● If You Want To Understand The Left: Look at the fact that Trump is offering them more gun control than any Democrat has ever offered and yet none of them can stop smearing him. To leftist drones, "who" offers the policy is even more important than the policy itself. Moreover, their leaders don't actually want their policies in place... it's bad for fundraising.
● It's Racist: According to an AP article, "as the country listens to Florida teens, black lives matter feel ignored." Ha ha. Good. That's the difference between having a genuine cause and using paranoid bullsh*t to try to push a leftist agenda to remake America in lunatic ways. But never fear, their "hurt" will translate into quality paranoia and racist victimhood and they will feel quite smug.
● Media Whore: The media finally has their pet. The pretty boy's name is David Hogg and he's just the cutest media-made martyr. Indeed, he's well-positioned to be the next Sandra Fluke as he runs around smearing every Republican he can find and spewing leftist talking points for his media overlords. His fifteen minutes should burn out in about two weeks when the next big thing happens.
● Idiot: Every once in a while, I can't stop myself from posting comments at other places. Today, I posted at the Daily Mail and I thought I would discuss this with you. Piers Morgan wrote an article attacking the idea of arming teachers and then also attacking Samuel L. Jackson for hypocrisy. Morgan noted that even trained police only hit their targets 17% of the time in a genuine firefight (according to a study of the NYPD). Ergo, he concluded that arming teachers was a horrible idea. But he's wrong. Here's why:
(1) He forgets the issue of deterrence. Even crazy people attack only soft targets. If shooters understand that schools are armed, most will likely avoid schools as targets. Peirs entirely ignores this effect.
(2) Piers's own numbers argue for a counter-shooter. If trained cops get that inaccurate just because someone is shooting back, then having someone shoot back should have a similar effect on shooters.
(3) The news (despite ignoring these stories) is full of people who take down shooters all the time. Hence, it makes sense to let trained people try. 17% chance per bullet > 0% chance
Interestingly, some wuss from London responded, "But what if they are facing an AR-15?" Well, wank-off, let's think about that. First, what does that matter? You can take down anyone carrying anything with any other gun. So this is an illogical response. Secondly, how does the fact they own an AR-15 reduce the deterrence factor or the accuracy issue? Third, this is false logic. I say this: having teachers with guns provides three benefits. He responds (essentially) having an AR-15 wipes these out. Ok. Even if that's true (and it's not), the answer is still so what? Just because this plan may not be effective against one type of gun doesn't mean it's ineffective in other situations. Indeed, his "logic" is basically since your plan can't work in all circumstances, we should never try it. That's stupid. In fact, it's so stupid is has to be disingenuous. But you see the left make this argument a lot... it's how they duck out of losing points.
● It's A Mistake: The right has made a mistake attacking this security guard who didn't charge in like Trump and this army of useless couch potatoes would have... hooha! First, the guy is going to come up with a valid explanation (sounds like he already has in fact) and all these couch Rambos are going to look like fools. Secondly, it's a bad look to attack law enforcement. Third, cowardice is a ridiculous charge for people to lob unless they were there and themselves acted heroically.
That said, there is one narrow way that this attack pays off handsomely. Without making this guy into some sort of unique case, you use him to point out that relying on the government to come save you is not a good strategy. People need to be allowed to be self-reliant if they choose. That is a strong anti-progressive attack which also neuters the idea that we shouldn't allow teachers or the public at large to arm themselves.
● Running In Place: Finally, all this talk of momentum for change strikes me as rather false. When I look around, I see none of the trappings of true political motion. What I see instead is a leftist media talking to itself as always as the public moves on. What tells me the public has moved on? Well, when the leftist media gets distracted, there is nothing keeping the issue going. A handful of leftist students skipping school is as useless as the Women's March. In the meantime, the Florida legislature did nothing. The attacks on Rubio and others brought about zero changes in position. There are no public rallies. You don't see this issue discussed. And the public dives readily into whatever comes next. That's not political momentum. Momentum is talk of switchboards, rallies, bumperstickers, Congressional critters suddenly announcing how they evolved, and pro- and con- legal action starting up all over the country. That means blood in the water. What we're seeing now is just political posturing.
Thoughts?
14 comments:
1) Trump has talked about bumper stocks and raising the minimum age of gun purchases though he hasn't yet pushed for either thing. The NRA supports the first and opposes the second so that is probably what legislators will go with.
Personal attacks and conspiracy theories are just the way politics are conducted nowadays.
2) As I pointed out more than a year ago, Black Lives Matter has been rendered moot by the willingness of law enforcement to A) wear body cams and B) fire officers who are clearly guilty of misconduct (even if juries and politicians continue to given cops cart blanche).
