NY Daily News editorial: gunman did not act alone

[Enrique]

The police chief in Aurora, Colo., said he is confident that massacre gunman James Holmes acted alone. The police chief was dead wrong.

Standing at Holmes’ side as he unleashed an AR-15 assault rifle and a shotgun and a handgun was Wayne LaPierre, political enforcer of the National Rifle Association.

Standing at Holmes’ side as he sprayed bullets and buckshot into a crowded movie theater were Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, a President and a would-be President, who have bowed to the NRA’s dictates and who responded to the slaughter Friday with revolting, useless treacle.

Standing at Holmes’ side as he murdered 12 and wounded 59 were the millions of zealots who would sooner see blood flow and lives end than have to check a box on a gun registration form.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/blood-hands-obama-mitt-nra-article-1.1119049#ixzz21IIjMZar

[LiberalEsto]

1. This was an excellent editorial

k&r

[freshwest]

2. Pretty strong stuff there. Guess this story has some legs. Is that a big paper in NYC?

[LiberalEsto]

3. It's third after the Wall Street Journal and NY Times in circulation

http://www.mondotimes.com/newspapers/usa/newyork-newspaper-circulation.html

[freshwest]

6. I would consider that BIG. Thanks for the information.

[Chorophyll]

67. It's generally not a liberal paper by any stretch of the imagination.

It's the paper Archie Bunker always read on "All in the Family," and it always drew laughs.

Nice to see them coming out against the NRA, big-time!

[UTUSN]

4. R#15 & K n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Not to Worry! Silly Daily News is just VENTING!

Nothing going to change, so they should just admit that they're just making themselves feel better. Hahahah! They can't change anything! We've won. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Silly gun control venters really just satisfying a personal need! We've won, see! We've won!

[nxylas]

7. Nothing has ever changed in the history of America ever

And nothing ever will, because conservatives have never, ever been on the wrong side of history.

[evilhime]

8. A wonderful editorial

from a not liberal source. But I wonder if he would have been one of those weeded out in the permit process. As I mentioned on another post I had a NY State permit when I lived there, and I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it including the background check, check with the mental health department, DOJ (was also fingerprinted) etc. I could not even examine a gun at a dealer without showing my permit. Any handgun I purchased had to be approved by the Nassau County police permit division before I could bring it home from the dealer. My question is, even if there were strict regulations like this in CO would he have been caught in that net? From what I have read he has no criminal or mental health history, at least not that has been uncovered so far; so is the more effective answer to ban assault type weapons? I certainly think so.

[sabrina 1]

86. Well, there is a report that someone at a gun range where he applied to participate, turned him down

based on a message he had left on his answering machine. So someone thought he was too crazy to participate at their gun range. That seems to say that there must have been some signs this guy was not quite all there.

[hack89]

9. Barack Obama = Wayne LaPierre? ok. nt

[mother earth]

10. Add to that, the same middle of the road BS on every issue, and extend the

list of those who have enabled absolutely zero progress on everything that matters to WE THE PEOPLE!

This carnage did not have to happen, it's the pandering to the NRA and all of their ridiculous freedom to exploit gun ownership at all costs & every other histrionic fear they spew.

I'm so sick of being stuck in the middle where little, if anything, is ever accomplished to better our lives.

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. You're "stuck"? And what has happened on the left fringe to "better our lives"? Sounds like.....

"spewing" to me.

[villager]

12. You mean that "left fringe" that gave you Social Security and an eight-hour work day?

...for starters?

sounds like a question that "spews nonsense" to me....

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. Republican values are the failed ponzi scheme.

[xtraxritical]

18. I think you should do a little more research before you pollute this web site, troll.

[Fumesucker]

19. Ayn Rand hated Social Security too..

Ironic how she ended up on SS when all else failed her..

[Enrique]

34. and her acolyte Paul Ryan also took social security

but maybe our new DUer is more hardcore than them.

[avaistheone1]

75. K&r

I didn't know that!

[DonCoquixote]

20. fILED PONZI SCHEME?

I guess we know who sent people like this over. A talking point literally from FoX News.

[mysuzuki2]

21. ha, ha, ha. very funny. I hope you enjoy your stay here, however short.

Have a nice day!

[Katashi_itto]

23. Looks at the ramikin...pokes a stick at it...look kids a troll in it's natural habitat...sitting on

a pile of it's own excrement...and thinking its on top of the world

[Tsiyu]

27. rofl

They're coming to visit in droves today.

Poor things are tired of the shitpile and want to bring that stench over here.

MIRT's gonna be busy this week...getting that nasty, foul, racist odor out of the DU carpet...

