In Search of Mar-a-Lago
In my previous post from long ago, I mentioned we had bought a seasonal home in Florida.
Boy, has it been nice spending this particular winter here rather than there. Four Nor’easters. In March. That I have experienced only via the television and social media.
Since I’ve been down here, I’ve been filling my time with activities you probably don’t want to hear about. Such as shopping for the perfect soap dispenser. This has proven to be quite challenging, and I have yet to succeed.
However, I’m still paying attention to what is happening. And, of course, violence perpetrated with the use of guns weighs heavily on my mind. As I know it does yours.
Now, I’m a big fan of the Constitution. I’ve thought for a long time that those who wrote it were brilliant. I even like the 2nd amendment, and I agree people should have the right to bear arms. And we have to be careful about slippery slopes with respect to people’s rights. I get it.
That’s where our legislators are supposed to step in. Their job is to take a close look at the problem and work towards a constitutional solution to protect ALL rights through smart legislation.
But they aren’t doing their job.
We have a problem, and it’s not being addressed by our legislators.
For example, did you know there is a federal law that specifies the Center for Disease Control and Protection cannot conduct research intended to bolster gun control advocacy? And another that stops the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from sharing information about gun stores that have records of selling firearms that wind up in crime scenes? (See this Boston Globe article.) Our opioid epidemic is being fought, in part, through research and data analysis. Why shouldn’t we be doing the same thing with this epidemic?
Just as legislators are supposed to legislate on behalf of their constituents, do you know what our job is? To let them know what we think as their constituents.
That’s why students exercised another of those important amendments – the First – and marched on Saturday. They were doing their job.
How can anyone have a problem with that? How can anyone attempt to bully them by calling them names? Or tweeting out doctored photos? Or critiquing their appearance?
I marched with them. In West Palm. Where Trump was golfing.
We got as close to Mar-a-Lago as we were allowed. We were hoping that Trump would drive by on his way back from golfing, but no such luck.
While we never reached our destination, sometimes it’s all about the journey. What a fun day. The turnout was much bigger than expected, and the students were thrilled by that. They had a right to be proud. Their speeches were quite emotional as was the entire day. It was so encouraging to see them up there in front of those crowds. The future is bright when I look at them.
That day, they let Marco Rubio and other legislators know what they thought. It’s up to the legislators to take that under advisement.
If they don’t, the students had another big message that prevailed throughout the day:
Postcards to Voters
I can’t wait for November.
And my vote won’t be going towards anyone who says it is too early to talk about this problem. Or who proposes asinine solutions such as arming teachers or having students be ready to perform CPR.
I want legislators who will start talking and who will come up with real solutions.
