More et ceteras

What a shame about Sally Ride passing away at the age of 61. I hadn’t even heard she was sick. Her achievements were made years after humans first escaped the atmosphere, and therefore did not match up to the exploits of space pioneers like John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and Ed White -- but that does not diminish her status as a true national heroine. Most people could not name any other astronaut whose career began after the 1960’s.

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As expected, gun control advocates have exploited the Colorado movie theatre shooting by squealing that Americans’ constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms should be curtailed. It is sad that they politicize tragedies, but politicize is what they do, so I feel I have to rebut them by pointing out some facts.

Like the fact that many countries, such as Russia and South Africa, have much higher murder rates than America despite having much stricter gun laws…And the fact that many other countries, like Switzerland and Israel, have much lower murder rates than the U.S. despite having much more lenient gun laws…And the fact that many of the cities with the highest crime rates in America also have the strictest gun laws in America. Detroit, Chicago, D.C., L.A., and New Orleans come to mind.

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Cocaine is outlawed, but that does not stop it from being readily available. Outlawing guns will not result in criminals and madmen being unable to obtain them, but will result in law-abiding citizens not having them. Therefore, it will result in law-abiding citizens being sitting ducks.

I love that Ice-T gets it. Nobody would ever confuse him for a conservative, but I always respected him back in my high school and college days, back when I listened to rap. “Freedom of Speech…Just Watch What You Say” always rang true to me and is probably worth a re-listen. I think I might have to go through my old cassette tapes…

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For another example of a pop culture icon saying something that might surprise you, go here and check out Elton John’s comments about the efforts of George W. Bush and other conservatives to address the AIDS epidemic in Africa. He is not the first celebrity to make this observation, as I recall Bono doing the same not long ago.

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I tried to let it go at first, but after seeing it again and again, I have to say something about the deplorable nature of Obama’s recent class warfare ad. You know, the one in which a litany of phrases, all making dark suggestions about Mitt Romney’s character, flash on the TV screen while he sings “America the Beautiful.” It is in the same league as the infamous “daisy girl ad” from 1964.

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More on the ad: Even assuming that its phrases about Romney are factually correct, so what? Despite what Obama & Co. want you to infer from the phrases they use, none of the actions those phrases depict are either immoral or illegal.

Who cares if Romney has put money in a Swiss bank account? It is his money and he can do with it as he sees fit. Who the hell is Barack Obama to tell anyone else how to spend the fruits of their labor? If I ever have millions, I absolutely will put some of them in a Swiss bank, because Swiss banks, unlike American banks of late, have a strong track record of protecting their customers’ funds and respecting their privacy.

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And finally, here is one more thing about the ad: It does not say one thing about why Obama deserves a second term, nor does it say what he plans to do to help our economy or fortify our national defenses. All it does is sling mud, thus revealing Obama’s true nature.