[Katashi_itto]

24. I imagine being a Walmart greeter leaves you little time ramikin

[ramikin]

32. I'm actually a Union Pipefitter and a democrat.

I however am not blind to the fact that SS is an unsustainable liability on this nation. I have several if not overly redundant retirement plans and am in no way going to rely on SS at any point during my fast approaching retirement. Troll? no. Annoying to the bums of society? perhaps. Having fun discussing the future of our nation with a fool? Indeed.

[klook]

42. The "bums of society"?

You mean the retirees who collect payments from the system to which they paid premiums for decades??

[geckosfeet]

53. SS is not unsustainable nor is it a liability. That is a rw talking point.

They want to abolish SS so they don't have to pay back the money they have looted from it. Then they can take what is left as well.

After dismantling SS they will institute national "retirement plans" privately administered by themselves and their finance institution cronies.

We pay into SS. We are not bums. Or fools. You come here and insult people and quote RW talking points and spew misinformation. Come on pal. Surely you can find something better to do with your time than to come here and harass people.

You claim to be a democrat but you act like a typical troll. You seem relatively intelligent so I can't honestly believe that you think are advancing any ones political agenda by echoing RW talking points. What exactly is it, that you think you are accomplishing?

[brush]

54. SS is paid for

You do know that a Social Security deduction is taken out everyone's paycheck don't you? I know it comes out of mine every two weeks and I expect and want it back when I retire. How is it unsustainable when it is paid for by the very people that receive it? You would do better to concentrate on getting the likes of Mitt Romney and his ilk to give back to the country that they extracted so many millions/billions from instead of hiding their wealth in foreign tax havens.

[awoke_in_2003]

62. A union pipe fitter...

who has worked 6 day work weeks for 15 years? Yeah.

[intersectionality]

80. I also cocked my head when he said he was union.

I hope this guy's company/municipality doesn't get bought out by a Bain-like corpovulture and have his pension dismantled. That would certainly stick everyone on SS. :-/

[DainBramaged]

25. You go you precious flower you

You probably don't want any health care. Republicans find God when they are in the hospital, did you know that.

[Tarheel_Dem]

17. That was the Democratic Party. I specifically asked about "the fringe". More spewing from you.

Not at all surprised. But the question remains, what are the "spewers" actually doing, between events like this. They only seem to pipe up when tragedy strikes. Have they occupied the halls of Congress? Have they taken to the streets? Or have they mainly kept their activism confined to sites like this?

Typing outraged screeds on internet forums IS NOT ACTIVISM! Just sayin'.....

[villager]

33. Overly self-satisfied, yet ultimately mistaken, answers on an internet forum are not activism either

...just sayin'.

And yes, Democrats enacted those laws in reaction to the 'left fringe' that was organizing in the streets, among labor, etc.

Without that pressure -- from the "left fringe" -- those things wouldn't have happened.

[Tarheel_Dem]

35. And "if" my Aunt Margaret had different apparatus, she'd be my uncle. I didn't ask you...

what you thought, nor did I care about your "ifs". Your speculation, as romanticized as it is, didn't answer my question. It was the Democratic Party.

[villager]

40. Actually, it did -- but your ears have been locked for a long time.

You're not here for discussion -- just pronouncement.

Enjoy the further pronouncing!

[Tarheel_Dem]

50. Thanks for stopping by.

[villager]

64. ...and for your inevitable use of smilies!

[tomp]

55. when you use terms like "left fringe" and "spewers"...

...you lose the argument.

i'm guessing you didn't notice that.

[Tarheel_Dem]

93. Do you feel the same for those who use the word "centrist" as a term of derision?

[woo me with science]

97. Bwah!

Third Way apologists are not "centrists."

Indefinite detention, "kill lists" and drone wars, pre-emptive war as administration doctrine, spy centers for mining or surveillance of all phone calls and email without a warrant, internet IDs and internet-censoring measures like ACTA, military drones in American skies, coordinated violent crackdowns against peaceful protesters, strip searches for any arrestee, bailouts and settlements for corrupt banks, and austerity budgets in an economy that has already impoverished its middle class.....These are not moderate or centrist positions. Not by a long shot. They are extreme corporatist, neocon, and police state policies, not "centrist" or moderate at all

What a pantload.

[Art_from_Ark]

101. +1

[tomp]

100. centrist is a euphemism for collaboration with the right...

...and to me is virtually synonymous with liberal. so, yeah, i use it derisively. "left fringe" is centrist/rightist propaganda.

if you describe your opponents' words as spew, make sure you do it after defeating their argument.

