Selective Outrage?

There's a bunch of controversy swirling around concerning the NFL's decision to permit the "Black National Anthem" to play prior to the Super Bowl this past Sunday.

Prior to the regular, normal, accepted, National Anthem-For-All, that's been played for 100 years.  Before every sporting event.  As if they, the Black folk, have a separate country to which they should owe allegiance.  A country within a Country, so to speak.  Or at least some think so.  

Think about that...

So I got to thinking about it and doing a bit of research.  And what that research tells me is that the NFL has become the Black football league.  It's their sport.  We just have some players playing in it, and a sh*tload of White people watching it.  113 million they say.  Sort of like the ancient Romans watching the Christians getting fed to the lions (and occasionally the ones from Detroit).  

71% of the players in the NFL are Black.  Only 25% are White.  4% are termed "other."  I think most of that "other" are Samoan, but that's just me.  11% of the coaches are Black.  40% of the referees are Black.  And 78% of the hot dog stand tenders are Black.  

Just kidding about that last one.

Remember when it was thought Blacks weren't smart enough to play top-tier quarterback?  Back in the '80's and 90's?  Well, they are now.  And they're making bank, to the tune of 32% of all quarterbacks!  Or three times the percentage of Black people in America.  In the interests of equity, shouldn't the NFL demand that we have far fewer Black quarterbacks and many, many more White ones?  Wouldn't that be racial justice?  

In the interest of equity, diversity, conclusion, extraction, inclusion, contraction, extrusion, dissemination and fairness?  Or whatever?

I mean, the halftime show featured a pregnant Black babe in an ill-fitting red jump suit, surrounded by about three hundred Black people dressed in white like the Pillsbury doughboy.  All leaping and jumping around, all willy nilly like.  She's a singer, I'm told, and she bumped and ground and grabbed her crotch while balancing precariously 60 feet in the air.  A pregnant Black babe screaming loudly while wearing a red tent and grabbing her coochie.  Fine, if it winds your watch.  Me?  Not so much...

And once again, all of the entourage was Black.  Everyone but the two announcers locked up in the broadcast booth, way up there in the nosebleed section were Black?  While we po' White folks paid our money and watched.  Tens of millions of us.    

BTW, $7 Million Bucks for a 30-second ad?  I watched all of them and I only saw one or two worth $7 Mil.  A few were worth $2 Mil, perhaps, and a few others weren't worth $500 bucks.  And where were the beer ads?  Where were the Budweiser Clydesdales?  And those cute dalmatians.  That's why most of us watched the game anyway!  What were they thinking?

And another thing while I'm ranting (and dayumm, I sure do love to rant!).  We were told there were two Black quarterbacks for the first time in the History of the World!  No, sorry, only one Black one, and one half-Black/half-White one.  When will these mixed-race folks begin to embrace their Whiteness like they embrace their Blackness?  Or should we consider the fact they won't a giant middle finger to all of us po' White folks out here in TV Land?  While we dutifully lay out our cash for tickets and merch and all the other NFL trappings.  Hmmmm?

But the thing that chaps my ass most of all is when social media erupted because wannabe AZ Guv Kari Lake failed to stand for the "Black National Anthem" at the Super Bowl.  You'll recall, I trust, it was demanded of us all that we instantly approve and warmly embrace their decision to kneel at the playing of our mutual National Anthem awhile back?  The one we fought and died to enshrine as the One American Anthem?  Could it be selective outrage?  

Me thinks also they don't think we have a memory.  Enough of a memory to remember that they're a bunch of self-righteous, condescending hypocrites.

So there.

That went well, now didn't it?  Glad we had this chance to talk.  I feel much so better.  How about you?

For the Benefit of the Majority?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this Country supposed to run for the benefit of the majority?  You know, like significantly more than half? 

