CHAPTER SEVENTY: TEARS OF ANGER

CHAPTER SEVENTY: TEARS OF ANGER

I came back from Tampa today (4/17) and turned on the news, watched one of the Newtown parents state “We are disappointed. We are not defeated”, and started to cry. Tears of anger – how could any elected official ignore 90% of all Americans who want background checks for dangerous and violent criminals and seriously mentally ill persons? Yet, 46 Senators – FORTY SIX (This includes YOU, Heidi Heitkamp!) – voted against this necessary measure. It was a compromise, for God’s sake. It didn’t even cover private gun sales, but at least it covered gun show sales and internet gun sales, two currently gaping holes in background checks for weapons of child destruction. It specifically prohibited a national gun registry (which I favor), although the gun lobby lied, yes lied, that it would set up a national gun registry. These gun lobbyists have no shame, no conscience and apparently, no brains. After the bloodied but unbowed grieving parent spoke, President Obama gave the angriest, most emotional remarks I have ever heard from him. I was finally proud of him for calling out the gun lobby for its lies, for castigating Rand Paul for calling the Newtown parents “mere props” for the effort to get moderate gun background check legislation, and for promising that this is just “round one” of the movement to bring sanity back into the discussion of gun control. If I had the time and the money, I would personally work against every one of those 46 Senators who defeated this bipartisan bill. They should be ashamed. As President Obama said, they “caved” to the gun lobby pressure and they ignored the desires of 90% of us, selling their souls for a Senate seat. Disgusting, loathsome, despicable.

We will have gun control legislation in our lifetime, even before the end of Obama’s second term. The 2014 elections, with the help of Mayor Bloomberg, will be fought over this issue. All of the NRA members who support the background checks legislation will finally revolt against their so-called leaders, who serve only as lackeys to the major gun and ammo manufacturers. Remember what happened to Big Tobacco? It’s your turn on the hot seat, Big Gun Manufacturers. I remember when cigarettes didn’t kill people; people killed themselves by not using the product correctly, you know, getting addicted to nicotine and smoking too many cigarettes. I also remember when Big Tobacco said there was NO connection between cigarettes and health problems. Come on down, Big Gun Industry, tell us again that guns don’t kill people, that they’re not dangerous to our health. The CDC is finally getting money to do the research to prove your shibboleths false, once and for all. I want to see you all on a panel in front of Gabby Giffords and the surviving relatives of murdered kids and adults in Newtown, telling us about the sanctity of the Second Amendment, which to you is more important than the sanctity of life.

About that Second Amendment, Southern slave owners fought for the specific language, so that they would be able to continue to send out their slave patrols, called “militias”, to round up African-Americans who had escaped from the yoke of slavery. The original intent was to ensure that the FEDERAL government would have a well-armed militia to protect the entire country. But the slave owners were convinced that a federal militia would end up interfering in their efforts to round up fugitives from slavery, and would actually recruit African Americans to join a federal militia with the promise of freedom. They pointed to the fact that during the American Revolution, government soldiers had already promised freedom to any African Americans who fought for liberty from England. So when Madison (a slave owner) was crafting the Second Amendment, the Southern slave owners (including Patrick Henry) insisted that the wording be “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free country” to “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State”. In this way, they preserved their “slave patrols” and they did not have to fear the freeing of African Americans by a federal militia. Thanks to Howard and Sondra for this historical perspective. The evils of slavery still dog us in the ludicrous NRA and Scalia interpretation of the Second Amendment. Why would we want to preserve a pro-slavery amendment? What’s next – repeal of the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th amendments? For further historical analysis of the connection between slave owners and the Second Amendment, see “The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery” by Thom Hartmann, Truthout, January 15 2013.

Yes, I know, this is a blog about cruising on Slow Motion. But you’ve read my rants before. And, except for a 4 hour fishing excursion, we have been tied up at the marina in Key Largo since March 4. That seems like a year ago, especially in light of the attempted massacre at the Boston Marathon just two days ago. Nothing is sacred. The greatest thing about running is the freedom you feel just running down a public street, or along a country trail, at your own pace, building endorphins every step of the way. All you need is shoes, and many runners don’t even need those. When I ran 10 Ks for a bunch of years, every race was a natural high. The San Francisco Bay to Breakers races (I did three of them) were pure entertainment in terms of people watching – watching my first caterpillar runners, watching a woman in a wedding dress and a man in a tux running with a minister and getting married. The Together with Love runs for the Monterey Rape Crisis Center were gratifying labors of love along the ocean in Pacific Grove. The Big Sur River Run was a healthy jog in the redwoods. The New Year’s Eve Los Altos Run was a gut check, as I had broken my big toe in the first mile, but finished the race and went back to Cathy’s in Atherton to dance until three, waking up with a big toe the size of a tennis ball. I never felt freer than when I was running. Now I get some of the same feeling by hiking in Toro Park or biking around the harbor towns where we’re docked or walking several miles through nature centers or museums. Still, running -- even my nine plus minute miles – has always been the essence of freedom for me.

I know the Boston Marathon will be run next year, and there will be even more runners and even more spectators – it will be the All-American Marathon. I have never run a marathon, but I know about hitting the wall and I know that 26 miles can really hurt your legs and other parts of your body. But if you ask the most hurting marathoner, you will still learn from him/her that, even with the aches and pains, they feel free when they’re running those 26 miles, whether it’s up and down the streets of Boston or up and down Route 1 along the Pacific in the Big Sur Marathon (set for April 28). No terrorist, however heartless, can take away that feeling of freedom. When I heard that two bombs went off near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, I was really, really angry. When I heard that 8 year old Martin was killed by one of those bombs, I was livid. When I saw Krystle’s mother speak about her hardworking, “best daughter you could ever have”, I was furious. When I read today about the beautiful Chinese graduate student who was killed, I was outraged. What can I do with all of this anger, compounded by my rage at the cowardly Senators for their gutlessness? I’m going to have to run tomorrow, or at least go for a very, very long walk. I need to get back my sense of freedom, and I need to do something positive to honor the lives of these three martyrs and the 180 plus spectators and runners who were also injured by the evil bomber. I propose that the Boston Marathon organizers add a 26 mile walk to the marathon next year, so that those of us who want to show our empathy for the injured and dead of the 2013 marathon can do so, crossing the finish line in a triumph over terrorism.

In the meantime, keep on running, jogging, walking, hiking and biking. Do it for those whose lives were cruelly ended by someone who is so jealous of our freedoms that he/she destroyed his/her own soul  -- for what? We are stronger. We remain free. We mourn our losses. And we are united in our will to remember Martin, Krystle and Lu Lingzi.