[Rhodes22-list] Politics

[Steve Alm]

Roger,

Generally, my friends and neighbors are pretty sober but I go to work in a
nightclub/bar. Saturday nights always get pretty wild.
Slim

On 10/30/02 5:13 PM, "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net> wrote:

> Steve,
> 
> By golly you're right, I did type "Citizenship In The World" twice, didn't
> I?  Spelled it perfectly too, so the spell checker didn't catch it.  Yes,
> that 3rd required merit badge should have been Citizenship In The Community.
> 
> I don't routinely carry a gun either.  But, maybe if we all did there would
> be more common courtesy & respectful behavior out there on the street!  Just
> kidding, ha ha.  In the case of the sniper, with their custom-made concealed
> shooting platform in the trunk of their car, it wouldn't have mattered if
> everyone on the street had been packing guns because nobody saw them.  I
> understand they somehow circumvented the gun purchase background security
> check laws by purchasing the gun under the table from an unscrupulous gun
> dealer in Washington state.  Does anyone really believe that crooks are
> going to obey the law or not attempt to find ways around the law?  I live
> out in a rural area near a small Midwestern town.  If I lived & worked in a
> big city where there was a lot more gang activity & street crime, I might
> consider obtaining a concealed carry permit & carrying a handgun.
> 
> I'd have to get a different handgun though.  I have a Beretta 96FS chambered
> in 0.40 S&W.  It's great fun to shoot, but this is a full size semiautomatic
> pistol.  It's a little too large to conveniently carry in a briefcase or a
> shoulder holster & probably makes the wrong fashion statement if worn on the
> hip!
> 
> How many drunk people do you routinely encounter where you live?  In the
> circles I move in, a drunk is pretty rare, except perhaps on New Years Eve.
> 
> Roger
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Alm" <salm@mn.rr.com>
> To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 4:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Politics
> 
> 
>> Roger,
>> 
>> I earned those merit badges too and by the way, you mistyped--the third
> one
>> is Citizenship In The Community.  I'm well aware that there are many more
>> issues at stake here than just the schools, the Arts and the guns.
> Perhaps
>> my sarcasm mislead you--I'm not at all anti-gun and I'm a pretty good shot
>> myself.  It's just hard for me to imagine going to work with a tidy little
>> nickel plated .32 tucked in my waistband.
>> 
>> It's fine and good to rhapsodize about our nation on the grand scale but
>> let's bring it down to street-level.  As much as I like the old Western
>> movies, I really don't want a bunch of drunken pistoleros in the saloons
>> where I'm just playing the piano.  I hear a lot of rhetoric about
>> responsible, law-abiding citizens vs. the criminals.  The reality is that
>> people just don't fall neatly into those two categories.
>> 
>> Slim
>> 
>> On 10/30/02 7:39 AM, "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> Steve,
>>> 
>>> As one of the requirements to earn their Eagle Scout rank, Scouts must
> earn
>>> 21 merit badges, of which 11 are required.  Three of these 11 required
> merit
>>> badges have to do with citizenship; Citizenship In The World,
> Citizenship In
>>> The Nation, & Citizenship In The World.  Over the years I've been an
> adult
>>> leader, I've taught all three citizenship merit badges several times
> each.
>>> 
>>> When I teach the Citizenship In The Nation merit badge, we have a
> detailed
>>> discussion of the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill Of Rights.  Many
> of
>>> my Scouts come from antigun families & just as many come from families
> that
>>> are active hunters.  So, the discussion on the 2nd Amendment usually
> gets
>>> pretty spirited!
>>> 
>>> We talk about the abuses in England and other parts of Europe in the
> 17th &
>>> 18th centuries vs. conditions in the new world that led up to the
>>> incorporation of the 2nd Amendment.  We talk about the important Supreme
>>> Court decisions which have interpreted the 2nd Amendment over the years.
>>> 
>>> Certainly, there are a lot of downsides to having such easy gun access
> in
>>> this country, particularly these days when guns have gotten so reliable,
