As the University of Illinois prepares to play it's first basketball game since the former graduate student in DeKalb last week wreaked havoc and took six lives, I pause to ponder a brief news blurb that mentioned the incident. What struck me and riled me was the last sentence that stated that the young man, who shot, killed and wounded those people on campus, ordered his artillery from the same online dealer that sold an assault weapon to the Virginia Tech shooter last year.
Hellllo? Is someone not paying attention? Is the government too busy demanding warrantless domestic phone records to care?
My prayers to the families,the students and the university staff that has to cope and re-build.
On another note, in yesterday's New York Times there was an article about Senator Obama's safety on the campaign trail (and on into office if that is what happens). The article referred to this as a "closeted" concern because no one wants to mention, let alone think about the possibility that this candidate who is A). African-American as was Dr. King, Jr.; and B). likened to the Kennedy-esque aura of change and hope, might be more vulnerable to the idea of an assassination attempt.
Whew.
I am glad we got that one on the table so now we can dispel and dismiss it. I admit to having similar concerns. I admit to feeling vulnerable just thinking about this as a possible concern. And since I know that suppressed negative feelings --whether real or imagined--create an atomosphere of fostering the very thing one is trying to ignore or avoid, I prefer the idea that everyone is up-front about their fears and move beyond them.
Gerald Posner, author of books on the assassinations of President Kennedy and Dr. King, said he did not believe that Mr. Obama was under a significantly higher risk than President Bush or Mrs. Clinton. The fears are more openly discussed, he said, because he is the first black candidate to come this close to winning a major party’s presidential nomination.
“Barack scares those of us who think of the possibility of an assassination in a different way,” Mr. Posner said. “He represents so much hope and change. That is exactly what was taken away from us in the 1960s.”
It is true that Obama has more Secret Service protection than other candidates; (as does Senator Clinton because she is a former First Lady). And Mrs. Obama has shared her concerns. However, from what I was able to ascertain, this family has looked at this concern head-on and still made the choice to forward.
Bravo.
And my prayers of safety and peace of mind go out to the Obama family, campaign and Secret Service men and women who are charged with their physical safety.
Aw heck, let's just pray for World Peace and heal us in one swell foop.
Wait a minim.....
Tonight, we rented the new film, "The Fabelmans" and loved it. Incredible performances, screenwriting and story-telling. I espec...
3 comments:
I'm watching the end of the debate and seeing Obama autograph books handed to him from folks in the crowd. At the last debate, a woman rushed up and hugged him as he left the podium. I too am praying for his safety. We definitely don't want a repeat of what happened to Dr. King and RFK. I agree, there are too many guns and they're too easy to obtain.
My husband buys firearms all the time (he collects Eastern European rifles, hunts, and target shoots) and goes through a huge rigamaroll for each one. I don't know what happened in these cases, and certainly it should be fixed, but it is absolutely not true that it is easy to obtain firearms (legally).
I will support politicians who support gun control when they give up their armed guards. Actually, I wouldn't - I believe in the right to self defense - but at least I will respect their character.
I believe in the right to arm bears!
Post a Comment