more editorial dingdongs at YDR

[XD40coyote]

http://www.ydr.com/opinion/ci_18716963

I wish I could comment but the chatbox thing won't load, and I can't even see comments. It is making me quite irritable ( but not anywhere near wanting to brandish like the nutcase they mention twice).

A comment I REALLY have been wanting to make- this now makes the 3rd time- is about progressives and the saying " the mind is like a parachute, it only works when opened". I first saw it at a progressive bastion of a location many years ago, so I assume it is part of the "mantra". My comment is that all too often I see the touchy feely progressives pushing such sayings, but being quite incapable of actually doing such open minded thinking themselves. BTW a parachute is a good safety device should one need to bail out of an airplane that is going to crash. Sort of like carrying a gun, wearing seatbelts, and having smoke alarms...?

[Truckman]

OMG do I ever hate this saying!!!

If everyone carried a gun there would be less crime because people would think twice about trying to victimize others.

Hmmm . . . have they ever a seen a western? The history of that well-armed era suggests that when people have weapons within constant reach, they tend to get pulled out.

They believe what they see in MOVIES??????????????
But in Reality...

How many murders do you suppose these old western towns saw a year? Let's say the bloodiest, gun-slingingest of the famous cattle towns with the cowboys doing quick-draws at high noon every other day. A hundred? More?

How about five? That was the most murders any old-west town saw in any one year. Ever. Most towns averaged about 1.5 murders a year, and not all of those were shooting. You were way more likely to be murdered in Baltimore in 2008 than you were in Tombstone in 1881, the year of the famous gunfight at the OK Corral (body count: three) and the town's most violent year ever.

From; http://www.cracked.com/article_18487...-are-true.html
If these morons believe the movies, they believe dinosaurs ate cavemen, (in reality they were in different era's) Star Wars really happened, there's a giant Great White shark waiting to eat you if you step in the ocean, there's 6 people marooned on a desert island, (one named Gilligan), bad guys shoot hundreds of rounds at the hero, who only has to take one quick snap shot to kill the bad guy, every Halloween a guy in a hockey mask kills a bunch of horny teenagers at a secluded campground, and hundreds more Hollywood fantasy's!

[zackattack784]

http://www.ydr.com/opinion/ci_18716963

I wish I could comment but the chatbox thing won't load, and I can't even see comments. It is making me quite irritable ( but not anywhere near wanting to brandish like the nutcase they mention twice).

A comment I REALLY have been wanting to make- this now makes the 3rd time- is about progressives and the saying " the mind is like a parachute, it only works when opened". I first saw it at a progressive bastion of a location many years ago, so I assume it is part of the "mantra". My comment is that all too often I see the touchy feely progressives pushing such sayings, but being quite incapable of actually doing such open minded thinking themselves. BTW a parachute is a good safety device should one need to bail out of an airplane that is going to crash. Sort of like carrying a gun, wearing seatbelts, and having smoke alarms...?

A lot of what they said could be turned around and justify having a gun. What if some crazy person with road rage follows you and then gets out of their car intent on doing you harm? You would wish you had a gun then wouldn't you. And the last few lines:

So, go ahead and carry your guns. But please, please remember the cautionary tale of Bradley E. Senft. Ask yourself: Is it really worth it?

Is it really worth it not to carry a gun?

[kolonial72]

Thanks for posting this, coyote. I had fun with it.

"The breathtaking lack of ability to formulate a coherent arguement evidenced by this article makes my head spin. Is this what passes as journalism in York County these days? Whoever wrote this piece and the editor that spun it need to be released forthwith and sent back to the podunk paper whence they came. Shame on YDR for even thinking about putting such trash out there where intelligent people can read it and scoff.
Here's a thought - the use of cars is also a really bad idea, because while there are plenty of law-abiding drivers out there, there are also the ones who make reckless decisions due to "anger or poor judgment mixed with" 3000 pound automobiles. Those decisions can cost someone the rest of their lives, too."

[XACEX]

they use an example of someone having a gun pulled on them as a reason people SHOULDNT be armed???!?!?!


wtf?

[GunLawyer001]

"Just remember, though: Gun owners are "law-abiding citizens" right up until the moment that they aren't - until anger or poor judgment mixed with munitions turns them into criminals."

Try replacing "Gun owners" in this sentence with "Muslims", "Blacks", "Gays", or "The Poor". See if that still is acceptable to the author's Progressive brethren.

"Sure, my neighbor Achmed hasn't committed any acts of terror YET...."

[ViperGTS19801]

An isolated incident? Unfair to use it to characterize law-abiding gun owners as loose canons walking around with chips on their shoulders?

Perhaps.

That person is innocent until proven guilty, of course.

And two cases does not make a trend.

I like how the author refutes their own point - twice.

Listen, I understand that some people get nervous when they see someone OCing. Sheep are easily startled and we all get that. I also understand the mindset of "if he has a gun, there's a possibility that he'll whip it out (snicker) over something stupid like a parking spot dispute," even though this is painting all gun owners with the same brush of paranoia. It has happened and it will happen again, and those isolated* examples will continue to fuel the anti- argument.

However, what so many people fail to understand is that the overwhelming majority of citizens who carry firearms for self defense, and do it in 100% compliance with the law, understand and accept the massive responsibility they take on every time they strap on the ability to end another human being's life in a fraction of a second. No matter how angry I get at some random disrespectful idiot, no matter how pissed the fuck off some asshole in the store makes me because he has a closed mind and an open mouth, that firearm will never be taken out of it's holster unless I feel seriously threatened.

Not everyone has that mindset - such as the author of the opinion posted in the OP, I suspect - and that kind of person (while having the right to do so) should not carry a firearm, IMO. It's that simple.

*When we say these are isolated incidents, put it in perspective - how many law-abiding, non-felony-convicted citizens carry firearms every single day of their lives across the country, compared to how many of those same citizens pull them out over something stupid? Very, very few.

[Yentl Marmelstein]

A comment I REALLY have been wanting to make- this now makes the 3rd time- is about progressives and the saying " the mind is like a parachute, it only works when opened".

What is a "progressive" and how does it differ from a "liberal?"

[The_War_Wagon]

It makes other people nervous.

Well hells-bells Mr. Editorial Ding-Dong - let's eliminate caffeine, automobiles, the Milwaukee Brewers, lightning, Iran, Obama, blue states, wet floors, rickety ladders, black cats, scary movies, the nightly business report, Japanese nuclear reactors, Democraps, China, volcanos, deer ticks, Comex, the New England Patriots, doctors who graduate in the bottom half of their med school class, the IRS, tornadoes, brussel sprouts, Rosie O' Donnell in lingerie, black market Russian nukes, Mohammedans, frayed wiring, CFL bulbs, ILLEGAL FOREIGN INVADERS from Mexico, the TSA, in-flight turbulence, rattlesnakes, Pauly Shore, and people for whom being an elementary school English teacher was TOO challenging - a.k.a - JOURNALISTS!

On second thought, "ding-dongs" is too complimentary of these sorts. "Ho-ho's" sounds more appropos...

[9orangeletters]

What is a "progressive" and how does it differ from a "liberal?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism

"Liberal" is pejorative anymore in the United States, which is kind of sad, really. Tea Partiers need to read up on classical liberalism.