[woo me with science]

96. Yep.

They don't even try to hide it anymore.

Nastiness and right-wing policy go together - always have and always will. We should not have to deal with Republicans in Democrat costumes.

[mother earth]

26. I am talking about the second depression & how nothing is being done about jobs or the economy.

Yes, it's because of Congress, but add to that looking forward and not backward and letting the two that brought this economy to its knees off the hook for their many crimes, and we don't need to stop with the fiasco and chaos they left us with economically, we can add to that the wars they brought us into that were illegal. They got a huge pass, now we are dealing with corrupt banks that have been bailed out while Main St. & the middle class are left to wait until this election is settled, apparently.
Laws are written and dictated by corporate America & now they are apparently endowed with rights of people.

I'm fucking sick and tired of middle of the road BS. I've been Dem. all my life and I am fed up. I'm not putting all the blame on my party, but yeah, it is partly responsible for what we have today.

Ok, I will acknowledge all the wonderful things (thanks to our party) that have been accomplished, but we need more. We need FDR measures & it's a long time coming...waiting...and waiting. And yeah I'm sick & tired of middle of the friggin road BS. Finally, of late, we've come out swinging, let's hope it continues.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

47. what has happened on the left fringe to "better our lives"?

Blowjobs.

What,...you thought the Right Wing came up with that?

[Tarheel_Dem]

51. Okay, I'll give you that one.

[bvar22]

49. Who is this "Fringe Left" of which you speak so condescendingly?

Are you speaking of the FDR/LBJ Democrats
who gave us the New Deal, Civil Rights, the Great Society and the wealthiest and most upwardly mobile Middle Class the WORLD has ever seen?

Are you speaking of those old fashioned Democrats who still STAND for these traditional Democratic Party Values?

"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be [font size=3]established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens."-- FDR, Economic Bill of Rights, 1944

Please note that FDR stated that the above are Basic Human Rights to be owned, provided and protected BY our government of the people,
and NOT Commodities to be SOLD to Americans by For Profit Corporations.

*Are you speaking of those loyal Democrats who believe that War Criminals and War Profiteers belong in jail and NOT be given a Free Pass by our Party Leaders?

*Are you speaking about those Democrats who believe that "Free Markets" and "Free Trade" has destroyed America's Working Class?

*Are you speaking pf those Democrats who believe that incremental destruction of our Civil Liberties
by the Democratic Party endorsement of the Patriot Act, the NDAA, Warrantless Wire Tapping, "War Time Executive Powers" (Unitary Executive) claimed for a bogus and perpetual war, National Co-Ordination of the militarized suppression of OWS, and Surveillance Drones spying on Americans...
You mean THOSE Democrats who believe that the above are bad things?

*Are you speaking of those Democrats who believe that our elections should be verifiable,
and NOT the proprietary property of For Profit Corporations?

*...or those Democrats who know that Mandatory Health Insurance is NOT really Universal Health Care?


*...or those Democrats who believe that we should FIX our Public Schools,
and NOT defund them by siphoning money off to Private (Charter) Schools?

*..or those Democrats who believe that Main Street should have been bailed out, and NOT Wall Street?

*..or those Democrats who believe that the Wall Street criminals belong in JAIL?

*...or those Democrats who believe that Equal Rights & Equal Protections are NOT "State Issues"?
(Thank gawd LBJ didn't feel that way!)


*...or those Democrats who remember that UNIONS built the wealthiest and most upwardly mobile Middle Class the World has ever seen?


...or those Democrats who believe that those who advance the agenda of The RICH
at the expense of the Working Class and the Poor do NOT belong in OUR Party?


Because if THAT is who you mean,
then I am proud to be among them.
---bvar22
formerly a mainstream-Center FDR/LBJ Working Class Democrat
now labeled a "Fringe Leftist" in the New Democrat Centrist Party.
I haven't changed.


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[brush]

56. I love it

Bvar22, I'm with you. God, I wish that party you describe so well was back. But we must fight so that at least some of those things can be reattained in the next four years. I myself do voter registration and phone banking every week for the President's campaign. I'm sure you know if it's bad now just think how bad it will be if the repugs get back in and are able to get their schemes through instead of just blocking everything aimed to help the economic recovery.

[rhett o rick]

65. I just dont understand how a Democrat can be so venemently against the "left".

When asked, they can not even define who this "fringe left" is. They can not identify on which issues they differ from the left. Who are these people?

[dgibby]

78. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm proud to stand next to you, and if anyone calls me part of the left fringe, then I take it as a compliment and wear it as a badge of honor!

