people (no matter how much Republicans love them).
My displeasure with Democratic Congressional leaders over attempts to extend immunity to telecommunications companies for their illegal activities almost rivals my anger that nobody in the White House has been impeached. Regardless of some piece of paper from the President telling them they weren't breaking the law, ignorance of the law is no excuse, as so many undereducated people have been told over the years. I am thankful for Senator Russ Feingold for blocking consideration of the bill until after the holiday. Maybe enough people will rise up against this measure to stop it from going through, if for no other reason than it may help the administration also escape from their illegal actions. I watched Senator Feingold speak with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, and I really appreciated the things he had to say. I only wish that we had 99 more people in the Senate standing up for the civil liberties of the American people.
My anger over Iraq knows no bounds. I have not written about it here, mostly because I imagined the subject had been covered so thoroughly nothing I could say would be of any service. I discovered that Louisiana ranks ninth in per capita casualties among the other fifty states. You can discover your state's gloomy place in the ranks should you so desire. The article is a couple of months old, but you will get the idea. I was surprised that Louisiana ranked so low considering the Louisiana National Guardsmen unit that was wiped out on January 7, 2005. The incident, which happened before Hurricane Katrina, caused a lot of residents to speculate as to whether troops from Louisiana were facing more dangerous assignments because of the large number of Democrats in our state and because of Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco. After Hurricane Katrina it seems obvious to some of us that this was indeed the case. I wonder if our young men are still being blown to smithereens for the politics of our state now that we have a religious extremist in the Governor's Mansion. Everything about the way the criminals in the White House have acted with regard to this war should be collected and used as evidence against them, and the deaths of forty more people in Iraq yesterday should be added to that mountain of damning truth.
One of the sad details surrounding Blackwater regards the casualty rate among contractors working in Iraq. Their deaths are not counted among American casualties, nor are their numbers disclosed by the State Department. The presence of Blackwater mercenaries in New Orleans angered me, but the actual men who were on the ground bore no responsibility. The grim facts of their work in Iraq shows that these men are also victims of the evils of this administration and corporate greed, probably more so than many other demographics. I will never take back my comparisons between the SS and Blackwater troops, but I would not hold their mercenaries accountable for the actions of their leadership. Erik Prince, the company's owner, illustrated beautifully just yesterday that friends of the administration have very little respect for the law, as the raid in North Carolina showed.
I think that's just about all the truth I can handle in one day. I apologize if I got anybody else as upset as these things make me. I just think maybe my one tiny little voice can help change things for the better. Have a nice weekend.
UPDATE: When I mentioned that I am a dinosaur who grew up writing on a typewriter I meant that I am a dinosaur. I thought once published the diary entry could not be edited. Dumbass, right? LOL It's too late for my other diaries, but this one may still have a chance...