Saturday Reads 4/20/13 - American Exceptionalism - Good and Bad!

Mike Lux at Crooks and Liars writes about Elizabeth Warren's first speech on the floor of the Senate, which honored the memory of those who lost their lives, as well as, those who provided aid to the victims. Like Mike says the speech demonstrates, why we love, Elizabeth Warren. So take the time and watch!


American Exceptionalism -- The Good Kind

When I think of Elizabeth Warren, I think of her as a fiery warrior on behalf of consumers and the 99%, fearlessly taking on the biggest and baddest of all the special interests, Wall Street. But she is also the senior Senator from the great state Massachusetts, and her first speech on the floor of the Senate was not on any economic issue, but on the terrorism at the Boston Marathon. It was a beautiful speech, well worth taking the time to read or view below. While on one level, it was the classic kind of post-tragedy speech you would expect from a politician who represents the place the terrible events happened, full of praise for the courage and resolve of her home state’s people, she did something more with the speech which reminded me of why I love her: She talked about the value of community, about our responsibility for each other. She used one of my all-time favorite quotes, from early Pilgrim John Winthrop. Winthrop is most famous for his “City on a Hill” speech, which has inspired many Americans with its idea of American exceptionalism. But for Winthrop, this new land would only be exceptional, would only be blessed by God, if we looked out for each other, if we were our brothers and sisters’ keepers. Continue Reading

While Joe Conason at Truthdig may just point out, American Exceptionalism, the bad Kind??

Protecting the ‘Second Amendment Rights’ of Thugs and Terrorists  

What can Americans learn from the bitter debate over the gun reform bill? Perhaps the most obvious lesson is that the leadership of the National Rifle Association, the Gun Owners of America and their tame Republican politicians have all earned an epithet of derision they used to hurl regularly at liberals. Yes, the gun lobby and its legislative servants are “soft on crime”—although they routinely pretend to be tough on criminals. Continue Reading

Finally Gabby Gifford's Op-Ed piece in the New York Times where she strikes out at the Republicans who blocked the compromise bill in the Senate for sensible universal background checks. Many of us watch a visibly furious President let his feelings be known after the vote, but I think Gabby Giffords comments are even more to the point considering all that she has had to endure over the last two years!

A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip

SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.

On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms — a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count. Continue Reading