[rhett o rick]

59. Just cant wait to disparage the "left" can you? Why do you hate the left so?

At a time when we should be working together, you are busy trying to piss off as many on the left as you can. What is your agenda?

What issues on the left dont you support?

[99Forever]

83. The term DINO...

... comes to mind.

[rhett o rick]

87. Seems like a lot of DINO's in the party now. nm

[Tarheel_Dem]

94. Hey, didn't you pronounce that I was on your now infamous "Ignore List"?

[rhett o rick]

98. Why do you disparage the left at every opportunity? At a time when we should stick together

you continue to spew hatred, not at the right but at the left. One might think you are trying to scuttle Pres Obama's chances for reelection by trying to split the party.

[Tarheel_Dem]

99. There are many variations of "the left". I despise some every bit as much as I despise the.....

teabaggers. Some call themselves "Greens", others embrace "Civil Libertarians", and then there are the "Socialists/Communists". Their goals seem crystal clear to me, and I hope to many others. Not everyone will come out and say it, but I loathe groups who seek to help the GOP, whether directly or indirectly, win elections. Hope that answers your question.

[rhett o rick]

103. You responded to a post above and went off on the "fringe left". What did the poster say that

set you off? He was upset about the NRA and the fact that the centrists seem happy with the status-quo, esp the gun violence. Is that leftist fringy?

Which of your leftist fringe groups do you place him? Is he helping the GOP win elections?

The post you went off on was post #10.

[Tarheel_Dem]

104. I'll say this once more, and then you can place me back on "Ignore". I despise people...

"on the left" who would advocate splitting the vote, thereby handing an election to the GOP. Those groups, and their smug self righteous protestations speak to a full belly, a comfortable home, and probably a couple of cars in the garage. They, in no way, help the people they claim to be fighting for, by indirectly electing Teabaggers.

I'm sure most of them would call themselves activists, but I don't think "activism" is what they think it is. They like to claim credit for anything good, and delegate blame for everything else. The gun "debate" is good for the activists, and many are making the most of it, but much like preceding events of this nature, concern will dissipate. I was shocked to learn that after Gabby's shooting, Americans' attitudes re: gun regulation didn't change one iota.

I'm sorry, but the gun debate has been lost, and you can lay blame at the feet of the NRA, the Congress, the President, or your next door neighbor's housecat. But the American people's attitudes have changed dramatically, in favor of less gun regulation.

[rhett o rick]

105. I appreciate your criteria, however, how did the post in question meet that crieria? nm

[Tarheel_Dem]

106. I hope you're not this dense, or are you just pretending?

"middle of the road BS" on every issue

"I'm so sick of being stuck in the middle where little, if anything, is ever accomplished to better our lives."

I know exactly what that dogwhistle means, I'm surprised you don't?

[rhett o rick]

107. I see a frustration with the status-quo. Far from "fringy leftist". Far from helping elect GOP

candidates. The way I see it, the solution to "stuck in the middle" is to elect more progressives. How does that equate to "helping elect GOP candidates"?

I see more danger from those that disparage the left and try to antagonize the left.

[Tarheel_Dem]

108. Your solution is a nonstarter. Where are these legions of "progressives" who can run & win...

nationwide? Her frustration doesn't answer that question. Quite frankly, I don't see many elected officials going out on a limb for progressives. They're not dependable. Yes, they're angry. Yes, they're frustrated, but they're also fickled. They tend to mount these all out campaigns for (issue of the moment), and then they either get bored, or people lose interest in them.

The 2008 election was a coming together of Democrats nationwide, and that includes progressives. However, it didn't take long for the pissing and moaning to begin, and a little bit of revisionism to take place. I see the same patterns with Occupy. I get it. They're passionate people, and that passion runs white hot for a minute, but then it's back to the internet chatrooms to piss & moan some more, and blame everyone else for their failure to launch, until the next new outrage. Who's gonna stick their political neck out for shit like that?

When I refer to progressives in "quotes", I'm usually addressing the Nader types, who aren't Democrats anyway, so I feel no remorse whatsoever. Hope that helps.

[rhett o rick]

109. You claim that the left "piss & moan".

That's true. We "piss & moan" because we are not satisfied with the status-quo. And what do you "piss & moan" about? That the left doesnt sit down and shut up. That the left wont be satisfied with the status-quo.

You accuse the left of helping the GOP. How absurd.

Plez channel your hatred towards those that are supporting the aristocracy and not those that are fighting it.

