When President Barack Obama delivered his final State of the Union address Tuesday night, there was a vacant seat in first lady Michelle Obama's box to memorialize the victims of gun violence. Joining the first lady was Ryan Reyes, whose partner, Larry "Daniel" Kaufman, was one of the 14 victims of the December 2 terrorist attack at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Both were poignant reminders of the thousands of lives lost every year to gun violence. Yet Congress, beholden to the powerful National Rifle Association, refuses to act. Despite the 20 children killed at Sandy Hook. Despite the moviegoers gunned down in Colorado. Despite the murders of African American churchgoers in South Carolina. It doesn't matter how many people are shot or how many of these depressing incidents Americans have to endure �" Congress will not even begin to contemplate making laws to regulate the sale and control of firearms.
The killings go on.
This month, a lesbian teacher was shot as she drove her car in Richmond. Both she and her partner were injured in a subsequent collision.
Obama last week, as he put it, took "common-sense steps to save lives and protect more of our children." He did this through a series of executive orders in response to Congress' steadfast refusal to take up gun control legislation. While the president is limited in what executive actions he can take, in this case he did as much as legally allowed. Among the provisions the president announced was expanding background checks. Anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks, and the checks are being expanded to cover violent criminals; the president added that this includes sales made over the Internet or at a gun show.
"We're also taking steps to make the background check system more efficient," Obama said during his announcement. That includes hiring more people so that applications can be processed faster and upgrades made to the system.
Another executive order Obama announced was more help for those suffering from mental illness, to the tune of $500 million to expand access to treatment. "High-profile mass shootings tend to shine a light on those few mentally unstable people who inflict harm on others," the president said. "But the truth is, is that nearly two in three gun deaths are from suicides. So a lot of our work is to prevent people from hurting themselves."
Federal mental health records will be submitted to the background check system, Obama explained, and the feds will remove barriers that prevent states from reporting relevant information. "If we can continue to de-stigmatize mental health issues, get folks in proper care, and fill gaps in the background check system, then we can spare more families the pain of losing a loved one to suicide," Obama said. "And for those in Congress who so often rush to blame mental illness for mass shootings as a way of avoiding action on guns, here's your chance to support these efforts. Put your money where your mouth is."
Finally, the president talked about boosting gun safety technology. In 2013, Obama said, more than 500 people lost their lives to gun accidents, including 30 children younger than 5. "We need to develop new technologies that make guns safer," he said. "If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you've got the right fingerprint, why can't we do the same thing for our guns?" This will involve relying on the private sector and will likely take years to accomplish.
Obama is being realistic when he notes that change won't happen overnight, or even during the remaining months of his presidency. He noted in his speech that the fight for LGBT rights didn't happen quickly either; in fact, that work is unfinished. But the president is right when he said, "So just because it's hard, that's no excuse not to try."
A major obstacle is the over-politicized rhetoric from conservatives that Obama and the Democrats are "taking away" guns from Americans. This blatant falsehood is repeated ad nauseum on talk radio and Fox News, then parroted by the GOP presidential candidates and the NRA. Ted Cruz, the new Republican leader in Iowa, has a video showing him cooking bacon on the barrel of a gun. It's madness.
Will it stop anytime soon? No. Will there be more mass shootings? Yes. But we give Obama credit for trying to shift the conversation, and reminding Americans that they shouldn't become numb to our gun-crazed culture.
RIP David Bowie
Rock star David Bowie died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. Not many people knew he was ill. He released his 25th album just two days before his death, on his 69th birthday.
Over the years, through music, art, and fashion, Bowie challenged the status quo. He inspired generations of musicians and also exhilarated generations of fans.
As Joseph Patrick McCormick wrote for Pink News, "His persona Ziggy Stardust, created when he released Space Oddity in 1969, was a bisexual alien rock star. The androgynous figure became a gay icon."
Bowie, through his performances and in his life, was not afraid to confront conventional thinking about the sexes, and his being out about his bisexuality decades ago gave confidence to his LGBT fans who didn't see themselves represented in rock and roll. But they saw themselves in Bowie's art. In Bowie's world, it was not just OK to be different, it was celebrated.