As the Stomach Turns....

Just a couple of stomach turning moments this week seriously racheted up my bitch levels.  First one is rather personal, so bear with me for a few paragraphs while I get this one off my chest and then I will
bite into the more public ones.
My oldest son, home on spring break from West Point, and with a fellow cadet guesting with us for a few days, his brother, dad and I were enjoying a great down-home diner-type meal at a fine culinary establishment in town. Being a small burg, a number of folks who know him, who taught him, who went to school with him -- in true classic small-town fashion, hollered greetings or waved to him as we walked in,
some motioning for him to join them at their tables for a few minutes for a brief chat. 
When he finally rejoined us, one of the town's wealthiest ranchers, vocally anti-Obama, always loudly and publicly proclaiming his partisanship, always touting his own supposed military service, always dropping names of supposedly important other rich people he knows, stopped by on his way out to announce to us all that Americans have gone and elected again A SOCIALIST.
Now I really do not care what his opinions are, nor do I give his opinions much credibility.  Having watched him over the years interact with our local officials and other parents  it is pretty evident to me that except for his having money, no one would give him the time of day.  His loud mouth, his self-insertion into other people's lives, reminds me a lot of having to deal with the babbling homeless man of the urban environrment. Or more like a political thug, lurking in the dim world of his political bubble, waiting to jump
the unwary as they go about their day.
Aside from the comedy relief aspects of his intrusion,, in a larger sense, because I realize that he is not by any means alone, I am troubled by his rudeness.  Can someone puh-leeze tell me why he feels he can intrude this way?  What on earth have I ever said to this man that gives him an invitation to choke out his putrid thoughts in my arena? It seems a peculiarity among conservatives, primarily, because I have never had anyone sit down publicly with me and loudly denouce any Republican. Ever. Even during the last years of the Bush bungle.

Fortunately, this stomach-turning insensitivity absolutely pales in comparison to the utterly revolting gutting  by Sen. Harry Reid of the Assault Weapons control aspects of any Senate gun legislation.  Good God, man!  You have the backing of nearly ninety percent of Americans, and some sixty-five percent of gun owners.  Get a frigging spine, will ya?  You cannot tell me, a gun owner in Texas, that Americans' Right to Bear Arms will keel over and die when these whiners cannot have, what is it, like SEVEN guns?
I would like to prescribe two ccs of ManTheFuckUp to our honorable Democratic Senators and
Representatives.  I  beg them all to do the right thing.

Other stomach-turning events included nearly the entire parade of clowns at CPAC. Oh man. All of them hurling up the same old vomit, all the while saying, "Look, it is kinder, gentler, more inclusive vomit."
I just have one question and would welcome just about any of the CPAC speakers to answer it:
When the Democratic Party has given us our social safetly net, access to education, access to health care, protected voter rights, WHAT EXACTLY HAVE THE REPUBLICANS GIVEN US?  Let me think,
and I am sure there are a number of things I will miss.  Hmmm.  The Iraq War. The Afghanistan War.
The Worst Economic Crises Since the Great Depression.  De-Regulation of those who authored The
WECStGD (see above).  Cutbacks in local education, local law enforcement, local health care. 

Let's look at some of the answers offered by the Republican leaders speaking at CPAC.  Sen. Rubio says our problems can be solved by "America." I have expected him to break out with West Side Story.  Rand Paul claims that its the fault of the dusty old goobers in his party.Instead of tired old racism, they need to try updated twenty first century racism. Half-Governor Palin blames Mayor Bloomberg. Trump is incomprehensible, so we'll let that go. Overall, I found myself missing Mr. Eastwood's empty chair.

I think I would rather have the flu than have this Congress. I would probably be less sick.

The truth hurts. Now go put a bandage on it.

Well, It's This Gun Thing...

