December 2007 – Page 22 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Huckabee Surge

I’m pretty ho-hum about Mike Huckabee surging forward in the GOP primary.Â Marshall Manson talks about his feelings on Governor Huckabee, which echo a lot of my own.Â Here’s what he says in the article about Fred Thompson:

Like many conservatives, I had high hopes for Senator Thompson. Unfortunately, his campaign just hasnâ€™t taken off. Thatâ€™s in spite of the fact that he has presented some of the best policy proposals of any candidate in the race. I confess that I havenâ€™t heard the Senator in person. But the collapse in support for his candidacy in Iowa and New Hampshire suggest that he hasnâ€™t been particularly effective in communicating his message, either in person or through media. I was also disappointed in Thompsonâ€™s late summer staff purge, where he eliminated many of the minds behind innovative campaign that he seemed to be developing last spring. Instead, heâ€™s embraced a fairly traditional campaign, but given his late start, he needed to do more, and his campaign now looks to be in trouble. I would be glad if Thompson recovered and made himself a factor for the nomination, but Iâ€™m not especially hopeful.

I’m pretty much feeling the same way.Â My understanding is that Fred is free falling in the polls, which is sorely disappointing.Â Except for a few areas, Thompson is about as good a candidate as I could hope for from the Republicans.

With Fred fizzling, and the Democratic primary increasingly looking like a race between Obama and Hillary, my registration as an independent is looking like it will stay in place for yet another primary cycle.Â Â I’m still waiting, Republicans and Democrats, for someone worth voting for.

More Anger

I’m also angry at the media for how they cover these events.Â Both SayUncle and Ahab today have talked about once instance of stupidity, but I’m sure the day will be filled with it.

We’ve had firearms as a technology for centuries now, and self-loading rifles for one of those centuries.Â These horrific murder-suicides are a recent phenomena. Â What changed?Â Our media culture changed.Â News is no longer about disseminating information, and keeping the public informed. Â News is entertainment, and what better way to keep people glued to their TV than “Mass Murder in Nebraska!” and talking about the deranged perpetrator for the next several days, 24 hours a day.

Somewhere out there,Â there is another person who’s life is crap, who feels powerless, who is watching this, and entering his own murder-suicide fantasy.Â The media, who are only happy to portray a man with a gun as a force that strikes fear into the hearts of mere mortals, by parading the victims before the camera to talk about how scared they were, by prattling on about the power of the weapon he used, and by repeating the killer’s name far and wide to the point it becomes a household name.

I stated yesterday that I doubt the possibility of armed resistance plays much into selection of venue for the mass shooter.Â They choose malls and schools because it shocks us, and scares us.Â There have been studies that show this happens less often in areas that have concealed carry laws, and I believe this, but I think it’s less about the shooter thinking rationally and more about the culture.

A culture where firearms are more common, and people are familiar with them, won’t tend to breed these types of killers.Â Why?Â Because to people familiar with firearms, the gun is not a talisman.Â It’s not an object of fear, control, veneration or prestige; these are ideas that are promoted by our media culture.Â I believe these incidents are less likely to happen in a society that has a healthy shooting culture, not only because of the decreased likelihood of getting away with it, but because a man with a gun isn’t portrayed as powerful by that kind of culture.Â A man with a gun is your neighbor, the town police man, or the grocer up the street.

It’s obvious that firearms play a role in these shootings, but I don’t think you can fully address the issue without addressing how our media and entertainment cultures portray them.

Attention Suicidal People

For people thinking it’s all just not worth it, and looking to check out, I have a bit of advice for you: have the guts to put a bullet in your head yourself, throw yourself in front of a train, or off a bridge.Â What possesses someone to take the route of suicide by cop?Â Or to “go out in in style”?

People argue that we live in a society that glorifies violence, glorifies guns, or any matter of depravity.Â The truth is we live in a society that abhors personal responsibility. Murder-suicide is the ultimate escape from that, and it’s not surprising it’s become more common.Â No longer do you have to worry about ending your own life.Â You can “go out in style” by making yourself a celebrity, and, in the end, dodge the ultimate responsibility of having to off yourself.

Surely there will be an endless parade of people who will blame a countless number of things for this recent happening in America’s Heartland.Â I don’t want to offer anything that will help the perpetrator evade responsibility and shame for these kinds of actions.

The perpetrator of this latest mass murder-suicide is a coward, plain and simple.Â Society would do itself a favor by simply curing his name, and spitting on his memory.Â Maybe some public shame, rather than deflecting blame, might do more to discourage other disturbed people from doing the same thing.

Nebraska Mall Shooting

I’m very angry about this.Â The man’s suicide note apparently said he wanted to “go out in style.”Â What kind of sick and depraved person thinks that killing 9, and probably more by the time this is all over, innocent people is going out “in style?”

Of course,Â the media is giving him exactly what he wants.Â He’s a celebrity now!Â His name will be spoken far and wide for weeks.Â If he was desiring notoriety, he’s got it now.

Keep your skills up folks, and pack this holiday shopping season.Â There are bound to be copycats.Â Make sure the next loser’s headline is “Mall shooter killed in a hail of gunfire after only getting off two shots.”Â Â I’m sick of this crap.

Gentlemen, don’t let the door …

… hit you in the ass on the way out.

Members of the state House’s Legislative Black Caucus walked off the House floor this afternoon demanding votes on stalled gun-control bills.

