Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 15, 2011

13

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, January 15, 2011 


HAIL Hamilton My Turn

SUSAN Henderson

Mountain 
Views

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Stuart Tolchin

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Hail Hamilton 

Rich Johnson

Chris Bertrand

Mary Carney

La Quetta Shamblee

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Ralph McKnight

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Pat Ostrye

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Reality Check


Setting New National 
Priorities for the 

21st Century

Reality (n): the totality of real 
things and events

Check (v): correcting a 
misconception

 The truth is plain and 
simple. Guns kill. That’s it. 
That’s what they are designed 
to do and it could be said that 
when people purchase guns 
that is what they intend to do 
- kill something. Now while 
we can still hope that most 
people who purchase guns intend to kill animals 
while hunting, the reality of today is that too many 
guns are available for people who intend to kill 
people.

 Right now the tragedy in Arizona is fresh on our 
minds. Even the most avid gun rights advocate 
will agree that the system failed when it came to 
allowing such a dangerous weapon into the hands 
of the man who took 
the lives of six innocent 
people and attempted 
to murder 13 more. 
But the system didn’t 
fail, we did. And one of 
the reasons that we did 
is because we forget so 
quickly.

 I looked at several 
2010 news archives 
and this country hasn’t 
missed a month where 
innocent people have 
been killed by guns, 
excluding murders 
associated with drug 
trafficking and gangs. 
In fact, just a few 
weeks ago, we had a 
shooter attempt to 
kill members of the 
Panama City School 
Board. Less than six 
months prior to that, 3 
people were killed and 4 wounded in New Mexico. 
In each of these instances, the shooters absolutely 
should not have been in possession of a gun. 

 We can try to avoid the confrontation and stick our 
heads in the sand if we want to, but in the United 
States of America, the issue of access to guns is out 
of control.

Yes, the Constitution protects our right to bear 
arms but really, did the founding fathers mean to 
include weapons of mass destruction like the kind 
used in the Arizona shooting? That is exactly that 
gun was, a weapon of mass destruction. According 
to Webster’s Dictionary, assault weapons are “any 
of various automatic or semiautomatic rifles with 
large capacity magazines designed for military use.” 
I guess the key word here is ‘military use’. Weapons 
designed for military use are designed to kill many 
people quickly.

 Maybe the current definition leaves too much to 
the imagination. For the most part, these guns are 
nothing more than machine guns which, according 
to Webster are, “a gun for sustained rapid fire that 
uses bullets; broadly: an automatic weapon”. 

 Perhaps if we used the simpler term to describe 
these weapons, ‘machine guns’, gun advocates might 
get it. Do you think that if Jared Lee Loughner had 
gone to the counter and asked to buy a machine gun 
anyone would have sold it to him? Do you think 
if gun shows advertised ‘machine guns for sale’ 
communities would tolerate them? We’ve sugar 
coated the potential for mass murder that automatic 
weapons carry when we call them ‘assault’ weapons. 
They’re machine guns and meant to kill a lot of 
people quickly. And do 
we need them to protect 
our homes? I have yet to 
see a news story where 
a homeowner used 
a machine gun, aka, 
automatic weapon to 
thwart intruders. 

 There is no threat of 
a hostile government 
invading our homes, so 
therefore no need for 
military style weapons. 
While we won’t eradicate 
gun violence, we can 
certainly minimize the 
number of multiple 
shootings that take 
place were we to restore 
the previous legislation 
banning automatic and 
semi automatic weapons.

 

So, for all of you bona fide 
gun rights activists out 
there, let’s compromise. Let’s have reasonable laws 
about what dangerous chemicals people can buy. 
Let’s have some reasonable laws about the kinds of 
guns everyone can have access to. 

After all, if you need a semi automatic gun to shoot 
Donald Duck’s cousin, you really should not be 
hunting!

This article is dedicated to the memory of my father, 
WWII Veteran – Marine Corporal Roy C. Carpenter 
who was a hunter and the innocent victim of a 
gunshot. 

America is deep in an economic crisis that 
can only be addressed by adopting a set of 
New Priorities to create a sustainable economy 
for the 21st Century. Americans need our resources 
allocated to immediate and significant increases in domestic 
spending for jobs, infrastructure, new technologies, education, 
health care, environmental protection -- all those efforts that enhance 
the Common Good of our society.

America needs foreign and defense policies that serve the authentic 
needs of maintaining our security in a world where the use of force 
should be the last resort, not the first response. American foreign 
policy should serve the interests of global peace, not the interests of 
the military–industrial complex.

