Scarborough bucks NRA and past ‘ideologies’ to back gun ban

[octoberlib]

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, who had received an A rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) while he was in Congress, says that after last week’s massacre of 20 elementary school children that “the ideologies of my past career were no longer relevant,” and he is now backing a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity clips.In an unusual commentary segment Monday on Morning Joe, Scarborough connected to the recent tragedy by noting that his own children were the age of those killed and one of his children has Asperger’s syndrome.



Politicians can no longer be allowed to defend the status quo,” he explained. “They must instead be forced to defend our children. Parents can no longer take no for an answer from Washington when the topic turns to protecting our children. The violence we see spreading from shopping malls in Oregon to movie theaters in Colorado to college campuses in Virginia to elementary schools in Connecticut — it’s being spawned by a toxic brew of popular culture, a growing mental health crisis and the proliferation of combat-style weapons.”

“I am a conservative Republican who received the NRA’s highest ratings over four terms in Congress,” he continued. “I saw this debate over guns as a powerful, symbolic struggle between individual rights and government control… I’ve spent the last few days grasping for solutions and struggling for answers, while daring to question my long-held beliefs on these subjects.”
Scarborough concluded: “I knew that day that the ideologies of my past career were no longer relevant to the future that I want, that I demand for my children. Friday changed everything. It must change everything. We all must begin anew and demand that Washington’s old way of doing business is no longer acceptable. Entertainment moguls don’t have an absolute right to glorify murder while spreading mayhem in young minds across America. And our Bill of Rights does not guarantee gun manufacturers the absolute right to sell military-style, high-caliber, semi-automatic combat assault rifles with high-capacity magazines to whoever the hell they want. It is time for Congress to put children before deadly dogmas.”

Raw Story (http://s.tt/1x9Ro)

[SoCalDem]

1. Sure, Joe.

Easy to choose sides now.. We'll see how the wind is blowing later .

He may be positioning himself to run for office again...and not as a lowly congressman.

[ohheckyeah]

4. At least he has gone on the record.

I understand skepticism but sometimes people do change.

[sasha031]

2. I'm listening o this right now

blown away, so moved by Scarborough,

[ohheckyeah]

3. I did a search and didn't find this thread

when I posted the same thing. I apologize.

This is what needs to happen - high profile people speaking out and reversing their stance.

All the pissing and moaning and screaming about NRA nuts and a high profile reverses his position and nobody cares? Seriously?

[octoberlib]

9. No worries. Done the same.

[ohheckyeah]

10. Thanks - I deleted mine. n/t

[reformist2]

5. I suspect he never really agreed with it all, but went along to get along (and the NRA endorsement.)

I suspect there are many Repugs like this. Their party operates like a tyranny. But then one day the injustice and insanity of the views you're supposed to parrot become intolerable, and your conscience forces you to speak the truth, no matter what the consequences.

[ohheckyeah]

6. It's very hard and humbling

to reverse positions, especially publicly. I know how hard it was for my parents and brother to admit they were wrong and change course. I don't' much like Joe but it couldn't have been easy for him to do this.

[goclark]

8. For Joe to say that -- that is BIG

He may have his faults but at least he is on the right side of the issue.

[ohheckyeah]

11. It is big.

I remember when my father, with whom I had many arguments over GWB, called and apologized and admitted I was right and he was wrong. He was embarrassed and at 80 years of age it was hard for him to change, but change he did. He voted for President Obama both times. I was proud of him for having the courage to say "I was wrong". My brother has recently done a complete turnaround over many issues, including a woman's right to choose and gay marriage. HUGE change and a hard one but he has even spoken up to right wingers in our family. I'm proud of him, too.

[democrattotheend]

13. As conservative pundits go, he is one of the better ones

I wouldn't say he's completely fair, but he has been critical of Republicans at times, and he wasn't predicting a Romney landslide like a lot of the other delusional GOP pundits.

I give him props for what he did today...I was concerned over the weekend that you were only seeing mostly liberal Democrats from the Northeast and California come out in favor of stricter gun laws. Having people like Scarborough, as well as Warner and Manchin, go on the record in favor of tighter gun laws makes me more optimistic that it can actually happen.

[ellisonz]

7. The rats are starting to jump off the ship...

[ohheckyeah]

12. I don't mean to single you out

or to be a smart ass but if people are starting to rethink their positions, maybe it is time to stop the name calling. I'm guilty of it myself.

[ellisonz]

14. I'm much more forgiving toward our Democratic friends who have fallen for the gun trap...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022012562

But Joe Scarborough is a special case. For the better part of the last decade he has spent his time for substantial compensation ranting in support of the right-wing. It's not news that we have a gun problem in this country that results in horrific mass shootings, but I'm not going to bend over back to hold Republican hands on this issue.

This message of doing something about the gun madness in this country isn't new:

[ohheckyeah]

17. I'm not talking about forgiveness or holding hands.

Just the rhetoric.

[ellisonz]

19. I think it comes from spending too much time...

...in the Gungeon arguing with the gun nut crowd.

[ohheckyeah]

20. Maybe just being on the Internet period. LOL

I know there's a lot of anger all over the Internet right now.

[Laochtine]

15. Ready to talk about

The dead intern Joe?

[Buns_of_Fire]

16. The man has maddening moments of lucidity, doesn't he?

But when he's right, he's right. Sure, he's conservative to the bone, but he's the kind of conservative that can be negotiated with -- unlike the Louie Gohmerts of their party.

[Taverner]

18. This guy reminds me of my college friend who started off Republican...

And had never paid attention in History classes until then.

Time after time, he learned how "great" America was when they killed these people, or started a war with another...

At the end he was a Green-leaning Dem..,.


There's always hope for a conversion or two