Roomin' House Blues

The events of the last several days and the coming events have inspired me to write almost exclusively political articles.  The tragedy in Tuscon, the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the news I got from the United Farmworkers Union were all things I wanted to remember in some way.  Many of my conservative friends and readers do not agree with my opinions concerning the events in Tuscon or most of the other things I wrote on.  Some of you may even have reservations on my thoughts on gun control.  My liberal readers may disagree with what I posted on abortion.  But what stood out for me in the Presidents speech in Tuscon was his call to unite, to work together and to pray. A great deal of my blogging does not revolve around politics, but this week posts have.  Politics is like all other things of this earth.  It will pass away.  Sure I believe in my politics and believe that it's a way to seek justice.  But in the end it passes aw...

In the aftermath of the killings in Tuscon let us remember a real American hero, Wyatt Earp. Yesterday, January 13th was the anniversary of his death I I do apologize for noting it late. Wyatt Earp was a true hero of the post civil war west.  His older brothers had fought in the war and he sought out being a lawman as a way to live out some of the values they fought for.  Gun slinger image aside, there is one thing that Earp was consistent on.  He was always a gun control advocate.  In both Dodge and Tombstone he got passed by local government and enforced rules requiring people to park their guns when they came into town.  What he saw was that hard working cowboy getting drunk at the local saloon and guns didn't mix.  His famous shoot out at O.K.Corral was all about enforcing the local gun control law. The ammo clips that Jared Loughner used in his killing spree had been previously outlawed under the automatic weapon controls that have expire...

It is actually amazing what an abundance of information there is about Loughner's political views.  But I actually won't start there. The first myth I want to dismantle is simple, in fact I have already addressed it. It's the alleged incomparability of politics and mental illness.   I have worked with the mentally ill and find that they range all over the place on politics, from the apolitical to the intensely political. And they range from left to right. The day of the Columbine shootings a Bipolar friend started calling gun dealers to chew them out for there role in the massacre and to tell them he believes in gun control.   I think the irony of this should not escape our notice.  We automatically assume that the mentally ill are apolitical and violent.  He demonstrated the opposite. I should say here that there is at least as much evidence of Loughner's right wing politics that his mental illness...