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Bulletproof Left: Paul Krugman Guts the NRA’s Last Shred of Intimidation
Paul Krugman completely gutted the NRA, and in the process became the the latest example of the left’s absolute lack of fear of the gun lobby.
Video:
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Here’s the transcript from ABC News:
KRUGMAN: But what really strikes me — I don’t know how this plays, you know, what will happen. What strikes me is we’ve actually gotten a glimpse into the mindset, though, of the pro-gun people and we’ve seen certainly Wayne LaPierre and some of these others. It’s bizarre. They have this vision that we’re living in a “Mad Max” movie and that nothing can be done about it, that America cannot manage unless everybody’s prepared to shoot intruders, that — the idea that we have a police forces that provides public safety is somehow totally impractical, despite the fact that, you know, that is, in fact, the way we live.
So I think that the terms of the debate have shifted. Now the craziness of the extreme pro-gun lobby has been revealed, and that has got to move the debate and got to move the legislation at least to some degree.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you comfortable with where the NRA has been on this?
BARLETTA: Yeah. I am. I mean, this is a perfect example why people believe Washington is broke. This horrific incident in Newtown, and here, what is our debate? It’s focusing on guns, when there is not one person at this table who really believes that that’s the root of what happened there. And when we have people that get into the mindset that they want to harm people, as a former mayor, I know people will get guns no matter what laws we pass, just like the illegal drug…
(CROSSTALK)
KRUGMAN: … just caught you on a false statement there, because at least I do believe that guns are the root. There are crazy people everywhere, but mass murders are a lot more common here than in countries with effective gun control.
BARLETTA: If you believe guns are more important than — than dealing with mental health and our culture — is our culture lending itself that we’re raising children that are desensitized to — to murder, to killing people?
(CROSSTALK)
KRUGMAN: I love that the international differences — countries that have effective gun control have a lot fewer incidents.
BARLETTA: We’re banning spoons stop obesity? Of course not.
KRUGMAN: Banning the large soda drinks…
RAMOS: There’s high tolerance for — for violence in this country. I mean, after Columbine, after Virginia Tech, after Aurora, we should have done something, and we haven’t. Sometimes it seems that it’s only minor changes that we’re talking about, even ban on assault weapons or background checks, or we’re talking about high-capacity magazines. I mean, we know what works. I mean, in Japan, it works. But as a country, I don’t think we are willing to even revisit the Second Amendment.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: And then…
(CROSSTALK)
FIORINA: But Paul said something that…
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: We know exactly what works, but we don’t want to do it. We have to recognize that.
FIORINA: Paul said something that’s illustrative of what I meant when I said people overplay their hands. What Paul just did was lump everybody together as a crazy radical gun-owner.
KRUGMAN: Not true.
FIORINA: Yes. So you’re condemning people…
KRUGMAN: No, there are plenty of gun-owners who are fine. But the lobbying groups, the NRA is now revealed as an insane organization, and that matters quite a lot.
What we witnessing is the national destruction of the myth that the NRA has some sort of intimidating power that the left is afraid to challenge. The mainstream media has helped the NRA create this aura of power around itself that is being exposed as having never existed. When the White House released the picture of President Obama skeet shooting, they were sending a message to the NRA.
The White House isn’t going to back down. Democrats aren’t going to back down, and the majority of the country will not stand down until meaningful reform has been enacted to deal with gun violence. Krugman was right. The NRA has revealed itself to be a right wing fringe group, and their leadership is not representing the views of a the majority of gun owners in this country.
The NRA has been outed as nothing more than the tool of the gun manufacturers. They don’t represent gun owners anymore. The organization has become so entrenched in Republican politics that they actually endorsed the governor who signed the nation’s first assault weapons ban for president in 2012.
The NRA has no real power. They can bluster. They may be able to stop an assault weapons ban through the Republican members of Congress that they have bought and paid for, but they can’t stop the shifting opinion on their view that America is an all guns, all the time nation. The tide has shifted, and the NRA and their unpopular positions are being swept out to sea.
As Paul Krugman’s comments illustrated, no one is afraid of the NRA. They are just another group of corporate Republicans who have marginalized themselves with extremist views.
The reality is that the crazier the NRA gets, the closer this nation comes to real gun reform.
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13 Responses to Bulletproof Left: Paul Krugman Guts the NRA’s Last Shred of Intimidation
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Sharin Khosa
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Its about time – without W. Lapareeeee madness maybe better safety for all.
aspromised
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 2:31 pm
All the proof is there for anyone who could be bothered to look at how the REST of the civilized world lives, the stats are lain as day. I’ve concluded that there is a segment of Americans who actually revel in their paranoia. That, alone, could qualify as a “mental health issue”.
Anne
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 3:03 pm
The NRA has been exposed in all of its hypocrisy and shown to be completely out of touch with the realities of gun-related violence that we live with everyday in this country. It’s heartening that Krugman and others have started to challenge them, where people were afraid to do so in the recent past. Of course, the NRA leadership itself is doing a great job of unraveling its veneer of invincibility, and it’s about time.
