Thank you, Paul Rodgers

[wombat_socho]

Watching all this partisan poo-flinging going on about the whackjob who gunned down Judge Rolls, that poor little nine year old girl, and the other four victims of his lethal lunacy, I can't help but think of the Soviet-era proverb: C volkami zhit, kak volkami krit, which loosely translates "If you run with the wolves, howl like them." For those of you who don't get how that applies in the current political context, let's just say that there are a lot of un-housebroken leftist puppies out there howling at the tops of their lungs so the alpha wolves won't think they've strayed from the groupthink of the pack.

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun. But I'd like to think, occasionally, that my political opponents didn't include so damn many Stalinist wannabees.

Comments

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I'm managing to miss it. My thought was, "This is Arizona, shouldn't someone else have shot *him*?"

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Lucky you. For better or for worse, most of the civilians I know tend to be moderate lefties with a handful of socialists; at the same time, I know a fair number of conservatives in and out of the Tea Party movement. So I've had the displeasure of seeing a lot of Facebook posts that boil down to "T3H 3VIL SARAH PALIN TEABAGGERS! IT'S THEIR FAULT! ASDFGJHGSF!!!" while on the other hand I'm seeing calls for prayer for Congresswoman Giffords, blood donation notices, etc.

Also wondering why somebody didn't blow a hole in this guy, but there are enough bodies to bury already. And who knows - maybe this guy will get his head on straight and find a way to try and balance this evil he's done with some good. We can always hope.

[433.livejournal.com]

As a gun owner myself, my first thought in such a situation would hopefully be "Could I safely and effectively fire on this individual without hitting even more innocent people?"

They tackled and disarmed the asshole, and held him for the police. That's the best thing that could have happened.

[(Anonymous)]

a lot of people discount how quickly a situation like this happens - there was likely no time to react with a personal weapon anyway - faster to just run at him and tackle him which is what some brave soul did - and even then the sketchy details say that he was already done shooting and was trying to reload.

doug

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

I dunno if I would have wanted to chance a shot in the kind of f'ed up situation that was going down, with people running every which way to get away from this murderous fuck. Unless you're an expert combat pistol user, your chances of hitting someone else in that situation are unfortunately kinda large.

[3fgburner.livejournal.com]

I'd heard that the nearest armed citizen was in a drugstore across the way. When he realized what was happening, he ran toward the action. They'd already tackled Loughner, so he helped them hold L. down and didn't draw.

BTW, is that a Bulgarian Mak in your icon? The grip looks like one of those thumbrest jobs they tacked on to "sporterize" Bulgies for import.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

No, Masha's from the original factory in Izhevsk.

[3fgburner.livejournal.com]

I've got a Soviet from Izhevsk, as well. A few years ago, they got around the Clinton No-Guns-From-Russia thing by slapping bulgie-import grips on some Soviets. Mine actually got "Bulgaria" stamped on the slide, but it's got a Soviet arsenal mark. Showed it to a guy who specialized in Sov surplus, and he said I'd guessed right.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

I bought mine in 2004, IIRC, which would have been after the expiration of that particular stupidity.

[3fgburner.livejournal.com]

Actually, that was a different piece of stupidity. The no-guns-from-Russia thing was the result of some strings attached by Clinton to a foreign-aid-and-trade package for the Russkies. "We give you $$, you don't sell us guns." Different from the Ugly Gun Ban(tm), 1994-2004, may it RIH (Rot In Hell).

[qob.livejournal.com]

agreed. Things are never as easy as it looks like in hindsight.

[(Anonymous)]

your wolf analogy can be used a few ways - your "call for reason" is laudable, but not realistic. no matter which side had a member of the pack gunned down, the gut reaction from the rest of the aggrieved pack is GOING to include howls out of anger and frustration, and some of that WILL be pointed at the other pack(s). there being a limited number of packs fighting constantly, and often loudly for the turf, its going to happen. just deal with it.

if one of the other packs has a member take a round to the head, along with a federal judge and a 9 year old girl mixed into the collateral damage, there would be similar strum und drang I feel sure.

All sides, it seems, can not resist making it political, either in the primary reaction, or making the reaction to the reaction political. Sad and disappointing.

doug

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

All sides, it seems, can not resist making it political, either in the primary reaction, or making the reaction to the reaction political. Sad and disappointing.

Agreed.