I know it used to be that way, and the Constitution was written that way, but now I'm not so sure.  It seems that "special interest groups" are receiving far more attention from our various governments then they are due.  You know, gays, and transgenders, and albinos, and dwarves, and the Romas, and any other group with a hard-on for society because it got screwed somehow by something or somebody.

Or didn't get screwed but wanted to.  Whatever.

We used to take care of that small percentage among us who needed special care.  Whether due to their age, or health, or infirmity, or how they self-identified.  For the 3% or 5% or 8% or whatever "%" of us who needed some special attention.  Some of our tax money.  Or maybe some mental health care.  Or maybe just a warm hug, a glass of warm milk and an ear to listen.  Like it's always been.

Not for members of minority races, mind you.  Or religions.  They should not be "special interests" by definition. They are full-fledged members of that already special society known as the "United States of America."  And to be born an American is to have already hit the population lottery, whether your particular race is in the majority or minority  Since less than 5% of the Earth's population can make that claim, those of us so blessed should get on our knees and thank our particular God.  

Daily.

Yet, while the special interests are bitching and moaning about how America has mistreated them, all those born elsewhere seem to want to be here, live HERE, as evidenced by the flood of humanity crossing our borders daily.  7,100,000 so far since this Administration was immaculated, not counting more than 1,100,000 "gotaways."  More illegal aliens permitted in, nay WELCOMED in, than the population of New York City and Houston, put together.

That's what we call a dichotomy.  The ones who are already here want to dismantle it, and the ones who aren't here want to embrace it.  Like I said, a dichotomy...

But now all these disparate groups have been banded together into a collective to increase their political clout.  These groups are now collectively known as "LGBTQIA2S++,"* and its representatives seek to beat us over the head with their individual complaints about how we, you and I, the taxpayer, has either persecuted them, or prosecuted them, or abandoned them.  Or all three.    

Or worse yet, how our ancestors may have mistreated their ancestors.  And how we owe them some more of our tax money to make that psychic hurt go away.  To salve the existential wound.  A lot more!

That's "generational guilt" they're laying on us, and it's beyond acceptable.

And BTW, one "+" isn't enough?  You have to have two?  Two "+?'s"  To their leaders, whomever they may be:  Do you even know what they stand for?  Are you just adding a couple of "+'s" to cover the next aggrieved outfit that next rings your doorbell and wants to be let in on your scam?

They, the Democrat Party, their "Legacy Media" communications arm, and their sycophantic legions of "Progressive" perpetual whiners are trying to make you and me, the majority, feel like we owe them something.  Something more.  On top of the $Trillions already expended.

We don't.

Remember Lyndon Baines Johnson's "Great Society Program?"  The one that funneled more than $6,000,000,000,000 (that's Trillion, folks!) to the Black community over a period of three decades.  We gave them 5 full extra points on their civil service exams to help right the wrongs of the previous generations.  We say our kids fail to attain grants and scholarships that went to lesser qualified kids, simply because of their color.  

And now they're actually trying to convince our kids that the "1619 Project" was our real history and Lincoln didn't really want to free the slaves.  That our history didn't actually begin as a Nation until a Black foot sat foot on America soil.  And that we, the evil White portion of America, somehow owes them "reparations" because a bare few of our great-great-great-great-grandfathers may have done their ancestors wrong (what percentage owned plantations again?).  Or stood by and watched it occur.  Either or, no matter.  Gimme' some of your money and we'll think about forgiving you.  Or not... 

The Rev's Jessie Jackson and Alfonso Sharpton approach.  Made them $Millionaires.  Hopefully made some rich White folk feel better about themselves... 

The America I grew up in?  With apologies to Yoda, up with this crap we would not put.  Except they are seemingly unaware that those who reside between the Hudson River and the Sierra Nevada not only don't like them or trust them, they don't support their policies.  We must face it; our self-appointed overlords just don't care that half the Country despises them, and intends to impose their will anyway.

