Another Mass Shooting - When Will Congress Act?

There was another mass shooting on Wednesday. This time it was in Philadelphia, and the victims were six police officers. Thankfully, none of them were killed. But the mass shootings (a shooting with 4 or more victims) are happening far too often -- an average of more than one every day.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said after the shooter was taken into custody:

"So whether it’s our six officers that were shot or it's some 15-, 17-, 20-year-old kid on the streets of Philadelphia who gets shot with guns that shouldn’t be in people’s hands — it's aggravating, it's saddening, and it's just something we need to do something about. Our officers deserve to be protected, and they don't deserve to be shot at by a guy for hours with an unlimited supply of weapons and an unlimited supply of bullets."

He is right. It doesn't matter who the victims are, we must take action to stem the epidemic of mass shootings (and other gun deaths) in this country. No other developed country has this problem. Many politicians want to blame mental illness, video games, violence on TV and in movies, or waning religion. But all other developed nations have those, and none of them have the number of mass shootings or gun deaths (about 40,000 a year) that we do.

Let's be honest. The real problem is the proliferation of guns in the U.S. (more guns than population), and the easy access to those guns by anyone -- even dangerous people who shouldn't be allowed to buy or own one.

One argument used is that gun deaths will still occur if action is taken. That may be true, but the number of those deaths could be drastically reduced if Congress would pass some reasonable and constitutional laws.

Making every person who wants to buy a gun pass a rigorous background check, and banning assault-style weapons (and ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds) would be a very good start. And the Supreme Court has already ruled that these actions would not violate the Second Amendment to our Constitution.

It's time for Congress to act. Their pathetic "thoughts and prayers" are not getting the job done. And the people know this. They want real action. This is shown by every poll done. A good example is in the chart below. It is from a Fox News Poll that was done between August 11th and 13th of a national sample of 1,013 registered voters (with a 3 point margin of error).

Philadelphia Eagles Players Were Right To Take A Stand

I am a Dallas Cowboys fan. I have something good to say about the Philadelphia Eagles about as often as Philly fans speak well of the Cowboys -- pretty close to never. But today is different.

Donald Trump had invited the Eagles players to the White House. For him, it was a photo op, and likely another event where he could denigrate NFL players for having the audacity to exercise their free speech rights. But he cancelled the event after learning that 10 (or less) players were going to attend the event.

Trump then tweeted that staying in the locker room was as disrespectful as kneeling to the country. His inference that those players were being disrespectful to the flag, our soldiers, and the country is patently ridiculous. The Eagles were one of only 7 NFL teams that had no player kneel during the anthem (or stay in the locker room).

But their not kneeling didn't mean they didn't agree with the players who did kneel, or the reason why they kneeled (police violence against Blacks). And those players also knew that Trump was a racist/white supremacist and a misogynist, and they didn't want to be associated with him. They didn't want him to use them to spread his campaign of hate.

By refusing to go to the White House, the players were calling Trump out on his racism and misogyny -- and Trump narcissism couldn't take that. He couldn't take being embarrassed on the national stage. That's the real reason he cancelled their visit. It had nothing to do with "respecting the flag".

I applaud the decision of the Eagles players to not go to the White House. And I admire their standing up for what is right and good in this country -- and refusing to be used by Trump to further divide the country. And I heartily approve of their refusing to be used as a tool against their fellow players and the game they love.

Inclosing, let me also say I think Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kennedy hit the nail right on the head when he said:

One-Woman Show Honors Molly Ivins

If you're planning a trip to the East Coast this Spring, you might want to consider going to Philadelphia around the last part of March or the first part of April. That's when the Philadelphia Theater Company will be featuring the new "one-woman" play entitled Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins.

The play, based on the writings and witticisms of legendary Texas journalist and author Molly Ivins, was written by twin sisters and journalists Margaret and Allison Engel. It will be directed by David Esbjornson, and will run from March 19th through April 18th of 2010.

The title role will be played by Tony and Golden Globe award-winning actress Kathleen Turner. I think that is an inspired bit of casting. In addition to being a great actress, Ms. Turner has that self-possessed and irreverent air that was the trademark of the great Molly Ivins (and she sort of looks like Molly). The pictures above are of Ivins (left) and Turner (right).

This is the world premier of the new play, and so far, there are no plans for taking the play to other cities. I suspect though if it is successful in Philadelphia, it may soon find its way to Broadway. And being based on the wonderful wit of Molly Ivins, how could it not be great?

As much as I want to see this play, my current situation (poverty) will not allow me to do so. I guess I just have to hope it is so wildly successful that it's eventually taken on the road and comes to Texas. Either that, or someone films it and that film becomes widely available.

Damn! Being poor is no fun at all sometimes.

(Thanks goes to Thorne Dreyer of The Rag Blog for notifying me of this.)

Phillie Scouts Can Discriminate - But Not For Free

We've known for a while now that the Boy Scouts of America is not an equal opportunity organization. They discriminate against gays. In 2000, the Supreme Court gave them the right to continue their discrimination, and they have done so.

But the city of Philadelphia does not discriminate in this way. The city has been letting the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts rent city-owned office space for their headquarters. The COL Council has been paying $1 a year in rent. Now the city wants to raise the rent to $200,000 a year, which is the fair-market value of the space.

The city says they cannot legally give an organization that discriminates any kind of reduced rate for rent. To do so would make the city a party to the discrimination. The Boy Scouts must pay the fair-market value, or vacate the space by May 31.

To their credit, the COL Council passed a non-discriminatory policy in 2003, but the national organization forced them to rescind the policy. The National Council said the local councils cannot decide on their own to stop the discrimination. If the National Council wants to discriminate, then everyone in the organization must discriminate.

I applaud this decision by the city of Philadelphia. Just because the Scouts want to discriminate, doesn't mean the city can or should follow suit. The city made the only legal and decent decision that they could.

It simply would not be right for the "Cradle of American Liberty" to deny that liberty to any segment of our population.