February 19, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

Shocker: No background checks = More gun deaths

In a finding that surprised absolutely no one with any common sense, Missouri’s homicide rate rose 23% since they got rid of background checks in order to purchase a gun.

This does not correlate with a similar rise nation-wide or with neighboring states.

It did, however, affect the neighboring states, as criminals went to Missouri to bring back guns and cause more crimes in the surrounding states. (The little map to the side shows how many guns were used in crimes in other states that could be traced back to Missouri.)

You know, I could go into a big editorial here, but what’s the point? You and I know that background checks are good; this study from Johns Hopkins confirms it; other studies have found the same thing; and 92% of Americans and 85% of NRA members think it’s a good idea.

But the gun lobby (which owns the NRA) gets their way, and the paranoid gun fetishists among us scream loud enough to drown out the voices of reason.

So more criminals with guns = freedom. Hey, just like in Syria!

Editorial cartoon: Dignity of Work

February 18, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

As if facts mattered…

Next time your conservative friend talks about how much Obama has destroyed the economy, point out:

The Dow was at 7,949 when Obama took office. It’s now at 16,130.* Under Obama, the Dow keeps setting new records.

Unemployment was at 7.8%. It’s now at 6.6%.

GDP growth is harder to quantify. I am not sure where the image here got its numbers. From what I can tell, it averaged around negative 3.1 under the last year of Bush and has averaged around 1.7 under Obama. Not great numbers, but certainly an improvement. (There was one quarter where it was 4.1% but using the best number and ignoring the others is misleading.)

The fiscal deficit, which is the gap between expenditure and revenue, was at 9.8% of the GDP under Bush, and was 4.9% for last year.

Consumer confidence under Bush was at 40.0% when Obama took over. It is now at 80.7%.

So anyone who tells you things are going downhill is just plain wrong.

Then again, anyone who tells you were are doing great is also just plain wrong. Almost all of that economic gain has gone to the 1%. The rest of us are still floundering, and the middle class is dying. Unemployment is still too high and wages are still too low. And the debt keeps rising.

Bottom line: Obama is not destroying the economy. You’re thinking of Bush. However, he has not solved everything either, so Obama supporters who try to sugar coat things are exaggerating.

Had the Republicans passed a jobs bill, maybe we would be in better shape. Our infrastructure is falling apart, and we could be hiring millions of people to fix roads and bridges for a fraction of what we give away to the 1% in tax breaks and subsidies they don’t need. Investing in people as well as our infrastructure is wise and pays off dividends in the long run. If we had a Republican President, there is no doubt in my mind we would be doing this now. However, the Republicans have repeatedly said that they will stand in the way of anything Obama wants. They don’t want him to claim successes for anything. The interests of the party outweigh the country’s needs, after all.

That’s the real economic scandal.

* all numbers are as of February 18, 2013, updated from the illustration accompanying this, to the best of my ability. (Some sources were difficult to interpret and I am not an economist.)

Editorial cartoon: The tidal wave

February 17, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

Happy Anniversary Ventrella Quest!

A year ago, I decided to start this blog so that I can discuss politics and society and stuff (a) without clogging up my Facebook page with debates; and (b) so that the debates can be searched and can last longer than a Facebook debate.

It’s done really well on the second part, but people still prefer to debate on Facebook than here. Go figure.

The first post of this blog was about Constitutional Fundamentalists — people who interpret the Constitution in the same way religious fundamentalists interpret the Bible: “There is only one right interpretation, I know what it is, and it matches my own viewpoint exactly!” This has continued to be a theme on this blog.

The blog has had over 40,000 hits over the year. That’s not 40,000 people, but it’s still nice to see. It averages out to about 100 hits a day. Some posts have gotten a lot more exposure than others, especially when you share them (use the “share” buttons below!). My post about the Atheist monument had over 1000 hits one day, mostly because American Atheist President David Silverman shared it (Thanks, David!). The one about the Westboro Baptist Church still gets hits, and I am still wondering if the Fred Phelps who responded in the comments is the real Fred Phelps.