[Tarheel_Dem]

110. I'll "channel my hatred" wherever I please, but thanks anyhoo!

Greens & their apologists are not my friend. I haven't forgotten what they did in 2000, and if these are the "pissing & moaning" progressives you're defending, then yes I wish they would sit down & STFU. Whether they'll admit it or not, they share responsibility for eight fucking years of Bush/Cheney, and from what I see they're trying to lend a hand to Rmoney as well. My fervent hope, however, is that enough Democrats have figured out that they really are full o' shit, and the untold damage they do is indefensible.

And everything above applies to the Libertarians and their bullshit as well.

[rhett o rick]

111. I believe your vehement devisiveness in the Democratic Party is causing damage to the reelection

bids of Democrats. Now is the time to stick together.

[Tarheel_Dem]

114. And I believe you're being "rhett-o-rick-al"? People who post here already have their minds made up

Let's be real; no one is changing anyone's mind here. If one is engaged enough to seek out a site that deals mainly with politics, and likeminded individuals, then it's hardly likely that their opinions will be swayed very much, one way or the other.

For instance, you could post Greenwald/HamPster/Naderite/Stein tripe to your heart's content, and other than testing my gag reflexes, it would have absolutely no impact on my vote. My mind was made up when I became a Democrat, at age 18. Likewise, my mind is also closed to anything else, and if that makes me "d(E)visive", then sobeit. I will always decry threats to the Democratic Party, whether within or without. No other party has ever been an option for me.

[rhett o rick]

115. Do you also hate Sen Bernie Sanders?

I never seem to see your posts in threads like these:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021014387

How about Alan Grayson, Darcy Burner, Eliz Warren, Rep Kucinich ? Do you think these leftists are helping the GOP?

[Tarheel_Dem]

116. When Bernie runs against the Democratic Party, we'll talk.

I'm happy you keep track of my posting habits, I didn't know you cared. If they're Democrats, and they don't go around badmouthing the president, they're cool with me. Never had much use for Dennis though.

[rhett o rick]

117. But, but Sen Sanders often speaks out about how bad things are. When others do that you treat them

as worse than Republicans. Democrats are not lock step. We do not always agree. If you dont understand that or if you can handle that, maybe YOU are in the wrong party. Dont try to make us conform to standards that YOU think are sacred. Just because I want the president to break his close ties with Wall Street, doesnt mean I dont support Democratic principles. DO YOU UNDERSTAND??????? Your continued efforts to herd us into a tight knit group that swears allegiance to something only YOU know is preposterous.

Now is not the time to sow derision among Democrats.

[Tarheel_Dem]

118. Now I'm "herding"?

And if you want to talk "derision", look no further than Dr. Jill Stein. I find it interesting that you chide me for my POV, but then launch into a lecture about your own. You chose an absolutely perfect screenname.

[stupidicus]

85. please, by all means, identify the notable groups and members of the "Lefty fringe"

that provide sufficient influence in or on our political system to effect change.

The reality is, the "left fringe" as you so quaintly label them, use to be the mainstream dem party that brought us much of the social policy we enjoy today, as opposed to "Catfood Commisions" etc designed to overturn it. http://www.americablog.com/2012/05/obama-2006too-many-of-us-have-been.html

The simple, obvious, and undeniable reality is, so-called "tolerant" liberals use that label as a slur designed to and intended for the silencing of those who'd dare criticize "centrist dems", who are really more aptly described as "rightwing lite" http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=1956%20republican%20platform&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.presidency.ucsb.edu%2Fws%2Findex.php%3Fpid%3D25838&ei=YWoMUIjmPInTqgHUzLScCg&usg=AFQjCNGRPsHP6839164kqHxhwTDNN1Kx_Q considering what their opposition in the past use to look like, who've moved recently towards the rightwingnut cliff. This can be seen in a great deal, like with the "some of us" stuff, to the adoption of so many rightwing policies like Cap and Trade, to that lovely mandate in the ACA.

I'd think "spewing" would be a silly mischaracterization and misuse of the denotative meaning of the term anyway, as applied strictly to a sole claim of too much so-called "centrism". http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=spewing%20meaning&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CF4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefreedictionary.com%2Fspewing&ei=VHAMUNrDJcbTqgH_xJm_Cw&usg=AFQjCNFMRBpvLTTU8Cr7KucK8J1QJq-emQ That description would be applicable only to the many reasons why it's a valid claim, which of course you prefer to avoid and think an "AWK AWK!!! LEFTY FRINGE!!!" BS is a satisfactory rebuttal to.

I've never understood how one could think that, since you can't rebut what you don't address. I suppose that's why the subject change to that mysterious, unseen, and certainly these days, politically impotent "lefty fringe", no?

[JoePhilly]

14. A newspaper cashing in on the tragedy ... how unexpected.

And apparently, Obama and Romney were supposed to skip the part about grieving for those killed, and jump directly into the politics of the situation.

