I want to say thank you to Wayne LaPierre, David Keene, and the NRA for today's press conference

[TrollBuster9090]

And for being so INCREDIBLY feckless and stupid.

You had a WEEK to figure out a clever response to this tragedy, and to spin some real, top notch damage control.

I was expecting you to:

1. Trot out a brainy, harmless looking female spokesperson, probably on loan from The Heritage Foundation, the AEI or the Cato Institute (they've got loads of them), to spout some selective statistics, and then

2. Propose a 'voluntary assault weapons ban' from the gun manufacturers, saying that the industry can police itself, and it's better to let industry police itself than have the heavy handed government come in and do it. That way they'd be able to lift the self-imposed ban a year or so from now when everybody has (unfortunately) forgotten about this.

But no, you didn't do that. After a week of hiding, and planning, the best you could do was send out three dumpy, middle aged white men to blather about how the solution to gun violence is to ARM EVERYBODY, and turn every School in America into a military bunker full of heavily armed security guards dressed up like SWAT Teams. (I'm sure that's every parent's dream.) Thus confirming everybody's worst stereotypes about the NRA and the gun lobby. The stereotype that you think the solution to every problem is MORE GUNZ!

Thanks boys, I was nervous there for awhile, but you've really taken a load off my mind. This press conference will make the job of anybody interested in bringing in common sense gun regulations much easier, because the gun lobby just proved that they HAVE no realistic alternatives.

[villager]

1. It's not really a "stereotype" if it's true, and the NRA and its acolytes have proven it true

...over and over and over again.

And what's terrifying is that they drive gun policy in this country. Aided and abetted by the "Democrats."

[TrollBuster9090]

3. Very true. And here's what I'd like to see the Democratic Party do in response to that.

The gun lobby has been driving this debate, and scaring the crap out of spineless Democratic politicians for years.

Bill Maher's best joke about it was "in this country, all you have to do is call a politician a 'liberal' to make him put on an orange vest and run off into the woods to kill something."

The NRA has been giving money to pro-gun politicians, and doing the "scorecard" intimidation thing. The result is that conservative leaning districts are the only places where 'gun rights' are discussed. The GOP candidate will blather endlessly about gun rights, the Democratic candidate will claim to support gun right's too (while knowing they can't really compete with the Republican), and then hope that if maybe 20% of the gun rights crowd votes Democrat it will put him/her over the top.

ie-'Gun rights' rhetoric is only used as a wedge issue in conservative leaning districts. Meanwhile, in moderate and liberal leaning districts, gun rights are rarely even brought up.


I propose flipping that strategy on it's head, and using the 'gun rights' issue as a wedge issue in moderate and liberal leaning districts, forcing the candidates to state their positions on gun safety laws. ie-'what do you say to closing the 'gun show loop hole' where dealers can sell to people on the spot without background checks?' and 'what do you say to a national fire arms registry' or a variety of other laws/policies that make it harder for crooks and nutcases to get guns, while doing nothing to impinge the rights of law abiding citizens to get them.


I don't ever want to see another pro-gun Republican elected in a moderate or liberal Congressional district. The country's ideology has moved sufficiently to the left that we can now start turning these wedge issues back on Republicans, the same way we did with immigration etc. The same can be done with 'common sense gun safety laws.'

[NBachers]

2. Yup- they shot themselves in the foot

[TrollBuster9090]

4. Rachel Maddow was right. These conservative propaganda machines are finally showing

themselves to be nothing more than PAPER TIGERS. And the more feckless they look, the greater the chances of spineless Democratic politicians actually deciding to stand up to them.

[R B Garr]

6. their progaganda machines never bother to evolve with the times

their propaganda has been overcome by events for years now, but they keep on with their outdated emotional outrages that do not reflect the current times and even contradict their stated goals of less government,etc. Who is going to pay for the armed guards in schools? It's really amazing how they haven't even bothered to develop their positions, it's just the same old worn out mantras.

[whatchamacallit]

5. +1 n/t

[cali]

7. sadly, I think you're wrong.