Independence Day Edition
I live near the border between Illinois and Indiana. There’s no geographic border. It’s just one of those dotted lines you see on a map that the USGS imposed on the Upper Midwest. It rarely even occurs to me that there is a state line so close. However, each year, around the July 4th holiday, I become keenly aware of this border. Why, you may ask, does it matter around July 4th? Well, it goes like this: Illinois has laws against selling what the assholes in my neighborhood call the “good fireworks” and Indiana has no such laws. In fact, in Northwest Indiana, there are several HUGE fireworks retailers just a stone’s-throw across the state line. I didn’t sleep at all this weekend. I can usually sleep through anything. But what I can’t sleep through is my 45 pound border collie taking refuge on my head because my asshole neighbors conspired to turn our lovely tree-lined historic neighborhood into what sounds like a war zone. I am extremely sleep-deprived and that makes me cranky. I considered waiting to write this little newsletter until I was in a better mood but I opted to move forward so you, dear reader, can get to know me a little better. And what better circumstance to learn about someone than in the fog of war…
In the spirit of the rich American tradition of independence and rebellion, I have decided to offer some quick-and-dirty hot takes on recent events. Strap in and hang on because this is going to get real…
SCOTUS Rulings
The giant leap to the right in the recent SCOTUS rulings has done nothing to bring American together. I’m not going near the morass of the abortion debate right now (you can read my opinions in last week’s piece here). The Second Amendment and School Choice decisions are regrettable. But more troubling than the moral panics that are dominating into our public discourse is the preference for state’s rights on matters that need federal protections. The Confederates are getting their day. Although, they can’t legally enslave black people anymore, they are working overtime to disenfranchise them through redistricting and voter restriction laws in Red States. I hate abortion but throwing it back to the states allows states to take a large step toward disenfranchising women as well. Big thumbs-down to the SCOTUS.
Highland Park Shooting
I’m still horrified by this. I have a friend who lives in Glencoe, a neighboring town, and I reached out to him immediately to make sure he and his family were not at that parade. These things keep hitting close to home. My wife and daughter and I were at a suburban Chicago mall several years ago when a shooting took place near the food court and, while we escaped without injury, it is something you don’t forget. I am a gun owner, although I haven’t shot any of them in years. The problem of gun violence is intractable. The gun, and the power it grants the user, is so deeply embedded in the American psyche that I don’t think we can disengage it. That said, we have defunded and privatized our healthcare to the point that mental health support is either unavailable or too expensive for suffering people to access. If we are not going to control the sale and possession of firearms, the state needs to ensure that all of the victims of gun violence will have access to healthcare that will make sure these victims can be treated without financially ruining them. Consider it the cost of exercising your Second Amendment rights.
Conservative Christians and Nationalism
I’m going to be very brief here. If you believe that your faith and values must be imposed upon others, then that faith is not Christianity and those values are not Christian. Quit bastardizing my faith.
Let’s prioritize empathy and peace-making. What we’re doing now isn’t working.
Kind of feisty today huh? Good stuff bro!