Guns

NRA Shill Says the Media ‘Love Mass Shootings,’ ‘Crying White Mothers are Ratings Gold.

Posted by on February 22, 2018 at 2:12 pm. 4 Comments :

If you were still uncertain as to whether the NRA is an organization steeped in partisan rancor and vile, hate-filled hysterics, the remarks by its chief spokesperson, Dana Loesch, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), will put an end to your doubts.

Dana Loesch

On Wednesday night Loesch appeared on the CNN Town Hall featuring student survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School along with some parents, teachers and politicians. Loesch attempted to present herself as a rational, open-minded participant in a discussion seeking to find solutions to a serious problem. But the very next day she let her true feelings come out in her speech at CPAC (video below):

“Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it. Now, I’m not saying that you love the tragedy. But I am saying that you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold to you and many in the legacy media.”

It’s not surprising that she didn’t say this to the faces of the “crying white mothers” in CNN’s forum. She is a deceitful, manipulative hack who who will happily lie in order to achieve her ends and those of her benefactors in the firearms industry. To make the broad accusation that the media “loves mass shootings” in a public address demonstrates her utter lack of decency and humanity. And her ability to turn around in a few hours to display both ugly sides of her face is something that only comes with an innately grotesque personality.

But Loesch went even further to insult the parents of murdered children as if they were disingenuous contestants on a reality TV show. And the interjection of a racial component only makes the insult many times worse. Her CPAC performance was like watching a cartoon villain giving away all her secret, evil plans, secure in the belief that her opponents would soon be dead and unable to stop her. That may be why she also unleashed this bit of BS:

“The government has proven that they cannot keep you safe, and yet some people want all of us to disarm. And then they also call Trump a tyrant, but then say they want the president to also confiscate our firearms. Try to figure that one out.”

Of course, no one is proposing to disarm the entire nation. Likewise, no one has suggested confiscating all firearms. These are just the NRA’s standard lies to whip up fear among their followers that a tyrannical overlord is plotting to enslave America and only the NRA can prevent it. They screeched for eight years that President Obama was coming for their guns, never mind that it never happened, nor was there any threat of it. The NRA is fear machine and it has to have an enemy to survive. Preferably a dark-skinned one.

Loesch’s remarks were not a one-off or gaffe. It’s an NRA mantra as seen in this video from NRA-TV. The commentator uses the identical language that Loesch used about loving mass shootings, repeating it for emphasis. And he spent the rest of the time spewing the NRA line in a monologue of deceit.

That’s what the NRA does. It is their whole purpose for existing. They do not represent gun owners. They shill for gun manufacturers. Which is why they push for more guns as the solution to every problem. No matter what it is, the only NRA approved response is to buy more guns. They are about marketing and nothing else. And if innocent people die, that’s just the price of capitalism.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Donald Trump in His Own Deplorable Words/Lies: ‘I Never Said Give Teachers Guns’

Posted by on February 22, 2018 at 9:49 am. 4 Comments :

Thursday morning’s tweetstorm from Donald Trump is typically filled with nonsense. It’s tempting to ignore these psychotic outbursts. They rarely have anything of substance or value in them. But he leads off with such a brazen and dangerous lie that it would be journalistic malpractice not to point it out and give it the ridicule it deserves. So buckle up. This is, unfortunately, our president talking.

Donald Trump AR-15

OK, I’ll give you that. You never said “give teachers guns.” But you did say to arm teachers (an utterly boneheaded idea). So they would have to buy the guns themselves? That fits your soulless agenda to cut funding for schools and school safety. And you just signed a bill that disallows tax write-offs when teachers use their own money for supplies. Also, note what you said about guns in schools a couple of years ago.

Immediately? You mean after they recognize that there’s an emergency situation, retrieve the gun from a safe location, load the gun, and – oh never mind. The teacher would be dead before any of that could happen. And in the meantime the kids would have been left on their own without the guidance of the teacher to secure their safety.

Parkland had had an armed security guard and police presence. That didn’t deter Nikolas Cruz. And even if there was a deterrent, it would only result in the shooter selecting another target, like a church, restaurant, mall, park, concert, etc. We would have to have armed guards, sales clerks, pastors, and more patrolling everywhere in your prison-like, dystopian world.

