Early Xmas Gift For Cable News - A Mass Shooting

Another sad, tragic event, in our lawless gun control country.

Coming on the heels of the Paris Shootings, and its' terrorist roots, Cable News wasn't going to be left out on this side of the Atlantic.

At around 11PM last night, this is what I Tweeted;

‪#‎SanBernadino‬ ... w/still little info, media talking heads straining at bit/peeing pants, to label this terrorism

For the preceeding number of hours, on CNN and MSNBC, with their parade of ex-military, ex-Intelligence, ex-police on hand, citing what it took to plan this attack, the attire of the shooters, all were dancing on the head of the pin to outright claim this was a case of terrorism.

Even, with two press conferences, with the local police, and FBI, saying it was too early to say what it was, and while not ruling out Terrorism,  that they will follow where the evidence leads them, this didn't stop the Talking Heads from couching all their "analysis" wrapped in terrorism.

Bob Baer, the infamous "Terror Expert", on CNN, kept referring to his "bias" in wanting to push the Terrorism button.

The location of this shooting, a health center, a Christmas party, that was the only wrench thrown into Baer's bias, and barely slowed down the other Talking Heads

And, we had a new phrase introduced, the constant, apparently coming from victims, use of the phrase "long guns".

Anchors and their talking heads kept, ominiously, saying how the shooters had "long guns" as if the killing of 14, and wounding of 17 wasn't enough, teasing the veiled talk of this being "terrorism" with the constant repeating of "long guns".

The only think missing was spooky organ music.

Put "Long Guns" on the shelf, with "Lock Down", and "Shelter In Place" as part of the new vernacular of our Post 9-11, Patriot Act-blanketed, Drone-Filled-Skies world.

All the talking heads sounded, almost, disappointed, when, late in the night, the identity of the shooters was revealed, that it was an employee of the agency, and his wife, and this was starting to take shape of, perhaps, a mentally unbalanced employee committing workplace violence, over some still unknown reason.

Lacking in this jingoistic cacophany, for all the hours they were burning, was any discussion about better gun control.

Even after, late in the night, it was reported that, at least, one of the guns used in this horrible shooting was purchased legally, that didn't stop one of the Talking Heads to poo-paah better gun control, saying it wouldn't prevent an event like this.

And, hitting their marks, on cue, were the Presidential Candidates, the PartyofNoicans all calling for prayers, and the Democrats all calling for better gun control.

The 'New York Daily News' had a good smack-down of the PartyofNocians, screaming from their front page " 'GOD ISN'T FIXING THIS'".

With God taking a pass, you can bet the line that our Congress will also.

During the night, a bevy of statistics were out everywhere, one citing that there has been more Mass Shootings (the criteria being 4 or more people shot) this year than the number of days in the year.

Sandy Hook, Columbine, South Carolina, Plan Parenthood were all mentioned.

Yet, as time passes, and these type of Mass Shooting continue to occur, Nicholas Kristoff notes in his column today "On Guns, We’re Not Even Trying"

That leaves us all vulnerable to be part of the next wall-to-wall Cable News coverage of the next Mass Shooting.

Bonus Links

Broadcast Nets Break In, Cable Goes Wall-to-Wall on California Shooting

Network and cable news anchors head to San Bernardino for shooting coverage

Calif. shooting sends networks into special report mode

GOP presidential candidates offer prayers — not solutions on gun control — after San Bernardino massacre

“Prayer Shaming” Is the New “War on Christmas”

Lawmakers Offer ‘Prayers’ For Mass Shooting Victims, Receive Large Checks From The NRA

How the NRA is harming American Security: Mass Shootings as Serial Terrorism

Ryan: Attacks no reason to 'trample' gun rights

Heston Dead; Coroner Can't Pry Gun From Cold Dead Hands

NRA To Provide Special Custom Casket, If Needed

The Oscar-winning, legendary, superstar actor Charlton Heston died yesterday, at the age of 84, in his Beverly Hills home, in what a family spokesperson indicated was from a diagnosis of symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's disease.

Heston won an Oscar for his role as Moses in 'The Ten Commandments' and also starred in other major works, including 'Ben Hur, El Cid, The Greatest Show On Earth, Orson Welles' 'Touch of Evil', and Sci-Fi classics 'Planet of the Apes' and Soylent Green

According to the Los Angeles Times, "He was the screen hero of the 1950s and 1960s, a proven stayer in epics, and a pleasing combination of piercing blue eyes and tanned beefcake," David Thomson wrote in his book "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film."

Heston's death, though has caused a problem, of sorts, for the Los Angeles County Coroners Office.

Sources have told The Garlic, when arriving to remove Mr. Heston's body from the home, they haven't been able to pry an antique musket from his hands.

"It's the darnedest thing ... We have had many unusual cases," a spokesperson for the Coroners Office stated, "and this one is right up there."

Heston, during his tenure as president of the National Rifle Association, had made a vow;

In Mr. Heston, the N.R.A. found its embodiment of pioneer values — pride, independence and valor. In a speech at the N.R.A.’s annual convention in 2000, he brought the audience to its feet with a ringing attack on gun-control advocates. Paraphrasing an N.R.A. bumper sticker (“I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands”) he waved a replica of a colonial musket above his head and shouted defiantly, “From my cold, dead hands!”

Heston, active in politics, was, in his earlier life, a democrat, activist and civil rights supporter.

But things changed.

He became a Republican after Democrats in the Senate blocked the confirmation of Judge Robert Bork, a conservative, to the Supreme Court in 1987. Mr. Heston had supported the nomination and was critical of the Reagan White House for misreading the depth of the liberal opposition.

