Let's Play "Spot the Hyperbole"
UPDATES UPDATED (AND UPDATED)- scroll down
In the 'Issues' section over at "new and improved" Devalpatrick.com, one registered user put up the issue, No more gun control in Massachusetts. As of 2:00 PM today, the responses posted include such rational arguments as...
So far all we have done is take away the right of self protection from law abiding citizens. The criminals just ignore us, and the laws.
- Charles J.
Law abiding citizens are hurt by gun-control laws. People who commit gun-violent crimes don't abide by the laws. The attempts to tighten gun restrictions does nothing but take away rights of good citizens.
- Aaron H.
Absolutely in favor. The current gun control regs have done little to stem any illegal activities. Criminals tend not to follow laws. The folks that bare the brunt of gun control laws are almost exclusively the law abiding citizenry. Almost every piece of statistical evidence supports this.
Oh yeah, I amost forgot, A great deal of gun control does tend to contradict the second amendment to the Consitution of the Unitied States which codified the individual right that pre-dates the constitution itself that all individuals have the right to bear arms. Which, in case you were not following, is a serious contradicition to the foundations of this country.
- Jeff S.
The laws are not working! On Sunday March 25th WBZ ran a piece with John Keller and Mayor Menino, in which the Mayor discussed some of the new tactics the police the will be using to fight gun related crimes. Interestingly, the Mayor said he thought that there were more guns on the street now than ever before.
Why?
From what I’ve read, Boston has employed one successful gun buyback programs in the country and Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws. Clearly, more legislation is not the answer.
- Michael S.
Criminals will not be controlled by our laws and they, by definition, are the ones doing the illegal shootings. Bans have never worked, we've banned all sorts of drugs and activities to no avail. Learn from what is going on in Australia and England.
- Carl C.
Massachusetts is insane regarding gun control; criminals are easily armed, while law-abiding citizens are faced with harsh penalties for defending themselves or their families, even in their own homes! Never mind how hard it is to even get a license at all...
- Leigh D.
It is high time the legislators in the Commonwealth open their eyes to the oppression of law abiding gun owners here. As a group, we are the most law abiding, educated, and productive members of the state.
It is also high time for criminals to start being held accountable for their behavior. They choose to ignore most other laws, thinking that they will not ignore another gun control law is silliness at its utmost.
Paul M.
...and, this slightly less than rational response from one Richard H. of Provincetown.
YEA! we gotta make it easier to kill people!
This jackass, apparently, has no idea how many people one deranged lunatic can take out with a gallon of gasoline and a match. Or a '78 Buick, for that matter.
Smart money says he's of the belief that Manhattan will be under 20 feet of water unless we surrender our national sovereignty, and turn over all our worldly goods to the UN for redistribution to every UN-felching, Stalinist, third-world dictator the world over.
Naturally, you can expect the Patrick sympathizer camp to dismiss this posting as a coordinated attack on the Patrick website, by an unruly mob of gun owners looking to sabotage the democratic process,
Or some other such nonsense.
UPDATE: Speaking of the Patrick sympathizer camp, I give you the Boston Globe.
Granted, it's not the gun control issue I wrote about above at play here, but it sure didn't take long for the baseless, idiotic attacks to start flying.
The issues generating buzz on Governor Deval Patrick's new civic engagement website are largely predictable: gay marriage support, renewable energy, and the administration's proposed municipal partnership package.
But one subject gaining popularity on the three-day-old site was championed by the Democrat's opponents in his successful campaign last fall. The long-time Republican rallying cry to rollback the state income tax from 5.3 to 5 percent has received enough "votes" to make it one of the top 15 most popular issues on DevalPatrick.com.
While gay marriage support has received seven times more votes than the rollback, the income tax issue has gotten enough support to show that the new site can be a vehicle to push the agenda of interest groups and the Republican minority.
What was the result of the income tax rollback referendum question again? 59% to 41% in favor of the income tax rollback, I think?
I guess it all depends on one's definition of "minority".
Some advocacy groups seized on the site before it even launched. The Conservation and Recreation Campaign, for example, blasted its 1,500-members an e-mail urging them to log on to the site and "vote" to increase funding for parks. The site is financed with political donations to Patrick's political committee, not taxpayer money.
What's that supposed to mean?
That opposing viewpoints from members of the general public will not be welcome there? That this forum is no place for open dialogue, between people with differing opinions? The opening paragraph says it's "Governor Deval Patrick's new civic engagement website", not some Moveon.org type of organization's verbal circle jerk.
Nope, no political bias in that Globe piece there.
Move along, folks.
UPDATE II: Talk about screwing the pooch:
BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick launched a new page on his political Web site this weekend to organize supporters behind his issues, but Secretary of State William Galvin Monday asked the governor to take it down, fearing the identity of voters may be compromised.
Team 5 Investigates Janet Wu discovered that when people register to participate, it discloses their home address as listed in the Massachusetts voter database. Wu found that anyone could enter a name and a town and find the street address for any registered voter. For some searches, unpublished phone numbers were revealed.
Team 5 Investigates entered the name of a woman with a restraining order against a stalker. Her full address popped up on the Patrick campaign Web site.
I might just get me one of these just for the hell of it. Seriously, can Captain Patrick and his inept crew on board this proverbial ship of fools do anything right?
UPDATE III: From the above-linked WVCB piece:
"It's information that's publicly available from your city, your city hall, your local voter registration, " said Liz Morningstar of the Deval Patrick Committee.
Well, shit, now where have I heard that line of reasoning before?
Oh, yeah, from "compassionate" liberals seeking to protect the identities of convicted Level III sex offenders by fighting efforts to have their personal information, all of it public records, centralized on one website accessible to the general public.
Morningstar said if anyone has a complaint to lodge, she welcomes them to go online and register their concerns, but she said the campaign has no intention of taking down the new page.
Get your scorecards out, people!
Protecting the personal information of violent, dangerous, most-likely to reoffend, sexual predators? Good.
Demonstrating the same level of compassion and respect for the balance of the citizenry of the Commonwealth? Go fuck yourself, you dirty peasant.
