Protest

Haven't taken many photos recently, given inclement weather and being occupied with family maelstroms... So last Sunday was a much needed photo op, as I and Robin braved frigid (though uncharacteristically sunny!) weather to join over a thousand Seattleites on a march and rally in memory of the butchered children and teachers of Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

It was redolent of the peace marches I participated in during the 60s - signs and costumes, kids and dogs and grandmas. There were singers, speechifiers, politicians, and interdenominational clergy, as well as the mayor and the head of the teachers' union.

Lurking among those protesting the inexcusably unfettered availability of pure killing machines were a handful of anti-protestors who by and large think that their own paranoid male fantasies trump the health and welfare of 297,000,000 other Americans. Insensitive and arrogant of them to flaunt their personal weapons at such a somber occasion. The black shirt is a telling touch, don't you think?

They seem to believe that if we all carry these (and larger) weapons at all times, we will all be safer. In that event, we would become accustomed to the site of blue steel. How, then, would we be able to tell which of the myriad gun-toters around us might be the psycho about to open fire on the crowd? What's to say that having access to such power at everyone's hips would not tempt those who otherwise might tamp down their frustrations to simply satisfy their flash of anger with the flash from a gun barrel?

American society contains large swathes (though fortunately not a majority) of sick, sick people. Some of them already have sizable arsenals. I am far more afraid of their agenda than of the "tyranny" they claim to be preparing to resist. We must prevent any more of these "weapons of mass destruction" from entering the populus. We're better than that.

The following two photos of "law-abiding Americans" are courtesy of my friend Kathleen Atkins. You can see more of her photography on Etsy.  

(This ignoramus has a slight "understanding" problem himself: Having bare arms is not  constitutionally protected.)

And the next four are courtesy of my friend Al Garman. You can see more of his rally shots on Flickr.

I was pleased by President Obama's speech today (1/16) as well as the one following the school Connecticut shooting. Here's hoping Congress can get their act together to follow through on his proposals without any more shameful politicking.