This excerpt from the Postscript of the Second Edition of my book, Delusion and Abandonment, is pertinent to the issue of the place of firearms in American society and rights of the citizens as guaranteed in the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution:

The nation cries out for remedy to the plight of about 100 fatal gun deaths a day and many mass shootings over the years, and still they (the Congress) refuse to act. The Second Amendment is quite clear about the matter of ‘a well regulated militia’, and Congress could artfully pass a Well Regulated Militia Gun Registration Act to obliterate the ill-conceived notion of unregulated firearms, to require that war weaponry and assault weapons be stored in public armories, and to create a data base and survey for all guns and owners in the United States for the simple purpose of public safety and national defense. They could require not just the inventory of all weapons in private possession but whether the owner is willing to serve in the militia. Even a world-class sophist such as Antonin Scalia, the champion of a very suspect concept of originalism about the intent of the writers of the Constitution, would be hard-pressed to delineate how this exceeds the charge of Congress to act in behalf of the general Welfare and to insure domestic Tranquility.

By this time in three months it should be more obvious to most Americans what kind of a county they live in and in what direction their country is headed.

Last week in the funeral services for John R. Lewis, one of the true heroes of the fight for human rights for all in the United States, the charge to all who were listening was to answer the call to move forward in creating a society that actually lives up to its word and promise. The response from the Electoral College winner of the 2016 election was a resounding doubt as to whether the country can even hold an election on November 3rd. Never mind that Donald Trump has sworn an oath that entrusts him with the responsibility to see to it that just such an event occurs, and that he should be working mightily in behalf of all for that to come off without a hitch, his trial balloon was a bald admission of the fact that he is not qualified to hold the position, not now and not in 2021. It is unlikely that someone who cannot even manage the United States Postal Service is able to discharge the other more taxing responsibilities of office; we do know, however, that the vote will take place and that it is the duty of the states to count and report honestly and accurately the results. It’s our duty to register and to vote by one of the various methods the law allows. Not to do so would be distinctly unpatriotic.

Moreover, moving beyond patriotism and this year’s vote, now is the time to respond to former President Barack Obama’s clarion cry to advance the cause of democracy through the restoration of the Voting Rights Act, renewed by both Presidents Bush, and  blatantly subverted in the 5-4 Supreme Court decision of Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. With these rights reinsured, the importance of the principle of one person/one vote can be further actualized by passage of the 29th Amendment to the Constitution — the elimination of the Electoral College and the direct election of the President of the United States by a majority of its voters. Improved Democracy should be our goal and the President should be elected by a majority.

If in the wake of the current pandemic and pervasive unrest the country cannot see a way to obtain universal single payer health care and protect the American people from the depredations of corporations and a failed philosophy and budget for the police and military, then we may find the nation in the twilight of the period that guided us since the Constitution was drafted and ratified. How can something like Medicare for All not be at the forefront as millions are left unemployed and thrown out of private insurance coverage? Those who wish to remain with private carriers should be granted waivers to do that, but the country needs a way to protect public health and to guarantee to everyone that necessary care is given. This issue, like the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for full equality under law for the half of our citizenry who still remain outside the umbrella of protection, is not only ripe, it would be a disaster and a sin if we did not make this a central issue in the 2020 election. Emblazon it on our ensign and go forward boldly into battle. Now is our moment, and, might I add in the best words of The Movement, We Shall Overcome!

Not ‘someday’, but right now ; we are the ones that need to do this.