WHOA … The Hypocrisy!!!

Posted on by under guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

What, exactly, is the ‘Right to Life’?  Whose life?  To what extent are we willing to go to preserve life?  And what, exactly is life?  I’m frankly sick of hearing people say they are “pro-life” when all they really mean is they are against abortion.  Something in the news yesterday, though, connected some dots and made me stop … and after a bit of cursing and punching the coffee pot for not heating quickly enough, I sat down and said, “WHOA … the hypocrisy!!!!”  What was that something?  The second mass shooting of the weekend yesterday afternoon in a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, where at last count, 13 people were shot, 10 murdered.  Folks, let me make something perfectly clear here:  the nearly-uncontrolled right to own guns is completely inconsistent with the right to life.  Completely.  If a person buys a gun, he or she does so with the intention of using that gun to kill.  Guns literally have no other purpose than to maim and murder.

Next time someone tells you they are ‘pro-life’, ask them if they own a gun.  If they say ‘yes’, then you can inform them that they are a potential taker of life, so no, they are not pro-life at all, they are just using the term to justify their stance on taking away women’s rights.

The shooter in Buffalo was an 18-year-old white male who apparently hates Black people for some reason, for the government is treating this as a hate crime based on his ‘manifesto’.  Gee, I wonder where he got that prejudice from?  Look first at the parents, but then look at society today.  Wonder why an 18-year-old kid even has access to a gun?  Last Wednesday, a judge in ruled that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to people under 21 is unconstitutional.  What’s next … will it be ruled unconstitutional to ban giving guns to children age 14?  Age 10?  Age 5?  The gun culture in this nation is truly insane.  In no other nation is a civilian allowed to own an assault weapon, let alone an arsenal!

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know my stance on guns … they do not belong in the hands of civilians.  Full stop.  Need further proof?

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday night, there was yet another mass shooting that left 17 people injured, but no fatalities thus far, miraculously.  This one took place late Friday night shortly after fans left a nearby NBA playoff game.  Two other shootings in the same general vicinity took place earlier that evening, leaving an additional four people injured.

My message to every single member of the United States Congress is this …

Do not offer ‘condolences’ to the families of the victims in Milwaukee or Buffalo.  Do not offer meaningless ‘thoughts and prayers’.  DO SOMETHING!  Initiate and pass serious and meaningful gun legislation to get the guns out of the hands of people!  No 18-year-old child has the need for a gun.  Nobody who has EVER been accused of abusing another person in any way should be allowed to own a gun.  And NOBODY anywhere, ever, for any reason has a need for an assault weapon!  Shut down the gun shows where even the most basic rules are openly disregarded.  Override with federal legislation the individual state laws that allow for carrying concealed weapons, for possession of a gun without a license, and make the federal law ‘One Strike, You’re Out’!

But alas, mine is a pipe dream, for those very people who claim to be ‘pro-life’ would scream, yell, and threaten any who even suggested such laws.  No matter that gun violence is the leading cause of death in the U.S.  You have a roughly 1-in-315 lifetime chance of death from gun violence.

For those who would claim that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives them the right to own as many guns of any sort as they wish, let me clarify the exact wording of that Amendment:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

NOWHERE does it say that people should be allowed to keep a gun in the glove compartment of their car or walk into a grocery store with one concealed in pocket or purse.  NOWHERE does it say that guns should be freely available to teens.  NOWHERE does it say that a person should be allowed to own an assault weapon that didn’t even exist when the Constitution was written in 1787!  Those who believe that abortion is an infringement on the right to life, better wake up and look at the gun culture, the lack of gun laws in this country, for already this year 15,862 people have lost their life to a person with a gun.  That is more than the total gun deaths all year in 2016!!! But yet, do you hear anybody speaking for the ‘right to life’ of those victims?

Friday it was Milwaukee, Saturday it was Buffalo … will your neighborhood be Sunday’s statistics?

134 thoughts on “WHOA … The Hypocrisy!!!”

  1. Jill Dennison, I don’t like to throw around a charge of hypocrisy lightly. The problem with “my body, my choice” as a line of argument for bodily autonomy on the matter of abortion but not vaccine refusal is that it while its application should be applied to both issues equally, it is profoundly hypocritical to defend bodily autonomy in one area and not another. By the way, I am not issuing a charge of hypocrisy against you, just against people who seem to want this matter both ways.

    Nan, despite the rhetoric from the make up our rights as we go along crowd, nothing in our Founding Documents says anything about giving government the authority to mandate vaccines. Its overstepping of its Constitutional authority should alarm all liberty minded people.

    Rawgod, I had high hopes for the Pfizer vaccine, even the Johnson&Johnson vaccine. The Astrazeneca and Moderna vaccines caused me to experience some skepticism. Just my thoughts.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Jill Dennison, I don’t have a lot of patience for hypocrisy in any form. A lot of people are opposed to abortion and yet support the death penalty. Many people who decry bans on abortion also seem to be hypocrites when they try to enforce vaccine mandates. Either take “My body, my choice” and apply that argument across-the-board with no exceptions or remove the phraseology from spoken vocabulary.

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    • For once, you and I are in agreement. A lot of people are opposed to abortion, yet don’t wish their tax dollars to go toward helping care for that infant once it’s born. And, as you say, these same people support the death penalty. That’s why I consider the term “pro-life” to be completely wrong … they are anti-abortion, anti-women’s rights.

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      • Jill Dennison, I am personally opposed to abortion but I have no desire to legislate my views. Regarding “my body, my choice,” if someone wants to make that argument and be credible, it can’t be “my body, my choice” on one matter of bodily autonomy, such as abortion and yet not count regarding refusal of vaccines or any other medical matters. By the way, I am not an anti-vaxxer and don’t take kindly to that stereotype. The vaccines I would have been the least skeptical of are the Pfizer vaccine and the Johnson&Johnson vaccine. Moderna’s and Astrazeneca’s vaccines I was skeptical of for a variety of reasons.

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    • I think I understand your comment on the hypocrisy, but: Abortion law is not about treating a deadly global pandemic disease where maximum participation in prevention is the only way to save millions of lives, with vaccination the most effective means. Despite the tremendous value of vaccination, I’ve never been compelled by law to take a COVID vaccine, nor threatened by law or court precedent with criminal prosecution for refraining from vaccination. Still, I can’t reasonably compare that with the question of whether I should be jailed for aiding or abetting the “crime” of abortion, or denied/allowed the right to choose one. While they may be both “body choice/autonomy” matters, I don’t see them as falling under the same standards or premises for moral reasoning or legislating, nor eligible for across-the-board hypocrisy assessments. Does this make sense to you?

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  6. Haven’t you heard? Artillery doesn’t blow up hospitals. People do. So I got on Amazon and ordered a howitzer under my Constitutional right to “bear arms.” Any law against it is unconstitutional.

    On abortion, have you seen this? Christiane Amanpour interviews Frank Scheffer, 70’s Christian fundamentalist anti-abortion “pro-life” movement instigator now remorseful and turned pro-choice:

    He argues (among other things) that hypocrisy makes pro-lifers veiled anti-lifers.
    Full transcript: https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ampr/date/2022-05-04/segment/01

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    • Just one of the hypocrisies (speaking as to the ending of this recording): after tons of anti-Muslim talk for decades, the movers and shakers of the right wing want to tie deals together with Saudi Arabia and the like; they simply want to choose the richer Muslim side. The story used to be that the surrounding Arab nations tricked “the Palestinians” into being afraid of the attack on Israel that they were convinced said nations would win. The scenario is being told differently, now. At the same time, half of the religious right leaders do want a theocracy here.

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    • WHOA! That is one powerful video! Thank you for sharing it with me. No, I hadn’t seen it, but wow … so much resonates with where we are today, explains how we got to this point. Racism, homophobia, and misogyny all rolled into one movement. The lust for power exceeds all else. Although I am 70 years old, well remember Jerry Falwell as well as Jimmy Carter, there is much here that I was not aware of. I may share this video on my blog later, for this is an eye-opener. Thanks again! Oh … and good luck on that howitzer … I’ll be curious to see how that works out for you 😉

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      • I always wanted to know what the hell a howitzer was. I learn so much nifty stuff from war. Carter, yeah, a true evangelical but not qualified to be in the “Evangelical” voting block, which the Republican (i.e., Autocrat) Party mastered in parallel with the Ignorant Vote. When asked why the so-called evangelicals wanted to get rid of Carter, Schaeffer said, “Because he was too decent a human being,” or some such. Falwell made christlikeness look demonic compared to Carter’s example. And to think, when the country chose Reagan over Carter, I felt like it was all over. We were done-for. And it had nothing to do with religion. I sure found out how much worse it could get. Schaeffer at least explains some of the evolution of the evil, even if we can’t fix it. Yes, the anti-abortion movement is not only about abortion. You nailed it. It’s about the lust for power. That’s why I say that gun loving is analogous to (or a substitute for) phallic power for people easily manipulated by people with real power over them.

