3 things I'll never understand about my country

[liberalmediaaddict]

In my 50 years as an American I'll never understand the conservatives obsession with...
1. Outlawing abortions
2. Making all types of guns easier to own.
3. Blocking/restricting civil rights & voting right protections for black people.

These issues were basically settled by law before I was born but the right wing has never let up in trying to reverse Roe v Wade, eliminate gun safety laws and dismantle civil rights & voting rights legislation.

It's like we're all trapped in the 1960's with any social progress obstructed & reversed by the electoral college and supreme court.
"One step forwards, two steps back" should be the slogan historians use to describe this dysfunctional time in America.

[roamer65]

1. White male dominance.

That explains nearly all of it.

[Bev54]

2. I don't understand your country either

Your laws just don't seem to be laws. Unless it is out of date, like the 2nd amendment that can't seem to be brought into the 21st century. It just doesn't seem stable when the minority is constantly trying to change the laws of the majority. The other thing I don't understand is the constant election cycles. It seems lawmakers are in a constant state of campaigning and raising money.

[former9thward]

3. If you were born in the early 70s I am pretty sure #2 was not settled by law.

It was very easy to buy a gun in 1970.

[Straw Man]

5. Yup.

It was very easy to buy a gun in 1970.

It was even easier before 1968.
https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/gun-control-act

After that, things didn't change much until the Brady Bill in 1993 and the advent of the NICS system in 1998.

[liberalmediaaddict]

8. LBJ signed the Gun Control Act Of 1968

After RFK and MLK were assassinated. Not that this law settled the issue but I can't imagine something like this passing today.
"Banned interstate shipments of firearms and ammunition to private individuals [and] sales of guns to minors, drug addicts and “mental incompetents." This is the first time you have in law that mentally unbalanced people ought not to be able to get guns — also convicted felons. It also strengthened the licensing and record-keeping requirements for gun dealers, and that was significant because gun dealers were subject to virtually no systematic scrutiny up until this time, although a 1938 federal law did establish a fee they paid to government to be a licensed dealer. It banned importation of foreign-made surplus firearms, except those appropriate for sporting purposes."
[link:https://time.com/5429002/gun-control-act-history-1968/|]

[Straw Man]

14. Have you heard any calls for repeal of the GCA?

I haven't. NICS either.

[rampartc]

4. the culture war

they NEVER admit losing a culture war issue. evolution, for example. their understanding of everything is literal.

"god said it. i believe it. that settles it. amen."

[liberalmediaaddict]

11. Irony is it's never enough

There's never going to be enough anti-abortion, pro-gun and voter suppression laws on the books to satisfy Republicans voters.

[rampartc]

13. no, their liberty to control women and minorities is

in their interpretation, absolute.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. It's just the easiest things to get the rubes riled up over,

in order to get them out to vote. It's just cynical manipulation.

[calimary]

7. It really does boggle the mind.

[Skittles]

9. repukes rule using fear and ignorance

God, Guns and Gays has been very successful at driving misogynists, homophobes, racists, etc. to vote for the Greedy Old Pig party

[pecosbob]

10. I understand why these campaigns have been waged by conservatives

What I don't understand about Americans in general is how they've come to believe in their own exceptionalism when they can't even freaking read. People come into my market at times when I have low stocks and are stunned beyond words when I cannot immediately provide them with the snacks or cigarettes that they want. The sense of entitlement in this culture is unbelievable these days.

We are becoming a nation of stupid spoiled children, contrarians bound on opposing authority even when complying makes common sense.

[liberalmediaaddict]

12. Our response to the pandemic proved that

Plus the corporate belief that "the customer is always right" has enabled some people to behave like selfish brats.
Like the anti-mask, anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine crowd who think they're smarter than the medical experts.

[abqtommy]

15. To paraphrase Rick James: Fascism is a helluva drug!