Well, they say the first rule of war is to "know thy enemy". Well, I decided to make an effort and watch Willie air out his gums last night. I have to admit, they call him Slick Willie for a reason. The man knows how to speak in public, how to reasonably present the most unreasonable of arguments, and how to work a commentator and a crowd. If this were a noble and logical intellectual battle, I'd have to salute his tenacity and guile. But there's been too much mud slung already for that.
He appeared reasonable. He actually acknowledged self defense as a legitimate reason to own a firearm. He provoked thought, and looked as if he was trying to keep the pro-gunners in the audience from exploding. He was hit with some really hard questions from the pro-gunners, and responded as best he could, with as much tact as he could muster. There were no radicals from either side spewing rhetoric, and it seemed like most of the people interviewed were pro-gun. I was still peeved by the obvious skew MSNBC tried to throw on the whole thing with their loaded questions and dramaticized video clips, but it seemed to be a much better balanced debate than previous programs. All in all, I was ALMOST pleasantly surprised.
Here's a list of things that aggravated me.
(1) They threw loaded questions at one of the pro-gun teenage victims from Columbine. He looked ignorant and uninformed, parroting rhetoric and was unable to provide intelligent answers to loaded questions.
(2) They had an array of guns on the stage midway through the segment, and a SO-CALLED dealer and expert on guns chatting with Brokaw on the various makes and models. He called a Jennings/Lorcin derivative a Saturday Night Special. He said Tec-9's and AB-12's were designed for, and good for, nothing but killing. He agreed with Brokaw that "rapid-fire" and "semi-automatic" were the same thing. He said that pistol grip shotguns were just the right size to hide under your trenchcoat. He also went on to say that - BLANTANTLY INCORRECTLY - that a Hi-Point carbine came with 20 round mags, and larger mags were available. Hi-Point carbines come with 10 round mags, and there are no larger mags available. Thank God Brokaw didn't ask about the grenade launcher on the post-ban AR-15! Their "expert" said 223 were no good for hunting. Where they dug that guy up I don't know, but I'm only a 24 year old amatuer and I know more about those forearms than he did. Totally biased.
(3) They showed dramatic clips of guns coming out of the darkness barrel first, with forboding, horror-type background music. Not very neutral.
(4) The woman from Women Against Gun Control came across as assenine and militant with a couple of her responses.
What did you guys think?
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"Oh yeah? Well I talk LOOOUDLY! And I carry a BIIIGGER stick! And I'll use it, too." -Yoesemite Sam
He appeared reasonable. He actually acknowledged self defense as a legitimate reason to own a firearm. He provoked thought, and looked as if he was trying to keep the pro-gunners in the audience from exploding. He was hit with some really hard questions from the pro-gunners, and responded as best he could, with as much tact as he could muster. There were no radicals from either side spewing rhetoric, and it seemed like most of the people interviewed were pro-gun. I was still peeved by the obvious skew MSNBC tried to throw on the whole thing with their loaded questions and dramaticized video clips, but it seemed to be a much better balanced debate than previous programs. All in all, I was ALMOST pleasantly surprised.
Here's a list of things that aggravated me.
(1) They threw loaded questions at one of the pro-gun teenage victims from Columbine. He looked ignorant and uninformed, parroting rhetoric and was unable to provide intelligent answers to loaded questions.
(2) They had an array of guns on the stage midway through the segment, and a SO-CALLED dealer and expert on guns chatting with Brokaw on the various makes and models. He called a Jennings/Lorcin derivative a Saturday Night Special. He said Tec-9's and AB-12's were designed for, and good for, nothing but killing. He agreed with Brokaw that "rapid-fire" and "semi-automatic" were the same thing. He said that pistol grip shotguns were just the right size to hide under your trenchcoat. He also went on to say that - BLANTANTLY INCORRECTLY - that a Hi-Point carbine came with 20 round mags, and larger mags were available. Hi-Point carbines come with 10 round mags, and there are no larger mags available. Thank God Brokaw didn't ask about the grenade launcher on the post-ban AR-15! Their "expert" said 223 were no good for hunting. Where they dug that guy up I don't know, but I'm only a 24 year old amatuer and I know more about those forearms than he did. Totally biased.
(3) They showed dramatic clips of guns coming out of the darkness barrel first, with forboding, horror-type background music. Not very neutral.
(4) The woman from Women Against Gun Control came across as assenine and militant with a couple of her responses.
What did you guys think?
------------------
"Oh yeah? Well I talk LOOOUDLY! And I carry a BIIIGGER stick! And I'll use it, too." -Yoesemite Sam
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