Our Nation is cruising for a bruising, as we used to say.  Until or unless we return to the good old days of managing America for the benefit of its majority, and soon, an uprising of that same majority might well occur.  And soon.  And even though Joe O'Biden tells us over and over again that it would take an F-16 for us rubes to confront our Government, I'm of the opinion that 100,000,000 Americans who own more than 490,000,000 firearms would give it a good shot.  

Pun intented...

*   I think I know what most of that means.  How about you?

Can't Get Laid?

Having trouble getting laid?

Face look like 20 miles of bad road?

People asking you to put your mask back on?

Well, fellow Patriots, you're in luck!  As a public service to those whose sex life is underwhelming, I've got some great news!  Taxifornia just passed its brand-new "Safer Streets for All Act."  Its Democrat supermajority here in the once-Golden State, which can pass any law about anything at any time, decided that police hassling loiterers was somehow unfair to transgender youths.  

Somehow.  

Of course, we now know that to those who stamp their feet and scream the loudest about anything are entitled to do so because everything is either unfair to transgenders, or it would cause "climate change."  And that our cops have now been converted to "feelings" police and we must turn ourselves inside out in order to correct every perceived injustice to any special interest group that has ever happened.

For whatever reason.*

But that's not the subject of this little blog posting.  Nope, Taxifornia's new law permits hookers and their pimps to now loiter at will and hawk their wares without police interference!  Up and down the boulevard!  In front of elementary schools!  At anytime of the day or night!

Lost Angeles' local news just reported that a Catholic elementary school is now the home base of several pimps and whores.  Walking around in their thongs and openly soliciting motorists in broad daylight.  Purveying their age-old trade.  Illegal trade.  In front of little schoolchildren.  But the cops cannot stop them to arrest them, because that's now illegal!

Talk about a "Catch 22!"

Which means they also cannot hassle - or arrest - their johns.    That's potentially YOU, you horny bastard!  All you have to do is fly or drive or take a bus or a train or hitchhike out here to the land of fruits and nuts and you'll find yourself in Amsterdam-West.  No need to fly to Holland to hook up with a hooker.  No, no, NO!  Just get your tired old butt to downtown L.A. or Oakland or San Franpoopco, and you're in luck!  Unless her name isn't "Luck."

Of course, you might get mugged or robbed or beaten up or shot beforehand.  Because L. A. is now one of the most dangerous cities in America.  But hey!  Think of it like this.  Think of it like you're getting a free tour of not-so-beautiful and uber-dangerous Mogadishu while you "shop."  

Sorta' like a safari to Africa...on foot...and without a guide. 

Oh yeah, seems to me as a lay person, and damm I always love to get laid, that "The People" continuing to permit these fringe weirdos to write the laws 97% of us have to live under but don't subscribe to, must ultimately result at some point in a civil uprising.  Sorta' like one of those mass shootings they love to talk about times one million.  

I just reread the above verbiage prior to pushing "Publish."  And it scared the crap out of me.  I've come to the conclusion I must be living in an alternative universe.  This is Bizarro World!  The stuff that's now happening to us as a matter of course, the stuff we're being subjected to, without our permission or approval, is absolutely nuts!  It's often immoral, nearly always unethical, and in many cases, it's down right illegal!  Yet nobody's coming to our rescue.  And it's got to change!

And if it doesn't, we've surely lost the American Dream...

*    Remember when we used to run America for the benefit of the majority?  And took care of those in need, the sick, the homeless, and the needy, as necessary?  As opposed to bowing to the diktats of a tiny but extremely vocal minority?  Remember back then?   

Your AR-15 "Cliff Notes"

I'd like to start with an apology to all my gun-knowledgeable friends out there, as you likely already know most of what I'm getting ready to lay down.  

But for all you others, I'm "up to here" with all the misstatements and flat-out lies being told about the AR-15 by some in important places.  Some who ought to know better.  And some who ought to be called out on it.  Like now.  Starting with the Mumbler-in-Chief, who's never seen an AR-15 up close and personal.  And I'm here to put those lies to rest.  And I'm also qualified to opine on the subject.*  So read on, fellow Americans.  You'll get the straight story here.

