Shame, shame! Everybody knows your name.

One keeps thinking that the U.S. Senate cannot disgrace itself any further. Then it goes and defeats consideration of a very mild background check bill for people who are attempting to purchase guns. Even though a clear majority of senators voted for the bill, even though poll after poll show 90% of Americans want this to become law, a cowardly forty-five who are deep in the pockets of the National Rifle Association refused to let the bill proceed and so, under the arcane filibuster rules of the Senate, the bill was defeated.

Since the massacre of school children at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14, 2012, at least 3513 other Americans have died as a result of gun violence. Some 80 more will die today! But those forty-five senators don't give a damn, as long as the NRA continues to fill their coffers.

Here are the names of the disreputable forty-five, along with their Twitter handles, should you wish to send them a message regarding this vote. I certainly intend to.


  • Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) -- @SenAlexander
  • Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) -- @KellyAyotte
  • Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) -- @SenJohnBarrasso
  • Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) -- @MaxBaucus
  • Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) -- @SenatorBegich
  • Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) -- @RoyBlunt
  • Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) -- @JohnBoozeman
  • Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) -- @SenatorBurr
  • Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) -- @SaxbyChambliss
  • Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) -- @SenDanCoats
  • Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) -- @TomCoburn
  • Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) -- @SenThadCochran
  • Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) -- @SenBobCorker
  • Sen. Jon Cornyn (R-Texas) -- @JohnCornyn
  • Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) -- @MikeCrapo
  • Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) -- @SenTedCruz
  • Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) -- @SenatorEnzi
  • Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) -- @SenatorFischer
  • Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) -- @JeffFlake
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) -- @GrahamBlog
  • Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- @ChuckGrassley
  • Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) -- @SenOrrinHatch
  • Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) -- @SenatorHeitkamp
  • Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) -- @SenDeanHeller
  • Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) -- @SenJohnHoeven
  • Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) -- @jiminhofe
  • Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) -- @SenatorIsakson
  • Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) -- @Mike_Johanns
  • Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) -- @SenRonJohnson
  • Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) -- @SenMikeLee
  • Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) -- @McConnellPress
  • Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) -- @JerryMoran
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) -- @lisamurkowski
  • Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) -- @SenRandPaul
  • Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) -- @robportman
  • Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) -- @SenMarkPryor
  • Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) -- @SenatorRisch
  • Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) -- @SenPatRoberts
  • Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) -- @marcorubio
  • Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) -- @SenatorTimScott
  • Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) -- @SenatorSessions
  • Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) -- @SenShelbyPress
  • Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) -- @SenJohnThune
  • Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) -- @DavidVitter
  • Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) -- @SenatorWicker  

    • Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Rude people

    I spent some time in a doctor's office waiting room today waiting for my husband. During much of my hour-and-a-half there, the room was very crowded with strangers. I had brought my Kindle and was trying to read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. It's a novel of manners about the way people treat each other and about their expectations of each other. It reminds me somewhat of Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series. It has the same gentle, meandering feel to it. Anyway, I was trying to concentrate on my book, but at some point, it just became impossible. On the opposite side of the room from me several rather elderly - that is to say older than me - people were seated, and, as always seems to happen in these circumstances, one of them, a woman, had a loud and abrasive voice and manner and she insisted on telling the others her life story and especially her medical history. A couple of other people there entered eagerly into the spirit of the...
    Read more

    Poetry Sunday: Citizen of Dark Times by Kim Stafford

    This poem is from a collection of poetry written by Oregon poet Kim Stafford after the presidential election of 2016. It was his effort, he said in an interview, to find the "flavor of unity" in divisive times. It seems particularly appropriate at the moment. Citizen of Dark Times by Kim Stafford Agenda in a time of fear: Be not afraid. When things go wrong, do right. Set out by the half-light of the seeker. For the well-lit problem begins to heal. Learn tropism toward the difficult. We have not arrived to explain, but to sing. Young idealism ripens into an ethical life. Prune back regret to let faith grow. When you hit rock bottom, dig farther down. Grief is the seed of singing, shame the seed of song. Keep seeing what you are not saying. Plunder your reticence. Songbird guards a twig, its only weapon a song.
    Read more

    My new Kindle

    I love books. I love the feel of books, the smell of books, the heft of books, the look of books - their perfect symmetry. I am, as the phrase goes, an "avid reader." I've always got at least one book going and several waiting on my "to be read" shelf, so I consume a lot of books in a year's time. I am a fairly eclectric reader, although my favorite genre is mysteries, and specifically, historical mysteries, but I read a lot of other stuff as well, both fiction and nonfiction. My devotion to the printed page has been unwavering and I've never even considered getting an ebook reader. Until earlier this year. I got a Kindle for my husband, the technogeek, for his birthday, and after watching him use it and seeing his enthusiasm for it, I decided that maybe I should try it, even though I'm decidedly NOT a technogeek. I did try it and I was hooked. So, Santa, that jolly old elf, knowing that I had been seduced by the Kindle, stuffed my Christmas sto...
    Read more