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Title: The Most Pressing Issue in 95 Years
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Published: Dec 5, 2015
Author: Jonah Goldberg
Post Date: 2015-12-05 11:41:38 by tpaine
Keywords: None
Views: 1627
Comments: 14
The Most Pressing Issue in 95 Years
by Jonah Goldberg December 4, 2015 10:44 PM.
The Peace of Versailles, Buck v. Bell, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor,* the Hitler-Stalin Pact, the Ukrainian famine, the internment of Japanese-Americans, the Tuskegee experiments, the Holocaust, McCarthyism, the Marshall Plan, Jim Crow, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Kent State, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Watergate, withdrawal from Vietnam, the Killing Fields, the Iran hostage crisis, the Contras, AIDS, gay marriage, the Iran nuclear deal: These are just a few of the things the New York Times chose not to run front page editorials on.
But, the “Gun Epidemic” in America? That deserves a front-page editorial. Not only that, it deserves to be bragged about that this is the first time since 1920 they’ve run a front page editorial.
It begins:
It is a moral outrage and national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency.
A few points:
First, you’d think it would be better written, given the pomposity of it all.
Second, you’d think there would be an actual gun epidemic to justify this break from precedent. Gun murders, as Charlie Cooke keeps pointing out, keep going down. That is not to say that the prevalence of spree or mass killings isn’t a serious issue. Such slaughters, separate and apart from the Islamist threat, are extremely troubling and both parties should do more to address them. But given that gun ownership has skyrocketed while gun homicides have gone down, it’s hard to see how the premise of the editorial — never mind its nearly unprecendented placement — can be defended.
Third, while I have no doubt the authors are sincere in their desire to mount a national movement against guns (I also have no doubt they’ll fail), it is impossible to read this as anything other than an attempt to change the subject in the face of all the facts we learned today. These include, off the top of my head:
This was a terrorist attack, the most deadly since 9/11.
The killers were inspired by ISIS, a group the president has insisted is “contained” and only last week said posed no threat to the homeland.
The immigrant screening process let Jihadi murderer, Malik Tafsheen, into the United States despite the fact she gave a fake address. This happened at a moment when the president — and the New York Times – have insisted time and again that concerns about Syrian refugees amount to little more than xenophobia and know- nothingism.
One hour before the FBI confirmed this was a terrorist attack the White House still refused to describe it as one. This fact is particularly salient given that the president has always downplayed, diminished, disregarded, and dismissed concerns about terrorism in America. He simply doesn’t want Americans to sweat terrorism.
But he does want Americans to sweat guns. And so does the New York Times.
So, by all means, this is exactly the moment to break a 95-year precedent and run a front-page editorial making the case for reforms that would not have prevented these murders, have no chance of passing Congress, and detract from the most pressing issues of the moment.
Well done, Gray Lady, well done.
* I added Pearl Harbor after I originally posted this because, well, Pearl Harbor.
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America needs more refugees; the more illegal aliens, the better!
#2. To: buckeroo (#1)
America needs more refugees; the more illegal aliens, the better!
Maybe if we offered free pipe bombs to every illegal invader that breaks into the country with a pregnant accomplice, we can puff up the numbers.
There are three kinds of people in the world: those that can add and those that can't
#3. To: tpaine (#0)
* I added Pearl Harbor after I originally posted this because, well, Pearl Harbor.
The Japs killed 2,403 Americans at Pearl Harbor...
And the 9/11 terrorist attacks killed 2996 people (although that may still increase due to the GOP's reluctance to extend health care to 1st responders)
In comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2013, there were a total of 33,169 deaths related to firearms (excluding firearm deaths due to legal intervention). This DOES include 11,208 deaths by homicide, 21,175 by suicide and 505 deaths due to accidental discharge.
So "routine" annual civilian firearm carnage greatly exceeds that inflicted by the Japs at Pearl Harbor or by the 9/11 terrorists.
Of course, I have no reason to believe that Jonah Goldberg, tpaine or the GOP are interested in those facts.
#4. To: Willie Green (#3)
21,175 by suicide
So how many mass murders do the suicides entitle Muslim terrorists to commit?
#5. To: Roscoe (#4)
I bet you were homeschooled, weren't you?
#6. To: cranky (#2)
Maybe if we offered free pipe bombs to every illegal invader that breaks into the country with a pregnant accomplice, we can puff up the numbers.
I am almost of the mindset, that that approach is exactly how 0bama lures these wayward refugees here in America.
#7. To: Willie Green, Y'ALL (#3)
So "routine" annual civilian firearm carnage greatly exceeds that inflicted by the Japs at Pearl Harbor or by the 9/11 terrorists.
'SO'; - 33k civilian firearms deaths have exactly what relationship to deaths by terrorists? -- Hell, considering our population, that's not many on a percentage basis.
Of course, I have no reason to believe that Jonah Goldberg, tpaine or the GOP are interested in those facts.Exactly.. Those civilian deaths are the price we pay for a free society with the right to bear arms. Of course, the willys/socialists of this world don't give a shit about freedom.
#8. To: Willie Green (#5)
So how many mass murders do the suicides entitle Muslim terrorists to commit?
#9. To: Roscoe (#8)
I bet you were home schooled, weren't you?
#10. To: Fred Mertz (#9)
I bet you were home schooled, weren't you?
Roscoe barely passed his G.E.D.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts#11. To: cranky (#2)
Obama probably has that covered already.
Psalm 37 PRAY FOR PARIS
#12. To: Fred Mertz (#9)
So how many mass murders do the suicides entitle Muslim terrorists to commit?
#13. To: Deckard (#10)
I see you're taking a break from your Bacha Bazi videos.
#14. To: Roscoe (#13)
Bacha Bazi videos.
Have no idea what the means, I had to look it up.
You continue to foul this forum with your idiocy.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig RobertsTop • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
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