Journal smittyoneeach's Journal: Wayne LaPierre offers lucidity 19
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 â" nobody â" 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?
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.
How have our nation's priorities gotten so far out of order? Think about it. We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses â" even sports stadiums â" are all protected by armed security.
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 â" our children â" 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!
The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters â" 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. And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn't planning his attack on a school he's already identified at this very moment?
How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame â" from a national media machine that rewards them with the wall-to-wall attention and sense of identity that they crave â" while provoking others to try to make their mark?
But let me double down, for the terminally Progressive:
SEEN ON FACEBOOK:
âoeWhat is the gun community going to do about this tragedy?â
âoeI dunno. What is the gay community going to do about Penn State?â
Well, clearly the "gay community" is going have some festive burst of fiscal fauxtrage about how we have plenty of time to mourn, but no time to locate resources for physical security.
No. (Score:2)
First, the plan won't work. If a school hires an armed guard (presumably by firing 1.5 teachers to pay the guard's salary?) then you'll just encourage the people who want to do this kind of act to wear body armor. On top of that, it is one guard with one gun against a heavily armed individual who knew what to expect; an AR-15 could have squeezed off at least half a dozen shots before the guard would have even been able to unholster his weapon. And don't forget that few schools have only one
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Mostly agree, with a minor quibble directed at the definite article.
Mental health is among the factors, likely sorting high on the list.
My contention is that we need to disabuse ourselves of the notions of "solving" any of this. Nothing whatsoever undertaken in the name of Newtown is going to "solve" anything other than scratch some gasbags's itch to abuse the word "solve". Temporarily.
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My contention is that we need to disabuse ourselves of the notions of "solving" any of this. Nothing whatsoever undertaken in the name of Newtown is going to "solve" anything other than scratch some gasbags's itch to abuse the word "solve". Temporarily.
That depends on how you look at "solve", of course. Obviously nothing we can do will bring back the 20 children who were killed, so that type of solution is off the table, permanently.
What we can do, however, is work to prevent this kind of thing form happening again. And adding more guns to the situation will do that. The people who commit these kinds of acts are in need of mental health treatment but our society is in many cases actively preventing them from obtaining the treatment they need. The
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What, exactly is going to Prevent These Events From Happening? You seem to be contending that if we Just. Passed. More. Laws. we could effectively use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption [nytimes.com].
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Turning our schools into prisons will not prevent these events from happening.
What, exactly is going to Prevent These Events From Happening?
I already said, this is a mental health problem. We intentionally prevent people from getting the help they need, and reward people for that active denial. That needs to stop immediately.
You seem to be contending that if we Just. Passed. More. Laws.
The NRA is asking for a new law as well. The difference is that the NRA proposal will put people out of work and not make any real difference. Improving access to mental health will actually put people back to work and prevent these events from happening again.
we could effectively use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption.
That does not connect to this matter. Conservatives bash
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Actual improvements will occur when we disabuse ourselves of the notion that government perturbing markets [amazon.com] beyond the minimal necessary for function Just. No. Worky-Worky. beyond buying the vote.
Restated, Progress has been a con-job, selling short liberty for power this last century. And it's bi-partisan. And it's going to crap itself as soon as next year.
"gay community"? (Score:3)
Smitty, this is a term you really want to stop using. It says more about you than you probably want to be public knowledge. Seriously, homophobes are as creepy as racists and like racists they beg to not be part of the "American community".
There is no "gay community". It would be like saying, "white community" or human community, or community of people with green eyes. There is a difference between a category and a community.
There are as many types of gay people as there are types of people. There are even gay Conservatives, but they are mostly closeted out of fear. When you say, "the gay community" you are exposing yourself as someone who uses AM radio shorthand. It would be as bad as saying, "the gun community..." (Oh, wait, you did that too). This is the downside of living in the right-blog bubble. You start to really believe the world is as described by people who have a vested interest in you being small-minded and easy to lead. They want you to get to the point where all you have to say is "those liberals..." or "those gays..." or "those blacks..." and you'll react predictably in a way that puts money in their pockets and keeps you in a form of soft tyranny. I've seen the end-game of this kind of thing first-hand in the former Yugoslavia and it's really a bad way for a people and a nation to go.
This is one you want to get over, friend.
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I genuinely regret that the irony flew by you. One point on which your're completely wrong is "gay Conservatives, but they are mostly closeted out of fear". I've hung out with the GOProud guys, and link Gay Patriot on my blog. Why? Because they're Americans fighting th
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Hang ten!
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Homophobia is a disease invented by a psychiatrist bribed to do so. It doesn't exist.
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the nanny state and the security state (Score:1)
On the original topic, beware of:
1) The Left seeking to disarm the populace (towards removing any means of resistance to a totalitarian state, but more broadly and importantly any means or symbols of thoughts and feelings of independence or self-actualization which stand in the way of acceptance of such a state).
2) The neocons seeking to lock down every aspect of our society (accustoming us to the sight of armed guards and being searched (physically or electronically) throughout our daily activities).
The fo
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"SoCons" is the term for those seeking to use secular means for sacred ends.
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Well I'm talking about a hyper-fixation on national security, which is not a religious conviction issue.
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I disagree with him (Score:2)
I disagree with the talk of professional guards. That's exactly what we dont need.
I am all in favour of getting rid of the obstacles to school staff carrying concealed on school grounds. I believe this would be much more effective, and more consistent with the idea that this is a free country and our schools should not be prison camps. But it's still only a way to limit the damage, it doesnt address the underlying cause of the damage.
I agree with those that are saying that the occasion should prompt a hard
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My chief reason for quoting LaPierre was his correct identification of "Gun free zones" as a vast contributor to the death toll.
Sober, rational back-and-forth is crucial here. Thanks!