See above. And WTF do you mean by offensive? Do you intend to have teachers go out and hunt potential shooters?

Not sufficient. The availability of military assault weapons will insure higher body counts when “sickos” act out.

And you love the NRA. Why not? You took $30,000,000 from them to help Russia get you elected.

You’re the master of “all talk, no action,” so as usual, nothing will get done. Just like DACA. Correction: You do sometimes take action, but it always makes things worse.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

The Media Needs to Stop the False Argument of Arming Teachers and Fortifying Schools

Posted by on February 21, 2018 at 3:42 pm. 5 Comments :

One week ago a deeply disturbed young man entered his old school in Parkland, Florida, with an AR-15 and ended the lives of fourteen students and three adults. Ever since then the survivors and classmates of the victims have demonstrated a rare and inspiring resolve to make Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School the last site of a such a tragedy. If they succeed they will have beaten the odds, because survivors from Columbine to Sandy Hook have said the same thing.

Samuel Zeif Parkland

Many of the Stoneman Douglas students have made passionate and rational cases for taking military style assault weapons off the market. That solution has been predictably opposed by conservatives and NRA shills in Congress. And, of course, Donald Trump is siding with the obstructionists and mass murderers union. But one of the most galling responses to the demand for common sense gun safety reform is the notion that teachers should be put on the front lines by arming them with commensurate fire power.

That is maybe the most boneheaded solution imaginable. For one thing, it only makes the teachers more likely to be the first victims of the shooter. It also requires the teachers to turn their attention away from securing the students while they engage in a firefight. And it relies on the assumption that an armed teacher will be at the the specific location of the shooting with a weapon in hand. In real life scenarios that is an unrealistic assumption. The teacher might be in a different classroom. And their guns would probably be locked up for safekeeping. Since shootings like the one in Parkland usually last about three minutes, the tragedy would have occurred before an armed teacher could show up.

But what makes this suggestion so inappropriate as a potential solution is its narrow focus on schools. What would happen if every school in America were to be rebuilt as a fortress with armed teachers and security guards and snipers on the rooftops? Besides, that is, making our kids go to school in prison of war style institutions? If a shooter were to plot a mass murder under these circumstance, he would simply select a different target.

How would fortifying schools protect children who gathered at McDonalds on the way home after school? How would it protect them in the mall, or a concert, or at church, or at a playground in the park? Would all of those places also have to be re-envisioned as prisons with weapon-toting sales clerks and volunteer parents on patrol? Would American society be turned into one big gulag where any suspicious person might be gunned down by an overeager pseudo-cop?

Trump met with a group of students, parents, and teachers on Wednesday afternoon and told them that he supports concealed carry for teachers. He ignored entirely the subject of taking these weapons off the streets. The only other solution he proposed was for opening old-school mental hospitals where people with psychological problems could be held after being “nabbed” by the thought police. Bear in mind that the vast majority of people with mental illness are not dangerous or violent.

Why isn’t the media addressing these obvious flaws whenever the armed teacher solution is proposed? Our kids and country will not be safer because schools are converted into frightening destinations where learning would be nearly impossible. The only things that all of the potential sites for a massacre like the one at Stoneman Douglas High (or Las Vegas, or the Pulse nightclub, or the Sutherland Springs church) had in common was the means of execution and the tears of grieving friends and family.

No matter how many times the gun fetishists insist that guns are not the problem – guns ARE the problem. There may be many other facets of a comprehensive response, but the problem will never be solved until the weapons that produce the severity and quantity of casualties are removed from the equation. And that won’t happen until the NRA whores are removed from politics. That may be the silver lining that is being revealed by the brave and passionate Parkland students who are finally getting the voices of victims to be heard. Students like Samuel Zeif:

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Bill O’Reilly Has Totally Lost His Feeble Mind with this ‘Price of Freedom’ Rant on Guns

Posted by on November 8, 2017 at 3:19 pm. 2 Comments :

Being a notorious sexual predator who has paid out tens of millions of dollars to victimized women is taking its toll on Bill O’Reilly. Now that he’s sequestered to his chintzy weblog since Fox News fired him, O’Reilly is exhibiting signs of acute mental distress. Among other humiliations, he has been making guest appearances on Sean Hannity’s radio show despite having hated him when they were Fox News colleagues.

