Stop The Gun Metaphors, Please

Folks in Benton County, Arkansas are unhappy that their State Legislators approve the expansion of Medicaid in their state as part of Obamacare.  Emotions are so high that columnist Chris Nogy wrote in a newsletter that his fellow Republicans might want to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights on some legislators.

"So what do we do? While I believe that we as a party are done in Arkansas after this, if there is ANY hope of our survival, it is going to take not being forgiving. Not only for past actions, but to show those who will come in the future that the cost of failure to do the thing they were elected to do will be significant. We need to be making a point of this failure from this moment on. We need to make a public statement from our groups that we no longer support those who turned on us, that we will NOT be working to their re-election, that we will be actively seeking replacements, and perhaps even working towards recall. We as the Party have to stand up and say ‘no more – you were given a job, you campaigned on the promise to do this job, you had the ability to do this job, you had the votes each time to do this job, and yet for no legitimate reason you betrayed the trust put in you by the electorate and you are now completely and permanently politically finished.’

We need to let those who will come in the future to represent us that we are serious. The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives. It seems that we are unable to muster that belief in any of our representatives on a state or federal level, but we have to have something, something costly, something that they will fear that we will use if they step out of line. If we can’t shoot them, we have to at least be firm in our threat to take immediate action against them politically, socially, and civically if they screw up on something this big. Personally, I think a gun is quicker and more merciful, but hey, we can’t."

This metaphor is used way too often by the GOP.  Sarah Palin enjoyed encouraging her supporters by saying, "don't retreat, reload."  Her website also had a map:

 

One of those targets over Arizona was Rep. Gabby Giffords' district.  Giffords is, if you don't remember, the Congresswoman who took a bullet to the head, in 2011, after a gunman opened fire at one of her outdoor rallies in her district.  In addition to wounding the Congresswoman, 17 people were shot and 6 died.  The youngest victim was a 9-year-old girl.  Is it coincidence that the gunman targeted her and didn't get the idea from Palin's website?  Perhaps.  But there is a big problem with even suggesting constituents kill their lawmakers.  That is not how our system works.  The 2nd Amendment was not written to stop more people from having health coverage.  

In 2010, Sharron Angle ran against Harry Reid for Senate in Nevada and seemed to suggest that violence might be the answer in case she didn't win the election.  I say "seemed to suggest" because she refused to answer questions about what she meant by "second amendment remedies."

These are only a few examples but they are not isolated incidents.  This rhetoric is used all the time in politics and predominantly on the Right.  It needs to stop because sometimes it can be taken seriously and people get hurt.  There are much more constructive ways to make a point.  If you cannot make your point without making a gun metaphor, perhaps you need to open a thesaurus.

North Carolina Republicans Failed Civics

I thought South Carolina was the crazy Carolina but it seems North Carolina wants to give them a run for their money.

North Carolina is trying to establish a state religion.  You read that right.  They don't care that this is obviously against the first amendment.

The First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The measure is supported by nine Republicans in the Legislature. They introduced this after a lawsuit took issue with Rowan county committee meetings opening with, way more often than not, an obviously Christian prayer.

They claim that they can pass this legislation because of that first word in the amendment: Congress.  And they are right in that the way the amendment is written, it would not be applied to North Carolina.  They also claim that the Tenth Amendment, which gives the states the rights to do things if the Constitution does not address it, does not stop them from establishing a religion.  The bill itself states that the Bill of Rights only applies to the federal government and does not stop states from passing any law that defies any part of the Constitution.

The Tenth Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Ok, ok, let's say I'm on board with all that.  It does not really mention anything about the establishment clause.  If only there were something that would explicitly state that the first amendment... no, it needs to be more specific than that... the establishment clause itself...

Everson v. Board of Education, (1947) was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which applied the Establishment Clause in the country's Bill of Rights to State law.

WOW, look at that!  The issue has already been addressed!  I mean as long as it isn't before 1947...nope, I checked the calendar and we're good.  North Carolina can breathe a sigh of relief and not waste their time on a rehashing of previously decided case law.  But we all know they won't.

This follows a trend of Republican led legislatures in Red states of proposing, and sometimes passing, ridiculously illegal laws.  I have covered some of these laws in relation to gun control here on the blog. I really do not understand how they can continue with stuff like this.  Nullification, of which this is a cousin, cannot and will not stand.  

Maybe for fun the federal government should turn North Carolina loose, just as an example to the other states.  I really don't think they've thought it through.