Stay classy, National Rifle Association. The gun-lobbying group released a video on Tuesday that calls President Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for using Secret Service protection for his daughters.
“Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the video asks. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?”
The NRA denied that the ad is about Malia and Sasha Obama, with spokesman Andrew Arulanandam saying that "misses the point entirely." Arulanadam said the ad is about "keeping our children safe," and about the president's skepticism about schools having armed security guards when he and his family have them.
The White House called the ad "repugnant and cowardly" and spokesman Jay Carney said that the president's children should not be used as "pawns in a political fight."
Source has the original video. (I don't know how to embed, sorry.)
I wish we had a "don't pee on my foot and tell me it's raining" tag, because that's exactly how I felt when I read the NRA's claims that this ad is not about the Obama girls. (Yeah, RIGHT *massive eye rol*)
“Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the video asks. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?”
The NRA denied that the ad is about Malia and Sasha Obama, with spokesman Andrew Arulanandam saying that "misses the point entirely." Arulanadam said the ad is about "keeping our children safe," and about the president's skepticism about schools having armed security guards when he and his family have them.
The White House called the ad "repugnant and cowardly" and spokesman Jay Carney said that the president's children should not be used as "pawns in a political fight."
Source has the original video. (I don't know how to embed, sorry.)
I wish we had a "don't pee on my foot and tell me it's raining" tag, because that's exactly how I felt when I read the NRA's claims that this ad is not about the Obama girls. (Yeah, RIGHT *massive eye rol*)
Edited at 2013-01-17 06:59 am (UTC)
Fucking epic.
I would expect this level of reasoning from an eight year old, and I don't mean that in a derogatory sense towards eight year olds. Eight year old children, generally speaking, have not progressed in moral reasoning beyond a certain, very self-centred level, defined by an inability to extrapolate their logic to incorporate others in an abstract sense. So, moral decisions are made based on how they affect people they know. I would expect this kind of argument from them... and then I would gently direct them to consider other points of view.
...If it doesn't have anything to do with the President's kids- why in the hell did y'all bring 'em up in the first place? Ugh- these fuckers.
Edited for html fail.
Edited at 2013-01-17 09:16 am (UTC)
Such bitter, tragic irony. :(
Because they'd be freaking the fuck out if a bunch of black parents got guns to protect their children from, say, police officers.
Seriously, if wasn't for fuckwads like the NRA stirring up their supporters to threaten armed violence, maybe the Obama kids wouldn't be in so much danger in the first place.
Military people are such a mixed bag in my life, the ones I work with are like "Yeah this is a good idea" and the one I knew from school was all "They can pry it out of my dead cold hands" I totes get guns for the purpose of protection or hunting. I have no problem with folks owning them but unless you have roving gangs of hooligans rampaging your town I seriously doubt you need military grade guns to protect yourself. I like how many of them don't realize that those guns used to be illegal not that awful long ago (or at least for the sake my not feeling old 1994 - 2004 wasn't that long ago right? D:)
Do you think there's something about facebook that makes those opinions seem...worse? I have family members that believe some pretty whacked out shit, and I always knew that, but somehow being bombarded with it daily on facebook makes it so much more angering and I have no idea why.
I know for a fact that certain people on my FB list would not be in agreement with my views on politics, including (especially!) reproductive rights, marriage equality, gun control, etc. I hear too many horror stories about the kind of crap that goes on over there, and I don't have the time or energy to go over there and stir shit up. So I practically never post anything pertaining to my views OR respond to anyone else's.
It's like, people can track me down there, if anyone's really interested. But if they want to talk to me, they can send me a private message or something.
That place literally scares me!
Edited at 2013-01-18 12:55 am (UTC)
No, sir it's not about keeping kids safe. You do not give a fuck about keeping kids safe. That's been patently obvious from the moment the words "more guns" came out of the NRA's mouthpiece LaPierre or any other member of the NRA. What you care about is who will protect the poor abused gun industry from the potential loss of profits and nursing your deeply held fantasy of an armed insurrection against the "tyrannical" government of the United States....you know, the very government we currently have, the one that was elected by the people (but, clearly not the right people). And that last part, that fantasy of armed insurrection? I believe that is what they call "treasonous".
In the grand scheme of things, yes.
Even if we assumed, for the sake of argument, that schools had the money to hire armed guards for every single student (which obviously is not remotely true), you would need so many armed guards that you couldn't afford to be choosy. The Secret Service agents who protect the President's children? Are undoubtedly vetted and background-checked to within an inch of their lives. But if you were hiring a guard for every schoolkid in the country, there are just so damn many that some unsavory characters would inevitably slip through the cracks. Which means, surprise! Your child is followed around every day by a bad guy with a gun. Congratulations. Forget apples and oranges -- you're comparing kangaroos and zucchini.