Bill Reilly

On Tuesday O’Reilly posted a mini-rant on Twitter (video below) to complain about criticism he received for his remarks on gun regulations. Following the Las Vegas massacre, O’Reilly wrote on his website that:

“This is the price of freedom. Violent nuts are allowed to roam free until they do damage, no matter how threatening they are. The Second Amendment is clear that Americans have a right to arm themselves for protection. Even the loons.”

Gee. Why would anyone criticize that? O’Reilly is just quoting from the Constitution’s “Even the Loons” clause of the Second Amendment. Never mind that he is expressing a perverse comfort with potentially violent miscreants obtaining guns at will without any public safety oversight. Even worse, he is justifying the carnage as an acceptable consequence of making sure that every American has unfettered access to assemble a personal armory. And so O’Reilly takes to Twitter to double down on his lunacy, posting this belligerent response to his critics:

“The last time the Vegas thing happened I said this is the price we pay. This is the price of freedom. And all the left – ‘Oh O’Reilly, arrgh – [blubbering sounds].’ Look you pinheads, our freedom dictates that police cannot intervene unless a crime is committed.”

So O’Reilly is cool with dozens of people being slaughtered at a country music concert so long as psychopaths can still buy AR-15s. Then he asserts that “everybody knew this guy was bad news.” He was referring to the shooters in both Las Vegas and Texas. He went on to say that the price of freedom demands that the rights of people like these to buy guns supersedes the rights of the rest of us to live. And while he notes that there is an exception for people with felonies, he apparently forgot that the Texas shooter’s criminal record had not been properly recorded. But here is where O’Reilly slipped off the rails:

“In the Reagan years there was a downgrading in getting people institutionalized. So it used to be a lot easier, in this country, to put people who are misbehaving, or behaving in an aberrant way, under observation and to take them off the street. But then the ACLU stepped in, the civil liberties people, and ‘Ah, no no no.’ So now you’ve got people walking all over the place and the authorities can’t do anything. [Raising his voice} The Price of Freedom!”

First of all, there was no “downgrading” of criteria to institutionalize someone in the Reagan years. What Reagan did was to close institutions in order to cut his budget as governor of California. That meant that thousands of people who were previously being treated for mental illness – voluntarily in many cases – were put on the streets. It was a budgetary decision, not a medical one.

Secondly, WTF is he talking about? He starts off reminiscing about the good old days when it was easier to lock up people for psychological reasons. He even takes a swipe at the ACLU for protecting the rights of the mentally impaired. And he bitches about all the free-roaming nutcases who can’t be involuntarily incarcerated. Apparently, freedom doesn’t mean that people with mental problems should be allowed to actually be free. However, he then reasserts his premise that freedom does mean they should all be able to arm themselves to the teeth.

If O’Reilly got his way, and the “authorities” were allowed to pick up “people who are misbehaving,” O’Reilly would have to be at the top of the list. Anyone with his decades long history of sexually harassing and assaulting women ought not to be “walking all over the place.” And his clear inability to articulate a coherent thought makes his case all the more troubling. He’s obviously a very sick man, in more ways than one. And in the final analysis, his “price of freedom” was $32 million (and more) paid to silence his victims.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Said Shooting Was a Mental Health Problem, But Signed Bill Easing Their Access to Guns

Posted by on November 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm. 3 Comments :

Once again Donald Trump and every Republican NRA shill in America is serving up their “thoughts and prayers.” Meanwhile, the families and victims of another gun slaughter are suffering for the abject negligence of a cowardly Congress. The shooting in a Sutherland Springs, TX, church is just the latest episode of senseless violence that is turning the country into a war zone. But the absence of affirmative solutions isn’t the worst part of the right-wing response. They are proactively enabling the almost certain continuation of these tragedies. And it starts at the top with Trump himself.

Donald Trump

The President’s first remarks on the Texas massacre were given just hours after it occurred from his junket in Japan. As usual, he couldn’t help politicizing the subject. Absolving his friends in the gun lobby of any responsibility, Trump speculated on the cause despite having no facts. “This isn’t a guns situation,” he reckoned. “This is a mental health problem.”

