I can’t even imagine the pain that Andy Parker and his wife Barbara have experienced over the past year since their daughter Alison a victim of gun violence – on live TV, no less. As Parker writes in an op-ed for the New York Daily News, “It’s a parent’s worst nightmare to get that call that your child has been killed.” What makes Andy Parker so amazing, and courageous, is that – as he writes – “While my emotions were still raw, I vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to end gun violence.” And he’s followed through on that commitment, confronting the NRA and its puppet politicians.
Among the worst of those puppets is Virginia’s own Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-6th), or as I call him BADlatte, as he bears a great deal of responsibility for ” killing bills in his Judiciary Committee related to any number of issues important to the majority of Americans.” BADlatte is also, as Parker points out, a coward.
I recently had the opportunity to confront Rep. Goodlatte at a community forum in Roanoke, Va., following the heinous attacks on police this summer. In his rambling speech he never mentioned guns once. When it was time for Q&A, I ran down the list of his nonaction to the audience, including his refusal to hold hearings on any of the more than 100 bills to address gun violence he has collecting dust on his desk.
My only question for him was, “Bob, how do you sleep at night?”
As usual, he looked like he swallowed a lemon. He never uttered a word of response. It was the face and the response of a coward and I’ve opined before — this coward should join the treasonous Republican leadership in acquiring a new wardrobe — orange jumpsuits.
Harsh language, and I don’t agree with the “treasonous” or “orange jumpsuits” part – let’s leave that kind of rhetoric for Trump and Company – but I fully understand why Andy Parker feels the way he does given: a) his daughter’s murder by a gun-wielding maniac; and b) how far Rep. BADlatte has bent over backwards to give the gun lobby everything its (very small, cold) heart desires.
That’s just one of many reasons why BADlatte badly needs to be booted out of Congress. Virginia 6th CD voters will have their chance on November 8, as BADlatte seeks his 13th term in Congress, after breaking his “promise” to only serve six terms, max. Great, huh? I urge everyone to vote for the Democratic nominee instead.
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