To Teach Kids, You Need A Background Check. To Kill Them, You Need A Credit Card.

I was going to tell you all about how I wore flip flops for the first time since September on my walk with the dog last night.  And how we saw so many dog friends on our walk, making for a very joyful puppy.  And how I moved all of my plant starts to the back deck to soak up direct sun for a few hours yesterday afternoon.  And how we saw sunshine ALL DAY for the first time in what feels like forever.  And how I was about 400% more productive yesterday just seeing that sunshine and the thermometer rise above 60 degrees.

But then I came home from my slow, sunshine-filled dog walk through town and turned on the news while I prepped dinner. 

And my mood shifted enormously.

I wish so badly that I didn't take things so personally in life.  But I do.  For better or worse (and there are times for both), it's just what makes me, me.

I about fell over (it was a seriously physical reaction) when I heard that the US Senate decided that they are apparently pro-dead babies and anti-gun control.  Heck, it wasn't even gun control.  It was some lame ass, wishy washy, can't grow a pair bill to have background checks.  For some sales, not even all of them.  Sales out of the trunk of your car or on the back porch would still be legal without a background check.

image

But no.  Those Senators looked those Newtown families in the face and said, "I believe in dead babies and the NRA, Amen."  In fact, it seems they think we are the United States of the National Rifle Association, instead of America.  The very same people who are all "right to life, right to life" are now all "but not your life because I need a gun from Walmart without so much as a pause, per the founders of the country who were pro semi-automatic weapons and of course, God."

It's easier to buy a gun than it is to be admitted to a hospital with a gun shot wound. @Pres_Bartlet

Disgraceful.  Disgusting.  Dishonorable.


A food blogger I greatly enjoy and respect, asked her followers to tweet examples of when a background check was required.  I found it completely fascinating.  So I'm sharing a few here...

@kitsyn I had to get a background check to adopt a dog.

‏@local_kitchen I had to get a background check to work as a temp secretary in an engineering firm. In 1987.

@mk_rodgers I had to have a background check to pick up Girl Scout cookies at a warehouse. Just pick up, no Scouts involved.

@terfle My students had to get background checks to film a travel video at public library.

@ShannonMcGinnis I had to get a background check to be a dog walker in Washington, DC. And to rent both of my recent apartments.

@MarriedWDinner I had to get a background check to edit a travel magazine.

@greemaui I had a background check done so I could be a hostess in a restaurant in WA.

@thirdmusket To work with kids you need a background check to kill them you just need a credit card.

And my personal favorite...

@susanhlanigan I had to get a background check to become a tour guide in New Orleans... to tell ghost stories to drunk tourists.


I am fired up, y'all!  I mean, I was hot under the collar with the wimpy skimpy bill to begin with.  And now...I've lost it.  I am just fuming.  Shocked and disgusted and screaming mad!  Ashamed!

As many of you know, I advised a group of collegian women for seven years.  And just when I thought I had heard it all, someone would come to me with a new twist on things.  Last year, I had several women quit because they didn't feel they should have rules.  But the best of the best was when one of them told me that she came to college to be an adult and not have any rules and had no plans to follow any rules in her adult years.  My jaw literally flopped open.  No rules?  Tell that to your professor and let me know how that flies.

Life is full of rules.  Checks and balances.  And of course consequences.  This is not a new concept. 

I have yet to hear a single moderately decent argument against background checks and weapon responsibility.  And trust me, I have had a hat in this debate for years.  It's one of my goats.  There is no good, moral or historical reason to support this no background checks so people are free to kill babies nonsense.  This is not about gun rights.  This is about human rights!

My personal saving grace is that I am blessed to live in the great state of New York!  God Bless you, Governor Cuomo, and your swift, sensible actions!  Can you believe i am actually praising my we-haven't-had-a-warm-day-in-seven-months state?

Have you ever had a background check?  I've had at least four that I can remember.  For both jobs and apartment rentals.  And they were not even fancy apartments.  Background checks are quick, cheap and painless.

My prayer is not for officials to lose a re-election.  Who has that kind of time to pray for that and then wait for it to happen?  Not I, said the fly.  My prayer is for officials to come to their damn senses to work towards ensuring safety and responsibility.