Tuesday, April 17, 2007

reality check...

Dose of cold water, call it what you want. Don't like my need to be detached from the carnage in Blacksburg? Precisely my point! And I don't know where I read it through the browsing, but somebody made a very interesting point: What happened at Virginia Tech yesterday? Iraquis deal with that Every! Single! Day! And whose fault is that?

My God, the Japanese were right to ask the question after Columbine: "How sick is the gun society?"

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Update: It was Larry Johnson at No Quarter.
Let's total the score: at least 65 Iraqis dead in four attacks vs. 22 Americans shot at Virginia Tech. Whoops, forgot the 20 kidnapped policemen. Can you imagine?

The next time you hear Dick Cheney or George Bush blame the public attitude regarding Iraq on the media's failure to report "good news", examine carefully our reaction to the shooting at Viginia Tech. Look at our collective shock. Our horrified reaction. The public sorrow. Yet, in truth, this is an exceptional, unusual day in America. It is not our common experience. But we cannot say the same about Iraq.

5 comments:

Naahm Deplume said...

Didn't think it would take long for the left to blame VT on the GOP. The inklings are just starting, and the left will wait a respectful period (so they cannot be accused of politicizing a tragedy) before trotting out the latest initiative to grab guns from the law-abiding. After all, that is the low-hanging fruit and makes good press, even if it does diddly-squat to stop criminals. The Left will look no farther than the fact that Cho passed a background check when he purchased his Glock 9mm. Thus, we are all potential killers, so we should all be restricted.

By that logic, cars and booze should also be banned.

Sadly, I think it is a good time to invest in gun stocks. I feel a spike in gun sales coming.

Barking Up Trees said...

Irrespective to the issue of whether we need to eliminate the wanton proliferation of guns in this country, my primary point here is the mass-pathology of psychic disconnect and the desire for it, particularly when dealing with tragic and other dire events.

As for your "diddly"ing yourself over guns, my friend, you take a look at the statistics of murders nationwide in europe and japan, countries where handguns are significantly regulated, and then you report back to me.

Meanwhile, stopping "criminals" vs. stopping "mass-murder" would be the underlying point, so I find your argument to the contrary dusty and ineffective. Also, your ban "cars and booze" as "that logic" is, in itself illogical. The issue there is *intent*, unless you know of cases where people are running over dozens of people on purpose (and not when some old fart hits the accelerator when he thought it was the brake). Booze? Somebody going around forcing it down others' throats or smashing them over the head one after another?

I'm sorry. Not one of your better rebuttals, old bean. I'm disappointed!

P.S. "Look no 'further'", not 'farther'. -- WACCA!!

Naahm Deplume said...

Euro and Japan also have cultures that (1) are homogeneous and more protective of the nuclear family, (2) restrict to a greater degree the media (movies, games) that glorify violence (try getting that past Hollywood liberals and the ACLU), and (3) permit far greater intrusion by government into the lives of citizens (also try getting that past the ACLU). So you are comparing apples to oranges, mon frere.

As for restricting cars and booze, why not? They are actually more dangerous since the killing can occur unintentionally, whereas with guns, there is usually intentional behavior involved (no one ever accidentally picks one up to begin with). We give driver's licenses with less restriction than carry permits in nearly all states. Mass. is a good example there. You cannot get a permit to purchase a handgun, but there are plenty of fool drivers (by the way, Boston is having a homicide problem, is it not? Where are the guns coming from). Further, I don't understand your argument there, re: criminals v. mass murderers. I just don't.

(As an aside, I note that the largest mass murders (nonmilitary) in US History were committed WITHOUT handguns. In fact, 9/11 involved NO guns. Columbine involved rifles and pipe bombs. UT Austin involved a rifle. The California McDonalds massacre involved assault rifles. Don't recall Luby's Cafeteria but that led to carry laws in Texas because the victims owned guns but were not allowed to carry them, so they were killed)

How about "sensible" legislation like one-a-month or waiting periods? VA has one-a-month. So Cho bought one gun in February, one in March. Waiting period? Cho waited-got guns in the winter and killed in the spring. Neither law would have done "diddly."

Thus, the only answer (and the ultimate goal of the gun grabbers) is federal legislation (like Japan and Europe (wait, wasn't a mayor in Japan gunned down this week?))to (1) prevent the sale of guns and (2) seize guns. Anything less simply does little except to annoy purchasers, and keep many law-abiding citizens from owning. Even the gun grabbers have admitted as much.

The upshot is that you and I will not be able to own, and I will have to turn mine in (for which I will expect "just compensation" under the Fifth Amendment). How many career criminals do you think will turn in theirs? In fact, how do the cops even know where to look? They cannot find them now.

Now, given that no one (even the gun grabbers) expects career criminals to turn in their weapons, and you cannot hunt them down because I am sure they never took the time to register them, how do the liberals expect to protect you and me from muggers, car-jackers, home invaders, etc? What new security initiatives are planned to protect the blameless citizenry? (oh, that's right, liberals don't like cameras, cops, warrantless stops, etc. Maybe more taxes would help.)

While I am waiting for the left to answer that one, I will listen to the sound of crickets in the background.

Naahm Deplume said...

I forgot Oklahoma City. No guns there either. Maybe we should ban fertilizer and diesel fuel.

Barking Up Trees said...

and speaking of fertilizer...

dude, europe... ? homogenous... ? have you never been to london or paris... ? good christ, they're more multi than new york... !

check the numbers, please... handgun murders in europe & japan are, ballpark, .0000001 that of the u.s. annually...

having said all this, permit me this inconsistency: i'm all in favor of repealing the 2nd amendment, or at least your and john ashcroft's deliberate (i'll give *you* the benefit and not say "obtuse") misinterpretation of the "organized militia" provision, but only *after* the facist bush admin leaves office...

no criminals will give them up voluntarily, but they would give them up one way or another... yes, murders would still occur, but the numbers would drop precipitously -- from the tens of thousands to the hundreds and maybe into double figures...

i care not a whit for the "law-abiding citiizens" desperately needing an extension to their respective members; let them ride broomsticks and go "pow! pow!"

and banning alcohol and cars... ? when used AS INTENDED, nobody dies, mr. logic...

i'd sooner ban cell phones and electronic dingleberries next because we're killing off our bees don'tcha know... ?!

hey, you want just compensation... ? done… !

enjoy... !