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        • I always thought a howitzer to be something similar to a smaller version of a cannon. Hmmmm … might get one of those to scare off the neighbor kids that have been harassing us every night! I’ve never had any use for the likes of Falwell, Graham, Osteen or the rest. They are, in my book, hypocrites who milk their followers so that they can own private jets and mansions. And as for their politics … apparently they haven’t heard the term “separation of church and state” and aren’t aware that their tax-exempt status prohibits them from pushing a political agenda. Carter was … is … a good man, a humanitarian, who I respect greatly, but he wasn’t the best of presidents. Although, compared to the president [sic] before Biden, Carter was great!

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          • “president [sic]” LOL

            Interesting that Graham (Sr.) did not sign on to the anti-abortion movement. I suspect he knew it was a political manipulation of religion. Besides, he was established enough not to need it. He already had easy access to the Oval Office.

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            • I picked that up from Clay Jones, artistic talent behind Claytoonz political cartoons!

              Lindsey Graham, I have long suspected, has a split persona and one never knows from one day to the next which one he’ll be wearing. I’ve seen him switch sides so many times that I no longer bother to listen to what he says. And remember how he treated his “best friend” John McCain?

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  9. Your piece is very well worded. You put words to much that I feel but can’t articulate. Please ignore the comment from King of Drones. The shootings were politically motivated and the shooter was not local. That makes his argument ridiculous. Also, there is nothing more evil and manipulative than the Murdoch/Sinclair empires which manipulate young men to do these things. Ruining their own lives as well as the lives of their victims and families for ratings and their own political agendas.

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    • Thank you so much! It seems that when something angers me as much as this does, my fingers just fly over the keyboard without me even thinking about it … the words just tumble out. It’s my way of releasing the pressure, I think. I don’t let King of Drones worry me … he is a … well, he once was a friend, his name is Scott, and for some reason a year or so ago he decided to start a campaign to harass me over every post I make. I usually block his comments, but I let this one through just so he could show off his own ignorance. Given what I’ve read today about the shooter’s motives, it seems there may be many people with blood on their hands for indoctrinating this young person, turning him into a murderous racist. Thanks again for reading and commenting! I appreciate it!

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  11. I asked an anti-abortionist (I will never again print the words Pro Life!) if she believed certain things, and she could not see any connections between the things I asked her, and the anti-abortion question. She can vote for Trump even though he abuses women because HE SAYS he is anti-abortion. Hypocrisy drains off her, but she cannot see it. If a suburban housewife cannot see it, how can we expect anyone to see it. Talk about tunnel vision. It was okay for her to protest at the home of abortion workers, but she feels it illegal to protest at SC justices homes. Probably she has an arsenal of weapons in her bedside table too!

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    • To me and to you, it is shocking, but to far too many, it’s just another day, another mass shooting, and they tell us to “get over it”. Would they be so quick to get over it if it were their son or daughter lying in a casket? And today, yet another one in California. Sigh. xx

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  14. Mass shootings are tragic & heartbreaking, justice should be delivered swiftly & LOCALLY, and they should NEVER EVER be cynically USED to advance political agendas because that’s evil & manipulative.
    oh wait, I’m talking about this blog aren’t I?

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  15. Thank you for sharing!!.. again it goes back to the people… the leadership of this country will do little to deal with guns because the people that put them in power, the voters, want guns caring little about anyone else… all the time hiding behind the right to bear arms, etc in order to create an image.. in order to have change, it will have to start at the local level… the same goes for abortion, covid, etc… 🙂

    Have a wonderful day and until we meet again..
    May love and laughter light your days,
    and warm your heart and home.
    May good and faithful friends be yours,
    wherever you may roam.
    May peace and plenty bless your world
    with joy that long endures.
    May all life’s passing seasons
    bring the best to you and yours!
    (Irish Saying)

    Liked by 3 people

    • So true, my friend. We the People have blood on our hands for our demand for unlimited access to guns. I will never understand America’s gun culture …

      Thank you, Dutch, for the beautiful Irish Saying … and the same to you, dear friend.