     -  The AR-15 was named after ArmaLite Rifle Co., Chicago, Ill.  Not "automatic rifle" or "assault rifle" as some have reported (lied, with a straight face).  Starting with Mr. Mumbler.

     -  The AR-15 platform was invented way, way back in 1956 by a mechanical genius named Eugene Stoner.  That's 67 years ago, folks!

     -  ArmaLite sold the design to Colt Firearms, who then refined and sold it to the U.S. Army.  It was subsequently called the AR-10.

     -  The Army bought the AR-10 because it was lighter than the M-14 it replaced (I carried one, and 6.3 lbs. is better than 9.4 lbs.), and used a smaller, lighter round (.223/5.56mm vs. .30.'06).  

     -  The new ammunition was so much smaller and lighter that a soldier could carry 100 rounds of .223/5.56mm ammo vs. the far larger and heavier 40 rounds of .30-'06.

     -  When the AR's patent ran out, Colt introduced a civilian version of the AR-10, calling it the "AR-15."  It was "semi-automatic" versus the Army's full-auto version.  That meant "one trigger pull, one bullet exits the pointy end."  No different in operation than your grandad's shotgun.  Not your shotgun, your grandad's.  If you don't already know all of this, You likely don't have a shotgun...

     -  73% of all firearms currently sold in America are semi-automatic in operation.  Whether pistol, rifle or shotgun, that's how most of them operate.  

     -  So what you're witnessing with the Lefty's effort to ban the AR-15, is a thinly-veiled effort to ban most all firearms.  Think about it. 

     -  The AR-15 has become America's Most Popular Firearm, with more than 19,000,000 of them sold.  So far.  And they're flying off firearm's dealer's shelves.  

     -  Why?  They're light, modular, versatile and cheap.  Why would you expect any different?

     -  And lastly, fellow previously unknowledgeable Americans, long guns of all types, including the AR-15, are responsible for less than 3% of all firearm deaths.  Including mass shootings.  Including all 4 of the mass shootings in California last week (with a pistol).  Even though Boy Guv Newsom subsequently called for a(nother) ban of the AR-15.   

     -  So why, I ask you, is the Mumbler-in-Chief, and all his sycophantic minions, so dead-set on banning it?  The only reason I can come up with is he's got something planned for us that we won't like.  And he doesn't want us to have the means to express our dissatisfaction.  As in, confiscate them.  Disarm us.  Or try...

On the way out the digital door, 100,000,000+ Americans own more than 490,000,000 firearms.  Including the AR-15.  I doubt any effort to change that would be met with acceptance...

*   Yes, I'm a trained gunsmith.  Have been since I apprenticed at the age of 13.  And with a fairly large gun collection (like ladies and their shoes, never, ever large enough!).  Not just some dude with a blog and an opinion.  A real, honest-to-God gun-owning, gun-using gunsmith.  Who owns some, but not nearly enough, AR-15's.  And also a well-trained killer, courtesy of the United States Army...

1879? Really?

I just read that Guv. Ron DeSantis' Florida has, for the first time since the State joined the Union, more than 100 years ago, consolidated Republican power to the extent there's now not a single State-wide elected Democrat.  Not a secretary.  Not an insurance commissioner.  Not even a dog catcher. 

Sort of like the flip-side, mirror-image of Taxifornia, where 47 out of 54 of its counties are owned and controlled by Democrat politicians.  And both houses of its Legislature are controlled by a supermajority of Democrats.  Meaning they can pass any law they wish.  No matter how stupid.  Like the one just passed enabling "sex workers" (read hookers and pimps) to ply their trades now on any sidewalk or streetcorner without being "harassed" by the cops.  And their numbers are now exploding all across Lost Angeles.  Including around schools.  Nice.

