Thursday, March 28, 2024

Many activists ready to surf the Big Blue Wave

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Now, after we have witnessed one of the largest mass coordinated marches in American history last weekend, it is time to say Democrats are suddenly the recipients of several million new voters and future activists vis-a-vis gun issues.
I couldn't be happier and prouder of the students exercising their rights of free speech. Whether I agree with all of their ideas is another matter. I do agree that we, the so-called adults, have failed to keep them safe in schools.
That is why I believe the 18-45 age group will make the difference as to if this Democratic Blue Wave actually does take the nation by storm surge this November.
I picked that age bracket because it would include all 18-year-olds and most of their parents and teachers that are involved in the anti-NRA, anti-assault weapon picketing.
For perhaps the first time in American history, the youngest voters, that would be high school kids and their big brothers and sisters, the Millennials and their supporters, can actually vote in a larger block than Baby Boomers.
How can anyone blame them for wanting to end their own slaughter?
Even a cop that was supposed to protect them in Florida ran for cover. I am 100% pro-police, but it seems to me he should be stripped of his pension and criminally charged with dereliction of duty.
What's the point of hiring school safety officers unless they take their jobs seriously and get in there and stalk and kill those who are killing our kids?
I am not a macho maniac, but that's the job bud, you enlisted for it so then do it. I want an officer at every school from K-12 and every college too. I want a metal detector and limited access to guns on the inside for certain qualified staff members.
Unfortunately what I want doesn't mean squat.
On the other hand, what these new, young activists want really does matter because they are our nation's future. Us older geezers better get out of their way. That demographic, if disciplined enough, can take over the political landscape for the next several decades.
For years we have not allowed kids to drink until 21, but we are quick to send them to war. I heard something on TV last weekend that made a lot of sense. One Muslim wannabe terrorist had a bomb in his shoe and ever since then millions of us have had to remove our shoes at airports. Yet we have had many school shootings and almost nothing has changed.
Chances are the "kids" mean exactly what they say and sing and chant and scream: Never again. They intend to push every candidate for every office to swear a solemn oath to put more and more restrictions on assault weapons and to not take money from the National Rifle Association.
Even here, in little Wenatchee, there was a private party at the Eagles Club last Saturday for Friends of the NRA, but are the local kids willing to cross mom and dad and vote "blue." Will the Democratic candidates have enough guts to state they are against assault weapons even in gun counties and states? They might. Will any Republicans do the same? I seriously doubt it.
Will the young stay home like most of us come voting day? That would be a shame. The real test is if they can maintain this fervor of theirs until November. It is a known fact that a flash in the pan is exactly that. As is a shooting star as is the phrase "that was yesterday's news."
The litmus test has been set for November. It used to be abortion or jobs or exotic thoughts about war and peace, but in the mind of every parent  nationwide will be the idea that little Johnny isn't coming home anymore because of some moron with an assault rifle.
Meanwhile the kids in those same schools will be wondering if it could be their school next.
Remember Mothers Against Drunk Driving and how they single-handedly changed DUI laws across the nation? Today's mothers will be an even greater force to be reckoned with. It is quite possible that 10 months from now the Congress will turn blue whether us "adults" like it or not.
Trump getting impeached will be just the beginning of what promises to be a massive turnover of political power. The GOP is bent on destroying itself for a fistful of blood-stained dollars.
Building a wall on the southern border for billions of dollars will not yield as much safety for the average American as figuring out how to protect our flesh and blood as they pursue state-obligated education.
When I was a kid in the 1960s there were race riots in the schools, but the only weapons anyone had were knives and razor blades, chains, sticks and lots of friends. Today, it just takes one mental case to destroy the world as we know it. BTW - the geniuses out there who fancy themselves constitutional experts on gun rights ought to remember they only had swords, knives and muskets back when the founding fathers talked about a "well regulated militia" and a right to bear arms.
They also owned other human beings and didn't allow women voting rights either. Times have changed and these youngsters are ready to take over. Candidates mock this youthful movement at their own peril.

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