Obama’s reaction to Sikh Temple massacre entirely unacceptable

Sikh Temple - Site of massacre

I am picking on the President because I am confident he will win reelection in November, thus, making Mitt Romney’s response irrelevant.  Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a release Monday, “I have nothing new to announce,” following the latest carnage at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.  Seven were killed, including the gunman, three injured; a police officer is in critical condition.  This just over two weeks after the Aurora, Colorado gun slaughter.

If Obama does support renewing the assault weapons ban and new legislation to restrict the sales of high capacity gun magazines, as Carney says he does, why not come out for this forcefully.  Make a stand and challenge Congress, including his own Democrats, to support him in this fight before November.  Gallup does report a change in public opinion banning these firearms: 53% for banning, 43% against, in 1996; reversed in October of 2011, 42% for, 57% against.

These figures do reflect results after the Jared Loughner bloodbath in Tucson in January of 2011, which killed six and injured 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.  But not after the July 20, 2012 Aurora, Colo. movie shootings and the August 5 butchery at the Sikh Temple.  If this doesn’t change America’s outlook on these weapons, we have become a hopeless nation of gun worshippers.

In a recent Aug. Reuters article: “The semiautomatic handgun used in the deadly attack on a Wisconsin Sikh temple is the same type used in other recent U.S. mass shootings, including one at a theater in Colorado, and the attack on a congresswoman in Arizona, gun experts said.”  Three major gun massacres in the last 20 months should be enough to convince any rational person that something must be done, and soon to prevent more of the same.

See "Tucson Survivors Demand a Plan" video:

The timing is right and the President should begin now to lay the groundwork for major legislation after he is reelected to office.  I did two posts back in July to prove why the Democrats shouldn’t be concerned over National Rifle Assn. (NRA) influence in the 2012 elections.  “It’s all fiction: NRA has no effectual control over elections,” Part 1 and Part 2, illustrate how the NRA has little, if any control over elections.  Yes, there are solid facts to back up this assertion.

Shooter - Wade Michael Page

Reuters says the gun used on the Sikhs, a Springfield 9mm semiautomatic, is the “weapon of choice” for “mass murderers” like in Tucson, Aurora and the Sikh Temple.  And in the latter incident, it was reported that Wade Michael Page emptied several magazines in the shooting.  James Holmes used a .40-caliber Glock handgun in Aurora and Jared Loughner used a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol with a 30-round magazine in Tucson.  All bought easily right off the shelf.

And returning to the White House, Carney added that Obama believes there are broader issues with violence in the country that need to be addressed, one of which was rescuing children from gangs.  With Chicago as the primary example, my take is that if something isn’t done to limit the availability of certain types of guns, there won’t be any children left to rescue.  Mr. President, this is a critical issue and requires your immediate attention now and during your second term.

At best, Mississippi is an apologetic racist state

A minority in the congregation of the First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi forced the minister, Stan Weatherford, to deny the right to Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson to get married in their church.  Charles Wilson said, "Because of the fact that we were black, some of the members of the congregation had got upset and decided that no black couple would ever be married at that church.”  Weatherford performed the ceremony at another church.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson

On a following Sunday, some members of the Crystal Springs Baptist Church reacted with surprise, which is interesting because it means that Pastor Weatherford only communicated with the racist group before denying the Wilsons a wedding at the church.  One member, Bob Mack, commented, "We hope we can straighten them out, you know, get them to understand what Christianity is all about because they have some misconceptions about it."  Too late, Bob.

I have done articles about racism in the South and Mississippi in the past, one resulting in a radio interview a couple years ago with a network of stations from Jackson, Miss.  I was blind-sided by vitriol from the show’s host who was bent on protecting the reputation of his state.  He argued over and over, this sort of thing doesn’t happen in Mississippi anymore.  Not so, according to Ryan Ebersole who wrote about the 2011 killing of James Craig Anderson in Jackson, Mississippi.

Video of Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson:

This pathetic church that shunned the Wilsons decided to apologize, which was no doubt due to the majority of the congregation finally waking up to realize they had a gang of bigots in their midst.  Why Pastor Weatherford didn’t realize this in the beginning is hard to understand.  Nor have I ever been able to understand how any professed Christian can justify being racist, unless, of course, they are just “Backdoor Baptists.”

