I’m a very chastened conservative this week. In looking over last year’s columns I find I’ve used the words: jewelry, sneeze, impatient and grab. By my calculations — assisted by Chris Matthews and those helpful people at MSNBC — I’m responsible for one burglary, a swine flue scare, two fire–zone parking violations and a groping on the Metro.
Prior to the cowardly shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her constituents in Arizona, I had no idea that 'progressives' and the media considered conservatives to have such awesome motivational power. I thought we were a bunch of rednecks who sat on lawn furniture and read the Constitution aloud because we refused to support the media by buying newspapers.
Personally, I thank a merciful God that I never used the words ‘Glock’ and ‘target’ in the same piece. If I had only known my words had such power I could have used my talent for good…
And while having liberals and the media acknowledge the persuasiveness of conservative thought is a welcome change, I don’t think it logically follows that conservatives are also granted custody of all the nation’s crazies. That constitutes ideological patient dumping.
Let’s take a look at Jared Loughner. He’s a registered Independent who did not trouble himself to vote last November. Loughner posts incoherent videos on YouTube that display an obsession with grammar and the odd flag burning. Pima Community College suspends him after repeated classroom outbursts disturb teachers, administrators and students. In the backyard he has an altar featuring a skull and candles. And finally, G.I. Jared is rejected by the Army for repeated drug use.
Deranged, drugged and disruptive. Sounds the master of ceremonies at a Code Pink convention. A gas spectrometer could not find a molecule of conservatism or TEA party DNA in this character.
Besides, if “conservative vitriol” is inspiring a leftist, why is he shooting Democrats?
The Democrat rush not to let this crisis go to waste is enough to give exploitation a bad name. And did you notice the Democrat and media ‘solution’ to American discord allegedly caused by conservatives just happens to fit hand–in–glove with ‘progressive’ legislative goals?
First, forget about the repeal of Obamacare, that’s way too contentious for Congress during a time when liberals want lowered voices.
And speaking of voices that members of Congress often hear, Rep. Robert Brady (D–Timid) plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to “use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a…member of Congress,’ which would grant them the same protections from anxiety and verbal unease that homosexuals now enjoy on virtually every college campus.
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D–Hysteria) wants to revive the “Fairness Doctrine,” so there would be no “hate” on the radio and no Rush either.
And certainly a shooting like this vindicates ‘progressives’ call for more gun control legislation.
Yet, as a wise friend of mine pointed out, in no state of the Union is it legal to drive to your nearest shopping center and start blazing away at the customers. It doesn’t matter if they are Congressmen or custodians — shooting them is equally illegal.
When ‘progressives’ go after what they don’t want to hear on the radio, somehow we never hear criticism of the music industry for incitement, even though one of Loughner’s videos featured a song by Drowning Pool containing the refrain, “Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor.”
Possibly because cracking down on artistry like that would be hitting a little too close to home. (Columnist note: by “hitting” I mean “landing” and not the actual impact of a fist with a member of Congress’ face.)
That would be censorship of the same type of people who often provide the soundtrack for Democrat political rallies. To say nothing of the music company execs that contribute to Democrat campaign coffers.
And as for more gun control, there is a good chance Loughner would never have been able buy a gun if Sheriff Clarence Dupnik had done his job and investigated him for making a number of death threats in the months before he opened up on Rep. Giffords.
When one looks at the before and after incident performance of both Arizona and Washington officials there is a lot of blame to apportion and not much praise. But there is one notable exception: When my son begins deciding where to attend college, if the choice comes down to Pima Community College or Virginia Tech, he’ll be heading to Arizona since Pima is 1 – 0 versus crazy and Tech is 0 for 2.
Michael R. Shannon (The Whole Shebang (mostly)) is a Virginia-based public relations and media consultant with MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations who has worked in over 75 elections on three continents and a handful of islands.
