A Few Thoughts From My Bouncing Mind

Posted on by under education, Election 2022, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

First, I start with a short, passionate and heartfelt clip from Jimmy Kimmel …

Next, a shout-out to singer/songwriter Don McLean of American Pie fame for having a conscience.  He has cancelled his appearance at the upcoming NRA annual meeting this weekend in, of all places, Houston, Texas.  McLean issued a statement saying …

“In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans.”

Of course, if he truly had a conscience, he would never have agreed to appear at their event in the first place, but … better late than never I suppose.  Others are also pulling out and I will have a good laugh if the venue is only about 2% full all weekend!

Daniel Defense, the company that manufactured the weapon used in Tuesday’s school massacre, has also pulled out of the NRA convention this weekend.  Their reason is not likely any sudden attack of conscience so much as fear of being assaulted by people who are angry and looking for a target for their anger.  And there should be fury toward this company who not so long ago posted this picture …

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 🙏

I am sickened.

Some, such as the not-so-illustrious Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz, still plan to attend … surprised, aren’t you?  Every single person who attends that convention is a target for my anger, so they should probably be thankful that I won’t be there, eh?  Does anybody else see the irony in that this nation is banning books by the dozens … BOOKS 📕 📚 that open minds, educate, and help us make the world a better place … while at the same time refusing to ban assault weapons such as the one used on Tuesday, the ones that have been used so many times to kill thousands of innocent people?  There is something intrinsically wrong here …

The following chart lists the 50 senators who have taken the most money from the NRA.  Is one or more of your state’s senators on this list?  One of my own state’s senators, Rob Portman, has taken more than $3 million in donations from the NRA and I am more ashamed of him than ever before.  He is retiring this year, but I’m not doing any happy dances because he’s likely to be replaced by someone even worse, J.D. Vance … an unqualified bozo who loves guns, lies, and will do just about anything to get his name in print.  Read those senator’s names and look at the amounts … now do you understand why our lives mean less than nothing to these men and women who we have elected to act in our best interests?

Senator NRA Donations Gun Deaths in State per Year
Mitt Romney (UT) $13,647,676 365
Richard Burr (NC) $6,987,380 1,311
Roy Blunt (MO) $4,555,722 1,074
Thom Tillis (NC) $4,421,333 1,311
Cory Gardner (CO) $3,939,199 715
Marco Rubio (FL) $3,303,355 2,568
Joni Ernst (IA) $3,124,773 264
Rob Portman (OH) $3,063,327 1,402
Todd C. Young (IN) $2,897,582 907
Bill Cassidy (LA) $2,867,074 946
David Perdue (GA) $2,002,462 1,459
Tom Cotton (AR) $1,968,714 534
Pat Roberts (KS) $1,581,153 368
Pat Toomey (PA) $1,475,448 1,503
Josh Hawley (MO) $1,391,548 1,074
Marsha Blackburn (TN) $1,306,130 1,103
Ronald Harold “Ron” Johnson (WI) $1,269,486 592
Mitch McConnell (KY) $1,267,139 690
Mike Braun (IN) $1,249,967 907
John Thune (SD) $638,942 95
Shelley Moore Capito (WV) $341,738 305
Martha McSally (AZ) $303,853 1,013
Richard Shelby (AL) $258,514 961
Chuck Grassley (IA) $226,007 264
John Neely Kennedy (LA) $215,788 946
Ted Cruz (TX) $176,274 3,139
Lisa Murkowski (AK) $146,262 165
Johnny Isakson (GA) $131,571 1,459
Steve Daines (MT) $123,711 197
Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) $109,547 576
Roger Wicker (MS) $106,680 576
Rand Paul (KY) $104,456 690
Mike Rounds (SD) $95,049 95
John Boozman (AR) $82,352 534
John Cornyn (TX) $78,945 3,139
Ben Sasse (NE) $68,623 169
Jim Inhofe (OK) $66,758 679
Lindsey Graham (SC) $55,961 829
Mike Crapo (ID) $55,039 242
Jerry Moran (KS) $34,718 368
John Barrasso (WY) $26,989 104
Lamar Alexander (TN) $25,293 1,103
Mike Enzi (WY) $24,722 104
John Hoeven (ND) $22,050 93
Susan Collins (ME) $19,800 146
Deb Fischer (NE) $19,638 169
James Lankford (OK) $18,955 679
Jim Risch (ID) $18,850 242
Tim Scott (SC) $18,513 829
Kevin Cramer (ND) $13,255 93

I am writing to a number of members of Congress this week with a simple, single question:  89% of people in this nation support stricter gun regulations, and some 67% support a ban on assault weapons – so why don’t you?  How can you claim to represent the people of this nation when you are voting against their will, against their best interests?

Fellow countrymen … now is the time for us to stop the madness, to stop electing and re-electing men and women who have no conscience, whose own lust for power and wealth are their only priority.  Research the candidates in your district and state, make sure the candidate you support does NOT support the NRA, does not support wealthy corporations over the interests of the people.  Look at that list above … if any of them are from your state and are up for re-election this year, vote them out!!!

33 thoughts on “A Few Thoughts From My Bouncing Mind”

  1. I am soooo thankful I live in a state that does not have an individual on that list!!

    BTW, to anyone who is interested, the county I live in voted AGAINST joining Idaho (a VERY Republican state!).

    Liked by 3 people

      • Is moving an option? I know it would have been tough for us had our county voted differently, but we did give it some thought. Thank goodness things turned out as they did!

        Liked by 2 people

        • No ..too old now plus I love my home and have 3 likeminded friends. Liberals are here, but they keep a low profile. I actually belong to my town’s Democratic club. It’s all good really, I just wish it wasn’t so “red”.

