On one side, you have politicians (mostly on the left) and the hysterical media calling for more gun controls laws. The National Rifle Association (NRA), which represents conservatives on this issue, believes more attention to mental illness and better protection of the innocent will make a difference.
The right to petition our government is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, so it's nothing new. What is new is access to this website that makes writing petitions easier than ever. And as you might expect, you get some crazy petitions -- which brings me back to the recent discussions on gun control.
Two recent petitions have garnered my interest: 1) a petition that says "Deport British Citizen Piers Morgan for Attacking 2nd Amendment," and 2) a related petition that reads "Eliminate Armed Guards for the President, Vice-President and Their Families and Establish Gun Free Zones Around Them." (A third petition has been written where someone is actually petitioning that we keep Piers Morgan because Britain doesn't want him back.) How crazy are we getting here?
What's interesting in the first petition to deport Piers Morgan is the number of people who have signed it. As of today's date, there are over 84,000 signatures -- well over the required number for a White House response, and by far the most signed petition on "We The People." So his comments really stirred the Patriot pot. In case you aren't one of the 84,000 plus who signed it, here's what it's all about.
Piers Morgan is a British citizen and CNN talking head (host) who has engaged in what some view as a hostile attack against the U. S. Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment. To be blunt, Piers Morgan is a hack, a nobody on cable television who is looking for an audience. Morgan used his position as a television host to attack the rights of American citizens to have guns. In particular, he slammed Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners of America, and John Lott, the author of More Guns, Less Crime over a two night period.
American citizens apparently don't appreciate a Brit telling us how to defend ourselves. We didn't appreciate it more than 200 years ago, and we still don't. The response has been swift and in this heated case, effective.
Maybe he can broadcast his cable show somewhere in Kostroma, Russia. I hear they might support his point of view.
The other petition (featuring the Gun Free Zone) is spot on, and in response to the left's ludicrous attempt to make schools safe by declaring them "Gun Free Zones." You'd think the left was talking about a place where terrorists check their bomb vests, anarchists put aside their Guy Fawkes masks, and dictators re-consider using Sarin gas on their own people.
It's the same mentality that leads the left to think they can reason with Islamic terrorists and convince them that we're not bad people. I hear stuff like this and I think I'm watching the latest "Scary Movie." Only the results aren't make believe. They're as real as 9/11 and now Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Many have said that Gun Free Zones are simply announcing to would-be murderers that you will have no armed resistance to your horrific plans.
Anyway, so the touchy-feely left wants to use more gun free zones to keep our children safe. So what was someone's response? Start a petition on "We the People" website that states "Eliminate Armed Guards for the President, VP and their Families, and Establish Gun Free Zones Around Them."I love it! Anyone on the left who pushes for more gun free zones should have to practice what they preach. Politicians who wish to strip us of our gun rights should feel sufficiently protected throughout Washington D.C. if we make it a gun free zone. If it's good enough for our children, then it should be good enough for politicians and their ilk.
In addition, I think all the media elites and political pundits who send their children to private schools with armed security on staff, should shut up. Haven't we had enough of these people who tell us what to do, but exempt themselves and their families from the laws they pass? I do. There's still time to join the bandwagon and sign that petition.
Finally, I've been thinking about some petitions that I'd like to submit to "We the People." How do the following sound?
"All Members of Congress Must Participate in Social Security." Congress has created their own retirement plan which allows them to continue receiving the same salary (after retirement) for the rest of their lives. Isn't it time they join the rest of America -- who will be left without reduced Social Security benefits because Washington can't balance their budget?
"Congress Shall Not Get a Pay Increase Until our Country's Budget is Balanced." Better yet, they will not get paid until they have put some kind of balance into effect. For every dollar spent, they have to cut two times as much in spending. Whatever the combination of performance tied to benefit, Congress and their performance doesn't warrant a pay increase. They don't even deserve to keep their jobs.
I say throw the bums out, unless they do their job.
"All Members of Congress Must Have the Same Health Benefits that Taxpayers Have." If you're a member of Congress, you have access to the Office of the Attending Physician, which is an onsite doctor's office primarily for lawmakers. All for the low, low price of $503 per year.
Add unions to the list of people who can't exempt themselves from Obama Care Earlier this year there were a total of 733 exemptions -- a total of 2,189,636 workers -- that had asked for, and been granted an exemption from the punitive effects of Obama Care.
UPDATE: Strike this one from the list. President Barack Obama just issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers -- including the Senate, House of Representatives and Vice President -- a raise.
"Congress Cannot Sell General Motors Shares Until They Break Even.." As much as I hate the fact that Obama bailed out GM and Chrysler it burns my butt even more to know that he wants to sell 200 million shares at a cost of $27.50 each. To break even, our government would have to sell the remaining 300 shares it owns at a cost of $70 per share. And that's just to break even. But they're not worried, it's not their money!
Finally, "Hollywood Must Stop Making Violent Movies Until Mass Killings Stop." A recent video by big-time movie stars claiming we need gun control borders on the ultimate hypocrisy. This is excellent example of the left's pseudo-idealism that comes from a group of people who makes a living by filming Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, then tells everyone else that they need to "draw a line" on gun violence. What chutzpah!
Too bad drafting a petition doesn't result in REAL change. If it did, then I'd feel like "we the people" would benefit from our country's Constitution, which allows us to petition Washington for change. Until that time comes, however, the inmates will continue to the asylum (and rule our lives).
UPDATE #2: The Drudge Report on January 16th announced that President Barack Obama's deputies have quadrupled the number of signatures that petitioners on the administration's "We The People" website must collect to get an official response from the White House following a series of popular, provocative signature drives by his critics.
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