
During this current so-called sit in, we are supposed to be inspired by the likes of John Lewis, who is being identified as the democratic leader of this circus charade. Lewis is without question a hero in the civil rights movement in the early 60s. As we moved through the mid 60s, he than demonstrated the degree in which his ego outdistanced his sense of justice by how poorly he handled his defeat to Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) as chairperson of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1966. And he continued to go down hill from there to the point where today, he is an elected member of congress who like all his peers in the so-called congressional black caucus, is beholden to the corporate interests that are the very cause of our oppression. As a result, instead of the type of real grassroots struggle/push against the system that SNCC represented in 1966 when they decided to reject Lewis as their leader, we are left with Lewis leading a corporate and commercial sit in today that disgraces the real risks and sacrifices that SNCC and others bravely carried out in sit ins 50 years ago. Sorry Mr. Lewis, but you should have learned in the 60s that millionaire legislators staging a sit in offers nothing beyond a sound bite. Those people have nothing to risk and nothing to lose. They don't even have the courage and decency to at least add a hunger strike. At least that would create some real sacrifice for an otherwise pitiful situation. This sit in, like the silly bill it is triggered by, is nothing except a show to make it appear as if some work is being carried out that will benefit the masses of people when in reality, nothing except fancy language will come from anything that passes out of Washington D.C.
As someone who has bought guns in every state on the West Coast since the 1980s, and as someone who is actively involved in the struggle for justice, as usual, I have a much different view on the subject than the capitalist U.S. legislature. Its quite obvious to me that when you build a society based on injustice, violence, lies, and inequity, you are going to produce a population that learns to rely on those very same dysfunctional elements when faced with personal challenges. Most of these shooters are alienated, unstable people whose dysfunctions are a direct result of the trauma of this backward system. Men are taught that violence is the honorable way to address problems and every institution in this society, from school to media to church promotes that framework. If you don't believe that, ask yourself why the vast majority of so-called churches in this country haven't issued a peep of protest against the war efforts this country has waged in the last 20 years. In fact, most of them openly and actively support war even though any C grade high school student knows that all of those wars were and are unjustified. So, if anyone in the U.S. legislature was truly committed to resolving this mass shooting problem then they would start by addressing the real political, economic, and social, inequities in this society. They would prioritize real quality education, insuring the type of mass spending advantage over military expenditures instead of it being the other way around like it is today. They would seriously address the problems of white supremacy and patriarchy of which this violence is rooted as the byproducts of capitalism. There's much more, but there's no reason to continue because none of these things will ever happen in this capitalist society. Instead, all you will ever get is the type of horse and pony show that you are getting right now.
I feel sorry for you if you really believe a protest to produce what they are talking about is progress. Once a revolution is successful in this society, and the type of people first initiatives I alluded to in the paragraph above are prioritized and implemented, then there would no reason for people like me to feel like protection is necessary, but until then, and while every racist and intolerant element in this society is armed to the teeth, and threatening and violating us more and more, miss me with your gun control talk and you can definitely keep the circus shows. Has John Lewis digressed so much that he actually believes any talk of gun restriction that isn't even addressing the fact police and other state agents are the poster children of terrorism in the world today is worth the paper its written on. Then again, its not like I would ever expect the capitalist legislature to ever seriously address police terrorism.
I'm not surprised by Mr. Lewis, Nancy Pelosi, or any of those people. I am concerned that so many of you who should know better are still so easily impressed.