Nonsense article.

[PoliticAverse]

16. NY Daily News, defender of the stop-and-frisk black and hispanic people policy...

NYDN's Editorial Board Has Defended "Stop-And-Frisk" In Every Editorial On The Subject. According to a Media Matters analysis, the NYDN opinion page has featured six editorials on the NYPD "stop-and-frisk" program since the NYDN reported that NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was looking into the policy; all of the editorials defended the practice

http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/05/31/new-york-daily-news-stalwart-defender-of-nypds/184767

[Tsiyu]

22. Kick for the victims of the NRA

Needless Refuse Association

[malaise]

28. Really now - what did they have to say about George Bush

letting the ban expire in 2004

[mother earth]

29. Absolutely. He got a pass on everything, all of it, every last bit of carnage & chaos he and Cheney

left us with. They live their lives knowing how they screwed over the entire country, with absolutely no consequences.

[alabama_for_obama]

39. I saw 30 round magazines for sale legally in NY state before the ban ended

The assault weapons ban was a joke at best, and did nothing to stop nor encourage crime. it was pointless, and I'm glad it's gone.

[mother earth]

82. Really? The shooter had a 100 round mag according to reports, thankfully his gun failed. Why fear

a ban from assault rifles if it is meaningless? I don't believe it would discourage crime, I believe it would minimize victims and fatalities. There's a difference you know? I'm all for the right to bear arms, I'm against assholes being able to purchase 6000 rounds of ammunition while they plot for a month to wipe out a movie theater's inhabitants, get it?

[alabama_for_obama]

84. How much ammo he bought is meaningless hyperbole.

Try to carry 6000 rounds of ammo around sometime. You can't.

The reason I get bothered by this stuff is that it is pointless to try to regulate. You simply can't. The genie's out of the bottle, the cats out of the bag, and they aren't going away. Besides even with a ten round limit, the VA tech shooter was able to kill many more and injure plenty.

[mother earth]

88. Obviously a person can't carry it around, but it should've set off huge red flags, this never would

have happened if there were safeguards built into the system. Hell, they can track us through cell phones, but track huge ammunition purchases? Come on, there are things that can be done if only as safeguards. It's the same BS about not safeguarding the vote. What do we lose by putting safety issues first? Ask the families/friends of those murdered by any given current-day multiple shooter.

[elbloggoZY27]

30. Ugly Politics !!!!!!

Just when you think the political scenario leading up to the November elections is ugly the NY Daily News throws gasoline onto the fire.


A very demented PHD neuroscience candidate walked into an Aurora CO theater and committed a deranged act of wounding and murdering innocent movie goers.

That are the facts of this very ugly tragedy.

Some of the press like to distort the news to sell papers.

It is a very sad commentary on our society when a human tragedy this monumental is used in such an ugly manner.

Here in the United States we are all protected by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution but yelling FIRE in a crowded Arena is akin to the NY Daily News Editorial on the events that unfolded in Aurora.

What happened in Aurora was despicable and heinous and the perpetrator should be charged with a Capital Crime that brings into play the Death Penalty.

[moondust]

31. I wonder if anybody has ever tried filing a civil suit

against the NRA and/or the federal government holding them liable in somebody's gun death(s)? Maybe a class action suit on behalf of multiple victims? Similar to the OJ Simpson case where he was found not guilty in a criminal trial but was then held liable in a civil suit and had to pay millions in damages.

[PoliticAverse]

37. Suits against gun manufacturers and sellers have been tried. n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

48. Mostly, the only ones even considered are ones where a cheap gun blows up in the shooters face.

[NNN0LHI]

36. The word BUSH is never mentioned in that article which is a huge tip off

Whoever wrote that is a motherfucker!

Don

[alabama_for_obama]

38. so this editorial is a bit correct...

I am starting to wonder if this guy actually did act alone, or if he had some help? All of that equipment that he had would have cost a LOT of money. and the explosives he used to booby trap his apartment were supposed to be pretty complex. And why did he just surrender to the police and tell them all about the explosives in his apartment, rather than letting them find the explosives the hard way?

[-..__...]

66. That's one way of looking at it...

the other way is that it's a loss for the other side.

I'm fine with both...

[SkyDaddy7]

43. This is like blaming Obama for...

GITMO & every other issue he has no control over. If there were the votes in congress to change the gun laws in this country I am sure Obama would sign the bill into law...But until then it is pointless to blame Obama, period.

...This is more emotional babble with little to no point.

