In the video below released Wednesday, the father of slain Trayvon Martin discusses  Father’s Day and urges political action against laws and proposed laws he and others believe increase the potential for more killings like the one that took away his son.

We have a word for people whose spouses die, widow(er), and a word for children whose parents die, orphan. But, strangely, we have no word for parents whose children die. Of course, fathers and mothers will always be fathers and mothers, no matter whether their sons and daughters are alive or not. Still, you would think that as often as parents outlive a child, historically even more so, a word would have been invented to describe their circumstances.

Martin is urging viewers to sign a petition to dump “Stand Your Ground” laws that critics call “Shoot First” laws as well as two Senate bills that would allow anyone holding a concealed firearm permit to carry across state lines to anywhere in the United States where concealed firearms are not expressly forbidden (only Illinois and the District of Columbia bar concealed weapons entirely).

States with “Stand Your Ground” laws: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and West Virginia.  

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008:

What does a 5-4 decision in a case like Boumediene v. Bush mean?

In Republicanland, it means everything the Supreme Court has told them they’ve been wrong about for the past 7 years is one vote away from being suddenly right. And staying that way forever.

One more vote, and torture isn’t unconstitutional.

One more vote, and indefinite detention on the president’s say-so isn’t unconstitutional.

One more vote, and warrantless wiretapping isn’t unconstitutional.

And do we really need to follow the implications in other arenas? Surely no executive branch official could be forced to testify at Congressional oversight hearings. And don’t even ask about reproductive rights.

Tweet of the Day:

Well I’d hate government too if I totally sucked at it.
— @JohnFugelsang via Twitter for iPhone

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