Important headlines for February 21st
Bottom Line: These are stories you don't want to miss and my hot takes on them...
Excerpt: There’s no silver bullet for stopping people with miserable lives from killing people in places where they congregate. But do we have to sell them weapons of war to mow us down so fast? AR-15s aren’t designed for hunting or self defense. They’re designed to quickly kill a lot of people.
Hot Take: This could just as easily be relegated to the hysterical headlines but the point is too important. The first sentence of this excerpt is on point. As I've also been indicating we're likely to have stricter gun laws - whether it would be effectual for preventing this in the future or not. Public sentiment is solidly in favor of additional gun policy. We then get into hyperbole. Semi-automatic AR-15's aren't weapons of war for starters. Every person who makes that assertion is being blatantly dishonest - whether knowingly or out of ignorance. Regarding hunting. The 2nd amendment has nothing to do with hunting. It has everything to do with protecting yourself and your liberty. The reason why the 2nd highest priority of the founders was the ability to bear arms was out of context. Though I understand we don't effectively teach American history in our schools any longer, it was granted exceptional consideration because the people who wrote the constitution revolted against a repressive government and killed a bunch of the British until they gave up. It might be uncomfortable today in context but it's also an undeniable fact. If we're going to have a debate about further gun control, what I ask for at a minimum is integrity, acknowledgment of facts, and open debate of those facts. If the debate is supposed ensue based on blatantly false statements it's evident that one's ambitions are far from over with AR-15's. And to the headline. What gun isn't potentially an "assault weapon" if one's to embrace that open ended and dishonest premise?
Outrageous Bungling at the FBI Washington Times
Excerpt: Citing Gov. Rick Scott...
“We constantly promote ‘see something, say something,’ and a courageous person did just that to the FBI, and the FBIfailed to act. ‘See something, say something’ is an incredibly important tool, and people must have confidence in the follow-through from law enforcement. The FBI director needs to resign.”
Hot Take: I don't know if Wray's resignation is the answer or not. What I do know is that there needs to be accountability. To the governor's point... "If you see something say something" is a pile of B.S. In Florida's two mass shootings the FBI was notified on multiple occasions and still the attacks happened. If the FBI was to do its job and if seeing and saying something mattered there'd be 49 folks in Orlando that'd still be alive today and 17 more in Parkland. When does accountability come into play?
Is the Second Amendment Worth Dying For? John Davidson, The Federalist
Hot Take: There were a lot of colonists who died so that Americans today could be free. I'd imagine they'd say yes. They did die for it.
Until tomorrow...