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  17. Jill, thanks for posting this. I caught a very good “Real Time with Bill Maher” from Friday night. I have to watch reruns during the day, as it keys me up to watch it live before bed. His two very astute guests urged Democrats to put forth a more straightforward bill in the Senate and House to in essence protect the governance of Roe v Wade. Nothing more. They need 60 votes in the Senate and there are likely enough Republicans who will vote for that. What failed during the week tried to do more. Republicans do not want to run on this issue, so the opportunity to get something done exists. But the House and Senate need to get done what can be done. Otherwise, it is all idealogue wishing. Keith

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    • The premise makes sense, but I’m honestly not sure there are 10 Republican senators who would vote for even the most basic bill. I’m sure they don’t want to run on this issue, so they will distract their base to other things, and anyway, most of their base seems to be in their corner. With voting restrictions in most states, it might just be enough for them. I’m truly amazed ANY bill that required the 60 vote majority has passed the Senate this year.

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  19. The guy wasn’t even from Buffalo. He was from downstate. Apparently, he scoped out the store for several days before he struck. Fucking asshole. All trumped up in military gear. As an Army mom, I’m particularly insulted by that. Join the fucking Army if you want to make war.

    I live in Buffalo, I shop at Tops all the time. I couldn’t believe the news when I turned on the TV at 3 this morning.

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    • He was also investigated a year ago for threatening to shoot people in his high school, but apparently the investigators failed to follow up. Yes, I’m sure it was a shock to see that first thing upon waking! But you know what else makes me furious? Did you see where the cops cuffed him? He was left standing, they put the cuffs on and then put him in the back of the police cruiser. If he had been black, more than likely he’d have already been dead, but he damn sure wouldn’t have been left standing. Double standard? Hell yes!

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      • If he had been Black, good chance he couldn’t afford a gun. Stats still show that we keep our knees on their necks economically if we can’t just enslave, shoot or choke the life out of them. We, y’know, the majority. Oops. White won’t be the majority much longer. Cops will still be mostly white until the planet burns up. Sam Cooke, sing it again.
        It’s been a long
        A long time coming
        But I know a change gonna come
        Oh, yes it will

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        • That’s a good point, too. I have asked the question many times and nobody seems to know the answer: Why do white people think the colour of their skin makes them more valuable? To me, darker skin is far more beautiful than paleface! I’ll never understand it. Oooooohhhhh … I LOVE Sam Cooke and love that song! Yep, a change is gonna come, but I’m not so sure it will be a positive change. Some days I’m glad I’m old.

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          • I haven’t been a big fan of living an especially long life. It gets old.

            I’ve been rediscovering Sam. Appreciating many cultural forbears more these days, wishing they were here now to see what we made of things. The Perversion of Flower Power.

            I know one partial answer to that question about Wwhites. They have no idea how much African they have in their genes. People gotta watch Finding Your Roots. Great show.

            Four words no sane Wwhite person would utter in the USA. Wish I was Bblack.

            I can’t make up my mind about capitalization. I’m not alone: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/time-to-capitalize-blackand-white/613159/

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            • Yes, I sometimes wonder why we spend billions of dollars trying to keep people alive into their 90s and even past 100. Just for bragging rights, I think, for the quality of life after a certain age is reduced such that most of us would rather not live to 90 or more.

              Actually, I’d just like to see us all stop judging anybody by the colour of their skin, but rather by their actions. Do you think Kyle Rittenhouse could have become a cultural ‘hero’ to so many if he had been Black? Ha ha … he would likely have been killed on the spot in Minneapolis.

              To be perfectly honest, I HAVE said those words and fully meant them. I am ashamed to be white, even though I’m 1/4 Hispanic, so not ‘lily-white’. Being ‘white’ is nothing to be proud of, in my book.

              Ah, well … we will each decide for ourselves. To me, it is right and proper to use the “B” out of acknowledgement and respect, but to others perhaps not.

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              • I guess I can grok someone being so ashamed of our dark side as to seek asylum among the dark skinned.

