Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Rhetoric Reloaded


It wasn't because of Democrats, Republicans, liberals or conservatives. Indeed, even the analytic powers of a butt-sniffing junkyard dog would have told us immediately that the Arizona shooter was mentally disturbed. There is no worthwhile story behind the story, unless one deals with mental phenomena, but that hasn't stopped the national media and political pundits from diving deep into their blood-drenched sideshows.

More gun control! More ammo control! Less freedom of speech! Stomp out political talk shows! Remove words from the dictionary! No more images of targets, nooses or anything potentially offensive to those who make a living out of being or pretending to be offended!

And now certain members of Congress are rising out of their insignificance, as they often do, suggesting tweaks and changes to basic American freedoms -- all because a young man long disconnected from anything resembling reality ignited after a long, slow burn. The horrors perch upon his shoulders, not ours.

I don't know how, to quote from the past, I don't know how you keep 'em down on the farm, and I don't know how you keep deranged people from exercising explosive and murderous rights they've somehow awarded themselves. But when the media and alleged government leaders turn rabid in a heartbeat while situations such as that in Arizona blow up, there's only trouble and idiotic agendas ahead.

Interesting, too, how the press falls in love with mass murder incidents, yet can't spare more than a chuckle when multiple witness UFO abductions come to light. Or UFO incidents at nuclear power plants and missile bases. Or Stephenville. Maybe because there's no blood. Maybe because there's no bizarre mug shot. What's a little radar between friends when instead one can access All The News and see the face of a crazed killer? Worth a thousand words, you know.

Once again, the efforts of a lone gunman offer questionable license for political and media opportunists to threaten everybody's basic freedoms, and if they can't do it with legislation, they'll attempt it through regulation. Beware.