With regard to the latter half of his comment, it’s unarguable that mental health played a role in this shooting. In fact, it plays a role in every mass shooting. None of these incidents can be described as normal psychological behavior. So Trump is telling us nothing by stating the obvious. However, the first part of his comment completely ignores reality. These tragedies are only exacerbated by the easy access to such dangerous assault-type weapons.

The Republican Party marches in lock step with the NRA to preserve access to virtually all weaponry. They oppose regulating cop-killer bullets, military firearms, and “smart” guns. They are even blocking regulation of the “bump stock” accessories that modify conventional weapons into fully automatic ones. That was what the Las Vegas gunman used to kill fifty-eight people just last month.

But the GOP position on mental health is no better. They are currently proposing cuts to mental health programs in their budget and tax bills, More to the point, they are determined to protect the rights of violent offenders, domestic abusers, and other unstable miscreants to own whatever guns they want. Donald Trump even signed a bill in February for that precise purpose. As reported by NBC News at the time:

“President Donald Trump quietly signed a bill into law Tuesday rolling back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun. […] President Barack Obama recommended the now-nullified regulation in a 2013 memo following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 first graders and six others dead. The measure sought to block some people with severe mental health problems from buying guns.”

Early reports suggest that the law Trump revoked was just the sort of regulation that might have kept the Texas shooter from obtaining his guns. He was discharged from the Air Force for “bad conduct.” Specifically, he was found to have assaulted his wife and child. Not coincidentally, domestic abuse has been found to be a consistent and accurate predictor of mass shooting perpetrators. Samantha Bee happened to do a segment on this subject last week. It should be required viewing for every member of Congress and law enforcement:

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump-Fluffing Psychiatrist Tells Fox News That CNN ‘Contributes to Mass Shooting’

Posted by on October 3, 2017 at 2:51 pm. NO Comments :

In the world of conservative politics and punditry, the right time to talk about common sense gun safety is never. And they are especially adamant that such discussions be avoided following any gun-related tragedies. Which effectively nixes any dialog ever since these tragic events occur almost every day.

Fox News

However, talking about how Democrats and the liberal media are responsible for firearms massacres is fair game at any time. For example, Tuesday morning Fox News aired an interview with forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner (video below). Welner is a devoted supporter of Donald Trump. His appearance with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends was in keeping with the network’s obsessive partisanship. They acted together to brazenly politicize the horror of the Las Vegas calamity.

Welner began with a wholly invented proclamation that “people who are gun enthusiasts, and who are populists or nationalists in this country, are dehumanized. They’re demonized.” It’s impossible to know where he got that from. While there are protests aimed at the National Rifle Association (NRA) and politicians who kowtow to them, citizen gun owners have never a target of scorn. In fact most NRA members actually support measures like background checks and banning assault weapons. However, Welner’s inclusion of “nationalists” in his diatribe was peculiar. Whether or not they own guns, they are associated with the white supremacy movement. Welner apparently considers them victims in the same mold as he does gun owners.

Welner’s analysis of the shooter’s mindset was equally as bizarre. He led off by saying that “This is a sixty-four year old with no dramatic mental illness. No major decline. Someone who’s intact.” On the basis of what examination did he draw those conclusions? There have been no reports as to the shooter’s psychological profile from either the press or the police. Following that, Welner spouted off a stream of incoherent psychobabble that makes one wonder if he got his degree from Trump University. He asserted that all mass murderers are either seeking notoriety or advancing a cause. He left out many other possible motivations including racial or other prejudice, retribution or redress of perceived wrongs, and just plain insanity.

Welner’s primary theory involved looking at the victims and working backwards to establish a motive. So when Fox’s Brian Kilmeade asked what the country music fans at the concert represented, Welner replied, “Americana.” Between the two of them, the only notable characteristic of the victims was the entertainment venue they patronized. That led to this disturbing exchange between the two:

Kilmeade: Jeff Zelany [of CNN] says that country music fans are for the most part Republicans, and the President, by showing this type of sympathy is doing something for his base. Are country music fans symbolic of Republicans?

Welner: Well, I think that CNN is gonna have to answer for how they demonize gun enthusiasts and how CNN actually contributes to mass shooting. And I believe that they do.

