Two Bumper Stickers

The other day I was behind two different cars with interesting bumper stickers on them. One featured a stereotypical image of Jesus looking kind of hippie-ish on the left, with the accompanying message declaring, "Change you can believe in". The other's words were pretty blunt, too: "I'm in the NRA...and I vote". So why would I think these two bumper stickers are interesting?

Well, we all know (that is, those few remaining of us with attention spans worth mentioning) that Barack Obama ran under a banner of "change" throughout his successful 2008 presidential campaign. And most of the evangelical right-wing Christian community fervently voted against him in that election. So the "Jesus" bumper sticker was a nifty blending of politics and religion, implying not-so-subtly that Obama, that Democrat, is a false "changer". This dovetails nicely with the Republican Rich People's Party's strategy, which aims to add to its base support group of 1% of the population by pushing hot-button issues among the electorate. The proud possessor of this bumper sticker most likely believes that it's the Republican Jesus Party. As for the other sticker...

I'm not exactly sure whom that pro-NRA message was for, unless its owner thinks that politicians are always driving close behind. But truth be told, I am NOT an National Rifle Association member...and I vote, too! What this gun-o-phile probably is saying with this message is that he or she places this issue way above all others as far as a motivating voting issue. Once again, no doubt this individual would see the GOP as something different from its core agenda, which is to further the interests of the already very wealthy and powerful at the expense of everyone else. But you know, instead, it's the Republican Gun Party, as far as this person is concerned.

I have heard the various arguments for the pro-gun viewpoint, and they always come back to the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment as the end to all discussions on the subject, with the inexorable conclusion that gun ownership should be universally available and unrestricted. Only one problem, though...I have read the Second Amendment many times: what exactly is it that these people don't understand about the words "well-regulated"?

It wouldn't surprise me if the GOP didn't play a role in putting out either or both of these bumper stickers. That's because the only way that they can survive as a viable, popular party is to push issues that arouse fear and suspicion among the population. The Democrats are thus portrayed as the party of anti-Christian values and will take away your guns, so vote for the Republican {Rich People's} Jesus Gun Party...