American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan must end. 
The Pentagon budget must be dramatically cut. The rebuilding of 
our society must begin. Specifically our people need our resources 
allocated to:

Aid state and local government to restore and maintain public services, 
education, social programs, reemploying teachers, police, 
firefighters and other workers who provide vital public services;

Create jobs in both the private and public sectors by rebuilding our 
outdated and failing physical infrastructure and our deteriorating 
cities, and developing and investing in new technologies for a sustainable 
energy future;

Finance renewable energy programs and environmental cleanup 
to put our country on an ecologically sustainable path in the 21st 
Century, creating stable jobs paying good incomes that will stay in 
the United States;

Take emergency measures to address the dramatic increase in poverty 
and inequality in our country – provide for decent food, shelter, 
education, health care for all, repair the social safety net and 
protect Social Security and Medicare. Instead our resources are being 
wasted prosecuting endless wars.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a consequence of a foreign 
policy that has used force of arms as a substitute for diplomatic 
engagement, and that so far has cost us more than $1.1 trillion of 
borrowed money – a debt to be borne by future generations. These 
wars have generated increased threats to our national security as 
well as death and injury to thousands in our military and uncounted 
Iraqi and Afghan civilians who have also suffered physical and 
environmental destruction of their societies.

America’s total military budget, at more than $700 billion per year, 
accounts for 43% of global military spending. More than two decades 
after the end of the Cold War, many billions of dollars are 
being allocated to maintain and modernize our enduring arsenal 
of nuclear weapons and to add to the staggering number of U.S. 
military bases on foreign soil. We do not need this to provide for 
the legitimate defense needs of the people of the United States.

America’s military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan must end. 
The Pentagon budget must be dramatically cut. How much is 
enough. It is estimated that by the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 
the U.S. will have spent between $4 and $6 trillion. This is 
totally unacceptable. The rebuilding of our society must begin now. 

I call upon the California Congressional delegation to commit to 
the rapid and safe withdrawal of all of our troops and contractors 
from Iraq and Afghanistan and the dismantling of all U.S. military 
bases in those countries. We urge them to support efforts to help 
rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan with aid channeled through established 
international organizations.

American security can best be strengthened by reliance on diplomacy 
and negotiation, on economic development and education, 
rather than more troops, weapons and war. I call upon to California 
Congressional delegation to adopt these New Priorities for the 21st 
century:

An immediate end of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; major systematic 
reductions in the Pentagon budget; immediate and significant 
increases in domestic spending for jobs, infrastructure, new 
technologies, education, health care, environmental protection; an 
effective social safety net, defense of Social Security and Medicare 
from threatened cuts, and all other efforts that enhance the Common 
Good of our society.

“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into 
pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will 
they train for war anymore.” --Isaiah 2:4

 You know, when I go to the grocery store, if I put 
10 lbs of flour, 10 lbs of sugar. 10 lbs of butter and 5 
dozen eggs on the counter, the cashier will inevitably 
ask me if I am baking a cake. If I put 100 paper 
plates and forks and spoons on the counter, the 
checker will ask me if I am having a party. If I load 
up five six packs of beer, 2 gallons of alcohol and 
a bunch of mixers, they’ll ask me if I’m having a 
party - 100% of the time just because they noticed 
it. Why can’t munitions retailers and gun shops 
do the same when people load up the counter with 
items that can kill a lot of people at one time and 
notify authorities? Or better yet, why can’t we have 
a law that requires that law enforcement be notified 
when people purchase significant quantities of the 
ingredients for making bombs or supersized clips for 
automatic weapons or ‘cop killer’ ammunition? Of 
course my preference would be that none of this be 
sold to the public but in the absence of that, how 
about letting the authorities know in advance of 
some tragedy happening?


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STUART Tolchin..........On LIFE


Tuscon 

RICH Johnson

From time to time people ask me why I typically 
fill my column with silly humorous jabber. 
My response is that the world, and particularly 
Sierra Madre, need comic relief to help 
lighten the load. There are other wonderfully 
competent columnists in this paper who continue 
the weekly discourse on current events. 
And I applaud them for it. The kingdom needs 
a court jester and I cherish the role. 

That being said I was struck by the terrible tragedy that befell the 
city of Tucson, and all of America last week. As with all of us, that 
senseless shooting spree saddened me greatly.

What also angered me were the political pundits who, almost instantaneously, 
exploited this tragedy by using it as a hammer to try 
and silence political opponents. Thankfully LA Times contributing 
“opinionator”, Jonah Goldberg said it better than I ever could in 
his January 11, 2011 column entitled, “The Exploitative Rhetoric of 
Tragedy.” Please read that column. 

The Tea Party and Republicans are no more guilty of inciting the 
violence in Tucson than is MSNBC liberal commentator Chris 
Matthews when he said a year ago, “Someone’s going to jam a CO2 
cartridge in Rush’s (Limbaugh) head and he’s going to explode like 
a giant blimp.” What’s more, Sarah Palin is not guilty of helping 
this lunatic pull the trigger because she used typical political hyperbole 
describing putting democratic opponents in the “cross-hairs” 
of campaign tactics and strategies. A friend of the crazed shooter 
in describing the mind of his maniac friend, made me think more 
of the movie “The Matrix” than any language politicians or pundits 
said. Where is the denunciation of these movies?

