Congressman Considers Gabby Giffords A ‘Prop’ For Gun Regulations

[DonViejo]

Rose Strasser on Feb 19, 2013 at 5:30 pm

Congressman Joe Heck (R-NV) on Tuesday agreed that he considers former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who was a victim of an assassination attempt two years ago, a “prop” in the debate over gun regulations.

Jon Ralston of Ralston Reports, uncovered the audio of Heck, speaking with conservative radio talk show host Alan Stock, agreed that Giffords was nothing more than a “prop” at the State of the Union:

STOCK: At the end of the president’s State of the Union when he said have a vote for Gabby Giffords, have a vote for this and that. I found that to be nauseating and you know what else is nauseating too is putting Gabby Giffords up there, who can’t even clap her hands, as a figure of somebody being — having shot her. I think it’s a shameful act putting her up there as a prop. I’m sorry. I really do.

HECK: Yeah, no I agree. I think again in the cloud of emotion surrounding Connecticut those who are anti-gun want to use that to limit their Second Amendment rights.

Listen to it:

-snip-

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/02/19/1612581/giffords-heck-prop/

[catbyte]

1. Republicans are just all kinds of despicable.

Words fail me.

[tanyev]

2. How dare victims of gun violence flaunt their injuries in our faces!

[BlueStater]

3. His last name is where this asshole belongs. N/T

[emulatorloo]

4. Vile.

[Frustratedlady]

5. There is no end to their ignorance. Gabby hit a nerve!

How DARE they talk like that about Gabby. Obama wouldn't have "put her up there as a prop" in the first place, but aren't they aware how passionate Gabby and Mark are to get changes to the gun laws? Gabby is showing how much progress she has made and that she is a fighter. At least let her come back in defense to show he didn't totally ruin her life.

Sometimes, stupid isn't a word to sufficiently describe some of these RW characters.

[asjr]

6. What is so frightening to me is that people like

Mr. Heck (should be Hell) seem to be the caliber of the Republicans we now have governing us. I can laugh and poke fun at them but they still seem to be getting more attention and none of it is good for the country. Their voices are getting louder and louder and may drown us out.

[Paladin]

7. "...the cloud of emotion...."

Because, don't you know, mass shootings aren't supposed to result in any sort of emotional responses, according to Gun Enthusiasts. Make no mistake about it: pro-gun activists are every bit as emotional about their side of the argument as gun control advocates are about theirs, if not more so. Don't believe me? Review the last three or four public utterances by Wayne LaPierre, spittle flecks and all. Compare Free-Wheelin' Wayne's sputterings to those of Joe Biden on the subject, and judge for yourself where the out-of-control emotions are situated.....

[SheilaT]

8. Well how dare anyone flaunt their

gun wounds when everyone KNOWS that the more guns we have the safer we are! Why, I'll bet we're vastly safer from violence and murder than those poor unarmed citizens of countries like Australia and the UK. Vastly.

What? Someone just said we have a higher murder rate than those countries? How is that possible? We have all these guns to keep us safe!

[Daemonaquila]

9. Beneath the douchebaggery lies some truth.

That clip is some serious douchebaggery, and it's obvious that it's hitting the rethugs' nerves. That doesn't detract from a kernel of truth beneath it all. We are all rooting for her, and it makes me damned happy to see her out and about, hopefully getting more functional every day. At the same time, she is not yet capable of speaking with a great deal of content, writing an op-ed independently, running a nonprofit, etc. while her husband is capable of doing these things, and she is exceptionally motivated to put her voice, limited as it is, behind the efforts, her role at this time truly is to be a face for this kind of tragedy with very little of her own to say. The somewhat less kind term for that is "poster child," and the rude synonym is "prop." Defending her from being kicked when she is down is not inconsistent with acknowledging that she has a long way to go before she is capable of taking a stronger role than that.

[ljm2002]

10. I'm sorry, but that is BS...

...everyone who knows her agrees she is well able to understand what she is doing and what people are saying. Just because she has motor problems and speech problems does not mean she is mentally impaired as far as understanding.

SHE wanted to be there. It was HER choice. Her husband clearly also has her best interests at heart; therefore, I do not believe he would be encouraging her to make her voice heard if he did not believe she was capable of doing it.

You should try and find the TV special they did on her recovery. Besides being touching, it is very informative as to what can be done these days, and as to what her abilities are.

[Paladin]

11. That's A Small Fucking Kernel You're Marketing, There.

You ought to quit while you're moderately behind....