First of all, Welner didn’t bother to answer Kilmeade’s embarrassingly biased and asinine question. And the answer he gave was embarrassing enough in it’s own right. That was the professional diagnosis of an allegedly trained psychiatrist? Actually, it’s the opinion of a quack who closed this segment with another absurd allegation. He complained that “We don’t demonize mass killing enough, and that’s why people feel they can do it for a cause.” Really?

Statements like these are not unfamiliar at Fox News. They frequently trade in slander and defamation that is unsupportable and way out of bounds. In this case, Welner may have even exceeded whatever flimsy standards Fox News maintains. Because later in the program, Kilmeade issued a disclaimer to note that the views Welner expressed were his own did not represent Fox. When Fox News is ashamed to be associated with you, that should be a wake up call that the doctor might need professional help himself.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

It’s Come To This? Florida Sheriff Has to Warn People NOT to Shoot Into Hurricane Irma

Posted by on September 10, 2017 at 12:40 pm. NO Comments :

Sunday morning is bringing an unprecedented peril to Florida and much of the Southeast. As Hurricane Irma gets closer to population centers it’s size and strength are threatening both life and property. The most important thing now is for anyone who has not evacuated to find shelter and hope for the best.

Hurricane Shooter

That said, there are still surprisingly asinine incidents popping up that make one question Darwin’s theory of natural selection. For instance, Rush Limbaugh broadcast a ludicrous and dangerous conspiracy theory. He said that warnings to evacuate were just a plot by television companies and convenience stores to increase ratings and sell more bottled water. Less than twenty-four hours later he fled his Palm Beach estate, leaving his listeners to the fate of Irma.

However, a Facebook post later appeared to challenge Limbaugh’s idiocy. Ryon Edwards, a twenty-two year old prankster, posted an event coordinated to the arrival of Hurricane Irma. He invited readers to join him in shooting at the hurricane to alleviate any related stress or boredom. They responded in the tens of thousands. This did not go over very well with the law enforcement community. As Time Magazine reports:

“Florida authorities are advising people against firing weapons at Hurricane Irma following a Facebook event titled ‘Shoot At Hurricane Irma’ that garnered interest from over 45,000 accounts.

“‘To clarify, DO NOT shoot weapons at Irma,’ the Twitter account of the Pasco County Sheriff’s office tweeted on Saturday night, just hours before the eye of the storm passed over the Florida Keys. ‘You won’t make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects.’ Bullets fired into a storm system like a hurricane can have unpredictable and potentially dangerous trajectories.”

It may seem unnecessary to persuade people not to shoot at a hurricane. But we’re talking about people who think the Second Amendment permits them to take up arms against fellow Americans. And that includes those serving in the police and military that they sometimes praise as heroes. There are no shortage of stories about NRA members who shoot themselves or other innocents for frighteningly stupid reasons. And every Independence Day these cretins fire into the air despite warnings and news of tragic consequences.

The Pasco Sheriff was correct to assume that a fair number of the thousands who joined the Facebook event might take it literally. Many people hold views that are no less absurd. There are those who believe that these hurricanes, and other natural disasters, are God’s punishment for homosexuality. And others are convinced that only the pagans will be swept away. This doesn’t even address all the mainstream Republicans who deny the effects of climate change and the science that predicted these massive weather events.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

That absence of reason can also infect gun owners who imagine that their bullets in large numbers will turn Irma around. In reality, it’s the bullets that can be turned around, and directly back toward the imbecile who fired it. The fact that a professional law enforcement officer finds it necessary to issue this warning is a sad statement on the state of our nation. But it’s better to make the warning than to regret the suffering after the fact.

The Republican Party Platform Is More Worried About You Getting Off Than Getting Shot

Posted by on July 12, 2016 at 7:13 pm. 7 Comments :

The nation is currently undergoing the heart-wrenching anguish of senseless violence and loss of life. Last week saw an unusually painful series of events that included the killings of citizens by over-zealous police officers, followed by a brutal attack on good cops who were protecting a peaceful protest of such killings. In both cases guns played a prominent part in needless slaughter.

Gun Lady

Fox News, and the rest of the conservative media, immediately launched an assault on #BlackLivesMatter, branding them racists and hostile for their efforts to draw attention to the far too frequent incidents of African-Americans becoming victims of police misconduct. The blame from the right extended even further to include President Obama and Hillary Clinton, whom they alleged were directly responsible for the Dallas shootings. It requires an unfathomably perverse logic to make those associations but, as it turns out, it isn’t even the craziest thing the right has done this week.

