Barbarian America

The Supreme Court, which is packed with Republican right wing appointees, has now ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to own weapons of personal destruction. This is a departure from the existing understanding of the second amendment, and it represents activist right wing judges creating a right that did not previously exist. The New York Times editorial board weighs in on the decision:

This is a decision that will cost innocent lives, cause immeasurable pain
and suffering and turn America into a more dangerous country. It will also
diminish our standing in the world, sending yet another message that the United
States values gun rights over human life.

We still execute people at the same time that we refuse to provide health care to about 50 million of our own citizens, we now proudly tout our "right" to kill each other with guns, we invade and occupy foreign countries on false premises, kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, and the list goes on and on. As a country we are barbarians. This is how we are viewed by other more civilized peoples.

Jim

Hand Guns: Philadelphia Shooting Gallery

For the fifth time in the last three weeks, Philadelphia Police officers have been shot in the line of duty. Two plain clothes narcotics squad cops were shot last night while attempting to serve a warrant against a drug dealer holed up in a North Philadelphia crack house. Last week, a Philly cop was buried after being shot and killed on Halloween while trying to stop a robbery.

Last night the Mayor and Police Commissioner held a news conference and decried the easy availability of hand guns in the city, something that is a problem all over the country. When Giuliani was mayor of New York City, he had an aggressive campaign to stem the tide of illegal firearms entering the city. Now that he is running for president, I wonder if he is still interested in controlling guns, or has he abandoned that in favor of pandering to the National Rifle Association?

Every time we have a killing or wounding of cops, or a high school or college shooting spree, there are renewed calls for tougher gun controls. Then little happens, it seems. Mayor Street called on state and federal officials to do something. I wonder how many more cops, or kids, will die before we bring some sanity to the gun issue in this country?

Photo: The "Railroad Connecting Bridge" that carries Northeast Corridor rail traffic over the Schuylkill River. Our Fairmount Park walking path goes underneath this bridge. This is about the third bridge that has existed at this site. The original bridge dates to the mid--ninteenth century, when independent railroads came together to "connect" and thereby provide service from the Philadelphia area to the North.

Jim