So no Republican Senator nor Assemblyman need show up for work in CA now.  Because their vote won't count even if they do.  And likely the very same reason all sorts of inane, ridiculous laws get passed, and why so many of its citizens are moving to...Florida!*

I just hope they don't take their lunatic Taxifornia leanings with them.  That's what's ruined Austin.  Just leave them behind and start off fresh...

So considering the crime wave engulfing America, especially prevalent in its 50 largest cities, I thought I'd take a quick look at who's supposed to be managing them through this crisis, and who's not:  

     -  New Orleans:  Mayor, LaToya Caldwell (D), since 2018

          Last Republican Mayor, 1962

     -  St. Louis:  Mayor, Tishaura Jones, since 2021

          Last Republican Mayor, 1943

     -  Detroit:  Mayor, Mike Duggan, since 2022

          Last Republican Mayor, 1962

     -  Portland:  Mayor, Ted Wheeler, since 2017

          Last Republican Mayor, 1980

     -  New York City:  Mayor, Eric Adams, 2022

          Last Republican Mayor, 2006

    -  San Francisco:  Mayor, London Breed, 2022

          Last Republican Mayor, 2006

     -  Atlanta:  Mayor, Andre Dickens, 2022

          Last Republican Mayor, 1879**

And lastly,

     -  Chicago:  Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, 2019

          Last Republican Mayor, 1937***

In closing, as I head out that digital door, let me state that the FBI tells us our 50 larges cities are responsible for 89% of America's crime.  And that the single largest thing a citizen of one of those 50 cities can do to improve their odds of avoiding being hit by gunfire...is to move.  With that I suggest you also consider the fact that all but two of the above mayors are Black.  And none are Republicans.  

Lemme' say again:  NONE ARE REPUBLICANS!  And no Republican has been elected in these cities for at least 17 and as long as 144 years!  Seems to me it's their problem and their conversation!  They haven't seemed to learn that rewarding bad behavior gets you more bad behavior.  So until or unless they start electing Republicans to clean up their mess, why shouldn't we just sit back and let them talk among themselves about the reasons why their crime rates might be so high and why they can't seem to keep their citizens from getting murdered?  

Mic drop...

*       And Texas, and Tennessee, and South Carolina, and Utah, and Nevada, and Arizona, and New Mexico, and, and, and...

**     The good citizens of Atlanta were responsible for the saying, "Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result."  Good ol' Nedom L. Angier, was the last Republican Mayor of Atlanta.  Back when Reconstruction from the Civil War was well underway.  The present home of Coke, the ex-home of CNN, and the No.1 Murder Rate in all of America.      

***    47 of Chicago's 51 Assemblymen are Democrats.  Are the others Republicans?  Noooo!  They're Independents.  Hasn't been a Republican Assemblyman in Chicago since their dead were voting early and often for JFK...

Just BAN it!!!

The definition of politics:

Preferred:  "Poli" means many, and "tics" are an infestation of bloodsucking insects.  Draw your own conclusions."

Or...

Alternative:  "The activity of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among the individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power."

Now, we know that our political parties do their very best to convince us to support their positions on issues by asking for our votes on Eection Day.  They bang their drums incessantly until the polls close.  But what happens if they're unsuccessful?  Do they give up and go home?  Do they just fold their tents and stop trying?   

Noooooo!  The Democrats go straight for totalitarianism by demanding that all sorts of stuff be banned!  In other words, if they can't talk us into it, they'll just force us into it!  By banning one thing or another.  Herding us toward their desired result.  Let's take a look at what the Democrats want to ban:

     -  Hate speech (stuff they don't want to hear)

     -  Separate bathrooms (pee anywhere you like)

     -  Semi-automatic firearms (and all others, too)

     -  Girls participating in girls' sports (ahem!)

     -  Offshore drilling (and ONshore drilling!)

     - "Assault weapons"  (whatever THEY are!)