Jeez, it seems like just yesterday I was pissed off at conservative rich guys, corporations and right-wing muscle.   Honestly, I really haven't had much to add to the regular ol' liberal batch of pundits's opinions, and have found it is easy to slack off when so many other folks -- much much smarter than I -- are speaking my mind just fine. In fact, it has been kind of nice to get up everyday and tune in to those few but brilliant voices, and not bother to open up my blog page and spew.  One of the side benefits is that I am less angry as well, which they tell me is good for blood pressure, overbitching, overeating and other over-ing not benificial to health or pocketbook.
But the Angry White Mom finds herself simmering lately  over the snipey stereotyping of gun owners that is currently being painted by otherwise fair and fundamentally sane people. These folks are generally of moderate and progressive perspectives, with whom I often agree. For instance, I agree that no one's right to a particular weapon supercedes another one's right to life.  Nor do I  believe anyone should have a gun unless they are licensed and registered. I certainly don't believe high-capacity magazines are covered by the Constitution. And I believe we need to close the "gun-show loophole" now, and that every prospective gun owner must pass a thorough background check.  And I strongly believe, and have contacted my elected officials on this very issue --- that the darn Congress needs to adequately fund the ATF so it can do its job, and stop neutralizing this agency with budget cuts. Recently I applauded Sen Feinstein's rebuttal to that moron Ted Cruz over his sophomoric lecture to her on the Second Amendment. And I cannot support any politician who ignores the will of the people.
Having said all that, and knowing that I do speak for many  gun owners, this morning I was listening to one of my favorite talk radio hosts who took a call from a man who was obviously passionate about more restrictive gun laws.  And, this may surprise some,  it wasn't the gun law issue that bothered me, it was the general agreement about this guy's idea that "most gun owners" (and I am paraphrasing here) want to be "George Zimmerman, to be heroes, to be the one who steps up and saves the day in their fantasy gun battle, and that is why they have to have their "toys." Someone else chimed in that guns are merely entertainment for the gun owner, a rather simplistic and condescending point of view, for sure.
Wow.   I have to speak up here. These folks are just downright wrong, in so many many ways. There are some of you who may be nodding to each other, saying "ah hah, she is from Texas, after all.  here it comes -- her true colors."
And yep, all that is absolutely true. However, bear me out.  What I think I may have to offer here is a perspective that no one is getting -- except maybe (that is maybe) Sen. Cornyn, although he stated
it in such a partisan and inept manner probably no one bothered to listen.  So here I go and I hope to hear from others who share this view.
My family are gun owners. We are no longer NRA members. But we are licensed hunters in the State of Texas. My husband has a concealed handgun carry permit and  helps teach gun safety classes regularly. I would wager quite a sum that I know far more gun owners than this caller and the studio staff combined, and I can almost guarantee that no gun owner I know regards their firearms as "toys." I know many who are active shooters, meaning they practice modern firearms regularly, and  I know many who only participate in costumed historic shoots with their antique or reproduction pieces.  I know many gun collectors who maintain  historic treasures that are part of American history, which would be lost to rust and decay if not for these firearms aficiondados.   I seriously doubt that many regard going to the range as "entertainment," although stress relief admittedly may be a motivating  factor in a gun owners' experience, much like the practice of any sport or hobby.  Nearly all the gun owners I know, and some of them are close friends, go to the gun range  for one reason -- to get better.  To be safer. To gain confidence. To learn when not to shoot. I don't know anybody who gets any kind of prurient gratification or pleasure from practicing with their firearms, but in fairness, I never would have pegged  Fox News' pundit pathetique Dick Morris as a toe-sucker, either.
But I digress down a dark road of ick, which, while fun, doesn't address the point. I would compare gun owners' satisfaction, and remember, I know quite a few,  to be similar to that of golfers' or basketball players' when they "fire" off a good "shot." Funny how those words are acceptable in certain contexts and not others.  Usually I find this  kind of hypocrisy predominant among my more conservative aquaintances.

As for that hero nonsense, I must say that this idea is really off the mark (one of those expressions, again).
Most gun owners, and this includes law enforcement, security professionals, game wardens, hunters,
and those whose jobs put them at some risk, absolutely dread having to fire a weapon at a human being. Ask them, dammit.  Ask them if they have fantasy moments of firing at another person, and chances are, they will look at you like you have grown horns. Ask someone who has had to face that
reality, and you will find little to no claim to some kind of warped or twisted "heroism."
Shame on those who accept-- and who perpetuate -- this portrait of responsible, law-abiding gun owners.
For so many of us who make our living in rural areas of our country, a gun is a necessary tool.  It is not a toy, and it is often not a choice.  Raising two boys on a prairie has presented innumerable human-wildlife
encounters, not always of the cute, fluffy kind. I have defended my children -- and as they grew older, they defended me -- from rabid skunks, vicious raccoons, nosey coyotes, and poisonous snakes, although I prefer a sharpshooter shovel for dispatching the snakes.
I would like to invite these oh-so-vocal and oh-so-knowledgeable opiners to visit me for a couple of weeks here in the wilds of North Texas -- let them step out of my front door on any given morning into a pile  of coyote shit, or have the wonderful experience of being hissed and stamped at by a skunk in your backyard at ten in the morning (in case you're wondering, skunks are nocturnal and are not seen in the day unless they are ill.) Let them be tailed by a crew of coyotes while walking to the mail box. Let them watch a pack of feral dogs cross the prairie -- we don't have dog catchers here in the hinterlands, folks.  Seriously.  Still an issue in rural twenty-first century America.

The truth hurts. Now go put a bandaid on it.