[burrowowl]

44. Excellent Editorial!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

45. The last line is the truest

Without the millions who continue sending dues to the NRA and demanding carte blanche gun-toting rights from the politicians they elect, this would be a much safer country. It's come to the point that no politician can get elected if they propose any reasonable restrictions on the second amendment. The problem is the American citizen. I'm all for supporting the second amendment, but I know if I ran for office I could never get elected with a platform that proposes that guns belong not strapped to the thigh in public places but only in the home or in the car to and from the rifle range or forest and that tough restrictions be placed on any would-be gun buyer to determine their mental stability and criminal behavior including a complete ban on gun show sales..

[marions ghost]

113. right

No reasonable restrictions...we all have to live in fear of gun violence instead. It's hurting this nation in ways people can't even imagine.

Whose rights are not being respected?

[AtheistCrusader]

46. AR-15's are by definition not assault rifles.

The word you are looking for is Assault WEAPON.

These words have meaning.

[still_one]

52. bullshit, there is no equivalency between Obama and lapierre. If you want to blame because you

believe the gun laws should be tougher, blame Congress, they make the laws

but it won't happen, the gun lobby is too strong

In fact the macho glorification of guns in this country says everything about this country

There is no reason why any citizen needs an assault weapon except to kill many people

[lambiepie]

70. where does the right to bear arms end.

I'm a Canadian 65 year old women I'm wondering are Americans afraid of each other or what exactly is the obsession by some for guns other than for hunting.Goodness me I leave my door open all day in summer when I'm home.Am I missing something about Americans because everyone I've met are so nice.

[still_one]

92. I am not sure if you have had the opportunity to listen to the 24/7 hate talk radio that goes on

here. In addition, we have one party calling our President and the party he belongs to everything in the book, and since a lot of people in the country do not possess critical thinking skills or question things, they believe the lies and misrepresentations, and the media gives a wonderful forum to those ideas with very little equal time for the other side

At least that is my view where a lot of the problems and frustrations occur.

It also depends who you meet, as with any country.

I think the most eloquent explanation, or observation of the problem was in Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine"

[laundry_queen]

102. Yeah. You're missing the brainwashing

And the media/NRA manipulation. Somewhere along the lines the 2nd amendment became synonymous with freedom, so while TPTB whittle away at other freedoms, Americans are content to believe they are the free-est in the world because they have their guns. The 2nd amendment is now used as a smokescreen and there are those who are gullible enough to buy into it.

[TBF]

57. Agree. K&R nt

[Erda]

58. We could have anticipated this many years ago with the introduction of

Last edited Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:21 PM - Edit history (1)

violent video games with scenes that our children have absorbed into their psyche -- as if there is nothing abnormal about mowing down a crowd with your gun or killing as many innocents as possible to win points. We have accepted misogynistic/homophobic pop culture, toy assault rifles for our kids, life-negating hip hop repeated over and over like mantras by young people and are acting surprised when one, seemingly normal young person brings into his reality what has been playing constantly in his mind. Why are we acting surprised? The creative power of Thought. The creative power of the Spoken Word! The creative power of the resulting Deed! We have been taught this for centuries.

And, as for blaming President Obama for this horror -- Give me a break. The gun lobby, the extreme ignorance and violence on the right, the irrational fear and hatred of our President, and our cowering Congress make any action by him for intelligent gun control politically impossible. And I can hardly blame Congress for being fearful. The right resorts to violence. It seems to have no moral compass, none at all these days --no constraints on what it will resort to. The average person would not want to be in their cross hairs.

[gblady]

60. very well said....

I have long feared the long term consequences of the violence glorifying entertainment industry.

[ananda]

61. True.

Along with the fear mongering politicians and NRA.

[Alduin]

69. Blaming violent video games on the CO massacre...

Is like blaming Twinkies as the only cause of heart attacks. There are more factors than Twinkies that cause heart attacks, like genetics, diet, the lack of exercise, etc.

[Tumbulu]

73. well since we have little control over our genetics

we need to avoid junk food like twinkies- is this rocket science?

Doesn't everyone know to avoid junk food? Who eats it anymore anyway? Just people in inner cites without access to real food- which is a tragedy which Michele Obama and many more of us are working hard to change.

It is the same with these images and songs and hate ratio. We as a society can encourage violence or discourage it. If the encouraging of violence brings a few people a lot of money .... oh well, that is capitalism, right? This is where capitalism needs to be regulated , just like toxic waste emissions. We are talking toxic waste of the imagination.

[Alduin]

74. "Who eats it anymore anyway?"

Well, I'm in graduate school and all I can afford is junk food. Do I like it? Absolutely not. But I can't afford to go out and buy fruits and vegetables that cost a lot of money per pound.

