Seminal- adjective
(of a work, event, moment, or figure) strongly influencing later developments:
After Aurora, after Newtown, after Orlando and now after Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas the word seminal moment is being bandied about once again. The truth is, in a few weeks some silly action from Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian’s latest butt picture will dominate the news. The most recent opportunity was actually missed. The day the Democrats, literally, sat on the floor of Congress, led by Representative John Lewis, and demanded legislation, even if only symbolically, to break the strangle hold of the NRA on the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
The liberals in this country had the will of America behind them and the sympathy of conservatives, to rally behind the open defiance of parliamentarian procedure demonstrated by Democrats and take to the streets of Washington DC and not leave until something was done. The same sign carrying and chanting that has been seen across the nation should have happened two weeks ago. The root of the problem with violence in America is the proliferation of guns. If we are not attacking the gun virus that has infected America, the symptoms worsen and in thirty-three thousand cases a year, the patient dies.
I have compromised my anti-gun stance over the past thirty years and that was a mistake. As a father of two I did not even let my boys play with toy guns as young children. What possible positive message would they learn from treating a faux weapon of destruction as a game. Bang, bang your dead! I admit to my own hypocrisy, I’ve watched Sonny Corleone gunned down at the causeway over fifty times with a sick glee, I could not wait until Joe Pesci walked into the ambush in Goodfellas and I applauded Clint Eastwood having his day made. I like to think I can separate reality from fiction effectively, but the truth is I suffer from the same infection of accepting violence as entertainment.
I am no longer advocating the ban of certain weapons in the hands of civilians, but all killing machines. What more proof do we need that we are not mature enough, wise enough or prudent enough to handle a device whose only purpose is to kill something. Guns deaths in this country far outweigh the numbers of other civilized nations and even outnumber those of so-called uncivilized countries. We kill 30,000 Americans each year. The excuses of Black on Black crime is just that, an excuse. Statistically every race kills its own at similar rates. Pointing the fingers at cities like Chicago or Los Angeles, are strawmen to avoid the real and obvious problem, too many guns in too many untrained and unqualified hands. It takes 15 to 90 days in every state in America to be trained and licensed to drive a car. It takes 3 days and no training to buy a weapon. We have a moral imperative to join John Lewis and fight this scourge. I have two Black sons; I hope to hear their voices later.
Vote 2016