Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
When it comes to the Second Amendment and guns, it seems that President Obama can’t make anyone happy. Ever since Obama announced his candidacy for the Presidency, the NRA has screamed that Obama will be taking away the guns. This scare tactic continued when Obama defeated John McCain for the Presidency. Just what has Barack Obama done to make the NRA and gun owners frightened for their guns? The simple answer to this question is nothing. The head of the National Rifle Association, Mr. Wayne LaPierre actually admitted recently that Obama has done nothing to attack gun owner’s rights to bear arms, but claims Obama’s inaction against guns is actually a conspiracy to take away guns!! ‘ “[The Obama campaign] will say gun owners — they’ll say they left them alone,” LaPierre told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Friday. “In public, he’ll remind us that he’s put off calls from his party to renew the Clinton [assault weapons] ban, he hasn’t pushed for new gun control laws… The president will offer the Second Amendment lip service and hit the campaign trail saying he’s actually been good for the Second Amendment.” “But it’s a big fat stinking lie!” the NRA leader exclaimed. “It’s all part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and destroy the Second Amendment in our country.” ‘ Raw Story
Now, before anyone thinks I am making this stuff up, the linked site includes a video clip wherein Mr. LaPierre verbalizes this alleged reverse conspiracy. Mr. LaPierre makes a point of throwing in the necessary names of alleged liberal co-conspirators to rev up his base. ‘ “Sotomayor, Kagan, Fast & Furious, the United Nations, executive orders. Those are the facts we face today… President Obama and his cohorts, yeah, they’re going to deny their conspiracy to fool gun owners. Some in the liberal media, they are already probably blogging about it. But we don’t care because the lying, conniving Obama crowd can kiss our Constitution!” ‘
The lying, conniving Obama crowd as Mr. LaPierre labels them has not done anything to harm the Second Amendment rights that the NRA claims to be at risk. I was interested in the last few words of LaPierre’s quotation above. The phrase “kiss our Constitution” appears to lay claim that the NRA and its followers own the Constitution and its protections. I could have sworn that my law school Constitutional professors taught me that the Constitution protects all citizens, but maybe I heard them wrong. But, I digress.
As the Raw Story article suggests, President Obama has actually taken heat from his own supporters over his alleged conspiracy to not take away the guns. NPR Does Mr. LaPierre provide any evidence of this bizarre claim? None that I could find. Maybe you will have better luck than me in finding evidence of presidential actions to hide President Obama’s intentions and/or actions of stealing legal guns from their owners.
I have to admit that if you read the comments section of the NPR article that details how the Left is disappointed with Obama’s inaction on gun control, you will read almost nothing except gun owners claiming that Obama’s words of inaction are actually code words that the End is Near and the Sky is Falling for gun owners! Just what will it take gun owners to ask Mr. LaPierre for evidence of his wild claims? I, for one would love to hear his answer to that question. I understand that candidate and President Obama may have stayed away from the 2nd Amendment issues for political reasons, but where is the evidence of this alleged conspiracy? I would think Fox News would be sending Bill O’Reilly’s reporters all over the country to uncover such a heinous conspiracy.
If Mr. Obama has not written any executive orders or supported additional legislative steps to control or take away guns since he has become President, just what is the basis for these wild claims? I realize that the NRA has a financial interest in getting gun owners scared into buying more guns, but are there other, underlying reasons why the gun owners are frightened so easily, when the facts do not support the NRA’s claims?
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
Additional sources: Gun Owners of America; NRA-ILA; Pajamas Media;
Slarti:
“A foolish consistency”
You believe in big government, I think that is a foolish consistency. It has been demonstrated all over the world as folly. As has socialism been demonstrated a failure except in small pockets.
We havent had a “free” market for almost a hundred years because of all the government regulation. [free is in quotes because I fully understand there has never been a totaly free market although the 19th century wasnt too bad]
I think it is foolish to believe a few “elites” are smarter than the combined intelligence of people making decisions for themselves. I agree some people make terrible decisions but that doesnt give you the right to impose your will on everyone else to correct their bad decisions.
You cannot control an economy and expect a good result, no matter how much you may wish it were so.
I rarely resort to ad hominem attacks unless attacked. You and Gene see fit to do it on a regular basis. It is rather funny actually.
When you have an idea that merits a reasoned response, I will respond in kind. Both you and Gene froth at the mouth like rabid dogs for the most part.
As to straw men? You guys are the masters at that and red herrings as well.
You and Gene are foolishly consistent as far as I can tell. You are just like me, you believe in your own mind and think you are right. But what you dont understand is that other people have a right to their own beliefs and you would silence those with whom you disagree. I enjoy seeing your side of it and find it interesting even when I disagree.
You guys think you are right and so would like to silence those of us who believe otherwise. Very KGB of you.
Maybe you should actually read Emerson’s essay Self Reliance some day soon. ROFLMAO
Noah,
Bron tries all of his tricks for the same reason – because he is incapable of attacking ideas on their merits…
Gene,
Yeah, but the other two are hardly worth acknowledging – I try to ignore the part of Bron which comes across as a petulant child…
Bron,
You said, “One mans troll is another mans sage.”
Here a definition of “troll” from the urban dictionary:
A man who confuses this sort of person with a sage is a fool.
raff,
Not only is that a great song, that’s a Ferrari of backing bands Paul has in that video. Those guys are tight.
Gene,
I love Paul Simon! Great choice for this discussion.
To be fair, Bron knows three tricks:
1) I know you are but what am I
2) The Straw Man
3) If you don’t think money and/or egotism are the best things in the world, you must be a Marxist/Fascist/Some Other Word He Doesn’t Know The Meaning Of.
By the way, Bron, misrepresenting my position was a nice way to illustrate the “straw man fallacy” described in the video Otteray Scribe posted… although I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.
Bron,
You really should work on your reading comprehension – it sucks. FOOLISH consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds according to Ralph Waldo Emerson. The full quote is:
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
A foolish consistency is exactly what you display – i.e. free market capitalism is always best for everything.
Slarti:
So being consistent is the mark of a small mind? How exactly is that?
Why are you ascribing . . . ?
“Did I mention your taste in heros really sucks? Marx, Lenin, Mao, Che, Fidel, Pol Pot.”
Why are ascribing those heros to anybody on this board?
Gene,
Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. I can’t think of anyone who exemplifies that more than Bron…
did I mention your taste in heros really sucks? Marx, Lenin, Mao, Che, Fidel, Pol Pot.
Did I mention murdering scum? Oh and immoral as well.
Did I mention amoral too?
Most people don’t consider unindicted business criminals to be sages.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html
Ayn Rand. The Koch Brothers.
Your taste in heroes sucks, but at least it’s consistently selfish and greedy.
Henman:
Koch has nothing to do with this. One mans troll is another mans sage.
Like it or not there are 2 trains of thought in this country.
HenMan,
That is a pretty cheap salary from such wealthy corporate thugs!
raff-
Ask Bron about the Koch Brothers- they’re right across the room he’s trolling from. He got docked $5.00 yesterday for failing to denounce Federal mining regulations for killing American jobs.
Great link OS!
Imagine my shock that the Koch Brothers might have broken the law in order to make more money! 🙂