The few posts I have done about the Beatles have generated some hits as well due to search engines, but my favorite is still the post I did about how the anti-gay marriage advocates always use animals as their slippery slope argument. I called it “Sex with Animals” knowing it would get some attention. I still laugh when I imagine people who search for that and end up on that page.

So thanks to all of you who read this and comment and share!

Editorial cartoon: How to Discern an Innocent Gesture from a Gang Sign

February 16, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

Florida is crazy

So Michael Dunn gets upset at some kids playing what he calls “thug music” (that means “black” for those of you keeping score). He walks back to his car, gets his gun, and shoots them. Then he calmly goes back to his room, orders a pizza, and doesn’t call the police.

Yesterday, a jury in Florida found him guilty of attempted murder on all the kids who were in the car that he didn’t kill. They were deadlocked on Jordan Davis, the kid who was actually murdered, whose 19th birthday would have been today. There was at least one person on the jury who believed Dunn’s incredible story that he was “scared” and that Jordan had a gun (which was contradicted by every other witness).

Even if Jordan had a gun, Dunn was the one who walked up to the car with his gun first, looking for a fight.

Hey, this sounds familiar. Wasn’t it George Zimmerman who, with a gun, chased down Treyvon Martin and then shot him when Martin didn’t like having a gun pointed at him?

At least one juror on the Dunn trial still believes that this is absolutely fine.

Dunn himself was astounded by the verdict — as are some gun advocates who apparently interpret Florida’s crazy “Stand Your Ground” law to mean “Shoot whoever bugs you.” Dunn, being an unapologetic racist (although he prefers to refer to himself as “prejudiced”), thinks that the world would be better “if more people would arm themselves and kill these **** idiots.” I am not making this up. These quotes are from letters he wrote from jail. Somehow, these letters were kept out of the trial, even though they seem absolutely relevant to show his mindset and to counter his claim that this was in self-defense. I wonder if the result would have been different otherwise.

Anyway, what also surprises me about this verdict is that Florida allowed a conviction and a mistrial in the same verdict. I’ve never seen such a thing before. I guess that means they can retry him on the murder charge and the other charges stick (assuming they’re not thrown out on appeal).

Florida is crazy.

Editorial cartoon: Ground beef

February 15, 2014 by Michael A. Ventrella

The Mommy and Daddy parties

Republicans are the Daddy party, and Democrats are the Mommy party.

If you read enough about politics, you’ve heard this before. The Daddy party represents “power” and the Mommy party represents “warmth.”

Daddy provides for our safety, protecting us against the evil outside our door. He teaches us to be independent and strong, and to fight when things don’t go your way.

Mommy worries about our comfort. She tries to get everyone to get along and solve their problems without fighting. She makes sure everyone wears their sweaters, does their homework, and doesn’t go hungry.

These are, of course, gross simplifications but somewhat revealing. Democrats believe we are all part of a family and we need to take care of each other; Republicans believe that you advance by being independent and self-reliant.

Neither of these viewpoints is wrong. It’s just how you personally see yourself, society, and government. And if the parties adhere to these roles, we can have reasonable debate.

The problem lately is Daddy. Daddy is no longer the reliable, strong independent leader — he now lies and deceives to get his way. Instead of reasonably debating where we should go, he beats up the family until he gets his way (“Do what I say or I’ll shut down the government!”). And then when he doesn’t get his way, he has a temper tantrum. (“Fine! Then I will block every bill in Congress even if it benefits us all.”) He’s willing to hurt the family for his own selfish goals.

Having a Mommy party and a Daddy party is not a bad thing. But as columnist Josh Barrow points out, we now have a Mommy party and an “Abusive-Ex-husband-With-a-Substance-Abuse-Problem party.”