{"id":5615,"date":"2022-06-09T09:11:43","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T13:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5615"},"modified":"2023-07-13T11:23:56","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T15:23:56","slug":"prairie-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Prairie Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Serious Men<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Senator John Thune of South Dakota is a serious man.\u00a0\u00a0A ranking member of the Republican Senate Leadership, he is one of the \u201cprop men\u201d. He’s always standing behind Minority Leader McConnell along with John Cornyn as the Leader explains why the Republicans can\u2019t do one thing or another.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thune takes his job seriously. And he’s made it clear that he\u2019s not an extremist like the Josh Hawley\u2019s and Ted Cruz\u2019s of the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana stood up for what he believed.\u00a0\u00a0He voted to impeach Donald Trump after the Insurrection. And he’s one of the \u201cmoderate\u201d Senators, willing to sit down with Democrats to move legislation forward.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s an unusual politician, a medical doctor specializing in liver diseases, who gave up more than two decades of practice to go into elective politics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Ken Buck is a Republican from Colorado.  He is one of the Congressional leaders in anti-trust legislation, going against the trend of Republican obeisance to American business.  Buck is an Ivy-Leaguer, with an undergraduate degree from Princeton.  He received his law degree from the University of Wyoming, and served as a US Attorney and County District Attorney in Colorado before getting elected to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are serious men, in serious times.  They are not the \u201chair on fire\u201d Marjorie Taylor Greene\u2019s or Rand Paul\u2019s, easy to dismiss because of their constant outrageous statements.  They are legislators with demonstrated interest in passing laws to make America better.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varmints<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And yet, all three of them made outrageous statements about AR-15 assault rifles this week.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Thune said: “In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints. And so I think there are legitimate reasons why people would want to have them” (People<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassidy\u2019s statement: “If you talk to the people that own it, killing feral pigs in the, whatever, the middle of Louisiana. They’ll wonder: ‘Why would you take it away from me?'” (People<\/a>).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Buck: “An AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens,” Buck said. “It is the gun of choice for killing a fox, it is a gun that you control predators on your ranch, on your farm, on your property.” (People<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Unique Problem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Massacre after massacre, from Uvalde to Buffalo and all the way back to Sandy Hook; assault rifles are the \u201cweapon of choice\u201d for killing victims as quickly as possible.\u00a0\u00a0In speaking to a Congressional Committee, Uvalde first-responders gave graphic testimony of the condition of the fourth graders\u2019 they found. They were literally blown into pieces and unidentifiable by the high energy rounds entering their bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those killings are serious, symbolic of a uniquely American problem.\u00a0\u00a0We have a problem of mass shootings, unlike any other civilized nation in the world.\u00a0\u00a0But these serious men: Thune, Cassidy and Buck; are defending assault rifles because they say they\u2019re needed to kill prairie dogs, feral pigs, raccoons and foxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why would \u201cserious\u201d men make such ridiculous statements?\u00a0\u00a0Are they trying to drag us into the argument of what caliber weapon is required to put down a prairie dog, or a raccoon, or a feral pig?\u00a0\u00a0An AR-15 is designed for war; designed specifically\u00a0\u00a0to make the most grievous wounds possible in order to not only stop an enemy soldier, but require multiple other enemy soldiers to try to care for the wounded. Are they telling us that weapon is needed to kill a prairie dog?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No they are not.  What they are doing is laughing at the media.  They are sending us down a \u201cprairie dog\u201d hole, getting all of us to talk about their idiotic statements, and focus away from the real tragedy.  America is the only \u201cmodern\u201d nation in the world where weapons of war are available at the local \u201csporting goods\u201d store.  America, to paraphrase Justice Jackson, is making the US Constitution into a suicide pact, by including assault rifles as part of a \u201cright to bear arms\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the discussion that Senators Thune and Cassidy, and Congressman Buck do not want to have.  They can\u2019t have it, not over the mangled bodies of children from Sandy Hook to Uvalde.  Not while the funerals for the folks at the Top Supermarket in Buffalo are just concluding.  Not when we know that the next mass shooting is today, or tomorrow, or soon.  And there\u2019s nothing that they are willing to do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since they won\u2019t take the political risks to save the next classroom of children, they\u2019re going to keep talking about prairie dogs, and feral pigs, and raccoons, and foxes.   They\u2019re serious men, and seriously afraid of the power of the gun manufacturers to end their political careers.  And of course, that\u2019s more important than prairie dogs, feral pigs, raccoons, foxes:  and fourth graders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serious Men Senator John Thune of South Dakota is a serious man.\u00a0\u00a0A ranking member of the Republican Senate Leadership, he is one of the \u201cprop men\u201d. He’s always standing behind Minority Leader McConnell along with John Cornyn as the Leader explains why the Republicans can\u2019t do one thing or another.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thune takes his job seriously. And … Continue reading “Prairie Dogs”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPrairie Dogs : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Members of Congress sent us down a "prairie dog" hole. All to avoid the real issue - why we let mass shootings with weapons of war continue?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prairie Dogs : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Members of Congress sent us down a "prairie dog" hole. All to avoid the real issue - why we let mass shootings with weapons of war continue?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-09T13:11:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-13T15:23:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"Prairie Dogs\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-09T13:11:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-13T15:23:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":869,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Prairie Dogs : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-09T13:11:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-13T15:23:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Members of Congress sent us down a \\\"prairie dog\\\" hole. All to avoid the real issue - why we let mass shootings with weapons of war continue?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/09\\\/prairie-dogs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prairie Dogs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prairie Dogs : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","description":"Members of Congress sent us down a \"prairie dog\" hole. All to avoid the real issue - why we let mass shootings with weapons of war continue?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prairie Dogs : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"Members of Congress sent us down a \"prairie dog\" hole. All to avoid the real issue - why we let mass shootings with weapons of war continue?","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2022-06-09T13:11:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-13T15:23:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"Prairie Dogs","datePublished":"2022-06-09T13:11:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-13T15:23:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/"},"wordCount":869,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/","name":"Prairie Dogs : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-06-09T13:11:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-13T15:23:56+00:00","description":"Members of Congress sent us down a \"prairie dog\" hole. All to avoid the real issue - why we let mass shootings with weapons of war continue?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/06\/09\/prairie-dogs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prairie Dogs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5616,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615\/revisions\/5616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}