          Liked by 2 people

      • We are most definitely happy! It would have been a nightmare (for more reasons than one … including our ages!) to have had to move, but we did consider it. And get this … my other-half is a registered Republican! But fortunately, he recognized that Idaho is on the extreme side. A much relieved sigh from both of us when we heard the results. 😊

        Liked by 2 people

        • Oh yeah … it never would have worked, but would have been a big nightmare. Well, that says something for your other half … now you need to convince him to start voting out the Repubs!!! I don’t envy you!

          Liked by 1 person

  2. Pingback: A FEW THOUGHTS FROM MY BOUNCING MIND. |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  3. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    WORD!! … “Fellow countrymen … now is the time for us to stop the madness, to stop electing and re-electing men and women who have no conscience, whose own lust for power and wealth are their only priority.”

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Jill, thanks. I am sure they are backing Ted Budd, a gun shop owner, in his bid to be a NC US Senator. Someone is backing a terrible commercial against Judge Cheri Beasley, which a rebuttal commercial from sheriff’s backing Beasley said was uncalled for.

    As for another Ted, Mr. Cruz, it should be noted where his priorities lay:

    – winter storm kills people – Cruz goes to Cancun.
    – mass shooter kills nineteen kids and two teachers – go to the NRA meeting

    These two statements pretty much tell you all you need to know about Ted Cruz. If that were not enough, in the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign, PolitiFacts said the only candidate close to Donald Trump in the rate of lying was none other than Ted Cruz.

    Keith

    Liked by 4 people

    • Naturally curiosity got the better of me and I had to check out the ad against Judge Beasley … you’re right … it is horrible and dishonest, from all I read in the rebuttals. But then, when has honesty or fact ever mattered in Republican advertisements? I did not know that Ted Budd was a gun shop owner … that explains a lot.

      As for Ted Cruz … I think he defines the very worst of the GOP, always has! I remember he wouldn’t even defend his own family against lies being told about them by the former guy. And still, he licks the boots …

      Liked by 1 person

      • Jill, in a poll of Congress about ten years ago, Cruz’ peers voted him the least liked member in the Capitol. The reasons were his grandstanding and his tendency to be untruthful. You may recall he almost shut the government down and we came close to defaulting on our debts. It took ten female Senators to force an agreement within twenty four hours of us reneging on our debt payments. In essence, these female lifeguards told Cruz to get out of the pool, it is time for an adult swim. Keith

        Liked by 1 person

        • Really? I didn’t know that, but it speaks volumes! I vaguely recall him nearly shutting down the government, now that you mention it. I wish his constituents would tell him to get out of the pool soon!!! I thought his little Cancún debacle would have done the trick, but I guess maybe Texans have short memories. Sigh.

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  5. Jill I was surprised about Romney and found this:
    Romney, the Brady website said, was the U.S. Senator who had received the most campaign donations from the NRA, with a total of $13,647,676 — millions more than his colleagues and around twice the cash of the next highest senator.

    But a review of FEC filings by The Salt Lake Tribune found that Romney’s 2018 senate campaign received no direct donations from the NRA. And a review of the National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund’s campaign donations — the NRA’s political action committee — also shows no donations to Romney’s 2018 campaign. A review of the Utah senator’s 2024 reelection campaign also shows no donations from the gun lobbyist.
    https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2022/05/26/mitt-romney-received-nra/

    Liked by 3 people

    • Hmmmmm … interesting. I was also surprised to see Mitt’s name right at the top of the list, but I don’t doubt it for one minute. Somewhere along the line, he has taken NRA money … lots of it!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. You would think, that with so many shootings in the U.S., the country would start to do away the the Second Amendment, but no, there are those, who valiantly, defend their own rights to, bear, arms.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, you would think so, but … the people in this country will fight harder for the 2nd Amendment than they will fight for the lives of their children. We are rapidly becoming a banana republic worthy of ZERO respect from the people of other nations.

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  7. This is one of those moments when I’m forced to wonder if a big bomb at the NRA convention might not wipe out a large part of your problem. I admit to being in tears during Jimmy Kimmel’s impassioned words. He moved me greatly and I wish he were a Politician. That’s the sort of man America could trust. We should see genuine tears from People like Ted Cruz, Governor Abbot and Mitch McConnel as they apologise for the problems they’ve caused refusing to enact sensible gun control bills wanted by The majority of people, including members of the NRA who keep the funds flowing to ensure it will never happen.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Believe me, I’ve thought the exact same! I nearly wrote in my post that if Kim Jong-un really wants to test his ICBM, I could get him the coordinates for the Houston venue where the NRA is meeting. But, I knew I would get some dirty looks for that one.

      Kimmel’s monologue brought me to tears also, just when I thought I didn’t have any tears left. We definitely could use some politicians with his heart, his conscience, his compassion and humanity, but alas, it seems to be a requisite for serving in a position of power that they leave their hearts, their humanity, and their conscience at the door.

      As Jeff said in his post, this time feels different. Only time will tell if it is, if We the People have what it takes to keep this in the forefront of everyone’s mind, to keep fighting and asking the tough questions, then vote out those who have only bullshit answers. Sigh.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

    • You and I agree on that, my friend, and frankly I think ALL the politicians know it too, but it’s not in their best financial interest to admit it, for then they would have to actually act to restrict and limit access to guns, and the NRA would stop giving them millions of dollars. Sigh. xx

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  11. Pingback: Reblog from Jill Dennison: A Few Thoughts From My Bouncing Mind – The Bag Lady

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