Reports from the Republican National Convention’s Platform committee reveal that they have unanimously approved an amendment declaring that:

“Pornography, with his harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the life of millions. We encourage states to continue to fight this public menace and pledge our commitment to children’s safety and wellbeing.”

Everyone can agree that protecting children from nefarious types who would harm them, or exploit them for deviant purposes, is a worthy goal. However, Republicans are making an Olympian leap of reason by designating pornography in general as a “public health crisis.” Never mind that they don’t bother to cite any references to professional journals or medical studies to validate that claim. They simply expect it to be taken on faith.

RELATED: New Study Explains Why Fox News Is Obsessed With Sex And Porn

What makes this absurd is that these are the same Republicans who have fought fiercely to prevent gun violence from being studied as a public health crisis. The Republican majority in Congress, at the behest of the NRA, passed legislation that explicitly prohibits government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control, from appropriating funds to conduct research on gun violence and injury prevention. And this was after prior studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine established that gun ownership is a risk factor for homicide in the home. The American Psychological Association agrees and has lobbied to eliminate the GOP’s freeze on funds for research:

“APA endorses the provision to end the freeze on federal gun violence research. This ban has significantly hampered psychological scientists’ ability to systematically assess the risk of assault and other weapons to the public, and to determine the effectiveness of various preventive measures. APA supports increased federal funding for research on the causes and prevention of gun violence, including attention to violence in media, to jump start this field after so many years of neglect.”

But none of these reasonable arguments has moved the the Republican Party to act reasonably. Under the banner of their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, they are becoming more radically conservative than ever. With this platform they are asserting that pornography is a public health crisis despite the lack of any credible evidence. But they won’t allow gun violence to even be studied by medical professionals even though existing research indicates a very real problem. It is emblematic of the GOP’s shift to the ultra-right with other platform items that include opposing marriage equality, supporting gay conversion therapy, and declaring coal to be “clean” energy.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Today President Obama and others paid tribute to the fallen officers of the Dallas Police Department. And while these solemn events are unfolding, the Republican Party is making it easier for other maniacs, like the one that murdered five cops, to acquire and use weapons that escalate the body count. But at least we’ll be safe from the horror of nakedness.

Fox News Mangles Obama’s Dallas Response, Then Airs The Single Worst Pro-Gun Argument Ever

Posted by on July 8, 2016 at 4:15 pm. 1 Comments :

While the tragic events in Dallas were still unfolding, President Obama took time from the NATO summit in Poland to speak to the horror that has once again stained the streets of an American city (video below). Speaking on behalf of all Americans he offered his condolences and promised that “the federal government will provide whatever assistance Dallas may need as it deals with this tremendous tragedy.”

Obama

Acknowledging that all the facts were still not known at the time, he condemned the shootings as “a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement.” He praised the officers for “doing their jobs, keeping people safe during peaceful protests” when five of them were killed and seven others wounded. Continuing, he said:

“I believe that I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events, and that we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas. According to police, there are multiple suspects. We will learn more, undoubtedly, about their twisted motivations. But let’s be clear: There is no possible justification for these kinds of attacks or any violence against law enforcement.”

It was a heartfelt statement that sought to console the victims and their families and to bring Americans together in this time of shared grief, reminding everyone “to express our profound gratitude to our men and women in blue — not just today, but every day.” But the only part of his remarks that Fox News saw fit to broadcast was this out-of-context soundbite:

“We also know that when people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately it makes attacks like these more deadly and more tragic.”

That happens to be an indisputable fact, but Fox News presented it as an attempt to politicize the tragedy by calling for gun control. Of course, there is nothing political in that comment unless any recognition of the reality of gun violence is considered political. Which, in the world of Fox News, it surely is.

That’s why Fox News spent most of the morning maligning the President. In one particularly absurd segment, Fox interviewed a guest who offered a unique perspective on the proliferation of guns in American society. He explained that the situation in Dallas proves that gun control doesn’t work, because if the police can’t defend themselves against an attack like this then it’s up to citizens to arm themselves for protection.

