[Vision2020] 'Obama Tags' Called a Joke

Tue Sep 1 07:17:30 PDT 2009

Truth be told, I don't much care about "vague threats" one way or the other. I believe in the first amendment protection of free speech even if it's distasteful or inflammatory to some. I don't believe that for one group it's "the highest form of patriotism" and for another it's "hate speech." Stupid and ill-considered remarks are an equal right not a "two wrongs don't make a right" as one of our more deranged posters has suggested.

I am going to have to take your word for the beliefs of "AR-15 toting dude"  and friends. As you probably know, I disagree with most of what you claim they profess. That said, I don't think that exercising a protected right qualifies as a vague threat. Arizona, along with Idaho are open carry states and as such what AR15td was doing was completely legal. If that makes someone "uncomfortable" or scared that is their right as well. Americans are entitled to their feelings. I find your attitude in this regard strange however. This (Idaho) being a concealed carry state as well as open, the number of firearms that surround you on a daily basis is rather large. Every major group you are among contains dozens of lethal pieces of hardware. Do you find this debilitating?

So, your qualms in order. Where you feel "comfortable" is a purely personal concern. It is not the responsibility of others. Speaking strictly for myself, tie dye and the public display of hacky sacks makes me a little queasy but I suck it up and deal.

Second and third, the waste of resources issue is a non-starter. The SS and law enforcement is there anyway and the way the government wastes resources, this doesn't even amount to a tiny portion of a drop in the bucket. If this is truly a concern for you, a better, easier, and cheaper solution would be for you to insist that the president stay in the whitehouse and try to accomplish something useful and stop with the 24/7/365 campaign for adulation.

Your fourth and final point I don't really understand. Are you suggesting that police and responsible firearms owners will suddenly become unhinged and commence with a recreation of the OK corral? That the guns will suddenly develop a mind of their own (shades of the dumbest of Steven King's pap) and turn on their owners? Or are you suggesting, as a great many of those with your "strong and contrary beliefs" do, that one group of peoples rights should be taken away to cover for some vague and unlikely possibility and to make another group a little more at ease?

g
  From: Andreas Schou 
  To: g. crabtree 
  Cc: Moscow Vision 2020 
  Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 8:17 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] 'Obama Tags' Called a Joke

  Gary --

  I'm just not sure on your position here. Do you think people should be making vague threats against the President or not? Or are you just accusing the liberals here of being hypocrites without taking a position yourself?

  Here's your way out. I'm a little confused as to why you didn't take it: 

  These aren't my people; I'm not responsible for them. They're crazy; I'm not. The assault rifle guys are from the We The People Foundation, which is an advocacy organization for tax protesters. They're also birthers. They print their own money. They want to return to the gold standard. They believe the Venezuelan government stole the last US election by tampering with US voting machines. They bear little, if any, relationship to you -- by which I mean, "the near side of the far right." I find some of your beliefs distasteful; however, I find them comprehensible. Not so much with these lunatics.

  I also mentioned that I found the protester with the AR-15 a little scary. 

  He showed up at a Presidential rally toting an assault rifle. His pastor's praying for Obama's death. He won't disavow an intent to kill the President while being interviewed on television,. His buddy showed up with a rifle and a threatening sign at the New Hampshire rally. There's a difference between a vague threat delivered by a puppet-wielding sociology undergrad across the country and a threat delivered by a militia gunman a block away.  

  Neither, you might note, is likely to actually to kill the President. That's not, however, what I'm worried about. First, I have a lot of strong and contrary political beliefs. I'm uncomfortable expressing them with my back to military-grade firearms. I think this is reasonable. Second, an armed and licensed person a block away from the President is a waste of resources, given that it's probably a good idea to keep a Secret Service sniper on him at all times. Third, keeping a Secret Service sniper on fifty gun-toting militia members is a logistical nightmare, and there appears to be no good way to prevent fifty gun-toting idiots from showing up. Fourth, the introduction of firearms to a situation with a lot of shouting and pushing, threatening signs, twitchy cops, and security cordons is an awful idea. Someone will get hurt. It is unlikely to be Obama, but that doesn't mean I don't care.

  -- ACS

  On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 5:59 PM, g. crabtree <jampot at roadrunner.com> wrote:

    It seems to me that you and campbell are in a neck and neck competition to post the most addled response to my pointing out yet another spot of hypocrisy with regard to the Rammell quip. Fortunately for you, past experience indicates that the man with a fallacy for all seasons will always ultimately win out in competitions such as this. Just for fun however, why don't you expound a moment upon why "AR-15 toting dude" gives you the vapors and provide an instance or two of my attempts to "claim" him. Who knows, with enough breathless hyperbole, disjointed prose, and outright disregard for truthfulness you might just give the pedantic perfesser a run for his money!

    g
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Andreas Schou 
      To: the lockshop 
      Cc: Moscow Vision 2020 
      Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 11:10 AM
      Subject: Re: [Vision2020] 'Obama Tags' Called a Joke

      Gary --

      Incidentally, I'm more concerned about things like the AR-15-toting dude showing up to the Obama rally while refusing to disavow calling for Obama's assassination. Rex Rammel is a national joke who can't keep his mouth shut. This guy... less so. And, incidentally, Gary, since he's a member of the Libertarian party and a militia crank, I don't think he's "yours," except insofar as you try to keep claiming him.

      -- ACS

      For those of you that haven't seen the follow-up: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/southeastvalley/tempe/story/Tempe-pastor-reiterates-wish-for-President-Obamas/MX2Vzd4unEi9n8PschT50w.cspxu 

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