The Coroners Office, to avoid more extreme measures, indicated they would leave this matter to the family and word came in late from the NRA, that they would provide a special, custom-designed casket, with a turret, to intern Heston with his beloved gun.

Additionally, the NRA will drape the coffin with a specially knit flag, the full text of the 2nd Amendment.

"From cradle to grave," said a somber Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer.


Bonus Links

Statement by the Family of Charlton Heston

Lawyers, Guns and Money: Chuck Has Left the Stage...

Steve Clemons: Thou Shalt Not. . .Charlton Heston Dead at 84

YouTube: From my cold dead hands

Chopped Garlic ... Of Virginia Tech ... The Right To Bear Arms ... And Barry Crimmins

The O.K. Corral Is About To Become A Whole Lot Bigger

The O.K Corral may soon lose it place in history, being reduced to a pillow fight.

If the Supreme Court goes the direction that they all but signed, sealed and delivered yesterday, Charlton Heston won't have to worry about anyone prying anything out of his cold, dead hands.

Here's the straight news accounts;

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court appears to favor individual gun rights; A majority signals that it thinks the 2nd Amendment is not limited to arms for 'a well-regulated militia.'

"Five of the justices, a bare majority, signaled that they thought the amendment gave individuals a right to have a gun for self-defense. It was not limited to arms for "a well-regulated militia," they said."

Washington Post: Justices Appear Skeptical Of D.C.'s Handgun Ban

"The clauses of the Second Amendment -- "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" -- have long vexed constitutional scholars. The Supreme Court's last major ruling on the subject, in 1939, stressed the militia-related aspects of the provision.

If you want a most entertaining account of yesterday's session, you gotta check out Dahlia Lithwicks' post "Bearing Arms … Against Bears - Justice Kennedy thinks D.C. residents need protection—from grizzlies."

"Dellinger opens by whooshing us back in time to the framers, who, he says, used the words "bear arms" to mean "rendering a military service." Chief Justice John Roberts immediately asks why the framers wrote "the right of the people" if they merely meant "the right of the militia." Justice Kennedy spoils any suspense by telling Dellinger, in the form of a question, that he has no problem "de-linking" the two clauses to read the first as "reaffirming" the right to a militia and the second as enshrining a right to bear arms. Justice Antonin Scalia does Kennedy one better and contends that the two phrases "go together beautifully." That's five votes to create a fundamental right to bear arms, only eight minutes into the argument."

Read the whole thing ... It's a hoot!


Bonus Cold Dead Hands Links

Chopped Garlic ... Of Virginia Tech ... The Right To Bear Arms ... And Barry Crimmins

Josh Sugarmann: The NRA's Post Massacre Script

Ana Marie Cox: Blaming the Victims ... Because They're Total Wusses

Chopped Garlic ... Of Virginia Tech ... The Right To Bear Arms ... And Barry Crimmins

First and foremost, The Garlic wants to extend our prayers and sympathy to the victims and families of those killed and injured in today's - and yet another - senseless outburst of gun violence.

There was an interesting merger this afternoon, as I watched the wall-to-wall cable news coverage of the horrible tragedy that took place at Virginia Tech today.

CNN's Jack Cafferty just finished rattling off a list of school shootings, going back to the 1966 and Charles Whitman and then noted that he could not cite a single instance of such carnage being reported in other countries. Cafferty declared such shootings as uniquely American and, rhetorically asked what made that so.

Well, Jack, for one right off the top of the head, is the readily and easily accessibility of handguns in this country.

With an army of politicians, corporations, organizations and good ol', flag-waving, gun-toting, red-blooded Americans, who resist any controls or bans, they keep said guns flying off the factory production lines and into the hands of anyone that wants one.

No word if the First Lady was "discouraged" by what happened today, but earlier in the day, the Chief Decider had to weigh in and assure the base, that despite the horror and mounting death toll coming out of Virginia Tech, he still stands for the American Way, and "As far as policy, the President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed."

What a loaded line that is ... "All laws must be followed".

Then, the telephone rang and it was friend, and America's best satirist, Barry Crimmins, who was watching the same news.

Crimmins, who penned a most heart-felt letter-to-the-editor in The Boston Globe this past weekend, over the passing of Kurt Vonnegut, had written a fall-on-the-floor-laughing comedy routine back in the 1970's on gun control.

In the opening of the routine, Crimmins would announce that he was a proponent of gun control, and then, parenthetically, and remedially, explain to any NRA members in the audience, that meant he was for it.

Crimmins would go on, saying that, yes, the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution says we have the right to bear arms.

Fine. Then make it so that whoever wants to bear arms, bear arms from 200-years ago.

He would riff that it would be pretty difficult to walk into a 7-11 with a concealed musket under your coat. And, on the plus side, if you were going to commit a crime with a musket, you probably would only get off one shot before being subdued, due to the cumbersome mechanics of reloading a musket.

But Crimmins didn't just make jokes about the deadly gun violence, he also offered a sensible alternative.

Baseball Bats.

With baseball bats, he pointed out, some three-or-four-year-old, when he or she digs around in Dad's closet, pulls out a baseball bat, and, at worse, gets a lump on his or her head, rather then having a bullet blaze through it.

What a far, far better world it would be, if Crimmins' concept had been adopted.

Schools would make the national news and cable blizzards, perhaps, for the academic accomplishments of their students, not for - and yet again - setting a new standard for death by gun violence.


Links

Barry Crimmins

Barry Crimmins On The Garlic


It hasn't been your cold dead hands, Charlton, but rather thousands of innocent peoples', who've had their lives snuffed out