Can I kick it? No, you can't.

Like most reasonable Americans, I usually watch The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. I was watching Jon Stewart talk about NY Congressman, Peter King, and the hearings that are being held to investigate the radicalization of Muslims in the US. Aside from the fact that these types of spectacles tend to cause the thing they claim to wish to prevent, Stewart looked into King's long time support of the Irish Republican Army, a group which has been on America's list of terrorist organizations for decades.

King's response? The IRA never carried out attacks on US soil, and his only loyalty is to the United States.

So, I guess that those civilians blown up in Harrod's in London in 1983 weren't killed by terrorism. They all died of blunt natural forces complicated by not being American.

But I don't really want to talk about Peter King. I want to look more at what how people like him can say one thing, and do pretty much the exact opposite without ever appearing to notice the contradiction.

It's the disconnect that bothers me. I understand in some cases, like Clarence Thomas, it's about money, and at least I get the impulse. Gingrich? I don't think he's an immoral man. Gingrich is amoral. That's a different animal altogether.

But how does he do it? And how do people who work hard just to keep a roof over their heads cry so loud to defend the bonuses of hedge fund managers while decrying the health benefits of teachers?

It's irrationality. And I've become exhausted trying to talk to crazy people in a rational tone of voice. The imbalance is glaring, and this kind of imbalance cannot occur in nature without repercussions. I want to help.

Liberals? This is what you need to do:

Arm yourselves.

You are not respected by conservatives, because they have guns, and you do not. You are weak, and everyone knows it. You need to get guns, you need to get trained on how to use them.

Then you need to start showing up at political rallies with them strapped to your hip, just like Real Americans.™

Conservatives don't want to hear your arguments, they aren't interested in logic or rationality. They understand brute force, and they understand fear. You do not currently register on their radar as anything which needs acknowledgment, which is why it is so easy for your point of view to be dismissed, even on the rare occasion where it's heard.

Go to gun shows and pawn shops. Buy handguns, rifles, shotguns and machine guns. The fight you're in isn't a fair fight, and your opponent knows it.

Now, you don't have to start shooting people, although you're certainly welcome to return fire. The point is, until the irrational people understand that you are properly equipped to play their game, your point of view holds no standing. You wouldn't reason with a charging grizzly bear, even if your treatise on why he'd be better off eating something else is well-thought out and incredibly persuasive.

I am imagining the massive rallies in Madison, but with thousands of the protesters sporting sidearms. I adore the irony of streets full of anti-war activists, with legally purchased rifles on their shoulders. I absolutely want to see a march for marriage equality populated by armed citizenry.

Trust me, the first time a few thousand peaceful but armed black folks show up someplace for some political cause, even the most disconnected will begin to wonder if the gun laws aren't a bit too liberal.

I understand an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but this isn't about shooting someone's eye out. This is about simply getting the eyes open, where they may at least have a chance to catch a glimpse of reality.

Saturday, March 12, 2011