Ruth Bass column
.... many Americans understand that the Second Amendment,
no matter where its commas reside,
was a means of insuring that a young country would be ready.
The British might come again, for instance, or Indians deprived of their lands
might attack. It was a time when the national Army was small,
and many regions had few or no law enforcement officers.
That was then. This is now. We have an Army
and a National Guard. We have sheriffs and constables and police.
Towns no longer ring a church bell
and expect armed citizens to gather at the square. Today,
the argument that criminals will always get guns,
and we need defense against them, is knocked out
by the fact that the shooters in this year’s killing
rampages had no criminal records.
What have we learned today, they ask
on “Morning Joe.” In recent years, we have learned
that smoking kills and have attacked that problem
despite the economic value of the tobacco
industry. We have learned that
gas-guzzling cars are bad for the environment,
and we have fewer of those big vehicles,
despite their economic value to the auto industry.
We need now to consider that a lot of people
financing the anti-gun control fight make millions
manufacturing guns and bullets. Much of this fight
is not about hunting and target shooting and
personal protection – it’s about big business and money.
Our children deserve better.
The Berkshire Eagle, January 2013
"Things are out of whack. When the beggar shows up at the door in an Armani suit, one is not inspired to put anything in the tin cup. So why on earth would three auto chief executive officers fly to Washington on their private jets?
The main reason is that they’re out of touch. The person who rattles a cup for a handout looks doleful, dresses badly, talks pitifully and seems to be truly in need. Real or fake, he/she plays the part.
What the American auto guys don’t get is not only that they don’t see what everyone else sees right now, but that they have been out of touch for decades. It’s been years since we owned an American car from fabled Detroit.
We switched to get well-nigh perfect performance, minimal repairs, economical use of gasoline (before the price hit the roof) and the ability to get into the garage every night, whatever the Berkshire weather."
November 2008