Free Trade and the NRA:
Mexico sends the U. S. drugs and cheap labor; in return for which the U. S. ships Mexico tons of guns and plenty of death. (Catchy, right?)
The story of the gun trafficking between the U. S. and Mexico is starting to come to light. NPR ran a story on it recently, and today's New York Times has a major story as well. Last year, according to the Times' story, more than 6,000 Mexican citizens were killed in the drug wars in that country, most of them with guns illegally shipped by U. S. gun dealers to Mexico.
It is important to note, that the guns are not being furnished by people we normally think of as criminals. Their origination in this trade comes from legitimate gun dealers. The problem is that the laws governing the gun trade—thanks to the influence of the National Rifle Association—are too weak to prohibit the trade. And to date, no one on the northern side of the border seemed to care.
However, now that a new administration is in town, Washington seems to be taking notice. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced the American government's concern that the violence has reached such a state that it could easily spill over into the U. S. side of the border. (See Spencer Hsu's "Napolitano Cites Mexican Drug Cartels as Major Threat" in today's Washington Post.) No doubt this is why the story is starting to reach the national press. It should be interesting to see how the NRA responds, as jealous as they are about a gun dealer's right to sell anything to anybody under any circumstances.
The Hypocrisy of Republican Governors:
A lot of fun has recently been poked at Louisiana's Republican governor Bobby Jindal for his rebuttal to the president's speech to congress Tuesday night. The truth is that those rebuttals never come off very well regardless of who delivers them.
The bigger issue is the blatant hypocrisy of Jindal and people like the Alaskan governor who complain about federal taxes when in fact both states receive far more back in federal tax aid and spending than either state pays in federal taxes. Their arguments are nothing more than empty rhetoric, meant to fool the gullible and support their own financially elite backers. (See Gail Collins Times Op-Ed piece.)
Mexico sends the U. S. drugs and cheap labor; in return for which the U. S. ships Mexico tons of guns and plenty of death. (Catchy, right?)
The story of the gun trafficking between the U. S. and Mexico is starting to come to light. NPR ran a story on it recently, and today's New York Times has a major story as well. Last year, according to the Times' story, more than 6,000 Mexican citizens were killed in the drug wars in that country, most of them with guns illegally shipped by U. S. gun dealers to Mexico.
It is important to note, that the guns are not being furnished by people we normally think of as criminals. Their origination in this trade comes from legitimate gun dealers. The problem is that the laws governing the gun trade—thanks to the influence of the National Rifle Association—are too weak to prohibit the trade. And to date, no one on the northern side of the border seemed to care.
However, now that a new administration is in town, Washington seems to be taking notice. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced the American government's concern that the violence has reached such a state that it could easily spill over into the U. S. side of the border. (See Spencer Hsu's "Napolitano Cites Mexican Drug Cartels as Major Threat" in today's Washington Post.) No doubt this is why the story is starting to reach the national press. It should be interesting to see how the NRA responds, as jealous as they are about a gun dealer's right to sell anything to anybody under any circumstances.
The Hypocrisy of Republican Governors:
A lot of fun has recently been poked at Louisiana's Republican governor Bobby Jindal for his rebuttal to the president's speech to congress Tuesday night. The truth is that those rebuttals never come off very well regardless of who delivers them.
The bigger issue is the blatant hypocrisy of Jindal and people like the Alaskan governor who complain about federal taxes when in fact both states receive far more back in federal tax aid and spending than either state pays in federal taxes. Their arguments are nothing more than empty rhetoric, meant to fool the gullible and support their own financially elite backers. (See Gail Collins Times Op-Ed piece.)
Labels: Politics
posted by Jim | 10:39 AM
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