Jim... this one column alone pays for my subscription many times over. I am only now drying the tears from my eyes after reading your rich description of the Red Cedar and listening to Josh Davis's achingly beautiful rendition of "MSU Shadows."
Below is the letter I sent to Winnie Brinks, the Michigan Senate Majority Leader and to Joe Tate, the Michigan Speaker of the House. Unfortunately I am not very hopeful. Given all that's preceded, it's hard to be. Yet Michigan can actually take the lead on significant t gun control. I hope our Democratic-controlled Senate, House and Governor's office won't squander this rare opportunity.
Dave
MSU '68
Here's what I emailed them:
This morning, Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Manzullo invited readers to email him about how they’re feeling in the wake of the MSU tragedy. I wrote the following (please forgive the minor repeated expletive):
“I am angry and demoralized by the rinse and repeat cycle of these events. It seems our legislators — and I’m looking at Republicans most directly — have neither the will nor the courage to enact legislation that removes the Wild Westness from a society rampant with guns.
Thoughts and prayers? Horseshit.
Oxford/MSU (fill in the name) Strong? Horseshit.
My second amendment rights? Horseshit. (It was written in a different century for a different country.)
Gun legislation is a slippery slope toward only criminals having guns? Horseshit.
Let’s not kid anyone. This will be repeated unless significant action is taken. Nibbling at the edges won’t do it. Democratic control of the Michigan House, Senate and Governor’s offices gives our state a rare opportunity to take the lead. It won’t happen on a Federal level.
No more talk. Action. Anything else is horseshit.”
I would also add some specifics that weren’t in my email to the Free Press reporter.
Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, is outraged. But outrage is ultimately short-lived and the idea of “gun reform” is way too vague and innocuous. It paves the way to meekness. Nothing short of drastic reform — elimination of assault weapons, no magazine clips for rifles or small arms, revisions to the 2nd amendment, etc. — will make a meaningful difference. This is one of those instances where the perfect must be the enemy of the good. The good won’t do jackshit. Democrats in Michigan actually have the power to pass significant measures. Do they have the stones?
Dave - I understand the emotions. I cried while writing. I'm still sobbing on and off. And great note on guns and our national chaos. I hope it gets read, and published. Thanks for touching base. And for your support.
Hopefully I’ll get a response to my emails to our state’s Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House. I live in Grand Rapids (I’m good friends with Paul Flower who first put me on to your writing) and that makes me a constituent. So those governmental leaders should respond, don’t you think?
Thank you for a moving essay about your beloved Michigan State campus and the pitiable state of our nation's gun culture. You and I have both paid our respects in Uvalde, site of the murder of 19 children and two teachers. I remember that, shortly after that massacre, we predicted that our leaders in Texas would do nothing about the scourge of gun violence. So far, we are right, to our enduring shame as a people.
Jim... this one column alone pays for my subscription many times over. I am only now drying the tears from my eyes after reading your rich description of the Red Cedar and listening to Josh Davis's achingly beautiful rendition of "MSU Shadows."
Below is the letter I sent to Winnie Brinks, the Michigan Senate Majority Leader and to Joe Tate, the Michigan Speaker of the House. Unfortunately I am not very hopeful. Given all that's preceded, it's hard to be. Yet Michigan can actually take the lead on significant t gun control. I hope our Democratic-controlled Senate, House and Governor's office won't squander this rare opportunity.
Dave
MSU '68
Here's what I emailed them:
This morning, Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Manzullo invited readers to email him about how they’re feeling in the wake of the MSU tragedy. I wrote the following (please forgive the minor repeated expletive):
“I am angry and demoralized by the rinse and repeat cycle of these events. It seems our legislators — and I’m looking at Republicans most directly — have neither the will nor the courage to enact legislation that removes the Wild Westness from a society rampant with guns.
Thoughts and prayers? Horseshit.
Oxford/MSU (fill in the name) Strong? Horseshit.
My second amendment rights? Horseshit. (It was written in a different century for a different country.)
Gun legislation is a slippery slope toward only criminals having guns? Horseshit.
Let’s not kid anyone. This will be repeated unless significant action is taken. Nibbling at the edges won’t do it. Democratic control of the Michigan House, Senate and Governor’s offices gives our state a rare opportunity to take the lead. It won’t happen on a Federal level.
No more talk. Action. Anything else is horseshit.”
I would also add some specifics that weren’t in my email to the Free Press reporter.
Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, is outraged. But outrage is ultimately short-lived and the idea of “gun reform” is way too vague and innocuous. It paves the way to meekness. Nothing short of drastic reform — elimination of assault weapons, no magazine clips for rifles or small arms, revisions to the 2nd amendment, etc. — will make a meaningful difference. This is one of those instances where the perfect must be the enemy of the good. The good won’t do jackshit. Democrats in Michigan actually have the power to pass significant measures. Do they have the stones?
Dave - I understand the emotions. I cried while writing. I'm still sobbing on and off. And great note on guns and our national chaos. I hope it gets read, and published. Thanks for touching base. And for your support.
Hopefully I’ll get a response to my emails to our state’s Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House. I live in Grand Rapids (I’m good friends with Paul Flower who first put me on to your writing) and that makes me a constituent. So those governmental leaders should respond, don’t you think?
Thank you for a moving essay about your beloved Michigan State campus and the pitiable state of our nation's gun culture. You and I have both paid our respects in Uvalde, site of the murder of 19 children and two teachers. I remember that, shortly after that massacre, we predicted that our leaders in Texas would do nothing about the scourge of gun violence. So far, we are right, to our enduring shame as a people.