If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Underlying the sharp divisions over fundamental questions is the widening fissure between the two parties. It's fashionable to describe this development as the result of a more or less symmetrical shift -- with Democrats moving to the left while Republicans move to the right. That conclusion is just plain wrong.
We all give ourselves labels: liberal, conservative, gun owner, gun reformer, but none of those are instinctive. They are not in our DNA. Perhaps maternal instincts are the key to solving the horrific problem of gun violence.
On this Mother's Day, it is hard not to feel inspired and hopeful by the robust and sophisticated grassroots movement building of moms across America who have organized to fight for safer gun law legislation.
As "Sandy Hook Moms," we often hear the phrase "I can't imagine what you are going through." Well, please imagine it. Imagine what it's like to lose a son or daughter to gun violence and encourage your elected officials to do the same.
We need to level the playing field, and to do that we need to open the door and let everyone into the library. The question becomes how far to open that door, and where to draw the line on what is necessary and what is dangerous information.
What we need is something to take the place of Occupy; a sort of honesty movement to bring about greater transparency and accountability in government.
The following piece may seem like comedy but it's really political satire, which basically means it's about serious issues that make Americans so uncomfortable that I need to dress them up in humor just to talk about them.
It's not difficult to imagine a few years from now a political landscape controlled by a Democratic dynasty, where the only Republicans left in office come from states and districts where the small minority of folks who voted for them share their ignorant, intolerant 1950's ideals.
The Mayor cannot be so entrenched in his position that he is willing to allow a bill to become law that would allow guns, drugs, and violence in shelters with no consequences.
This Mother's Day, I will go to church and spend time with my mother and my son, Calvin. Calvin and I will reflect on the fun times he had my other son, Casson Xavier "Biscuit" Evans, who was killed in a drive-by shooting when he was only 3 years old.
The march itself is not a very big deal. It will probably come and go with some media attention and disappointing numbers. However, the language being used by the organizers is sufficiently troubling, and intriguing, that it deserves some attention.
The pro-gun vs. anti-gun debate does not address the realities of gun violence in America and the most critical issues in preventing it.
That day in December, I wept, as many of us did, for people we didn't know, but who could have easily been any one of our family members. But in April, when 46 Senators voted to block a bill to make our children and families safer, I was outraged.
He has served his paymasters year in and year out in his long Senate career, leaving little doubt in anyone's mind as to whom he really represents -- his nickname is the "Senator from K Street," and he alone carries that distinction.
Bostonians opened their homes to runners who were stranded, donations have come in from all over the world to help with medical bills and the alleged criminals have been caught. The gun nuts, however, would have preferred a marauding band of gun-toting Bostonians roaming the streets looking for something to shoot.
Some might ask, why not just stop? You gave a good fight, but why not just return to your old lives and leave this gun business alone? The reality is we don't have a choice.
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