The U.S. Doesn't Care About Gun Violence
This weekend should prove to us that here in 2009, the MSM and our leaders do not care at all about gun violence. Seems like we have all given up and believe the NRA won the battle and we should all carry guns, without background checks, everywhere including national parks, churches, stores, airplanes, etc etc.
This is, of course, the NRA's dream come true. A national of wild west gun toters. Screw the liberal police. It's every man for themselves!
The shooter in Pittsburgh this weekend said he was desperate because he believed Obama was going to take his guns away. Sound familiar? That is EXACTLY the marketing campaign literature from the NRA and GOP to incite this sort of violence and gin-up hatred so as to garner a few more votes for the Repubs.
And the press? The press doesn't care. It is more important to find out what Michelle Obama is wearing or waht new gaffe they can drum-up during an Obama speech.
So who is going to hold the NRA, Fox News (Beck, in particular) and the GOP accountable? No one, I AM SURE. Everyone is affraid of the NRA.
Certainly not TPM. I see NO mention of gun violence or these false misleading ads and literature that come from the NRA and Repubs. Instead, we get Josh Marshall's obsession with Geithner and Summers.
14 people died. So what? That can wait.
Michelle Obama has glamour and class. Now THAT, is news.
April 4, 2009 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good post. It's an abomination. The NRA and the rightwing haters have totally cowed the media and the pols into obedient silence. So we are left with candle light vigils on a weekly basis.
The silence is deafening. And overused phrase, but in this case totally apt.
Also see my post about how Michelle Bachmann's incitement of violence preceeding four massacres:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/observer2/2009/04/bachmanns-armed-and-dangerous.php
The NRA and the rightwing paranoids did this. There's blood on their hands. Three cops are dead thanks to their "talking points".
April 4, 2009 6:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's Michelle Bachmann:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/23/bachmann-armed-and-dangerous/
Happy now, asshole?
April 4, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Second only to car accidents, I think. More dead. That we hear about.
I kind of gave up on the gun issue. I should not. One silly SC case can be read a hundred different ways.
I like the chip in the gun idea. With those global finders. why not?
Full investigatory computer capability for each sale. Why not?
April 4, 2009 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, on topic....
The NRA has a death grip on our public officials. It's not about guns with them, it's about the $$$$$$$ from NRA and their co-horts.
To expose the graft from them would be a good first step by MSM and all in loosening their grip and supporting the ability to implement and enforce sane gun control laws. (Um, Josh et al. could ya, would ya start NOW please?!?)
The violence is (in my opinion) exacerbated by the Bachmanns of our land. Until there are serious consequences for these people, it will only get worse.
Thanks for post. Important.
April 4, 2009 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are 25,000 Americans killed every year by guns, and this has been true for decades. The person most likely to get shot by a handgun is the owner or immediate family. Handguns do not keep you safe.
We are the most armed nation in the world (excepting Somalia?) with the highest murder rate in the industrialized world. The NRA would have you believe we need the right to arm elementary school students, high school students, college students, teachers, carry guns into bars, restaurants, parks, public buildings and everywhere but Dick Cheney speeches to be 'safe'.
The NRA says we need legal cop killer bullets that pierce body armor, banana clips for assault weapons. The fact that cops are getting gunned down in multiple incidents across the nation shows how much being armed protects oneself from a armed lunatic determined to die with his gun in 'his cold dead hand'.
A real hunter needs only one or two bullets to bag a deer. We need at least to restore the assault weapons/mega-ammo clip law that George W. did not renew.
April 4, 2009 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
In a sense, we have a kind of "terrorism" here in America. The only difference between this and what, say, Israel experiences with suicide bombings, is a political motive.
I often wondered why no one asks these NRA-friendly politicians: If more guns is the answer to gun violence, why not allow guns be carried to your rallies and into your building? Put your money where you mouth is, and you go first.
April 4, 2009 10:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
link
Cheney doesn't trust Republicans with guns, even with his Secret Service protection, why should anyone else feel safe around these gun obsessed right wingnuts?
April 5, 2009 12:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good find. Priceless hypocrisy. Too bad none of the cowards we call the MSM press corps asked Dick about the contradiction.
April 6, 2009 12:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
That needed to be said again. :-{)>
April 5, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The NRA would say that if just one sane responsible citizen in that New York building had had a gun, maybe just two or three people would have died, rather than fourteen. There is logic in that argument.
It would take a hugely complicated and expensive long-term effort to get rid of guns in the USA.
In the meantime, more than 100,000 Americans each year are being killed by improper hospital procedures. Why is there no outrage about those deaths?
Every Swiss citizen is armed. That is one reason why Switzerland was not invaded during the twentieth century.
This is not a simple issue.
April 5, 2009 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Swiss citizens who are armed for the defense of the state are armed, trained and supervised by the government. The weapons they have are bought, kept and inspected by their chain of command, the government knows what weapons were issued and where they are kept.
One reason Switzerland was not invaded in WWII was because many top Nazi's had bank accounts there, and it was a money laundering site for the Reich, and the Germans did not want to risk disruptions in the Swiss banking system.
April 5, 2009 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
And I heard the Germans did not take Switzerland was because Switzerland was surrounded by the Alps, so going over the top to take that country would be seriously expensive in blood and treasure. There would be nothing to be gained by it since taking all the countries around the perimeter of the Alps would render Switzerland impotent. The Germans could not get in and the Swiss could not get out.
Besides that, all the injured Germans would be treated immediately by brandy-toting St. Bernards. It was feared all theGerman soldiers would fall down and feign injury.
April 5, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good points Noble and Gregor. There are great differences between Switzerland and the USA. But still, an armed US citizenry has potential national security benefits against threats foreign and domestic.
An attempt by the US government to confiscate guns would never get off the ground without one of the most massive and expensive legal battles in the history of our country. And even if that legal battle finally succeeded in repealing the Second Amendment and banning citizen ownership of guns, many gun owners would simply refuse to turn over their guns. The logistics and repercussions of such a situation would be ludicrously troublesome. Would the government try to put perhaps forty million law-abiding citizens in jail?
April 5, 2009 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
"confiscate guns"?
You're kidding right?
We're talking about waiting periods, background checks, registration and an end to gun shows where anyone can buy.
April 6, 2009 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Disarmament is a friction point the Reich uses to stir up the paranoid that they wil lose their guns. These guys and gals do not feel safe without a firearm. It must be terrible to run around so frightened all the time you have to pack heat.
As you note, the act of disarming America is so enormous that it can not be done. This is true. Everyone on the Left knows this is true. But isn't it fun to stir everyone up with the notion that if we limit what weapons are legal this will lead pitting people chains and sending them to the salt mines?
The imagery is that we live in some spaghetti western and the posse enforces the laws. Here's the deal, because out legal system is so cumbersome and the law so generously construed to ensure people are NOT falsely imprisoned, possession of an illegal firearm is pretty easy to prove. It's a catch-all when dealing with criminals to get them on this because the drug charge is too difficult to negotiate. IMHO, I believe any unlawful use of a firearm should result in jail time. If someone chooses to possess a gun, they should be held to very high standards and there are no excuses, i.e. Cheney should have gone to jail for shotting his friend, period. 30 days at the least. No matter what the circumstance, he pulled the trigger that wounded his friend. Nothing to neotiate.
April 6, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guns don't kill people... Nuts with guns kill people!
April 5, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
And politically motivated organizations like the GOP, NRA and Fox News have a RESPONSIBILITY to not make FALSE claims about the govt and to incite violence and armed rebellion against the president & Democrats.
April 5, 2009 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink