on ABC’s “Top Line” today, former Rep. Jim Kolbe – who represented Giffords’ district in Congress for 22 years before retiring in 2006 – said it’s a mistake to conclude based on this incident that there’s something amiss about Arizona’s culture.
“There isn't anything in Arizona that's uniquely different,” said Kolbe, R-Ariz.
Ok. Leaving out for the moment that
Arizona's gun laws [are] among the most lax in the country
That's not what hurts. "Uniquely different," that's what hurts.
Look, when I go into my neighborhood bar (not the Wulfshead) I like to pack a gun with me. What if after my tenth or twelfth beer the guy sitting next to me and I get into what's known as an "altercation?"
ReplyDeleteWhat am I supposed to do? Imagine he may not have a gun? And that if he has that he won't use it?
Of course I'll blast him away! How else will a drunk on his twentieth beer behave? The Founders, in all their wisdom, anticipated this very moment. Knew that when I got so drunk I didn't know where I was that I would blast away at the guy next to me just because I don't like the cut of his face. Or what he said.
That's what makes me free. By god.
Right?
And "uniquely different" does hurt, unless you accept that we all live in an asylum.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I hate to be repetitive, but I do see a link in all this to the eight years of George Bush. The fear he exploited, to keep it short, to support his wars. The hopes he gave to the religious right. The promise he offered to the well to do...... so on.