The (Under Reported) Terrorism of Corporatists

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Adair Grain, bombers, Boston lock down, boston marathon, boston marathon bombing, Chechan suspects, corporate terrorism, Corporatism, fertilizer factory, terrorism, West Fertilizer Company, west texas

I hold no sympathy for the Boston Marathon bombers who killed three people and permanently disabled at least a dozen others, but news and Internet coverage in the bombing’s aftermath became every bit as sick as the bombing itself.

News and Internet Histrionics

Far too many people, probably most not even residing in the Boston area, took to social media to disseminate rumors and make unfounded conjectures. Bloomberg News posted a link to provide “live” coverage of the manhunt surrounding the search for the second suspect, as if the manhunt became a sporting event in its own right (no doubt capturing a far higher viewership than the marathon itself could ever dream). And Boston went on an area-wide, quasi-hysterical lock-down, although it was very evident that the suspects’ actions in the bombing’s aftermath showed them to be amateurs, not professionals.

Ironically an unarmed man, who ignored the police request to stay indoors, simply walked over to find the second suspect hiding in his boat, not the authorities.

For some reason, while writing this post I remembered that plane crash scene with Ezra Stiles (Edward Herrmann) at the stick of his crashed plane, in the movie The Great Waldo Pepper, while the crowd watched him burn, in sadistic interest.

Meanwhile…

…an explosion at a fertilizer factory in West, Texas killed 12 people to date, wounded 200 others, and 60 for which remain unaccounted. And we learn that

“The Texas plant that was the scene of a deadly explosion this week was last inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1985.” (emphasis added)

Rolling back regulatory oversight is a major impetus behind the drive for federal government austerity. Corporate leaders have found that it is easier to cut off the funding flow to regulatory agencies, rather than take up long and costly lobbying efforts to change legislative regulatory mandates. If the Glass-Steagall Act remained intact to this day, I doubt big banking interests would bother to overturn it; it’s far cheaper to simply hamstring the regulatory agencies who are charged with the mission to uphold the act.

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The Quiet Constitutional Crisis Behind the 2nd Amendment

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Bill of Rights, checks and balances, citizen-soldier, counterbalances, Federalist 46, gun control, James Madison, limited powers, militia act, Militia Act of 1903, national guard, natural rights, second amendment, sovereignty of the people, state militias, states rights, U.S. Constitution, usurpation of powers

The following post discusses the original intent behind the Second Amendment. Readers should hold their assumptions, read carefully, and check their conclusion jumping until the end.

Introduction

The rhetoric over gun control legislation is heating up, yet from no corner of the political spectrum do we hear discussed the underlying constitutional crisis that precipitated this ongoing debate, one that America has lived with for over a century. Unfortunately, the accusations and aspersions thrown from either side towards the other generates more heat than light, and it is nigh time to investigate the original intent of the Second Amendment. Although many alleged constitutional authorities have waxed obliquely on the reasons behind the insertion of this amendment, James Madison left little doubt as to why the arming of citizens was a critical civil liberty. His reasoning can be found in The Federalist No. 46.

I find, however, that far too many Americans do not understand the intent of the Bill of Rights, much less the intent of the Second Amendment, and so it is here I must begin. I suspect this reality arises more from the degraded state of our high-school education in civics than from anything else. For those who are comfortable with their understanding of the Bill of Rights, you can safely skip to the next section.