Well, well, I come back to the blog from a little break and the unnamed Courier editor comes up with a piece so stereotypically hackneyed it might be taken for satire if not for its top-left spot in the layout.
Right at the top we have the standard gratuitous reference to a cowboy movie, in a lame attempt to illuminate a hack idea that the editor apparently mistakes for sage insight. This is of course in defense of the expanding production and willy-nilly distribution of deadly weapons for all, on the occasion of the birthday of the AK-47. For me this model designation instantly evokes pictures of African child soldiers, and of course in unmodified form it is completely illegal within the US borders, but that doesn't phase the editor. The local angle here utterly evades me. The editor sees these weapons as tools of freedom, missing entirely that they are far more often tools of oppression and hate. Is this really appropriate use of a small-town editorial column?
The kicker is that all the while the editor is intoning stentoriously about the virtues of this death device, he lets slip just how much he knows about the subject by consistently misspelling "Kalashnikov." Way to go, man.
For readers of the Daily Courier in Prescott, Arizona. Comment and discuss. Be nice, now.
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Monday, July 9, 2007
8 comments:
I encourage you to share your own views and experience with me and other readers. How you do that matters, and I'm committed to maintaining a place where readers and commenters can feel safe from adolescent BS. So here's the deal:
There are two kinds of anonymous comments: those by people who have a genuine fear of revenge from the dark side, and those from darksiders just hiding to avoid accountability. You may post comments anonymously, but I reserve the right to treat anonymous comments as found items that belong to me and do with them as I see fit.
If, on the other hand, you're willing to stand by your convictions and post under your own name or a regular handle, your comments belong to you, and I'll edit them only on egregious violations of respect for others.
If this doesn't work for you, I'm sure you'll be happier somewhere else.
Nice, the preferred weapon of terrorists, Viet Cong and other groups that took many, many thousands of American lives is being upheld by the Courier. Wow, what a day to come back, Steve. Why don't they change the Courier nameplate to the NRA logo? This is shameful at best. Here's a hint: If you don't have anything to say, then say NOTHING and don't spew idiocy like this. jared
ReplyDeleteHey,Steve-- why don't you go one step further and suggest we copy England where it's pretty well illegal to defend oneself or one's home...
ReplyDeleteAll you pansies out there: Why do you need a weapon to defend yourself? jared
ReplyDeleteCareful about name-calling, folks, we're all friends here.
ReplyDeleteJ: I lived for many years under very strict laws about weapons (in Japan), and I've never felt more secure in my person and property as I did then, even in one of the largest concentrations of humanity on the planet. Personal security doesn't derive from a gun, but rather from a strong social contract.
As for your example, I'd suggest taking a look and comparing actual rates of violent crime in the US and Europe.
We have a lot of ideas circulating in this culture and taken as common sense that are just plain wrong. What's important to bear in mind is that the media we rely on to inform us about these issues are just as mired in those wrong assumptions and unwilling to examine them objectively, thereby reinforcing them at most every turn.
As a former Viet Nam-era Marine, I take extreme exception to this editorial. It's condescending and irresponsible, and it has nothing to do with the real problems facing Prescott.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to see an editorial questioning why so many of our young men and women have to die in Iraq, yet this editor has the audacity to praise Mr. Kalashnikov.
Does he really believe that the AK-47, for decades the weapon of choice of Soviet-sponsored anti-government forces and terrorists (including those killing our soldiers in Iraq today) is a tool "to protect freedom"?
Isn't it about time the Courier and its editor forgo the gratuitous cowboy references and take on serious issues like the area's water shortage, corporate strip-mining and municipal sanctioning of over development in the name of economic "growth"?
Welcome, mileset3. I know there are more than a few vets in our town who feel the same way, and I have to wonder whether anyone's thought of getting some of them together and having a chat with the Courier editors about the real world. It might make a difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steven. Yes, that might be a good idea, but do you really think a chat with the Courier editors will make a difference? If we're not careful, we might be collectively labeled with the "L" word!
ReplyDeleteTo predict that it will make difference would be optimistic. But I do think that facing a group of people who've actually been shot at will force the editors to at least listen assign some credibility to their point of view.
ReplyDelete