I have these expectations for those that represent us in the government, some of them are as follows: act intelligently, behave in a way that makes me proud, must be articulate and must be passionate about freedom and liberty.

I expect this because they are not representing themselves, they are representing you and I, and they should make us look good.

The President of Mexico Felipe Calderon addressed Congress and asked for the assault weapons ban to be reinstated, while strongly implicating the U.S. in being at fault for the violence in Mexico. So, this idea that we are at fault and should change our society because drug cartels are killing people in the streets in Mexico gets “a standing ovation from U.S. lawmakers,” as reported by MSNBC, I can’t help wondering what in the world is going on in Congress.

Calderon spoke on two things. One being U.S. law regarding weapons, and the other being about Arizona’s new immigration legislation.

“Mexico has seized around 75,000 guns and assault weapons in the last three years,” Calderon said.

He said more than 80 percent of them came from the United States and noted there were more than 7,000 gun shops along the border, as reported by MSNBC.

More than “90 percent of the traced [emphasis on traced] firearms originate from the U.S.,” a spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Tobacco said to Fox News.

But a large chunk of the firearms recovered are not traceable at all.

In 2007-2008, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced. And of those, 90 percent — 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover — were found to have come from the U.S, according to a Fox News report in April 2009.

Please note that these are the weapons submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Tobacco, and do not include weapons found by Mexican authorities not submitted for lack of serial numbers, or for, obviously, not coming from America.

This information was omitted from Calderon’s speech.

What concerns me is when he said, “Restoring public security will not be easy and will not be quick. It will take time … [and] will take human lives as well,” as reported by CNN.

I guess some people may split hairs over what the antithesis of having security is, and therefore what Calderon is changing when he said he is “Restoring public security.”

The average person who watches the news knows the cartels have been having their way in the streets of Mexico, so when Calderon comes here and bashes our way of life, I think it only fair that he outlines what is happening in his own country.

I have a folder on my computer simply labeled “War,” where I store any notable war photos I come across. The pictures range from when we were at war with Vietnam, back to World War II and all the way down to Mexico. The ones from Mexico feature carnage unheard of on American streets, yet is common south of the border, in a place where heavily armed people get into firefights.

It is ludicrous that anyone elected to represent us would stand and applaud such a farce, and I am extremely troubled. It flies in the face of everything I expect from them.

I have an idea, Mr. Calderon. Maybe if you established rule of law in your country, there wouldn’t be so much violence. It has nothing to do with our laws or way of life. People willing to use automatic fire to tear someone’s face off on a public street in broad daylight aren’t going to care if a country hundreds of miles away form them reinstates an assault weapons ban.

Furthermore, the automatic weapon a criminal may be using likely didn’t come from America, as they are illegal to sell to the public here. Anyone that says the automatic weapons in Mexico come from American gun shops doesn’t even have the slightest grasp of what they are talking about.

The idea that Mexico’s problem is weapons, and not criminals, is asinine. I am offended that anyone in Congress would stand and applaud Calderon for shunting blame.

If you’re not outraged too, you’re not paying attention.