Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The gun industry has won, and not just on a legislative level. They have won on a cultural level [View all]
...of course, mass shooters are not the weather. They are people, almost all men, making choices. They are effective because they have access to high grade weaponry that makes taking multiple lives in rapid succession not just possible, but easy. There are obvious steps that could be taken to prevent these crimes, but few can muster the energy anymore to bring those obvious steps up.
The gun industry has won, and not just on a legislative level. They have won on a cultural level, inducing a learned helplessness in the media and the public by making it clear that any attempt to even start a conversation about gun control will be swiftly shut down by a right-wing temper tantrum that is as irrational as it is loud. Even the mildest suggestion to make it ever so slightly harder for a murderous madman to get a gun is immediately regarded as nothing more than the jackboots kicking down your door to steal your gun, which is both your penis and your mother’s milk, leaving you alone and bereft in the world with nothing left to live for. Why are liberals trying to steal your soul? Is nothing sacred?!
Yes, the reaction is crazy, but that’s why it’s so effective. You can’t argue with crazy. Eventually, you give up even trying.
The gun industry’s strategy of refusing to even discuss this and throwing a wall of crazy at anyone who tries has, in a lot of ways, really set the tone for how conservatives deal with an increasing number of issues. They can’t win the arguments on the merits, so they will win the argument by exhausting the opposition by refusing to talk about anything but gibberish. The tactic works, so of course it’s exploding in every direction on the right.
Climate change? It’s a hoax created by tree huggers out to steal your car! End of discussion.
Reproductive rights? The Republicans have drafted a strategy where there are so many defunding efforts aimed at Planned Parenthood and so many ridiculous new restrictions on abortion that it feels pointless for journalists to even cover the story anymore. Another day, another attacks on women’s rights.
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/26/the_gun_industry_won_republicans_defeated_the_anti_gun_crowd_by_shouting_them_down_with_temper_tantrums_and_sheer_nonsense/
The gun industry has won, and not just on a legislative level. They have won on a cultural level, inducing a learned helplessness in the media and the public by making it clear that any attempt to even start a conversation about gun control will be swiftly shut down by a right-wing temper tantrum that is as irrational as it is loud. Even the mildest suggestion to make it ever so slightly harder for a murderous madman to get a gun is immediately regarded as nothing more than the jackboots kicking down your door to steal your gun, which is both your penis and your mother’s milk, leaving you alone and bereft in the world with nothing left to live for. Why are liberals trying to steal your soul? Is nothing sacred?!
Yes, the reaction is crazy, but that’s why it’s so effective. You can’t argue with crazy. Eventually, you give up even trying.
The gun industry’s strategy of refusing to even discuss this and throwing a wall of crazy at anyone who tries has, in a lot of ways, really set the tone for how conservatives deal with an increasing number of issues. They can’t win the arguments on the merits, so they will win the argument by exhausting the opposition by refusing to talk about anything but gibberish. The tactic works, so of course it’s exploding in every direction on the right.
Climate change? It’s a hoax created by tree huggers out to steal your car! End of discussion.
Reproductive rights? The Republicans have drafted a strategy where there are so many defunding efforts aimed at Planned Parenthood and so many ridiculous new restrictions on abortion that it feels pointless for journalists to even cover the story anymore. Another day, another attacks on women’s rights.
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/26/the_gun_industry_won_republicans_defeated_the_anti_gun_crowd_by_shouting_them_down_with_temper_tantrums_and_sheer_nonsense/
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read