Not Right

Friends describe accused shooter as angry man

He slept with a gun under his pillow in a basement room filled with firearms and ammunition, convinced that Jews controlled the media and President Obama was scheming to take away his arsenal, friends and relatives said Saturday.

This is only going to happen more and more, as the Right whips people up into a frenzy. Gun shops and suppliers are already reporting huge increases in sales, which means that people are making runs on gun stores in ways that reminds me of how people make runs on banks during financial panics.

I caught part of Hardball tonight and had read the column that Blow had written.

Most of these fears are being shamelessly exploited for political gain. I can say this because I believe in the second amendment and have participated in hunting and shooting since childhood. However, I don’t believe that the issue of second amendment rights is being discussed at the national level simply because there is just too much at stake to be distracted by such a minor issue. Obama has his sights set on foreign policy and the economy, which right now Republicans have no traction on. They’re out of ideas so the best thing to do is redirect the national discussion back into the issues from which they have a (perceived) high ground. It seems that they don’t care if they end up encouraging some with mental instability to hurt others.

Bill Maher had a good discussion about this phenomena as well.