                Agreed on Kyle. I’ll never forget the phalanx of combat-ready officers on the capitol steps for a BLM march but bicycle racks for 1/6/21. Somebody said they were amazed that only one rioter got shot, even when cops were in direct hand-to-hand (or bicycle rack) fights. I chuckled and said, “The attackers had the wrong color skin for that.”

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              • Jill Dennison, you said, “I sometimes wonder why we spend billions of dollars trying to keep people alive into their 90s and even past 100. Just for bragging rights, I think, for the quality of life after a certain age is reduced such that most of us would rather not live to 90 or more.” I think that this is not entirely accurate. Why? Because having people living longer allows them to accumulate a greater wealth of knowledge that they can pass on to future generations. Why not spend time and money helping people to be able to live a longer healthier life than in places where we have no business being?

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                • Well, unfortunately that isn’t how it works and I’d prefer the money be used to help younger people, those who still have a chance at making the world a better place, rather than keeping an old body alive.

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                    • “… how can the younger generation make the world a better place if they are so in tune with social media?”

                      Great question. I’ll jump in uninvited.

                      My answer: Making the world a better place begins within, and nature knows how to attend to it, given frequent and prolonged opportunities. I prescribe a daily hour-long walk in the woods (or other entirely natural habitat) out of sight of all man-made things, or as far as possible depending on what you have available. Ideally, alone. And turn off the phone. Nature immersion makes us healthier in every way, even smarter, the science says.

                      Those walks really should be two hours each, or an hour twice daily. Night walks, too, with time spent with the headlamp off, just experiencing nature as it is at night. Our hiding from the dark in our lit boxes deprives us of connection with half of the reality of the planet. Only half the available connection with reality can’t be good.

                      If that’s not available, then get whatever amount and degree of nature immersion one can get, even if only window box gardening.

                      Water immersion has similar value, more for some people than others.

                      Just my two hundred cents.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • I agree about the walks … before my current health issues, I used to walk 4 miles a day. My favourite place to be is in the mountains … just me and nature. I’ll pass on the water immersion, though. However, no matter how much you and I may value nature, it’s not likely to get the younger generation away from the iPads, cell phones, tablets, etc., nor away from the dangerous rhetoric that is being spewed incessantly.

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                    • Younger generation … or older one. Taking the medicine is hard to do when you don’t know why. Seen the movie, Surrogates? But hey, you never know, was a time when smoking in a hospital was okay, or while nursing a baby.

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                    • Indeed you did … and thank you for your permission to share your work! I’m on both FB and Twitter, though I avoid Facebook for the most part, using it only to stay in touch with friends & family. I’ll look you up on both platforms.

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                    • I am not on either platform because of disagreements with the heads of both. So it would not be necessary to do that. The reason was due to my hope that if you thought that anything was worth sharing that you are more than welcome to do so.

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                    • Actually, I think I remember now that I had a Twitter account under that name but deactivated it. Maybe Twitter saved the posts despite my deleting the account. What posts were annoying to you?

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                    • Shall we just say I’m not a fan of threats to hang or otherwise murder innocent people. And I’ll end this discussion here, since for once we are not arguing and I’d just as soon keep it that way.

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                    • You can check out the Twitter site … there are a few that reference hanging, and one that says Dr. Fauci should be hung. Not the kind of stuff I choose to read.

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                    • Jill Dennison, at the time of the American Revolution, as I recall, traitors and spies were hanged. Given his involvement in Gain-Of-Function research, something that led to creation of mutating viruses, Anthony Fauci should at the very least be in prison for life.

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                    • According to Google.com, There is a period of 30 days after deactivating your Twitter account, during which all your account details remain visible. After this period however, it is still possible that your Twitter activities from the past are visible. Even if anything posted there was posted under my name and can still be seen, I long since ditched it.

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  20. Absolutely. I also always wonder why some people who consider themselves Christians are so happy to own guns or let their country go to war. I read the bible and I can’t remember Jesus saying:” Hey, pick up a gun and defend yourself or your country.” As far as I remember he said:” offer the other cheek” but what do I know? 🤗

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  21. There are always the origins of someone’s bad behaviors, which can be traced back to how they were raised, the values that were instilled by their parents. It’s just that more often, we are stuck on the bad behaviors themselves, to look beyond, what’s on the surfaces of what is happened…

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