Mullings An American Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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It's Not All Trump's Fault

Rich Galen

Thursday August 8, 2019

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If there were a simple answer to what to do about the kind of mindless violence we've witnessed over the past couple of weeks, we would solve it in about three days.
Don't believe me?
The Patriot Act, according to the Library of Congress, was introduced in the House on October 23, 2001, about six weeks after 9/11.
- It was adopted by the House one day later on 10/24 by a vote of 357-66.
- It was sent to the Senate the same day and the Senate passed it without amendments on 10/25 by a vote of 98-1.
- The next day, it was sent to the White House for George W. Bush's signature where the Patriot Act became Public Law No: 107-56 September 26, 2001 - three days after it was introduced.
We can debate whether the Patriot Act has been good law, but that's a discussion for a different time. My point is, when the Congress is moved to move, it can move with blinding speed.
Background checks for any gun purchase seem to be a no-brainer. AK-style rifles - semi-automatic or burst-capable - should be taken off the streets. I've fired REAL AK-47s and they have only one purpose: Kill someone.
I am not anti-gun. I have become anti-NRA, but I am still a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment.
I don't believe it gives people the right to keep any weapon that fires a projectile. You can't, for instance, park a working cannon on your front lawn to keep your neighbor from parking his car in the space you shoveled out during a snow storm.
In the same way, I am a strong supporter of the 1st Amendment although I accept the judgement of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who famously limited free speech by writing in 1919 that it is not protected speech by "falsely shouting 'fire!' in a theatre and causing a panic."
What is the political fall-out from events like Dayton, and El Paso, and Gilroy (California) Garlic Festival?
SIDEBAR I
You don't remember the Gilroy Garlic Festival? It was a little over a week ago. A gunman shot and killed two children and an adult, injuring about a dozen others.

END SIDEBAR I
The political fall-out is typical. Everyone breaks out in a projectile sweat, both on the action side - Beto O'Rourke bouncing around in front of every TV camera in his hometown of El Paso.
Corey Booker choosing Wednesday to give a speech on gun violence not just in early state South Carolina, but in, according to the New York Times
"in the Sanctuary of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one floor above the site of the 2015 attack by a white supremacist who murdered nine black people."
I've been bombarded by opportunities from the NRA to renew at a special price which is only good until Friday. The Democratic National Committee is fundraising on the tragedy as well.
SIDEBAR II
I checked on the NRA's web page to see how to resign. In sum, you have to send a request in writing to their headquarters using a USA First Class Stamp but the bylaws say you don't get any money back.
After I Tweeted that, someone responded: "It's easier to buy a gun than to leave the NRA."

END SIDEBAR II
Trump spoke words written by the staff from a Teleprompter at the White House which caused a major uproar in the media even though the last head-of-state that I can remember writing his own speeches was Winston Churchill sitting in his bathtub, during World War II.
A vision of Donald Trump naked in his bathtub with a cigar in his mouth and a pen in his hand is more than I can bear.
I understand that Teleprompter Trump and Tweeter Trump are two different people, but I still thought it was a bit much.
Trump has not "falsely shouted fire in a theatre" but he has certainly strongly suggested if a fire did start he would be pretty sure who had started it.
In other words, he has consistently attempted - with no small amount of success - in altering the environment when it comes to how he believes we should feel about people of color.
It's not all about Trump, but it's a lot about him.
On the Secret Decoder Ring Page today: Links to the Library of Congress' history of the Patriot Act, to Wikipedia's discussion of a cannon, to the Gilroy Garlic Festival attack, and to that Tweet about resigning from the NRA.
The Mullfoto is a part of a Mullings On-Line Logic Test.

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