I caught the press conference live like many people did and by the time it finished I could not stop but smile thinking that the old coots can deliver harm to the politicians and play a mean game of PR chess to the Media and the Opposition.
David Keene set the tone by telling the Media that no questions would be taken after LaPierre’s words and that the NRA would be available for questions starting Monday. This pretty much said to the boys and girls of the press that: 1) We know you don’t like us so fuck you and sit pretty, 2) By Monday, regular people would have time to digests our proposal and 3) We really don’t care what you say and you’ll probably shoot yourself in the foot
I am going to analyze point by point using the transcript of Wayne LaPierre’s speech available at the NRA’s website:
Out of respect for those grieving families, and until the facts are
known, the NRA has refrained from comment. While some have tried
to exploit tragedy for political gain, we have remained respectfully
silent.
I still think too much time passed for the NRA to come out. A week in our modern communications time is forever. The only advantage was that the “conversation” coming from the Opposition was stuck in the forever old talking points. Plus plenty of Gun Rights activists took on the Social Media and the Blogosphere helping to counter the B.B.
Now, we must speak … for the safety of our nation’s children. Because
for all the noise and anger directed at us over the past week, no one
— nobody — has addressed the most important, pressing and
immediate question we face: How do we protect our children right
now, starting today, in a way that we know works?
Ouch! Game changer. For the whole week, the only crap we heard and read was the chant “GunControlGunControlGunControlGunControlGunControlGunControlGunControl” but little if nothing on what to do now. Average Mom & Dad are not particularly worried about future discussions in Congress but if they are gonna see the kids again after dropping them in school in the morning.
The only way to answer that question is to face up to the truth.
Politicians pass laws for Gun-Free School Zones. They issue press
releases bragging about them. They post signs advertising them. And in so doing, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are their safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk.…….We care about the President, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by
armed Capitol Police officers. Yet when it comes to the most beloved, innocent and vulnerable members of the American family — our children — we as a society
leave them utterly defenseless, and the monsters and predators of this
world know it and exploit it. That must change now!
Two distinct points here: Repetition that the imaginary force field called Gun Free Zones is not working and that politicians were responsible for creating such stupidity and they know it doe not work because instead of trusting their lives to the imaginary force field, they gave armed people taking care of them. To summarize: Politicians have not given 2 craps about your kid’s life since the introduction of the Gun Free Schools program.
The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of
genuine monsters — people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by
voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever
comprehend them. They walk among us every day……….
This whole paragraph has been reviled in the media. In fact the moment it came out, the Twitter feeds exploded with accusations of Fear-mongering and Paranoia by the NRA. The problem is that they (and everybody else) know damn well another attack like that will happen but having the NRA throw it at their faces was not something they enjoyed.
How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame — from a national media machine that rewards them with the wall-to-wall attention and sense of identity that they crave — while provoking others to try to make their mark?
This is ” Dear Media: We know you don’t like us so fuck you and sit pretty,” Part 2. From now on we can say foam was literally coming from the mouths of almost every journalist in the country that has been covering Sandy Hook or any other school attack or mass killing. A well deserved spanking IMHO and one the Media cannot deny.
Killers, robbers, rapists and drug gang members who have spread like cancer in every community in this country. Meanwhile, federal gun prosecutions have decreased by 40% — to the lowest levels in a decade.
So now, due to a declining willingness to prosecute dangerous criminals, violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years!
It is the Executive’s turn to taste some. A direct accusation saying “you talk about “gun violence, but you ain’t doing squat about it!”
In a race to the bottom, media conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate and offend every standard of civilized society by bringing an ever-more-toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty into our homes — every minute of every day of every month of every year.
And here we have the broadside against the Media. Some have decried the bundling of the video game industry with the rest of the media, but they are indeed part of the same people who have no problems both calling us killers and they selling violence while washing their hands in the whole process. Are video games responsible for the violence? In my opinion they do not create killers but the already scrambled in the brain pan may be overly influenced by them. But there is no doubt that Hollywood has a long and wide strip of hypocrisy denouncing violence while making cash fist over hands with it. Pointing out is a way to make them look stupider than usual.
Now, I can imagine the shocking headlines you’ll print tomorrow morning: “More guns,” you’ll claim, “are the NRA’s answer to everything!” Your implication will be that guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. But since when did the word “gun” automatically become a bad word?
“Dear Media: We know you don’t like us so fuck you and sit pretty, Part 3.” No need to expand much.
A gun in the hands of a Secret Service agent protecting the President isn’t a bad word. A gun in the hands of a soldier protecting the United States isn’t a bad word. And when you hear the glass breaking in your 6 living room at 3 a.m. and call 911, you won’t be able to pray hard enough for a gun in the hands of a good guy to get there fast enough to protect you.
So why is the idea of a gun good when it’s used to protect our President or our country or our police, but bad when it’s used to protect our children in their schools?
“What makes you so special you can have all the security you want, but my babies are supposed to have none?” This one has to hurt. No mater what kind of explanation you can come up with, trying to counter the argument will result in you appearing to be a callous jackass who does not care for kids.
More on the next post. Trying to keep it at a somewhat digestible size.
You write Good!! 🙂
I’m a video gamer and y’all know my efforts to obtain my first ..45 handgun, so I was hammered by the idiots a lot since last week.
I’m gonna need to hunt this down, although I dunno if I wanna blog it, you’re already doing a damn fine job.
I have an M1911 which I suspect may have been my grandfather’s service side-arm. It’s very satisfying to send half a dozen rounds down-range in under 2 seconds. As reliable as revolvers are, they can’t do that.
It’s cheaper with my brother’s .22 automatic, though…
Excellent points, all. With upwards of 3 million so-called “assault rifles” in the hands of the public, and since we’re still shooting Civil War era firearms, how many centuries will pass before any “assault weapons ban” can become effective? The only answer to this type of violence is IMMEDIATE ARMED RESPONSE.
I like that the NRA recommendations for armed defense of schools co-opts the liberal gun control talking points of “it’s for the children!” and “if it saves the life of even a single child!”
Next the NRA should ask all congressmen and the POS POTUS if their kids have armed protection? Are they better than us? Their kids more special?
End Gun Free Zones and let millions of average Americans and teachers carry at schools and we won’t see a Beslan massacre which I am sure is coming otherwise.
I am loving the Antis and the Media screaming like crazy against having cops at school to defend kids. Any parent with 1/3 of brain is going “Are they frigging stupid? Of course I want a cop in school!”
Miguel-
As good as the speech was, the problem is that the people who needed to hear it the most a) did not hear it, b) will not take the time to watch it on youtube in its entirety, and c) will get their digest of it from the liberal media which has already begun to spin it as “more guns.”
Yep.
Thanks Miguel. I too believe that the NRA has finally read the playbook of the left and are playing by their rules. About time. Keep up the good work 🙂
Good read and point on I’d say — the media will come up with something and I’m looking forward to that exchange —