Reynardine
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 4:15 pm
I have a feeling that the macaroni is going to hit the fan pretty soon, because, to quote Rochester from Jane Eyre, “If you don’t see reason, I’ll try force.” Rochester was decent enough not to carry out his threat; these people aren’t.
Churchlady
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 4:17 pm
I will say, just for a point of information, that all the gun owners I know are carrying guns (NOT assault style ones) in self defense against the extreme Right in America.
Think of abortion providers and those associated with them such as staff, nurses, patient escorts, think of anti-hate crimes people, those who have borne witness against white supremacists and their ilk, those working for social justice, those challenging the right and religious right, and even judges and others who’ve stood up on controversial cases – those brave people DO HAVE GUNS. They don’t like it. Too often they feel they’ve been given little choice.
What a totally wacked out world in which we live.
It’s not the government I fear now. It’s fact-free conspiracy nut rightwing extremists in our midst. MANY of us have reason to.
Reynardine
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:58 pm
I hear you. Had the election gone the other way, I think a good many of us…not portsiders alone, but even those who are in the center…would not have lived to see the sun rise this morning.
Thinking Person
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Well said, Krugman and Ramos. I agree with you. What we are talking about is the fact that with 91% of ALL AMERICANS – gun owners and not – WANT this legislation. That’s all she writes in a democracy.
That’s it.
The ONLY reason we are still talking about it is that this paid lobby group (not even representing Gun Owners but the Manufacturers) IN CHARGE of our Process???
Next? We’ve got more important issues. Sorry your manufacturers aren’t happy but the American people will be and as legislators whose job it is to represent the people, that’s all they need to hear.
Step #2 – Support our Legislators – Eliminate Corporatehood and Take Money out NOW so our Legislators can be protected from 4 or 5 lobbyists a day while the American People have already Spoken.
Let’s get this democracy moving again! Its a beautiful system with the need to be held accountable and its time we start showing what a DEMOCRACY can do, not what TERROR has done!
ernieferg
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:51 pm
What is really striking about this conversation is how un-serious everyone but Krugman is. Everyone is misdirecting and deflecting–anything but actually dealing with what exactly our country could do or should do to stem gun violence (including mass shootings).
This is the attitudes that will bring about changes in gun control. Stone walling and suggesting that we just continue to do nothing is no longer acceptable to anyone but the lunatics (we all know a few).
That we have countries that have a large percentage of gun ownership and low shooting rates means that we have a successful pattern to follow. We can ignore that, but ultimately we will end in the same place if we are yet a failed state. Look at the example of Australia to see positive and successful change…
Or we can have jackasses equate rational gun control with trying to control obesity by banning spoons.
I’ll listen to Krugman–always the rational man in the room full of crazies..
Deborah Shepherd
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 10:54 am
Support Krugman’s remarks totally..common sense approach as usual…
Bigger question why do any of the talk shows have caryl fiorina on? What would her qualifications be? Losing every job she ever had and throwing same companies in to total havoc, sinking stock value etc…
Big loser in political election..so why? Cheap guest and total GOP puppet must be the answer…
djchefron(Moderator)
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 11:05 am
Because the media needs fairy tales to balance fact and then wipe their hands and say see,we present both sides.Weeza ah balanced.
Zendog
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 4:16 pm
All you have to do is sit through a few previews at the movies to understand where nutty people get the idea that guns can solve their problems. As long as our culture continues to glorify violence, making firearms less available is the only rational solution. And I understand that the gun manufacturers, who are driving a lot of this, will be very unhappy.
Tough shit.
Roxie
Feb. 8th, 2013 at 7:42 pm
The insanity of gun owners on Twitter knows no bounds. Even though gun control activists are talking about controls on future sales of certain types of automatic guns and more thorough background checks, gun advocates seem to think that the military will be sent out to their small towns, knocking on doors, confiscating people’s firearms.
I’ve never seen even the most ardent gun control advocate say this was a plan they wanted to implement and legally, it could never happen. But it’s how gun advocates stir up resistance to even CONSIDERING new measures of gun regulation.
texican
Feb. 11th, 2013 at 12:58 am
So, the NRA is a right wing fringe group? Makes sense to me, especially since Obama’s Progressive minded DHS has labeled numerous traditional God fearing Red Blooded, “I Love America” types, as domestic terrorists. I guess to someone who’s trying to ‘fundamentally’ change America from what it is and always has been, to some European socialist (Marxist lite) state, anyone that doesn’t go along with their agenda, IS a terrorist.
Always get the warm fuzzies when progressives push radical ‘common sense’ gun control agendas, and then state that it still won’t really stop any violence from happening. Hard concept to grasp, but Law Enforcement doesn’t exist to prevent crime (we haven’t got our instantaneous transporter technology perfected yet, to go to a home and stop a rapist or burglar from doing their evil deeds), but to apprehend and prosecute people who’ve broken the law. 911 is a joke, outside of metro areas… 45 minutes for someone to come out here, IF, there’s anyone on duty. Want to be a victim, disarm, or never purchase one. Don’t want to be one? arm thyself!