Untrue, Far-fetched, and Stupid

I guess Armageddon is going to be child’s play after what is happening now because of President Obama’s recent common sense proposals to help curb gun violence in the U.S. What an uproar, what a reaction, what hysteria, what overreaction, what consummate nonsense. Everything the NRA and many Republicans are now saying about Obama’s attempt to do something about gun violence is either blatantly untrue, entirely far-fetched, or unbelievably stupid. Their mouths are apparently no longer connected to their brains, if they ever were.

Obama is trying to do away with the second amendment is untrue as is Rubio’s claim that Obama doesn’t really believe in the second amendment but is unwilling to say so. The idea that the second amendment was created to protect citizens from their government, a common belief for many of these nutcases is completely false. The claim that Obama’s actions are a prelude to some kind of world government, or this represents a form of government oppression, or even an excuse to impose martial law, are all nonsense. Accusations to the effect that Obama is a Tyrant or a dictator in the form of Hitler or Stalin are so far-fetched as to be unworthy of attention. Calls for his impeachment betray a pathetic misunderstanding of the reality of Executive privileges. Nothing Obama has done offers even a remote possibility for impeachment.

The more extreme reactions, such as those suggesting the opponents just start killing, or begin a civil war, or just refuse to follow federal laws about guns, hopefully are just thoughtless loose talk made in anger, at least we should certainly hope so. If some states try to make enforcing a federal law some kind of felony, or try to refuse to enforce federal laws, it could presumably lead to some kind of civil war. One the one hand it is hard to take such threats seriously, but on the other hand it is possible that at least  some of the nutcases are crazy enough to actually start shooting. Virtually all of the claims that are being made about Obama’s suggestions are either untrue or far-fetched, and in a sense I guess you could argue they are also sort of stupid.

But stupidity reaches its zenith when you consider some of the other things that are being said about the situation. For example, the claim that Obama’s use of children during his presentation constitutes a form of child abuse, a claim that could only come out of the mouths of those looking for anything at all to hold against Obama. But even that claim pales in to insignificance compared to whoever it was that suggested that if slaves had been allowed to have guns perhaps there might not have been slavery in the first  place (I rather doubt that on a scale of stupidity this can ever be outdone). Of course whoever it was that argued for the use of silencers because “it helps to preserve children’s hearing,” isn’t far behind. And of course there is the famous ad featuring Obama’s children that accuses Obama of being an elite hypocrite because his children are being guarded while he is opposed to the guarding of other children (which, in fact, he is not, but this ad also reveals an apparent disregard of the reality of being children of a President). The NRA and its supporters obviously have no shame and have made it clear they are willing to do and say anything to increase the profits of gun manufacturers (they have been enormously successful in recent years).

One thing that surprises me, although it probably shouldn’t, is the tenacity with which they cling to their assault rifles. They seem completely unwilling to give up these military weapons even though it is perfectly obvious they have no function other than killing lots of people as quickly as possible. As they were for a time banned, which seems to have not been terribly onerous, and as they obviously have no hunting or sporting uses, it is difficult to see such complete resistance. I guess this is due to the paranoid and absurd belief they will protect us from our government, one of the more egregious lies we have been fed over time by the NRA in their attempt to increase profits for the manufacturers. I know people who actually believe,  I guess following Saint Ronnie, that government is the problem and etc. Once someone has this false belief it is virtually impossible to change them. They not only believe the government is out to harm them they also believe their puny little assault rifles will actually protect them from the full force of the military, police, and the massive weapons at the disposal of government, strange, these apparently mindless fools. All in all, having been following things fairly closely for the past four or five years, I have come to the conclusion it can be pretty much summed up with two words – He’s Black.

 “Achievement has no color”
― Abraham Lincoln