And by the way, I play a lot of violent video games and I don't ever consider going out and shooting up movie theaters. I know the difference between video games and real life.

[Erda]

76. You might think you know the difference between a video game and "real life"

but I challenge you, as an experiment, to hold a thought in your mind that has not materialized in your reality -- as an example running into an old friend or whatever experience you wish. Keep it there, act as if it is so, feel it as being true. Then watch for the experience to show up in your reality. This is nothing new! Just about all teachings remind us of this -- the importance of controlling our thought, the difficulty of controlling the mind which is like "a monkey in a cage" as Buddhism puts it. The teaching "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" or "whatever is beautiful, whatever is good, think ye on these things" tell us this. Explore the tons of books on the mind and how it works. Observe how you think and what shows up in your life and experience as a result. You might believe that violent video games, movies, etc. are harmless but I see them as quite dangerous, especially as you develop the creative power of your mind. Your mind is a creative force. Use it with care.

[progressivebydesign]

90. I'm a believer of "garbage in, garbage out" for the brain. There's a reason why tv ads exist..

.. they influence, they change people. They spend billions every year to influence people's thinking, to get a song stuck in your head, get you to dress or act a certain way. There is a reason why suddenly everyone has a tattoo, or why girls dressed up like Hannah Montana. And why video games do influence people in various ways. I could never understand how people could ignore the fact of the billion dollar ad industry to change your own preferences and behaviors, and why they think that violent movies, tv shows, and games don't.

How many more studies do we need to show that the more violent the entertainment, the more time kids watch it, the more violent they have become. When I was a kid, and even when my 30 year old daughter was, kids were not committing violent acts and videoing them for youtube. We're reaping what our "entertainment" has sowed. We have more violent teens and kids, and a total lack of shock at violent acts. We have young people routinely shooting videos with their cell phones when someone is in peril, instead of helping them.

[Tumbulu]

81. Sorry to hear that you eat this food

as it is very bad for you. As a young person, it may not be so apparent, but as one ages it becomes crystal clear. I am sorry that you feel that you have no choice.

When I was in grad school I joined a food coop so that I could work for veggies and I cooked for a fraternity so that I could buy meat. All this while pulling 16-20 units a quarter. Not a lot of free time, but I sure built character as they used to call it in my day.

Perhaps you can find a farm or a community garden to volunteer at. Once you get involved with food production, then you will see how bad the processed food really is for people.

[Tumbulu]

72. Well said

and I agree absolutely.

I do not know how to stop the avalanche of it all, though.

It seems so overwhelming.

[Beringia]

95. Yes, I agree

People say words have power, so do images

[Warren Stupidity]

63. It is time for the owners of Democratic Underground to chose sides. NT.

[Zax2me]

68. Wow. From RW rag to positive reviews of NY Daily News.

Guess they gained legitimacy overnight, huh?

[Enrique]

71. I never saw them as a RW rag

are you thinking of the NY Post?

[Sherman A1]

77. Good article

Thanks for posting.

[99Forever]

79. This:

"Such is the conscienceless extremism of America’s gun lovers that they accept wholesale slaughter as akin to a fatal highway pileup."

..irks me. Almost as much as obvious truth that the spineless fucks in our "government" will do NOT-A-FUCKING-THING to stop the insanity.

FUCK the NRA.

[stupidicus]

91. I'm kinda torn on this issue

largely because I don't see the issue of gun laws and changes in them as critical to the solution as I do changes in our culture

"No society that feeds its children on tales of successful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded."
-- Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)

and the collective mindset that underlies it.

I would certainly agree that more laws like the assault rifle ban, on the large clips, etc, could have an impact on the loss of lives in these situations, but politically speaking, it's gonna take changes in the hearts and minds of our citizenry and the role guns play in our society before America is no longer exceptional in the murder rate, etc, on the world stage.

This is one of many reasons imo, that the "rugged individualism" as opposed "it takes a village" pov of an increasing amount of rightwingnuts is so dangerous and costly in human lives and the quality of the lives of those able to preserve theirs. I see the "let them die/eat dirt" povs that generates and this issue as being related, since they both have the same underlying thing in their dark belly -- gov being the problem devoid of any solution providing role.

excluding of course, all those great jobs and profits it provides for the war contractors through the DoD budget.

[raouldukelives]

112. Yep. Just like Wall St.

Every loss of habitat, every chemical spill, every person suffering because they were denied health coverage, every death, every drop of oil in the oceans and the onrushing famine of the poorest from climate change is aided & abetted every step of the way by willing accomplices.