System Collapse

This email was written by Elie Housman, one of my oldest friends. He is a staunch supporter of Israel , in a policy of quity and compassion.

Dear Friends: It seems that the framework that was in place in the USA is collapsing. Five years ago our economy almost totally collapsed, and was saved only because of mass government intervention. We showed the world that capitalistic banking system, without strict government regulation does not work. Last week we proved that out political system does not function as well. This is about five years that the grid-lock in Washington now celebrates. A well-organized minority is able to choke the wheels of progress.

It was not until this last week that we proved that hypocrisy reigns and democracy is a thing of the past. I doubt that in the history of the USA there was a subject that 90% of the people agreed on. All polls show that 90% of us advocate some legislation regarding some check on gun purchases. We can paralyze and lock down an entire city for hours (Boston last week), but we can not wait a couple of hours to sell a gun until a background check is completed. If one is a convicted criminal or mentally deranged or child abuser or suspect by the FBI of terrorist activity or any thing else that will make him dangerous to the community, almost the entire country believes that he should not be able to purchase fire arms including magazines that allow him to shot dozens of bullets a minute. Despite the unprecedented mass public support and the common sense of this proposal 90% of Republicans voted against it, with the result of defeating the proposed legislation.

Some say that unlimited gun ownership is protected by the Second Amendment. But who in his right mind intended to protect the right of deranged people to own guns? The 21st century assault weapons are nothing like the guns of the Founding Fathers' era, which were single-shot muskets and hunting rifles, for a potential invasion of the British, or an attempted takeover of individual states by our own federal government.

And anyway, what's wrong with changing the second amendment given what it is doing to our society?

If there is no quick correction to the stupid rejection of the background check legislation Washington lost any moral standing. This might be remembered as a landmark in the decline of the country that was supposed to be "the city upon a hill" (which, ironically, the Puritans said about their proposed community in Boston).

With the government's budget deadlock, immigration issues, continued waste of political time over the abortion debate, gun control, financial institution that are too big to fail, financial markets again flooded with derivatives that nobody understands, we are losing our grip of what made this country great.