I was reading in the Boston Sunday Globe about the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. What first struck me was the report that the Massachusetts media delegation would essentially be barred from most of the events they would have covered, and prevented from getting near any of the people they would have spoken with. Then I realized that this was the Romney convention, where secrecy, obfuscation, and painfully scripted theater should surprise nobody. What next drew my attention was the description of walls and checkpoints to make certain that none of us freedom-loving Americans can enter with our cherished guns.
HUH?
I admit that I may just need my Sunday morning coffee, but I am definitely confused. How can they possibly expect to keep the convention safe if the delegates cannot bring their guns? Isn't this the convention of the party that favors having millions of people carrying guns at all times as the true way to safety? Haven't I endured endless NRA blather about how various mass-shootings would have turned just great if only a bunch of other people started blasting away at the first shooter? Haven't states like Massachusetts and New York endured gun violence from guns streaming in from states controlled by pro-gun Republicans? The answer is yes on both counts. I don't pretend that most Democrats have been great examples on gun control, but we all know which is the party of "pro-guns, bigger guns, and more of 'em."
If it is ok to tell parents that guns aren't a threat to your kids, then surely that assurance should be good enough for the Republicans themselves, right? Wrong. Guns in your schools, movie theaters, neighborhoods, offices, churches, are all just common sense... just don't let them anywhere near US, say the Republicans. The party of hypocrisy rides again! POW! POW! YIppee!
The right wingers have always been big on guns... as long as the shooting isn't too close to them. The chicken-hawk neocons love to spend on guns for the army, and send Americans to kill and die... as long as they don't have to do the fighting themselves. Dick Cheney loves war like a junkie loves heroin... but when he was fighting age "he had better things to do." Likewise, the Republicans relish throwing the blood-red meat to their base, howling that "Obama is coming to steal your guns!" (Has that happened yet?) They love posing with guns, and telling us that the guns keep us safe, in spite of all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. They love defending a system that forces peaceful and law abiding Americans to roll the dice every day when they go to school, work, or a movie, hoping that today won't be the day the y are shot in the back by a crazed coward. They love everything about guns, in fact... except for having to face guns themselves. What is good for us geese, I guess, is just not good for the ganders at the RNC in Tampa. Why am I not surprised by the latest double standard?
