Dr. Rice for 2008
Hello all,
I read an article in Yahoo that I don't expect to see on the nightly news. It floored me and increased my already high respect and regard for Dr. Rice. I hope she decides to run for President in 2008, against Hillary Clinton.
I can't fathom what it would have been like to live at that place and time as a black person. I can't comprehend what it was like, my life experiences didn't and couldn't prepare my mind to wrap itself around that. I can only guess that it would be terrifying to have lived through that experience. I can only feel sorrow for those who suffered through it or died during it. I have only admiration and respect for the spirit of those who survived through it all and can share their experiences.
We must never allow such events to happen again. Please...
I recall my father-in-law telling me of the time when the Klan marched through Greene County, Ohio and the Blacks and Catholics (and anyone else who was different from them) were in danger of what violence they would do. I recall as a child in the early 60's (I was born in 1953) when I delivered papers, I saw the Klan mentioned regularly on the front pages. And little was done to stop them. I never saw them, but I hear of their activities and I wondered how such people could be permitted to commit illegal acts against other citizens. And I felt bad for these people who were terrorized and killed. It shouldn't have happened. It should never happen again.
So, I look at the current political situation and try to put it in context. Because I can see the potential for similar events, where people need to band together for the protection of their family and neighbors.
And the government can't or won't raise a finger to help. Just like in the early 60's.
I can only interpret that the people who are fighting against our right to bear arms are arguing that these people, that Dr. Rice tells us of, 'shouldn't' have the right to defend themselves. Is this what they are saying? I would like to hear them argue their point.
It is the extreme left that wants to disarm us and make it impossible for law abiding citizens to defend themselves. It is a mystery to me, that it is the people who suffered the most during the civil rights movement, still support the very people who want to disarm all of us. I don't understand that and I suppose I never will.
We all want peace, but we also want to protect our family and friends from violence.
She said: "If local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves."
Think about that.
Cal
Please read:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050512/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice_guns_1
Rice: Gun Rights Important As Free Speech
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic WriterWed May 11, 9:13 PM ET
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and religion.
In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defended the black community in Birmingham, Ala., against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves.
Birmingham, where Rice was born in 1954, was a focal point of racial tension. Four black girls were killed when a bomb exploded at a Birmingham church in 1963, a galvanizing moment in the fight for civil rights.
Rice said she favored background checks and controls at gun shows. However, she added, "we have to be very careful when we start abridging rights that the Founding Fathers thought very important."
Rice said the Founding Fathers understood "there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Ala., when, in fact, the police weren't going to protect you."
"I also don't think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution," she said in the interview, which was taped for airing Wednesday night. "The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment."
The First Amendment protects religious, press and speech freedoms as well as the rights to assemble and petition the government. The Second Amendment guarantees "a well-regulated militia" and "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Gun-rights supporters and those who favor gun control disagree over whether the amendment guarantees individual gun ownership.
I read an article in Yahoo that I don't expect to see on the nightly news. It floored me and increased my already high respect and regard for Dr. Rice. I hope she decides to run for President in 2008, against Hillary Clinton.
I can't fathom what it would have been like to live at that place and time as a black person. I can't comprehend what it was like, my life experiences didn't and couldn't prepare my mind to wrap itself around that. I can only guess that it would be terrifying to have lived through that experience. I can only feel sorrow for those who suffered through it or died during it. I have only admiration and respect for the spirit of those who survived through it all and can share their experiences.
We must never allow such events to happen again. Please...
I recall my father-in-law telling me of the time when the Klan marched through Greene County, Ohio and the Blacks and Catholics (and anyone else who was different from them) were in danger of what violence they would do. I recall as a child in the early 60's (I was born in 1953) when I delivered papers, I saw the Klan mentioned regularly on the front pages. And little was done to stop them. I never saw them, but I hear of their activities and I wondered how such people could be permitted to commit illegal acts against other citizens. And I felt bad for these people who were terrorized and killed. It shouldn't have happened. It should never happen again.
So, I look at the current political situation and try to put it in context. Because I can see the potential for similar events, where people need to band together for the protection of their family and neighbors.
And the government can't or won't raise a finger to help. Just like in the early 60's.
I can only interpret that the people who are fighting against our right to bear arms are arguing that these people, that Dr. Rice tells us of, 'shouldn't' have the right to defend themselves. Is this what they are saying? I would like to hear them argue their point.
It is the extreme left that wants to disarm us and make it impossible for law abiding citizens to defend themselves. It is a mystery to me, that it is the people who suffered the most during the civil rights movement, still support the very people who want to disarm all of us. I don't understand that and I suppose I never will.
We all want peace, but we also want to protect our family and friends from violence.
She said: "If local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves."
Think about that.
Cal
Please read:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050512/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice_guns_1
Rice: Gun Rights Important As Free Speech
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic WriterWed May 11, 9:13 PM ET
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and religion.
In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defended the black community in Birmingham, Ala., against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves.
Birmingham, where Rice was born in 1954, was a focal point of racial tension. Four black girls were killed when a bomb exploded at a Birmingham church in 1963, a galvanizing moment in the fight for civil rights.
Rice said she favored background checks and controls at gun shows. However, she added, "we have to be very careful when we start abridging rights that the Founding Fathers thought very important."
Rice said the Founding Fathers understood "there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Ala., when, in fact, the police weren't going to protect you."
"I also don't think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution," she said in the interview, which was taped for airing Wednesday night. "The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment."
The First Amendment protects religious, press and speech freedoms as well as the rights to assemble and petition the government. The Second Amendment guarantees "a well-regulated militia" and "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Gun-rights supporters and those who favor gun control disagree over whether the amendment guarantees individual gun ownership.
posted by Cal Westray @ 1:15 PM
2 comments
