The Head Case

Judge Tom Head of Lubbock County, Texas, has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he has nothing inside of his head.  That’s what makes him dangerous.  It is not completely his fault however.  While the inside of his skull may be a vacuous void, his ideas did not develop in a vacuous void.  His ideas were given safe haven in the world of gun rights absolutism and 2^nd Amendment hero worship.

Judge Head oversees emergency management in Lubbock, and during an interview on a CNN affiliate in Texas, he assured listeners that he was ready for anything, especially the worst disaster of all – the reelection of President Obama. 

"In this political climate and financial climate, what is the very worst thing that could happen right now? Obama gets back in the White House. No. God forbid," he told the interviewer.  A hurricane or a tornado came in a distant second. 

That’s his opinion to which he is entitled, but then he had to let out the full crazy for all to see:

“(Obama will) try to give the sovereignty of the United States away to the United Nations. What do you think the public's going to do when that happens? We are talking civil unrest, civil disobedience, possibly, possibly civil war. ... I'm not talking just talking riots here and there. I'm talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms, get rid of the dictator. OK, what do you think he is going to do when that happens? He is going to call in the U.N. troops, personnel carriers, tanks and whatever."

Rest easy, citizens.  Judge Head(less) is on the border manning a post.  He thinks we want him on that wall, and that we need him on that wall:

Head vowed to personally stand "in front of their personnel carriers and say, 'You're not coming in here.' And I've asked the sheriff. I said, 'Are you going to back me on this?' And he said, 'Yeah, I'm going to back you.' Well, I don't want a bunch of rookies back there who have no training and little equipment. I want seasoned veteran people who are trained that have got equipment. And even then, you know we may have two or three hundred deputies facing maybe a thousand U.N. troops. We may have to call out the militia."

If this nut believes that he has the right to take up arms against the government to protect himself from perceived infringements on his rights, he has company in the statehouse.  Governor Rick Perry would never dissuade the judge or his ideological followers from their rants or from their generous gun store shopping sprees.  That might cost him their votes.

In 2010, Perry told an interviewer in response to a question about possible Texas secession from the United States:

“Texas is a unique place. When we came in the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.  You know, my hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There is absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, Judge Head.  Let’s leave that threat of civil war out there, just in case, to keep ‘em honest.

These imagination revolutions, once they become real, involve actual guns and lots of them.  That suits the purposes of the NRA just fine.  More gun owners mean more gun sales and more NRA lifetime memberships.  All you need is a little paranoia to prime the financial pump.

Grand Wizard of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, believes that Obama’s lack of action on gun control during his first term is a ruse.  If re-elected, that’s when he’ll feel safe to take everyone’s guns away, LaPierre argues without a hint of comic timing. 

Other GOP leaders are in on the fun.  Governor Rick Scott of Florida appealed a court ruling that blocked a law prohibiting doctors from asking patients about guns under his newfound worship of ‘privacy’.  Doctors typically discuss a patient’s lifestyle during consultations, including any risky behaviors that could cause harm such as household chemicals, swimming pools, drugs, alcohol, tobacco and firearms.  Supporters of the law thought that the questions could discourage gun sales and ownership.  In the world of gun rights absolutism, even doctor-patient confidentiality is a government trick to locate and take away your guns.      

Outside of the doctor’s office, we are not allowed to talk about guns at all since it is never “the right time.”  Talking gun restrictions after a shooting tragedy is poor manners.  I assume that talking about more life boats after the Titanic sank was off limits too, and viewed as exploitation of a freak accident to promote a radical safety agenda.

The NRA and its elected minions have taken reasonable public discourse on gun rights in this country hostage, and demanded unconditional surrender without hope of freeing the discussion.  Actually, it might be worse than that.  They may have steered the discussion away from gun control and towards armed revolt against authority figures with whom they disagree.

I read this clip on Washington Monthly.com, and it neatly sums downside of gun rights absolutism:

When you boil it down to its nasty essentials, this Second Amendment absolutism is based on the argument that “patriots” need to remain heavily armed in case they decide it’s necessary to undertake the violent overthrow of the United States government. When rapper/actor Ice-T recently said Americans need guns in case they needed to shoot a cop in self-defense, he was articulating the very same principle in a particularly unguarded way.

I wonder if Judge Head, Rick Perry, Wayne LaPierre and Rick Scott would agree with Ice-T.  Sounds like Judge Head is in lock step.