Hypocrisy about Guns
Source Unknown: Forwarded by Robert Hayton
The NRA's bad press;
'Elite media' spins gun debate.
A
new doctoral thesis by Brian A. Patrick out of the University of Michigan
tends to confirm heavy press bias against the National Rifle Association.
In analyzing 1,500 gun-related news articles and editorials in the "elite
media" (The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Christian
Science Monitor), Mr. Patrick found:
• That 87 percent of editorials and op-eds
dealing with the NRA were negative.
• That about 27 percent of news headlines dealing
with the NRA used belittling jokes or puns — more than double the rate
for other interest groups.
• That anti-gun groups were routinely referred
to as "advocacy" or "citizen" groups, while the NRA was most often termed
a "lobby."
For
those who believe in the NRA's pro-Second Amendment work, however, there
is an upside to Mr. Patrick's research: The heavier the barrage of
bad publicity, the more the NRA's membership increased.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Letters to the Editor
Dear Frontiersman
I
know you don't like the Constitution very much, so here is the good news
— Mr. Clinton will overrule it by his executive orders soon as a major
emergency arises. And when will that be? Say Jan. 1, 2000.
While businesses are spending much time & big money to make their computers
"compliant", Uncle Sam hasn't moved a muscle. No government checks!
Seems to me those guys in D.C. have promoted this.
So
stock up on food — and water. And you'll need some way to keep warm
if Idaho is as cool in winter as I think it is ....
Lotsa
luck,
— Shirley; Urbana, Illinois
You're
right about the executive orders, but will anybody even notice the difference?
According to CRS
Report for Congress, National Emergency Powers, December 10, 1992,
the United States was continuously in a state of national emergency from
1933 to 1976, and thirteen declarations of national emergency occurred
between 1976 and 1992. I recommend my essay "In
Search of the Supreme Flaw of the Land: The Bill of Rights",
in which I examined this and other constitutional matters.
— editor
Dear Sam —
If
you would consult the great English scientists, like Newton, you would
find that I am simply repeating their own arguments as to why they themselves
used the continental measuring system rather than the British.
If
you would dig up Herr Hammerstein, I'm pretty sure that he would largely
agree with my understanding of poetry & his intended meaning.
I
have tried to explain that a complete overhaul of the US education system
is needed, which is impossible without a complete overhaul of the US government,
& that until then real education, rather than brainwashing, much less
competent teachers, is impossible. Apparently you miss my meaning
because you yourself have lost your revolutionary fervor?
Sincerely,
— Elliot; N. Merrick, New York
Such
proposals as "complete overhaul" are so vague as to be meaningless.
You cloak your frequent advocacy of such generalities behind references
to ancient thinkers, but you never suggest a specific remedy. Since
you start with the assumption that your "complete overhaul" is impossible
anyway, you conveniently relieve yourself of any need to actually try to
solve the problem. If you want competent teachers, then I suggest
that you try to forget the "impossible complete overhaul" approach and
think of some kind of specific suggestions about how to get competent teachers.
If
you really are interested in a complete overhaul of the U.S. government,
then I suggest that you read my "Treaty
for an Alliance of American States", or any of my several
essays on the subject. They provide, variously, specific suggestions
regarding a "complete overhaul" of the US government. They're available
upon request and are posted on The Pharos Connection.
As
to revolutionary fervor, I haven't lost mine. However, I understand
what kind of revolution we need and what kind of revolution we don't need.
We need the kind that happens in people's heads, when they learn to think
for themselves. We don't need the kind where a centrally directed
armed force of rebels overthrows a government, paving the way for a worse
government. That kind, which I believe you advocate, is the remedy
of choice of incompetent reformers.
Finally,
I don't rely on past thinkers to do my thinking for me. I don't expect
poets to interpret their poetry for me. I can think and interpret
for myself.
— editor
August 1999
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Frontiersman,
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