     -  Internal Combustion Engines (cause oil be bad)

     -  Cash bail (so criminals can re-offend, daily)

     -  Concealed carry permits ('cause guns be bad)

     -  Parents complaining at school board meetings

     -  Fracking (oil be bad)

     -  Drilling on public lands (oil be bad)

     -  Coal mining (hydrocarbons be bad)

     -  Incandescent light bulbs (cause they could)

     -  Praying outside Planned Parenthood centers (!)

     -  "Insurrectionists holding elected office (Trump?)

     -  Complaining about homeless encampments (!)

     -  Using improper pronouns (who would do that?)

     -  Plastic bags, plastic straws, etc. (what else?)

     -  Adoption centers (abort them instead)

Annnnnd, my personal favorite...     

-  Asking what the "+" "+" in LGBTQ++ really means...

Now then, there are just a few examples I culled from a herd of dozens.  You surely know of a few more.  But to be fair, to give equal time to both parties, to be completely bi-polar, let's take a look at what the Republicans want to ban:

     -  Abortions after 15 weeks (the insensitive CADS!)

So there we are fellow Patriots.  A side-by-side comparison of who wants to ban what.  You can now choose sides.  Have a nice day... 

Situational Awareness...

I've been advocating for several years now for my fellow Patriots out there to arm themselves.  With cold steel.  Simply to even the odds between themselves and any prospective Bad Guys.   

And with the Government's obvious intent to reduce the penalties for serious crimes, thus creating a vacuum into which ever greater and more frequent crimes are being drawn (it's human nature, duh!), the need for self-protection is at an all-time high.  In short, you no longer have a choice.  It's "Dodge City" and you either protect yourselves or be complicit in your own demise.

Sorry, truth hurts.

But to take the necessary measures to prevent your own demise, you need one other arrow in your quiver to help even those substantial odds; situational awareness.

What's that you say, Mr. Chuckmeister?  I was taught the concept of "Situational Awareness" (SA) on Day One of my advanced military intelligence training.  Yes, I know, it's an oxymoron.  But SA's a valuable tool you can use.  To stay alive.  And after all, isn't that really the game we all play?  From the day we're old enough to know better but too young to resist?

Let's start with you, driving along some nice highway, just minding your own business.  And that's major; just minding your own business.  My professional training in psychology taught me that somewhere around 3% of everyone you meet or pass on the freeway of life are "clinically impaired."  That's a fancy term for "non compos mentis."  Not in normal control of their faculties.  Either stoned, or drunk, or pissed off, or a gangbanger with an appetite for your stuff, or didn't get laid last night, or certifiably nuts, they represent a potential threat.  A threat we accept when we get behind the wheel or go for a walk outdoors.  So you must assume that threat as a part of the cost of doing business and take the necessary precautions against your being harmed.  

Rule #1: is you must drive within the limits of the law.  Exception:  I would drive at the speed of traffic, even if slightly above the speed limit.  That prevents any grief from those behind you, who wish to be where you are and will ride your ass until they get there.

Look straight ahead.  Try not to make eye contact.  When you come to an intersection and there's a car ahead of you, leave at least two and preferably three car lengths between you and the car ahead.  Try to occupy either of the outside lanes.  And try to be the last car in a line.  Should anyone attempt a carjacking, you'll have room to escape by turning the wheel a quick left or right, or shifting to "R" and hitting the gas.  And hopefully running over the sumbitch.

And it goes without saying, keep your doors locked.  Should someone approach with a firearm and an order for you to get out, you now know what to do.  

Do not drive in the left lane on the highway except to pass.  When you do, return to another lane ASAP.  You'll prevent anyone from riding your butt, and thus avoid road rage by sidestepping a frequent cause. 

Do not "brake check."  You'll likely infuriate a crazy driver behind you, and you won't know whether he/she/it (California, remember) is crazy or not unless you do so.  Avoid road rage.  Don't do so.  

