Whittington, You're With StupidH

This will likely be my last post regarding the Deadeye Dick and his hunting misadventure; however, it struck me last night (no pun intended) that Team Bush and Big Time might have slithered away, eel-like, one more time...

My reasoning is based on something I came across yesterday at FDL (since they don't archive individual stories, scroll down)--a set of recommendations for interacting with talk radio or any call in format. It made for good reading, particularly when the author emphasized "staying on point."

I don't know Big Time's ultimate motivation--it could've been blind, dumb luck, or maybe he was doing his best to turn quail shot shit into something resembling quail salad, but it's interesting that, in the end, the media focus was all about process and protocol, i.e., what should Dick have said and when should he have said it--and to whom? I'm guessing when that became "the story," Dick breathed a sigh of relief even bigger than when it finally became clear Harry Whittington was out of the woods.

Well, I suppose that kind of stuff--protocol and precedent--might be important to some...after all, he's the first sitting vice president to shoot a person since Aaron Burr...but you know what? I don't give a damn if he tells local journalists in Corpus Christi or calls Tweety Matthews's personal cell phone to deliver a double barreled scoop. The fact is he shat upon pretty much the core of the NRA agenda, namely, that "responsible" people can be trusted with firearms...well, that or...

Draw your own conclusions.

Oh, and I'm NOT anti-gun--far from it. In fact, I'm willing to concede most of the NRA agenda. To be honest, that's part give-and-take, i.e., they can have the 2nd Amendment, provided they offer it to me, along with ALL the others, including, but not limited to the 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, etc. I also believe the firearm issue is basically a open Pandora's box anyway: trying to limit firearms in the US would be like trying to hold back the sea. And, last but not least, I actually DO believe the NRA has a point: a gun, handled properly, is no more inherently dangerous than plenty of other things like, oh, say, cars, chemicals, power tools, etc.

Which, when you think about it, IS the point of Dick's errant shot. Mr. Tough Guy/Big Time demonstrated--beyond the shadow of a doubt--that he's lacking in the kind of fundamental responsibility that goes with firearm ownership/use. By extension, we can similarly judge his abilities with OTHER matters requiring (no pun intended) SOBER JUDGEMENT. That's the point. Anything else is a distraction.

You know, the core NRA philosophy isn't much different from the "personal responsibility" credo chanted, mantra-like, by today's GOP--of course, given the Rovian tendencies of the latter (i.e., slime and divide) there's an implication that the opposition is AGAINST personal responsibility. Which is why Dick's gaffe is--or should be--significant: the GOP would either have to throw him under the bus or make a significant change in their core publicity (I'd say their core agenda, but in truth we know it's all bullshit to them anyway). In other words, a lose/lose scenario...unless they can distract and obfuscate.

And, lo and behold, the media came through, with their whining about access. And with Whittington NOT dying, or having further complications--for his family's sake, thank heavens--they've moved on to other shiny things.

But I think Dickey's shooting spree can and should be pointed to as a prime example of what lowlife,lying bastards populate the GOP these days. And, better still, you can use their own rhetoric against them. What part of "personal responsibility" is compatible with ANY of Big Time's actions a week-and-a-half ago? By extension, we can apply the same test to ANY actions undertaken by the cult of personality that is the GOP (more on that in a subsequent post).

Lastly, I believe the NRA should be pressured to use Big Time as a prime example of poor judgement--not to mention poor practice--in his use of guns. In fact, I think I'll be writing them pretty soon (especially considering, as I've noted either in posts or emails, that if this had been John Kerry or another Democrat considered by the NRA to be "soft" on guns, you can bet they'd be bleating about it for the next decade or so).