Fox News has been a reliable advocate on behalf of the National Rifle Association and its mission to insure that even the most lethal types of guns are readily available to just about anyone. They even opposed legislation that would prohibit people on the terrorist no-fly list from buying firearms. Let’s face it, they love them some guns, and any attempt to interfere with their fixation is sacrilege.
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Today Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the newest member of the Fox & Friends crew, proposed what she regards as an alternative solution to the tragic mass murders that have plagued the nation (video below). Her suggestion had nothing to do with background checks, or limiting access to dangerous individuals, or barring military-style weapons and magazines that hold dozens of bullets. She and her curvy-couch potatoes think that video games, and the people who play them, are the crux of the problem.
Hasselbeck: “What about frequency testing? How often has this game been played? I mean, I’m not one to say get in there and monitor everything, but if this indeed is a strong link to mass killings, then why aren’t we looking at frequency of purchases per person, and also how often they’re playing. Maybe they time out after a certain hour on this.”
So according to Hasselbeck and her pals, the government must never engage in responsible registration of firearms, or keep databases to alert authorities when someone has amassed a dangerous stockpile of munitions, or check to see if a prospective buyer is guilty of a violent felony or has a record of mental health problems. However, the government ought to keep track of video game purchases, as well as the amount of time individuals spend playing the games. She is actually proposing databases of game buyers and some sort of control mechanism on every game that measures the time it is used. Get ready for the nanny state to shut down your XBox after an hour or two in order to insure that you don’t murder a few dozen people. What’s next? Access to books, web sites, felafels? And none of that seems to intrude on their right-wing aversion to Big Government.
The Fox panel also displayed a graphic showing some of the perpetrators of mass shootings and alleged that they were all video game aficionados. Wow – what a startling revelation that young men in America were found to be fond of electronic gaming. Who knew? What they did not mention is that all of the same people were also obsessed with the guns that they actually used to, you know, actually kill actual people. But Guns couldn’t be part of the problem, could they?
I’ve noted this several times over at MMFA (where’ve you been?) when the subject is this video game dodge: Those games, far from encouraging real-life violence using guns, alleviate the urge to be physically aggressive. In other words they’re a harmless format for channelling the urge. Why this isn’t too obvious to twist into some kind of gateway activity is beyond me.
It’s not just Fox that is focusing some on video games, I actually heard it on MSNBC – Morning Joe – and NOT Joe. it came from the leftist crowd on the show. It wasn’t a big, broad discussion, but it was mentioned and that was surprising. I think it silly, but hey – I’m just a right wing gun nut.
Wherever you heard it the focus is misguided as I explained above. MSNBC is not exempt from criticism nor is what is said there necessarily more credible because it’s MSNBC
Fox has settled on this new meme of ‘gaming causes kids to go on shooting rampages’, without citing anything that would support that argument. How is she going to implement regulations on this industry like the ones she suggests, without violating people’s constitutional rights? They never concern themselves with anything, constitutionally speaking, unless it is the second amendment. No regulations on keeping the actual tools insane people use to wreak havoc on our society. Can’t have that! It’s hard saying who is the dumbest one on that couch, the competition is intense. I guess the gun lobby is showing it is a more effective lobby than the gaming industry. Elizabeth Hasslebeck is a joke and the perfect replacement for that other moron that used to be on there. Hard to tell them apart really.
“No regulations on keeping the actual tools insane people use to wreak havoc on our society.”
That’s not the issue – it’s how you achieve that – based on years of this stuff, the approach appears to be: take away the rights of law abiding people or make it more difficult for law abiding people so the bad guys are stopped. If there is a way to achieve your end of crazy people not getting their hands on destructive weapons while NOT inflicting the same pain on LAW ABIDING citizens, then have at it. I think we’ve had enough progressive solutions to problems like this – do you have any creative and/or new ideas?
That is so lazy, and it’s a straw man. Why is relevance so hard to come by on this issue?? Why??? Mental health and access. What else is more relevant?? I game my ass off, I’m what’s referred to as a beast as it were. I, uhh, kick fucking ass. I don’t want to harm anybody, and neither do any of my crew. They’re fucking interactive cartoons. If I watch American history x will I become a skinhead and go storm a supermarket? No, if I do then isn’t it blatantly evident other issues are at play?? If entertainment of any kind was a relevant part of this, then Japanese women would be constantly getting raped by men and octupuses. Seriously, straw man much??
Now that is an interesting question – “why is relevance so hard to come by on this issue?” What is relevant in your view? mental health? violent tendencies? Some kind of mental disorder? Something else? There is something very wrong in society when so many people are going crazy and perpetrating these murderous rampages – buy why? The tool (ie the gun) isn’t the cause – but something clearly is wrong. You’re right in that a constructive conversation doesn’t happen on this subject – We’re all probably happy to discuss it if focussed on true causes – but when it veers off into “gun control” as your primary suggestion to solve these problems you lose the interest and support in the discussion.
…I never said gun control, you know damn well I’m not for gun control. I said mental health and access, that is to say as the two are a pair. Acts of madmen aren’t a good enough reason to tell the whole population they can’t have what they used; that also, just like blaming my favorite pass time, is lazily thought out and focused on the least relevant aspects of the true problem.
I’m not suggesting anything specific – I was asking a question and gave somewhat of a general explanation of the typical debate between supporters of gun control and those who don’t – it wasn’t specific to you.
One more thing – I’m the last person who is going to tell you what you can and can’t do or should or shouldn’t do – I’m not a supporter of silly things like “banning” video games.
No, I know that much. But it sure seemed specific to me when you said ‘your primary suggestion’, and ‘you lose the interest…’ Know what I mean, vern?
Ok, I wasn’t too clear. sorry.
Conservative media and the NRA wanted to blame GTA 5 for shootings since Newtown. In fact, a couple of them blamed the game for the Naval Yard shooting, despite that it still wasn’t released yet.. Then the game came out, and suddenly it was off the sh*t list. Wonder why?
Because Los Santos, the city it takes place in is the ultimate Republican paradise. There’s no middle class, the poor pay all the taxes while the rich struggle to even remember what a return looks like, Fox News is the only media outlet, everyone opposes healthcare and income equality, the governor-elect plans to implement segregation and eugenics, concealed carry permits are mandatory, and (I kid you not) it’s completely legal to hunt liberals- All you need is a permit that’s issued on election years.
Suddenly, there was no complaints about the game from the right. Even Jack Thompson shut up about it, for the most part. He’s the only one who even speak up about the controversial mission where the FBI forces you to torture and kill two innocent middle eastern men because their success in America upsets them. Silence beyond that. What could have possibly caused such a 180- Especially in light of that GTA 5 was set to be their top scapegoat for almost a year?!
I wonder if they realize that the game did that to make fun of how bad the right f*cks up everything they run… Something tells me it’d be back on if they did.