Wordz & Thingz

Thanks to Falling James for writing an incredible feature article on The Thingz for the latest LA Weekly!

We appreciate the love, and it's certainly mutual.

Thoughts on Thoughts and Prayers

I’m all for thinking and praying, but is that the best way to affect positive change in this country?

I’m sure some of our founding fathers thought and prayed for independence, but is that the only thing they did? Dr. King publicly thought and prayed for equality, but is that the only way the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed? I’m pretty sure plenty of slaves prayed for emancipation, but is that how they ultimately won their freedom? (As Frederick Douglass put it, “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.”)

Conservatives like to talk about American Exceptionalism, but do Thoughts and Prayers make us exceptional, or do our nation’s Ideals and Actions? Sadly, as of late it seems one of the most exceptional things about us is the growing number of mass shootings we have compared to other developed countries. (Japan and the UK could even call us a “shithole” country when it comes to gun violence if they wanted.)

Most Americans would agree that the founding document of our country is quite exceptional, but how are Thoughts and Prayers alone going to sufficiently ensure our Rights to Life and Liberty enshrined therein? Doesn’t the Declaration say that our government was created specifically to protect those Unalienable Rights, since they’re given to every human being from God?

How can a person's Right to Bear Arms supersede Rights endowed by our Creator? Why is someone’s freedom to kill with a gun more important than someone’s freedom to live without being shot?

I wonder if Americans will ever learn to love each other more than we love our guns… How much more blood must be spilled before we realize we’re making a suicide pact with the gun lobby every time we offer our Thoughts and Prayers with no action?

Yes. Think and Pray. Then fight the NRA.

It's Unanimous!

I think everyone can agree, left, right, center, Democrat, or Republican (and ESPECIALLY Repubs who talk about "wasteful government spending"), that if 45 really wants to honor our troops, any federal money used for a military parade would be better spent on our veterans, especially our homeless and disabled heroes who have served our country so bravely.