The protest threatened to bring business in the chamber to a standstill because the 25-member caucus is a significant voting block, and could stand in the way of reaching the 102 votes need to approve legislation. The House has 203 members.

“There’s no more blind loyalty to anyone,” said Rep. Thomas Blackwell, D-Philadelphia, in an interview. “You have to respect us.”

Respect is a two way street, Representative Blackwell.Â We demand respect for the rights protected by the constitution of this country and this commonwealth.Â This is not a Pennsylvania problem, this is a Philadelphia problem. Â When you’re ready to face up to the problems in Philadelphia, and talk about serious solutions, like putting more police officers on the streets, and making sure cretins like this don’t see the light of day, I’m willing to lobby my representatives for fiscal and legislative help.Â Continue to impose gun control on me, and you’re not respecting me, so why should I respect you?

Missouri AG Filing Brief in Support of Heller

This is good news.Â I wonder if Tom Corbett will take a break from pandering to the anti-smoking busy bodies in order to pander to us for a bit.

Leviathan Strikes Again: Part II

Our attorney general is suing RJ Reynolds tobacco because he thinks they are pimping cigarettes to kids again. Corbett is filing suit because he believes it violates the ~~shakedown racket~~ settlement agreement the tobacco industry signed with the states to not use cartoons to market cigarettes.

I think anyone who looks at this ad, considers the magazine they were placed in, and concludes that clearly this ad was meant to appeal to children ought to stick their heads in their Cuisinart and hit “pulse”, because it seems pretty clear your brain are already pretty much puree.

To be sure, this is meant to target young adults. But last I checked, the legal age to buy cigarettes was eighteen, and I would imagine this ought to mean that it’s legal to market to this age group. It’s a damned shame that smoking is actually pretty bad for you, because I’d almost consider taking up the habit just because it upsets the right kind of people. We’re not supposed to smoke. Our betters have deemed it so.

UPDATE: Well, at least this year Rendell won’t get his smoking ban:

Raela Stabile works the day shift at Molly Brannigans in Harrisburg for one reason: she despises cigarette smoke.

“It’s not half as much smoke [as the night], so I can handle it,” the nonsmoker said in the pub’s smoking section. “I hate cigarette smoke.”

She looks forward to the day when a proposed indoor smoking ban becomes the law of the land, and hopes it will include bars and restaurants.

Hey Raela, no one is forcing you to work in a pub.Â I don’t particularly like dealing with people, which is why a job in tech support isn’t something for me.Â I choose my career according to my preferences, not try to get the state to pass a law saying everyone should be nice to tech support people.

Save That Candle, Save the Planet

Justin points out the absurdity of some Israeli environmental groups, who are calling on Jews to light one less candle this holiday season to save the planet.

So, to save the environment from 15,000 kg of CO₂ 1 million Jewish households would do just as much good by sleeping in for an extra 65 minutes over Hanukka. If you figure there are 4 people for every household that brings us to 16 minutes and 15 seconds of extra sleep per person.

So, sleep in a little bit this Hanukka season. Itâ€™s for the environment!

It’s not really about saving the planet.Â It’s about feeling good about yourself because you think you are, and that’s all that matters.

Club Magazine Limitations

One thing about my club that can sometimes drive me nuts is that we’re limited to no more than five rounds in a magazine.Â I was wondering how common this kind of restriction is at clubs?Â What’s the rule at your local club?

When this rule was explained, they claimed the reason for it was to prevent accidents if a gun failed and started firing uncontrollably.Â In my experience, this doesn’t happen.Â Plus, in my experience with machine pistols, if you shot 5 rounds off automatically and didn’t expect it, you’re putting three rounds in the ceiling.

I find the rule to be particularly annoying with revolvers, and now, I understand that the standard M1 Garand clip would leave me in violation of my club’s rule.Â Â That’s not even mentioning how annoying I think it is to have to switch magazines if I’m trying to shoot a string of 10, or if I want to practice with the Glock on the indoor pistol range.

I think the real reason for the rule is to keep people out of the club who just want a place to come blast away, and aren’t serious shooters. Â I can accept that there may be utility to weeding out people who just want to join so they can blast away at crap on the plinking range, but I think there are better ways to avoid that problem.

One disappointing thing about this club, is the leadership seems to want to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator, rather than weeding out the problem people, so the rest of the members can enjoy the facilities.Â In our last club newsletter, they threatened to shut down the plinking range for range violations, without mentioning what people were doing that was a problem.Â It seems to me the proper way to deal with this is to revoke memberships for violations, rather than mete out collective punishment.Â I wonder if it’s the same attitude behind the round restrictions.

Horrible Story

A seven year old girl takes six bullets in an effort to save her mother.Â Based on the wounds, she’ll be disfigured for life:

Â A 7-year-old-girl is being hailed as an “angel from heaven” and a hero for jumping in front of an enraged gunman, who pumped six bullets into the child as she used her body as a shield to save her mother’s life.

Alexis Goggins, a first-grader at Campbell Elementary School, is at Children’s Hospital in Detroit recovering from gunshot wounds to the eye, left temple, chin, cheek, chest and right arm.

She’s very lucky she survived.Â You want to know what gets me angry about this story?

Police identified him as Calvin Tillie, 29, a four-time convicted felon who Parker had dated for six months before breaking off the relationship.

Emphasis mine.Â Can someone explain to me what this cretin was doing out on the streets?Â Â The criminal justice system has pretty obviously failed this little girl and her mother.