The Land Of The Unfree And The Home Of The Greedy

Books By Patti Liszkay
​Available On Amazon

"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
​Available on Amazon.

​THE LAND OF THE UNFREE AND THE HOME OF THE GREEDY

....Continued from previous post:
         Mass shootings are the scourge of this country. But the ruthless trajectory of this horrific  scourge could be changed. It could be changed in a day. Our Congress could immediately pass legislation banning assault rifles. As with tobacco and alcohol, they could raise minimum age to purchase a firearm to twenty-one. As with buying and driving an automobile, they could require a license and registration. They could regulate the transfer of firearms at gun shows. They could expand background checks and "Red Flag" laws for individuals wishing to purchase firearms. They could outlaw "ghost" guns.
         They could do all of the above. Or even a few of the above. Or even one of the above. They could do it in a day.
         That is to say, they could do it if not for an enormous obstacle in the way. I'm not talking about the Second Amendment to our United States Constitution,​

...since the U.S. Constitution, like the Bible,

​...can be interpreted any way one wishes to interpret it.
​      Nor am I talking about the will of the American people, as a strong majority of Americans favor stricter guns control laws with over 90% supporting universal background checks for all gun sales.
        No, the obstacle to ending the scourge of gun violence in this country is higher than a mile-high mountain and wider than a mile-thick concrete wall:  It's greed. Massive greed.
      It's the greed of lawmakers who line their pockets with money from the National Rifle Association lobby. Look at the kind of money Republican members of the Senate have received and continue to from the NRA since taking office:

• Mitt Romney (Utah) $13,647,676
• Richard Burr (North Carolina) $6,987,380
• Roy Blunt (Missouri) $4,555,722
• Thom Tillis (North Carolina) $4,421,333
• Marco Rubio (Florida) $3,303,355
• Joni Ernst (Iowa) $3,124,773
• Rob Portman (Ohio) $3,063,327
• Todd C. Young (Indiana) $2,897,582
• Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) $2,867,074
• Tom Cotton (Arkansas) $1,968,714
• Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) $1,475,448
• Josh Hawley (Missouri) $1,391,548
• Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) $1,306,130
• Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) $1,269,486
• Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) $1,267,139
• Mike Braun (Indiana) $1,249,967
• John Thune (South Dakota) $638,942
• Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) $341,738
• Richard Shelby (Alabama) $258,514
• Chuck Grassley (Iowa) $226,007
• John Neely Kennedy (Louisiana) $215,788
• Ted Cruz (Texas) $176,274
• Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) $146,262
• Steve Daines (Montana) $123,711
• Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) $109,547
• Roger Wicker (Mississippi) $106,680
• Rand Paul (Kentucky) $104,456
• Mike Rounds (South Dakota) $95,049
• John Boozman (Arkansas) $82,352
• John Cornyn (Texas) $78,945
• Ben Sasse (Nebraska) $68,623
• Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma) $66,758
• Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) $55,961
• Mike Crapo (Idaho) $55,039
• Jerry Moran (Kansas) $34,718
• John Barrasso (Wyoming) $26,989
• John Hoeven (North Dakota) $22,050
• Susan Collins (Maine) $19,638
• James Lankford (Oklahoma) $18,955
• Jim Risch (Idaho) $18,850
• Tim Scott (South Carolina) $18,513
• Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) $13,255

        Of the most recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where nineteen elementary school children and two teachers were killed, here is what some of the above Republican Senators had to say:

​     Mitch McConnell: “Horrified and heartbroken by reports of the disgusting violence directed at innocent school kids in Uvalde, Texas. The entire country is praying for the children, families, teachers, and staff and the first responders on the scene.”
​

​ Marsha Blackburn: “Horrified and heartbroken to learn of the significant loss of life in the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Please join me in lifting their loved ones up in prayer. Thank you to the local first responders working on the scene.”
​

​Ron Johnson: “There are no adequate words to express the horror at Robb Elementary. “My sincere condolences to these families. Something this horrific, children being slaughtered in their school, it does not get worse than this."
​

  Ted Cruz: "Heidi and I are lifting up in prayer the entire Uvalde community during this devastating time and we mourn the lives that were taken by this act of evil."  
​
​

  Mitt Romney (who has raked in by far the most money from the NRA, over 13.6 million dollars): "Grief overwhelms the soul. Children slaughtered. Lives extinguished. Parents' hearts wrenched. Incomprehensible. I offer prayer and condolence but know that it is grossly inadequate. We must find answers."

       Mitt Romney is right. The drivel drenched in corn syrup that he and his fellow NRA money-addicted senators offered is grossly inadequate to the parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, spouses, friends, classmates, and acquaintances of the children and teachers who bled to death crying in terror on that classroom floor. And he's also right that we must find answers. 
        So I have one for him: 
       The problem of mass gun violence in this country is primarily a mental health problem. It's the mental sickness of massive greed among too many of our legislators fed by a crippling addiction to National Rifle Association money. These NRA money addicts may well feel deep sorrow over the death by gun shot wounds of the children and teachers in Texas and they may well be praying sincerely and fervently for the dead and the living. But they are addicts, and so have no choice but to keep in the good graces of their dealer, the gun industry, to be assured their fix. To an addict the fix comes first and foremost.
       And and so our greed-sickened, addicted members of Congress will sit tight and spout drivel and shuffle and tap dance and protect the gun industry until the outcry over this most recent mass shooting dies down and the public demand for gun law reform fades as it always does. Then they'll continue to block any laws that would prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands and they'll promote laws that will assure that more guns will be sold to anybody and everybody and more money will roll in for members of the gun industry and from the gun industry to them and God will be in His heaven and all will be right with the world.

      If we were a pro-life country, if we cared enough about the sanctity of life of our brothers and sisters from cradle to grave, we'd vote out of office the greed-afflicted, NRA money-addicted lawmakers.
         Sadly, for being  the richest country in the world, life here is cheap.

References:
1. ​https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3500861-majority-in-new-poll-favors-stricter-gun-control-measures/

2. https://www.newsweek.com/republican-senators-nra-funding-texas-school-shooting-uvalde-1710332