3) Unless you subscribe to the conspiracy theory Hogg wasn't actually a student at Parkland, calling him a media made martyr doesn't make much sense.
I agree that like other people who rise temporarily to prominence (Joe the Plumber, Sandra Fluke) he won't be in headlines long.
4) School shooters aren't guys with long term plans (every school shooter ends up dead or in prison for the rest of their lives) so I doubt deterrence will work. Armed teachers could cut short rampages though so I'm in favor of it.
5) I see no political downside to attacking the security guard. Doesn't matter what the truth is, useful lies that serve the interests of the tellers will be all that matters in debate.
6) Trump and Scott have shifted positions a bit on gun control (nods towards point 1), as has the NRA, but there is little evidence the public or legislators have so change will be minimal if any.
On a related note Georgia is promising to kill any tax legislation that benefit Delta unless it continues its just cancelled policy of offering discounts to NRA members.
He wasn't a security guard. He was a deputy sheriff. There's a difference. He had thirty years of training and experience as a deputy sheriff. He knew those children being shot. He may not have had a legal duty to act, but he clearly had a moral responsibility to act.
The guy cowered when he should have done his duty. When you're cowering, you're a coward. And he's not the only one. A total of four Broward County Deputy Sheriffs waited until the shooting stopped to enter the scene. Active shooter training doctrine calls for direct intervention -- not waiting until the suspect is out of ammunition and on the run.
At least that's how I see it.
Municipal police officers responding to the same incident went straight in.
The only downside to attacking the security guard/deputy sheriff, is that is not where the REAL failure lies. He's at the bottom of of the list. It's the school board & city council who decided in 2010 who make sure kids didn't get criminal records so they mandated that kids shouldn't be charged with violent crimes or even petty ones...no consequences at all. Oh, also NOT HELPED AT ALL EITHER. So, to me anyway, Nickolas Cruz who was reported at least 18 or 39 times to cops (depending on who is doing the reporting) or to someone in authority to take action and no one tried to intervene. I read, whether it is true or not (probably because it disappeared pretty quickly), Cruz himself actually called the cops because he was having dark thought...still no one did anything. School counselors, principals, teachers, sheriff dept, school board, city council all responsible. Oh, wait, it really is the NRA, I forgot 'cause they...support the 2nd Amendment. Yet not one person thought to take this kid's guns away EVEN WHEN HE ASKED THEM TO!
He was screaming for someone to stop him and no one did. People saw/heard something and said something...over and over and NO ONE IN AUTHORITY DID A DAMN THING except to pat him on the head and say "There, there little one, nice chat! Now go and sin no more. It's not you it's those mean people who think you're a nutburger...we don't, we just think you're troubled."
/End Rant...maybe
Btw, that 2010 policy shift should have been meant for non-violent criminal behavior like shop lifting and petty thievery. It is called "broken windows" policing and it worked in NYC for a time. It was used to stop young petty criminals-in-training from escalating into more aggressive, violent crimes. Justice was soft, but swift with community service oriented consequences of picking up trash and stuffing envelopes etc. Redirecting kids to more positive purposeful pursuits. Not this kind of pampering potential violent criminals just because they are young and they may just grow out of it routine.
● Leftist Ways: This is becoming a pattern of Trump’s. He’s made generous offers on DACA but Democrats won’t budge. They didn’t want to fix Obamacare and lost the individual mandate as a result. I’ve said before that Trump isn’t playing chess, he’s playing poker, and he’s about to call the Dems’ bluff for the third time with gun control.
● Which Lives Matter?: Black Lives Matter is affirming its detractors. BLM proponents have insisted that the counter-slogan “All Lives Matter” is racist because all lives matter is implied, but black lives are being ignored. Yet when BLM gets the chance to affirm that all lives actually do matter, they react like this.
● Attention Hogg: This David kid has apparently worked his way into the news before. He calls himself an activist, a filmmaker and an entrepreneur and he’s certainly comfortable in front of the camera. I daresay the Parkland shooting was the best thing to happen to this burgeoning opportunist.
Anthony, Hogg is absolutely a media-made martyr. There’s a whole narrative surrounding him to do with conspiracy theorists accusing him of being an actor. If you Google his name, it’s the first thing to come up. The only place I’ve encountered said conspiracy theories is via the media that refutes them, and I spend a lot of time lurking conspiracy Twitter. In other words, the press is promoting the conspiracy in order to call li’l Davy a victim of it. It would’ve never had legs on its own.
● The Big Guns: The media has really hyped up the AR-15 as being some kind of supergun. (The AR-15 doesn’t just kill the body, it obliterates the soul.) They don’t even talk about “assault rifles” anymore, just wall-to-wall AR-15s. (The AR-15 is made from aluminum forged in the fires of Mordor.) It’s not surprising that the firearms-illiterate would come to believe they’re the most powerful gun ever. (The AR-15 is the only gun that can take down Chuck Norris.)