Equally as repugnant to me is the suggestion this is evidence of a 
climate of “racial hatred” spawned by Arizona’s tough illegal immigration 
laws. And the suggestion that these laws empowered this 
crazy person to commit these violent acts. Folks, the government 
warning people in Arizona not to go within 80 miles of the Mexican 
border because of the danger confirms that violence already 
permeates the 48th state in the union. Arizona has become the 
“Kidnap Capitol of the Western Hemisphere.” The tough immigration 
laws reflect the people of this beleaguered state desperately 
attempting to make Arizona safer. Something the federal government 
won’t do because of political pandering and posturing. (You 
want to see tough immigration policy. Pick any country on the 
planet (other than ours) and read what they do to illegal immigrants. 
That includes our neighbor to the south, Mexico.)

I mourn with the friends and families of those slain by this monster. 
I pray with all of us for the quick and complete recovery of the 
injured. And I praise the men and women who risked their lives to 
stop cut short the bloodshed.

My friend Stuart Tolchin and I are on polar opposites of the political 
spectrum. And yet, we love each other as brothers and would 
do anything for each other. I hope you can say that about all the 
people with whom you philosophically disagree. And if you can’t, 
then maybe the fallout of this horrible tragedy will bring you closer 
to that goal.

A MYSTERIOUS GIFT

Looking back on it now, I think 
the death of my father freed me to 
take all kinds of risks that I would 
not have taken had he still been 
around. I dreaded the idea of 
failing and having to face his disappointment, 
I guess. It was not 
anger or criticism I feared, just disappointment. It 
was so important to my father that I be someone 
of whom he could be proud, whatever that meant. 
I think my father’s sense of himself was highly 
influenced by the disapproval of his own father. 
When my father and the rest of the family finally 
reached America and met up with my grandfather 
it was very difficult for all of them. As I understand 
it, my grandfather and grandmother were 
an arranged marriage, as was customary in those 
times. My knowledge of the period sort of starts 
and stops with the movie Fiddler on the Roo,f and 
psychological compatibility does not seem like 
one of the areas ever considered by the Matchmaker. 
For whatever reason, my father’s father left 
the family when my father was just an infant and 
he was raised fatherless at a time when this was a 
very uncommon situation.

I can only imagine what my father thought of 
this situation and believe he, and the rest of the 
family, was filled with emotion as they reconnected 
with my grandfather. Unfortunately, it 
just didn’t work out. During his time in America, 
my grandfather had learned English and had become 
Americanized. He was embarrassed by the 
“Greenhorns” who spoke no English and had no 
“culture”. He demanded that my father and his 
brothers learn to play musical instruments when 
they wanted to learn to ride bicycles. My grandfather 
and grandmother had almost nothing in 
common other than the ability to make children. 
My grandfather was physically abusive and the 
family soon separated. When I came along I know 
my grandfather was not allowed in the house even 
though my grandmother lived with us. I can recall 
his climbing up a fire escape and trying to talk to 
my sister and me but even being prevented from 
doing that. I know that, like me and my father, my 
grandfather had diabetes. I know he died falling 
out of a streetcar and I know that my father would 
not go to the funeral, although his older brothers 
did.

So why am I telling you this story? What possible 
relevance does it have to your life or even 
to mine. I think my family’s legacy to me is this 
need to connect and this need is reflected in the 
165 previous articles that I have written and you 
(the imaginary you) have read. I have little need 
to convince you to do anything, but I do want my 
feelings and opinions known. After my father’s 
death I believe I am more willing to take risks as I 
will not have to face disapproval if I fail. The crucial 
factor is that I want to live a life that would 
make my father and my grandfather proud even 
though I know they would disagree with many 
of the life-decisions that I have made. I live my 
life often talking to ghosts, ghosts of people I did 
not know in the first place. I believe that I am 
not alone in this process. I believe that many of 
you are also strongly influenced in the way you 
live your life by your own experience in growing 
up. Most of the time it is difficult to articulate to 
ourselves why we do what we do; but we all have 
consistent personalities and these personalities do 
not occur at random. We live our lives trying to 
do something and that something is not just to be 
entertained, or to be well-groomed, or to be comfortable 
in summer heat.

Writing this particular article has helped me to 
understand why I keep writing. . Your reading of 
the article, imaginary person that you may well be, 
has helped me to feel a connection. You may not 
like the article or find it very interesting. It’s okay, 
but occasionally I meet people who know me 
only from these articles and when they remember 
something of my writing I am gratified beyond all 
reason. 

These people, I perhaps imagine, recognize 
that there is something important going on here. 
There IS something important going on here; 
something important in all of our lives beyond 
our day to day struggles. I think my particular 
inheritance is a kind of feeling of abandonment 
together with a belief that even if I do make a 
connection I will not be understood or will be 
inadequate in some way. Still I keep trying to do 
my best; that is the most I (or any of us) can do. I 
hope in some mysterious way I can reach you and 
help you to identify that thing which keeps you 
going and gives your life meaning. That particular 
thing, along with our lives, is the gift we have each 
received from the lives lived by our unknown and 
now forgotten ancestors. In a surprising way our 
lives are merely continuations of their lives as we 
all try to make sense out of this strange existence. 
Let’s try and help each other and GOOD LUCK 
in this New Year. 

Mountain Views 
News

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