Wednesday, December 19, 2012

When Our Leaders Fail Us

As the nation weeps with the citizens of Newtown, Connecticut as they bury 20 of their children, there has been a wide range of reactions and statements regarding this senseless nightmare that should never have happened.

By far, most of the statements have been simple expressions of grief and condolences.

But there also has been no shortage of statements that extend beyond that.

From one side, there are calls for reasonable gun laws to be enacted and to be enforced. There are calls for a vamping up of our mental health system. Even has they weep, people are looking for ways to keep anything like this from ever happening again.

From the other side, there are quick calls to stop making sense and to leave our guns alone (even though almost no one is calling for a complete gun ban). Instead of worrying about their constituents, these people are more worried about losing the support of the NRA and their big buckets of money.

Then there have been the extreme nut jobs that both sides look upon with scorn. People like Westboro Baptist Church, who for some deranged reason thought it a good idea to protest at the funeral of six year old child. Or the goof that thought this happened because they teach evolution and homosexuality in schools. (No, really. That was an argument from more than one person, which is even scarier.)

In Wisconsin, our leaders again prove themselves to be embarrassments.

Scott Walker, true to his nature, would only say what he thought people wanted him to say, even if it meant lying through Charlie Sykes' teeth.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen demeaned any new life-saving laws as something to make lawmakers "feel good about themselves."

Here in Milwaukee, it was even worse.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele took a lot of words to say a whole lot of nothing* (spelling and grammatical errors are all his):
What is perhaps the saddest thing to see in the current discussion about gun control is the immediate entrenchment of so many of the loudest in the commentariat to familiar, intractable positions. The most corrosive thing in american politics today is the divisiveness of political identity - too much of defining ourselves by what we are against and not nearly enough defining ourselves by what we are for. Too many declarations of grievances and accusations, not enough statements of understanding and offering of solutions. To borrow from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, undoubtedly one of the greatest pieces of political address ever: with malice towards none, with charity towards all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind the nations wounds.

To my friends who support the Second Amendment, so do I. To my friends who are horrified at what happened in Newtown (and Oak Creek, Brookfield, Aurora, etc.), I share your horror. To everyone who believes it is no compromise of the rights we all treasure to bind their scope and couple them with accountability, let's embrace the First Amendment to discuss how we can protect the Second while never forgetting the reason our founding fathers instituted them in the Constitution of this government - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Please note that he says nothing about the need for greater mental health services since he's busy in the process of dismantling the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex.

As mealy-mouthed as Abele was, it's Sheriff David Clarke who takes the cake for the worst response. Clarke wrote a rambling, disjointed piece for his teahadist supporters in which he uses just about every red meat term and buzzword he could think of. But unlike Abele, Clarke offers a solution of sorts, even if it is one of the more idiotic ones:
I have a better idea to all this run and hide advice. An armed tactical trained officer or security officer in every school and public place (theaters, malls, etc) in America. How are we going to pay for it? With all the money we spend on “going green projects and other waste of money social service spending we do. And spare me the idea of more gun control. Gun control has never worked and never will. That’s a sheep mentality. It’s like saying lets capture all the wolves and then the sheep will be safe. Yeah right. I’ve had it with these sociopaths slaughtering innocent people who are in no position to defend themselves.
What Clarke is suggesting is a totalitarian police state. Given his rabid mindset, how long do you think it would take the unstable Clarke to start suggesting that anyone who doesn't agree with him be considered a threat to society?

Also keep in mind that Clarke was against concealed carry before he was for it, so that shows you how much weight you should give any of his opinions.

It truly is embarrassing that at the time when we need real leadership, we get milquetoast and buffoonery.  Heck, even the deplorable, maleficent governor of Michigan had enough sense to veto a bill that would have allowed guns in schools.

Is it really asking too much for our leaders to show a modicum of common sense and responsibility?

*Since Abele apparently had this posted it before and then deleted it because of the negative reaction to his non-reaction, I have taken the liberty of making a screen shot of it.

8 comments:

  1. So what do you propose?

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    Replies
    1. Reasonable gun restrictions, making mental health services much more available, for starters.

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  2. Thank God he wasn't around when we were trying to get civil rights legislation inacted in this country...........MLK, using words as his only weapon, wouldn't have had a chance against Clarke's take no prisoners attitude and armament! Give a guy a gun and a title and he can rule "HIS" own little world. Sure as heck wouldn't want to be his wife or child with his mentality. What an embarrassment to us!

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  3. How did a little weasel like Abele get elected and WTF are democrats going to do about it? We don't have 1 person available to run against and beat this silver spoon puppet? The democratic party is being run by ineffectual pacifists. This isn't kumbaya time. These conservatives are vicious and require a vicious response. If they can't get it done, it's time to clean house and install some pitbulls.

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  4. do you have a crush on Abele? I think you are making your wife jealous....

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    Replies
    1. So Abele's trolls are now making slanderous remarks about homosexuals? He's looking more and more like a Republican every day.

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    2. Wow troll. Your level of maturity is that of a preschooler.

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  5. Artwork credit to my friend Surly Ermine: http://surlyermine.com/2008/11/14/apocalyptic-weasel/

    (Fair's fair).

    ReplyDelete