Seriously? If the police can’t defend themselves against an attack like this, with all of their resources, manpower, and training, how the hell is a private citizen going to prevail in a similar situation? What would an armed citizen do differently that would have protected him from this type of assault? In all likelihood he would panic and spray bullets around a densely populated area resulting in even more civilian casualties. He would not have the expertise to differentiate a suspect from another citizen, who might also be armed. It would be a blood bath.

What’s more, with citizens running around brandishing AR-15’s, how would the police be able to assess the risks and identify the actual suspects? In that environment everyone would look like a suspect. This could result in police firing on the wrong people because they appeared to be dangerous or threatening. At the very least it would consume precious time while officers confronted armed citizens in an effort to determine whether or not they were criminals.

If anything, the fact that the police were unable to prevent the murders of their own colleagues by a well-armed maniac is proof that sensible gun regulations are necessary. If the perpetrator did not have access to a high-powered, semi-automatic weapon, he would not have been able to cause nearly the harm that he did. He would not have had the range or the rapid-fire capability, and some of the deceased officers might be alive now.

For Fox News to air deranged commentaries like this, while much of downtown Dallas is still being cordoned off as a crime scene, is irresponsible in the extreme. And for them to falsely accuse Obama of politicizing the shootings, even as they cut his full statement to a single sentence, is patently dishonest. The only politicization going on here is by Fox News and the gun fetishists they represent.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

YIKES: Trump Delegates Promise To Be Packing Heat At The GOP Convention

Posted by on July 1, 2016 at 2:14 pm. 4 Comments :

From the “What Could Possibly Go Wrong” file:

The Republican convention will begin in a couple of weeks but the fireworks have already started. There is a vibrant #NeverTrump movement that is furiously organizing to prevent Donald Trump from becoming their party’s nominee. And an unprecedented throng of loyal Republicans have vowed never to vote for Trump. They include the two past Republican presidents and the two past Republican candidates for the office.

Donald Trump

Trump’s rallies have frequently been the scene of violence directed at protesters, which Trump encourages and even offered to pay the legal fees of anyone arrested for such an assault. He has bragged that his followers are angry and once described a pair of supporters who beat up a homeless Latino man as “passionate” people who “love their country.” He even boasted about having his own concealed carry permit and virtually dared evildoers to bring it on.

In the spirit of this overtly hostile political crusade, some Trump delegates are now declaring that they will be coming to Cleveland armed. They are concerned about possible threats to their safety from rampaging protesters or wild-eyed terrorists. One Trump delegate exclaimed “We’re talking about ISIS.” And these self-styled Republican Rambos think that their handguns will protect them from trained jihadis with AR-15s, body armor, and suicide vests. One armed delegate said that…

“There are a whole bunch of things happening: You go to various events, receptions, whatever, outside the convention hall. And you walk on the streets and, you know, people know that you are a delegate, and who knows what the crazy people are going to do? So you’ve got to be vigilant about what’s going on and prepare yourself.”

So they expect the battlefield to expand to include area restaurants, hotels, and city sidewalks. This should make every resident of Cleveland nervous. The introduction of civilians with guns into public settings is asking for trouble. There is a reason that convention facilities, including the one that will be hosting the GOP convention, not do permit firearms. Security professionals know that there is a greater risk of injuries to innocent bystanders when people with no experience get involved in situations that are rife with chaos and panic. Plus, with more people brandishing weapons it makes it harder for law enforcement to know who the bad guys are.

A couple of months ago there was a petition circulating to alter the rules at the arena and allow delegates to take guns into the convention hall. It garnered more than 50,000 signatures before it was discovered that it was started by a gun reform advocate.

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There are legitimate reasons for citizens to be cautious in public places and to be aware of their surroundings. But that isn’t a license to be paranoid and to exacerbate the problem. Particularly at a political convention where such strong animosities are prevalent. And that is just among the Republicans. Last March Trump was whining about the prospect that he might not have enough delegates to secure the nomination. In an interview on CNN he warned if he were denied his rightful crown that “bad things would happen” and that “I think you’d have riots.” Now, with the “Dump Trump” faction of the party still working to find an alternative candidate, his delegates are strapping on sidearms and swaggering into town with puffed up chests threatening to fulfill Trump’s prophecy. Does anyone think this will end well?