● Mistake: The press is doing its level-best to promote those voices calling the four deputies who didn’t go in cowards, but the story that is emerging in spite of it is, as you point out, related to the above: pundits and other idiots claiming the police have no duty to respond when an AR-15 is involved. (AR-15 barrels are machined from the magical horns of unicorns.) So now the left has talked itself into a corner: “Only the cops should have guns. But you can’t expect cops to face armed criminals!”
If anything, the mistake being made by gun proponents is that they are making the Broward sheriffs into a unique case by comparing them to the cops from the neighboring county that went straight in and, more broadly, affirming that cops are generally brave.
● No Momentum: Agreed. The left likes to hold their struggle sessions and then chalk them up as a victory. They get enough of a smuggie from NRA losing rent-a-car discounts to think they actually accomplished something. My guess is that half of NRA members will switch to a different car company and the rest will use their Costco discount instead.
Another thing to come out of the shooting is copycats. The nightly news here in my corner of PA seems to feature at least one incident per day since the shooting. A few students actually made specific threats and/or were found to have weapons, but now the trend seems to be to write some vague threat on the bathroom wall and get a day off from school because in these times school districts can't afford to brush it aside. So, entire school districts are shut down for the day while police sweep the schools and look for the kid who did it.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that ALL of the nearby schools have had an incident since the shooting. Well, all but the one I work for. We were ahead of the curve and evacuated all the schools a few weeks before the Florida shooting. I can't help but wonder if we will have another incident since it seems to be the thing to do.
tryanmax, LOLOLOL!! Bravo! :)
LL, I look at it this way...
First, most school security guards (be they current or former deputies/cops) are over-the-hill or never-was guys. I can't hold them to the same standard as I could a cop in his prime. And you know what, as they say, time makes cowards of us all.
Secondly, I still have no idea what happened. He claims he was told the shooter was outside. Is that true? Don't know. But I do see a lot of evidence of scapegoating and I will discount that. So I will withhold judgment until someone less biased investigates.
Third, this whole thing is a red herring. He may (or may not) have stopped the shooting earlier, but he could not have prevented it. Said differently, it's simply wrong to dump the blame on this guy. As Bev notes and as we've discussed before, the blame begins with decisions made years before by the very people seeking to blame him.
Finally, I simply don't accept people like wimp draft dodging talk radio hosts calling other people cowards and then telling us what they would have done. I've never seen or met a genuine hero who talked like they do.
Stacy, We've been lucky here that we haven't had that, but I see stories about it all over the country. The problem is that something like this gives the less stables ideas. Honestly, every one of them should end up in some sort of monitoring program because they've shown tremendous lack of judgment about this.
I'll be back. Sorry. Busy day!
Bev: but,but the program was so successful, It lowered reported school crimes by 66%! ;) Tryanmax, everybody knows AR15 barrels aren't machined from unicorn horns. They're actually the severed penises of demons. It gives them extra lethality. Anthony, if politicians were giving cops carte blanche the cops wouldn't be dealing with juries.
GypsyTyger
Gypsy, I should've been more specific. I meant evil unicorns--the black ones with the fiery manes. But a demon phallus works just as well and is more sustainable!
Bev, It always does my heart good to meet rational people. They are so rare. And they are really the people who make the world move in the right directions. Nicely done! :)
tryanmax, Excellent comments all around. First, I love the humor! :) Secondly, very insightful.
On Attention Hogg, "I daresay the Parkland shooting was the best thing to happen to this burgeoning opportunist."... I had the exact same thought. That's why I mentioned Fluke. He's sooooo ready to exploit this. And the media is ready to use him as the tip of the spear.
I think it's bizarre how upset the MSM is about the AR15. It's not the most powerful or the best gun by any stretch. It's the one that is probably the most cliche. But hey, once the crowd has spoken and found the witch, it's time to burn her without any debate, right?
On the momentum, I'm seeing lots of articles now asking, "Has the ground really shifted on gun control? Is it finally time?" The answer is obvious: no. The problem is that these articles all start with, "People are fed up. People want something done. People want change." And that's about the end of their analysis. That's stupid though.
First, People means "my leftist friends." If it was really people then you would see and hear a LOT more.
Secondly, if there had been a real change, you would see it. When real change comes, you can't miss it. You see lots of legislative action. You see opponents admit a change of mind. And you see intense panic by the people about to get whacked. And you see waves of confident support. Right now, I see wishful thinking being driven by the leftist media and a few activists, and they don't even have a specific change they want. They just want it all made better.
That's not action.
This has always been the same, so nothing has changed.
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