In the South where I grew up, there were stories about Baptists drinking in a bar until the local minister walked in to see if any of his flock was there.  When he looked around, all the Baptists had left through the back door.  Thus the name “Backdoor Baptists.”  Any way you interpret this, they are simply hypocrites.         

Crystal Springs First Baptist Church

When the Crystal Springs Baptists finally got religion and apologized to the Wilsons, they basically said…shove it.  They called the apology “an insult” and “misleading to the public.”  Charles Wilson commented, “The pastor has not spoken to us since a couple days after the incident.  We have not heard from the pastor or any church official since the incident.”  Actually, at a rally following the incident, Pastor Weatherford purposely avoided the couple.

To say that racism is no longer prevalent in the South is pure bunk.  But this problem isn’t confined to the Southeast region.  I now live in Arizona and can attest to the fact that this state is one the most racist I have ever been in.  The modern take on racism has moved into the 21^st Century to include Hispanics, and racial fanatics like former Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce who authored anti-immigration bill SB-1070, signed by his partner in prejudice, Gov. Jan Brewer.

Arizona was also home to acknowledged racist J.T. Ready, who was also a neo-Nazi.  That is until he went berserk and killed 5 in his family, including a toddler and himself.

Hate could eventually bring this country down if Americans don’t find some way to get along and live with each other.  Hate is now so ingrained in politics that nothing has been accomplished by Congress in the last two years.  We can thank the Tea Party for its influence on Washington and their ruthless philosophy of abhorrence to anything that doesn’t agree with their beliefs.  And yes, there have been several incidents of racism attributed to the Tea Party.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson are happily married now and probably attending another church.  But wherever they decide to worship, there will always be the stigma from the Crystal Springs First Baptist Church.  And progressives like myself will continue to wonder how the state of Mississippi, and all other states that condone similar incidents, continue to survive in the 21^st Century. 

Read more of my posts on racism here.

July 2012 Shooting Report: 121 dead, 387 wounded, in 508 shootings

July was another banner month for shootings with 508 compared to June’s 361, a 40.7% increase.  Those wounded also skyrocketed with 387 in July versus 233 in June, again a whopping increase of 66%.  The only bright spot was that gun deaths dropped by 7; July was 121, June 128.  And this, although a total of 12 were killed by James Holmes in the Aurora, Colorado massacre.  If the latter, along with this monthly report doesn’t encourage more gun control, what will?

There were 105 shooting incidents in July, the same as June.  Chicago leads the way with a total of 22 incidents, Arizona next with 10.  Other hot spots included Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, New York and St. Louis.  It is notable that there was only one shooting incident in Los Angeles, the second largest city in the U.S.  Phoenix, Arizona is the sixth largest city and it had 7 incidents.  If Congress and the American public can’t see a problem here, we are in terrible trouble.

Following is the July report but first, a reminder that these figures are based on news coverage of shootings across the country and do not reflect the grand totals which are more fully reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) which you can see here.  The Nasty Jack Monthly Shooting Report is meant to show the wide array of shootings nationwide that occur on almost a daily basis.

July Nasty Jack Monthly Shooting Report:

DATE	CITY/STATE	DEAD	WOUNDED	SHOOTINGS
7/1/2012	Chicago, IL	1	5	6
7/1/2012	Bremerton, WA	2	0	2
7/1/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
7/1/2012	Spartanburg County, SC	0	2	2
7/1/2012	Greeley, CO	1	0	1
7/2/2012	Spartanburg, SC	0	1	1
7/2/2012	Cleveland, OH	1	1	2
7/2/2012	Greeley, CO	0	1	1
7/2/2012	Chicago, IL	1	3	4
7/2/2012	Atlanta, GA	2	0	2
7/2/2012	Chicago, IL	4	2	6
7/3/2012	Chicago, IL	0	15	15
7/3/2012	Indianapolis, IN	1	2	3
7/4/2012	Chattanooga, TN	0	3	3
7/4/2012	Portland, OR	0	2	2
7/4/2012	Two Grey Hills, NM	1	1	2
7/4/2012	Chicago, IL	5	22	27
7/4/2012	Washington, DC	1	5	6
7/4/2012	Philadelphia, PA	0	2	2
7/4/2012	Boston, MA	0	3	3
7/4/2012	New York, NY	1	16	17
7/4/2012	Portland, OR	0	2	2
7/5/2012	Carlisle, PA	0	1	1
7/5/2012	McAllen, TX	0	1	1
7/5/2012	Tucson, AZ	0	1	1
7/5/2012	Chicago, IL	4	19	23
7/5/2012	Tucson, AZ	1	0	1
7/5/2012	Chicago, IL	3	7	10
7/5/2012	Las Vegas, NV	0	3	3
7/5/2012	St. Louis, MO	0	1	1
7/5-7/6/2012	Chicago, IL	3	7	10
7/6/2012	Pendleton, OH	0	3	3
7/6/2012	Oakland, CA	2	0	2
7/6/2012	Chicago, IL	0	11	11
7/6/2012	McKeesport, PA	1	1	2
7/6/2012	Newton Falls, OH	5	0	5
7/6/2012	Baltimore, MD	0	2	2
7/6/2012	Durham, NC	0	2	2
7/6/2012	Augusta, GA	0	6	6
7/7/2012	Chicago, IL	0	7	7
7/7/2012	Jersey City, NJ	0	2	2
7/7/2012	St. Louis, MO	1	7	8
7/7/2012	Los Angeles, CA	1	1	2
7/7/2012	Detroit, MI	1	3	4
7/7/2012	Queens, NY	3	0	3
7/8/2012	Patterson, NJ	0	2	2
7/8/2012	Dover, DE	3	2	5
7/8/2012	New York, NY	0	2	2
7/8/2012	Rochester, NY	0	2	2
7/9/2012	Wilkinsburg, PA	1	1	2
7/9/2012	Chicago, IL	0	8	8
7/9/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
7/9/2012	Omaha, NE	3	0	3
7/9/2012	Laveen, AZ	1	0	1
7/9/2012	Oxnard, CA	1	1	2
7/9/2012	St. Louis, MO	0	3	3
7/9/2012	Baltimore, MD	0	1	1
7/9-7/10/2012	Chicago, IL	1	10	11
7/10/2012	Chicago, IL	0	2	2
7/10/2012	New Orleans, LA	3	1	4
7/10/2012	Chicago, IL	0	1	1
7/11/2012	Chicago, IL	0	8	8
7/12/2012	Baltimore, MD	0	1	1
7/13/2012	St. Louis, MO	0	1	1
7/13/2012	Falls Church, VA	2	0	2
7/13/2012	Pitt County, NC	2	0	2
7/13/2012	Lenawee County, MI	2	1	3
7/13-7/14/2012	Chicago, IL	0	9	9
7/14/2012	Memphis, TN	2	2	4
7/14/2012	Tulsa, OK	2	0	2
7/14/2012	Ellicott City, MD	0	2	2
7/14/2012	Tampa, FL	1	1	2
7/14-7/15/2012	Chicago, IL	4	16	20
7/15/2012	Martinsville, IN	1	0	1
7/15/2012	Newark, NJ	2	0	2
7/15/2012	Detroit, MI	2	2	4
7/15/2012	Manatee County, FL	0	3	3
7/15/2012	New Orleans, LA	2	0	2
7/17/2012	Tuscaloosa, AL	0	17	17
7/17/2012	Peoria, AZ	0	1	1
7/17/2012	Phoenix, AZ	0	1	1
7/17/2012	Pensacola, FL	0	1	1
7/17/2012	Milwaukee, WI	1	3	4
7/17/2012	Flint, MI	2	1	3
7/17/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
7/18/2012	Chicago, IL	0	6	6
7/19/2012	Chicago, IL	2	4	6
7/20/2012	Aurora, CO	12	58	70
7/20/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
7/21/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	1	2
7/21/2012	Chicago, IL	0	6	6
7/22/2012	New York, NY	1	0	1
7/23/2012	Chicago, IL	0	6	6
7/23/2012	Little Rock, AR	1	0	1
7/23/2012	Haverhill. MA	2	2	4
7/24/2012	Phoenix, AZ	0	3	3
7/27/2012	Lawrence, IN	0	1	1
7/27/2012	Pendleton, IN	2	2	4
7/27/2012	Las Vegas, NV	1	1	2
7/27/2012	New Orleans, LA	4	0	4
7/28-7/29/2012	Chicago, IL	0	12	12
7/29/2012	Miami, FL	0	3	3
7/29/2012	Columbus, OH	2	2	4
7/30/2012	Oxford, MS	2	1	3
7/30/2012	Quincy, PA	3	0	3
		121	387	508

Prior reports: March, April, May, June.