>>> lethal, easy to conceal, & simple to use.  However, I make the point to
> my
>>> Scouts that the 2nd Amendment is really the ultimate safeguard over all
> the
>>> other liberties spelled out in the U.S. Constitution.  With only a few
>>> remarkable exceptions like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and
> Abraham
>>> Lincoln; any politician seeking the power of public office is
> intrinsically
>>> not to be trusted with it.  No matter what the politician says during
> the
>>> election campaign, it is very difficult to know how they will actually
> act
>>> once they get elected.  The 3 stellar political examples I cited above
> only
>>> get that accolade based upon the judgment of history.  The ballet box is
> a
>>> very weak deterrent on the abuse of power.  But, having an entire
> population
>>> armed to the teeth automatically precludes the worst excesses of any
>>> politician's greed or extreme political ideas from being enacted into
> law.
>>> The 2nd Amendment is the final guarantee that government will be by the
>>> consent of the governed.  This is all without firing a shot.
>>> 
>>> Anyone who claims we have gotten so civilized and so sophisticated that
> we
>>> don't need the 2nd Amendment anymore is either naive or has frustrated
>>> ambitions of power.  The safeguards which the 2nd Amendment provides for
> all
>>> the other liberties spelled out in the U.S. Constitution make the
> casualties
>>> worth the cost.
>>> 
>>> I get a lot of angry phone calls from antigun parents.  But, I never
> back
>>> down from my position & point out that their sons have a right to hear
>>> cogent arguements on both sides of the issue.  I never tell my Scouts
> what
>>> to think.  James Madison made such an eloquent original case that I
> don't
>>> have to.  So far, none of my Scouts have been forced to quit over this
>>> issue, but there have been a couple of very close calls.
>>> 
>>> By the way, I also teach the Rifle & Shotgun Shooting merit badges.
> These
>>> merit badges are all about gun & hunting safety. Both merit badges have
>>> challenging shooting tests with a minimum required score in order to
> earn
>>> the badge.  Each of my sons have both merit badges & both are are
> excellent
>>> shots.  They are also both very good with a handgun.
>>> 
>>> Despite Daniel & Gary's expertice and gun safety training, all of our
> guns &
>>> ammunition are locked up in a gun safe.  My wife & I have the only keys.
>>> 
>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Steve Alm" <salm@mn.rr.com>
>>> To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 4:43 AM
>>> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Politics
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> First let me say that I have a profound distrust in all politicians
> from
>>>> left to right.  They all have hidden agendas like keeping their jobs,
>>>> wielding their power and controlling the money.  I realize how cynical
>>> this
>>>> sounds but the laws that are passed in this country have less to do
> with
>>> the
>>>> issues and more to do with "politicking."
>>>> 
>>>> In the past, I've gone to the polls voting for whom I think is the best
>>> for
>>>> the country, state, or city.  But who am I to say what's best for
> everyone
>>>> else?  These days I go to the polls and vote for what's best for my own
>>>> household. Since my wife and I are both teachers and performing
> artists, I
>>>> have to ask what the conservatives have done for (to) me lately.  Well,
> I
>>>> guess I'll get to keep my firearms, so if anybody wants to shoot the
> piano
>>>> player,  I just might shoot back...and I suppose that should make me
> feel
>>>> better about America.  Maybe I'll even get to right off the bullets.
>>>> 
>>>> True, while Mohammed and Salvo were out sniping, we didn't hear many
>>> stories
>>>> about other murders.  I doubt that many of you could name, off the top
> of
>>>> your heads, a single murder victim in Los Angeles in the whole decade
> of
>>> the
>>>> nineties besides the two that were killed at a certain Brentwood
> estate.
>>> I
>>>> didn't hear anything about tighter knife-control then.  I think this
> all
>>>> says a lot less about the law and a lot more about the media.  I want
> to
>>>> vote out the incumbent TV producers!
>>>> 
>>>> Slim
>>>> 
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>>> 
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