tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post7011771165755162068..comments2024-03-22T05:17:53.112-04:00Comments on Big Bad Bald Bastard: The Devil's Right Hand ManBig Bad Bald Bastardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01983025559556548658noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-11963941344095435882012-12-22T22:42:37.989-05:002012-12-22T22:42:37.989-05:00The point is that there are a certain set of extan...The point is that there are a certain set of extant realities, and we need to put on our big boy jammies and confront them. One is that there is a constitutional guarantee that cannot be ignored or wished away. The fact that you believe that it does not say what the Supreme Court believes it says is utterly irrelevant. There are lots of folks who still think the Obamacare mandate is unconstitutional - how’s that working out for them?<br /><br />Second, there is a lot of money in guns. A LOT of money. They are not going to stand down and risk their profits because people are dying. Those profits will have to pried from their cold dead hands, if I may borrow a phrase. We are not confronting ‘evil’, or even people who WANT people to be murdered. We’re confronting professionals, politicians and lobbyists and lawyers and marketers who are very well funded and very good at what they do for a living. The first thing we have to make certain of is that we don’t fall for their strategies. They are going to try to derail any meaningful regulation - if you think that just means the most obvious arguments against gun control you’re naive. It means using their power and wealth to try to take control of the narrative, control the conversation, prevent any serious public groundswell of demand for a sane national firearms policy.<br /><br />It’s bad enough that we’re talking exclusively about rifles. A hundred Americas have been murdered with guns since Sandy Hook, and yet nobody’s heard of them. That’s because they weren't gunned down by a madman with a rifle, they are just the faceless victims of America’s ridiculous national firearms policy. If we put all our effort into banning some rifles, how many lives will it save? What will be the ultimate difference? The NRA will fight regulations banning some rifles, but they are secretly ecstatic that the public outrage is limited to such a tiny portion of their profits. As long as we play their game by their rules we’ll accomplish nothing and they’ll laugh evilly all the way to the bank.<br /><br />While we rail at the “evil” Mr. LaPierre, how many lobbyists and lawyers and marketers are working diligently for the Tobacco industry, the Coal industry, the Financial industry. Why do we mostly ignore them? Because we are onto their game. We can recognize them doing their jobs and we can spit the bait. We’re not going to enable their employers to kill our friends and our families and ruin our communities. But we don’t seem to have the same perspective here - we are delighted to spend our time arguing about video games and the EVIL of the lobbyists and demanding regulation of a few rifles and some kinds of magazines. Once again, it is a case of getting precisely the outcome we deserve...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-73159607856683519622012-12-22T22:23:04.398-05:002012-12-22T22:23:04.398-05:00LaPierre is not 'evil' in the same sense t...<i>LaPierre is not 'evil' in the same sense that a lawyer for a serial rapist or a lobbyist for a repressive government or a programmer for a hedge fund are not evil. He's doing his job - a distasteful, irresponsible job I, and I suspect you, would refuse to do.</i><br /><br />I would beg to differ- he is evil, not only is he doing this distasteful job (I believe the Buddhists are right in including "Right Work" as part of their Noble Eightfold Path), he is perpetrating a great evil, demonizing the mentally ill, while trying to distract the public from a great evil, the ongoing rash of shootings. It's cynical, and could result in even more damage being done to an extremely marginalized population.<br /><br /><i>SELF-AWARENESS, MOTHERFUCKER! HAVE YOU HEARD OF IT?</i><br /><br />Right, eh?<br /><br /><i>Thank you, 4-Bs. </i><br /><br />I live to serve!<br /><br /><i>Happens every time.</i><br /><br />Disgusting, right? They need to have the heat kept on them. Ignore them, and it will be interpreted as tacit assent. They need to be marginalized so they can't lie about representing a "silent majority".Big Bad Bald Bastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01983025559556548658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-2741627092099710242012-12-22T20:51:21.332-05:002012-12-22T20:51:21.332-05:00So instead he is only seeking to change the conver...<i>So instead he is only seeking to change the conversation. </i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2012/12/21/hey-liberals-ignore-the-nra-for-now/" rel="nofollow">Happens every time</a>.<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-91823106320455822482012-12-22T18:48:24.546-05:002012-12-22T18:48:24.546-05:00In the wake of the most pathologically ill shootin...In the wake of the most pathologically ill shooting most of us have ever seen, it's a comfort to read so many sane and measured responses from hearts and minds. It's time for some positive backlash. <br /><br />Thank you, 4-Bs. <br /><br />Check out the Rude Pundit if you haven't already. He published a letter from a elementary public school teacher that is perfect in tone and temperament.wileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10234314999465951053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-31533333616901801372012-12-22T15:25:11.905-05:002012-12-22T15:25:11.905-05:00Your depiction of the facts is correct right down ...Your depiction of the facts is correct right down the line, but I would question your interpretation. LaPierre is not 'evil' in the same sense that a lawyer for a serial rapist or a lobbyist for a repressive government or a programmer for a hedge fund are not evil. He's doing his job - a distasteful, irresponsible job I, and I suspect you, would refuse to do. <br /><br />The key is that it is all strategy. LaPierre doesn't believe the things he is saying, and doesn't care if you or I or some toothless racist in Alabama believes them. They are calibrated to change the discussion, nothing more or less.<br /><br />His constituency is NOT the 4 million+ NRA members. It is the Manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers of firearms and associated products. Any meaningful firearms legislation, even something as pointless as a ban on some rifles or magazines, would cost them money and profits. He recognizes clearly that it would be deeply counterproductive to argue directly against gun control at this point.<br /><br />So instead he is only seeking to change the conversation. Anyone who might otherwise be speaking out about active measures to reduce gun violence who is distracted to talk about movies, games, mental health or the evil derangement of one Wayne LaPierre is doing his work for him. Because he did his job, and tossed all those red herrings out on the national discourse, and everybody seems hell-bent on picking him up. And he wins.<br /><br />Congress is the game, effective firearms regulations like the NFA, effective tax policy, a strengthening of product liability laws around gun injuries and deaths - these are the things that matter in this discussion. The fact that Wayne LaPierre is a dick who is good at his job can be left for another, less urgent time...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.com