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The Middle Way

~ A journey between extremes

The Middle Way

Monthly Archives: February 2018

WE NEED TO MAKE SENSE OF GUNS!

25 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by themiddlewaythrough in Change, Compassion, Conspiracies, Dingleberries, Emotional Intelligence, Guns, Hate, Making Sense of Guns, Middle Way, Open mind, Patriotism, Politics, Terrorism

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https://momsdemandaction.org

This post is inspired by Moms Demand Action https://momsdemandaction.org


The Middle Way was originally started as a record of my own efforts to seek, and learn the middle way. I have been searching for that way ever since. I can no longer ignore a very strong pull I have to helping foster this debate. We must moderate the extremes, for a house divided against itself cannot stand.

One topic that I have tackled a few times, and it’s one I feel passionate about, is the topic guns in America. I believe that there is a way for us to find the middle way on guns, and I believe the time to honestly try is now! We need to make sense of guns. We need to help our children, the same children who are leading us now. They need our help.

The NRA and its extreme right-wing stance on guns has hardened in recent years. They no longer resemble the well meaning group of hunters, and safety advocates I was introduced to in my youth. They staked their battle position decades ago, and America is waking up to that fact. They have circled their wagons around the Second Amendment, even at the expense of the remaining Constitution.

The far left is just as stuck in their opinions. Guns can be a wonderful tool. They can help feed your family, and help protect themselves from real danger. However, with consideration to our country’s founding, not something we should throw out with the bath water.

We need to talk while it is in the forefront of everyone’s consciousness. Yes, American have the right to protect themselves, that is at the heart of the Second Amendment. But the very idea of needing to defend ourselves from those obsessed with the same, is absolutely nuts.

The sinister vision of every American carrying a loaded weapon, will only end in a circular firing squad. The same love that drives that need to protect, now needs to be extended to those we are told to fear.

Please pass this on. Come here with ideas. Treat each other fairly while doing it though. Remember, you can’t change a person’s beliefs, but you can help them see yours. Listen to them, so they will listen to you. Only then can we come together. This blog is a semi-public forum. While it is moderated, it is not censored. I am opening it up for this talk. Copy and paste. Post and Tweet. Share if you can. Let’s come together.

Thank you,

The Middle Way

Here goes…

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by themiddlewaythrough in Change, Conspiracies, Dingleberries, Emotional Intelligence, Guns, Hate, Indivisible, Kids, Love, Memorial, Mental Health, Middle Way, Patriotism, Politics, Revolution, Terrorism, Trump-Hole

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I have started about two dozen posts about this latest shooting, but have published none, because the story keeps morphing. It started as the horrible tragedy that is yet another school shooting. And as the story started to emerge, it became clear that there was something different.

The idea that people had contacted the police, and the FBI on this shooter long before he acted, showed just how broken the system is. Add to that the fact that the shooter himself flat out told people that he actually aspired to be a school shooter… well, that simply shows the desensitization that we’ve all gone through.

Of course, somewhere in the middle of the whole thing, the President of the United States actually tried to make the story about him. That’s a first. But, then he made what is probably the most toothless political gesture, banning bump stocks. I mean, aside from the fact that this shooting didn’t even involve the use of bump stocks, but bump stocks aren’t even a weapon. Of course the NRA is staying quiet, so far the plan is working!

And then there are the students…

They are the reason that this story hasn’t ended, and won’t end, any time soon. They are the something different that has been needed in these stories for a long time. There have always been survivors and families who have made gun control their life’s work after events like this. So why is this different? Just ask any marketing person how difficult it is to predict when teenagers will suddenly connect with something; a fashion, some slang, a technology, or even a cause. Because once that barrier has been crossed, whatever it is will catch on in ways no one can control, or predict.

Now that the protest are beginning, we need to keep watch as the threats to young people grow. The NRA and its lackeys will not play fair (“they’re all actors!”) in their pursuit of war machines. And they will not care if their targets are minors. Some school districts are threatening suspension, while others are giving out civics credits for it.

Despite everything that the NRA and many of its financial recipients will tell you is that isn’t about “coming to get your guns”. It’s about the difference between rational (“I have a couple couple rifles and a shotgun for hunting.”), and obsessive (“Obama is a black gay Muslim socialist! I need a couple extra AR-15’s to store in my shelter with my canned goods, and my tinfoil hat!”)

And it’s about the end of all of the ridiculous excuses. There are people with mental illnesses in every country in the world, so why don’t they have mass shootings all the time. No one tells you it’s not a good time to talk about hand washing because it’s “not the time” to talk about it, because it’s insensitive for all the people who have recently died of the flu. Every one of those excuses is designed to play upon our morality. Think about that… Every tactic is made to play upon your humanity!

That’s what we are dealing with. People who will not give an inch, don’t care about bloodshed, and will use morality in the name of the immoral. Let’s see what happens when they go up against youth, optimism and the sheer force of adolescent willpower.

“What are you looking at, Butthead?!”

03 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by themiddlewaythrough in Clowns, Dingleberries, Emotional Intelligence, Middle Way, Politics, Quantum, Trump-Hole

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After a really long, and stressful day, I wanted to watch something mindless and funny. It had been a while since I’d seen Back To The Future, it fit the bill, so I kicked back and put it on. Forget about the political crap at work. Who cares about the stupid Nunes memo.

And man, Huey Lewis was the epitome of 80’s music, huh?

Anyway, so there I am, watching this inconsequentially mindless movie, taking a momentary break from reality, when I see him… Donald Trump, again.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, a few years ago, Back To The Future writer, Bob Gale, confirmed that his inspiration for one of the all-time perfect movie ‘bullies‘, Biff from Back To The Future, was in fact Donald Trump.

So, again, the Mango Mussolini ends up on my TV screen. But not even the real one this time. No. Instead, I get the bad caricature of Donald Trump. The overly amplified parts; the bad hair combover, the condescending attitude, the insulting of anyone, and the treating of everyone like crap.

Seriously?! why? Why? WHY?! Why would anyone vote for someone like this? I mean Jesus Christ, Trump is such a heinous person that he was easily immortalized as the ultimate high school douchebag in the movies!

“Hello, hello, anybody home? Think, Nunes, think. I gotta have time to get this retyped. Do you realize what would happen if I release the memo in your handwriting? I’ll get impeached. You wouldn’t want that to happen would you? Would you?”

No, Donald. Not at All.

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