Rule #2:  When you get to the restaurant request a table near a marked exit.  And sit with a wall or preferably a corner behind you.  Thus eliminating an attack from a blind spot.  Sit where you have a clear sightline to the entrance.  Glance toward it every now and then to survey those who enter.  Should anyone enter and try to cause grief, like shooting up the place, you'll have have already scoped out your exit and be in a position to either run, or fight.

God imbued us with "fight or flight" sensibilities.  Put yourself in a physical position to help you make that decision before-the-face.    

Rule #3:  Which gets me back to concealed firearm carry, which gives you something to fight with.  Just sayin'  28 of our 50 States now permit concealed firearm carry.  And a Bill before the House could provide concealed firearm carriers with reciprocity across all State lines.  Even into deep-Blue states like New Yawk and Oregone and Taxifornia.  Won't that be sweet!  Since data clearly shows that a wide knowledge in an area that firearms are being carried concealed, tends to keep one from violating the law, makes one wonder why those "Blue" States want their citizens to die...

So you know that using a firearm for self-protection is a good idea, the Sheriff of Pasco County, Florida just said the other day that "...criminals better vacate the area now that nearly everyone is armed."*

Trust me, criminals will go where they expect no resistance.  Don't be that guy...

Rule #4:  At the mall or supermarket do the same as above.  Know where the exits are.  In fact, scope out the exits at every business you enter.  Always be hyper-aware of those around you.  Their demeanor.  How they're dressed.  What they're carrying.  How they might use it as a weapon.

Rule #5:  At church sit near the front door and in a pew either far to either the right or left.  Or near the front and close to the side exits.  You'll be able to see anyone entering with evil intent, and be able to attack or escape from behind their peripheral vision.  Or be as far away as possible from any gunfire and able to escape.    

Rule #6:  Double lock your outside doors at home.  Lock your first floor windows.  Remove any ladders or other items a burglar could use to reach upper floors far away from the house.  Install outside motion activated flood lights all around your house.  Install ring cameras with audio capability on your front door and with a view of your back yard. 

And be very, very sure to never answer your front door without knowing who's on the other side.  Ask for identification before you open the door.  Have a peephole installed so you can see.  Or have them call you if you aren't sure.  It's far, far better to be safe instead of sorry. 

Does all of this sound like you're in downtown Baghdad?  Yes, yes it does.  In fact, some parts of Chicago, Baltimore, Portland, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Lost Angeles have higher murder rates than Baghdad.  And you're under a very real and increasing threat.  A threat that your Government could mitigate, could bring under control, but for some strange reason, doesn't.  And it can't be to try and reduce our population because they're steadily importing millions and millions of new illegal mouths for us taxpayers to feed.  

And oh by the way, if you're among those who want to leave your safety to the local police force, be advised that the national 911 response time in our 50 largest cities has been about 14 minutes for more than two decades.  It has skyrocketed over the past couple of years to over 19 minutes today, and over 1 hour in Chicago and Portland and San Franpoopco, etc.  And there's lots of "etc.'s."  That's partly due to the large number of cops who've left the force (562 in NYC in past year!), and partly due to their lack of support from their local politicians.  Police staffing is down over 15% nationwide.  And likely to fall farther... 

And remember, you likely only have 30 seconds to a minute to take decisive, live-saving action in the event a perp makes it inside.  You're standing there with a flashlight, and he's standing there with a pistol.  A stolen pistol, most likely.  There's an old saying, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away ."

But on my way out the digital door, there is a way to correct all of that, and here it is:

Close the border, tight; stop berating and defunding our cops; punish people for their crimes and put people in jail for the serious ones; and extoll the 2nd Amendment's virtues instead of trying to turn gun owners into Enemies of the People.  

Sorry to keep beating the quite obvious drum here, but I simply had to.  Hope some of this helps.  Take these suggestions for what they're worth.  One or two just might save your lives...