I know zip, shinola, doo-dah about guns...

... so I steer clear of the gun/anti-gun contretemps, because it is far better to be thought of fool than, by opening my mouth, end any doubt about that question, but I know some of you do, and I have to say that I admire Dale Price's state of the art deconstruction of the issues just as a matter of prose styling, e.g. describing Piers Morgan as an "ethically-questionable carnival barkers with [a] plummy accent."

Liberals joke about Shooting their political opponents.

Off comes the serious "no one should ever use violent rhetoric" masks and on goes the "we can use violent rhetoric" mask.

On the Piers Morgan show, the suggestion is made by a guest that Morgan show up with a semi-automatic weapon and shoot the guy who has been leading the pointless stunt to deport Morgan.  Horse-laughs ensue, because that's a joke that would never, ever incite anyone to violence.

I don't care what the rule is, but I would like to see one rule.  Either that kind of thing is rhetoric - so grow up and stop whining - or it is a dangerous incitement - so knock it off.

Pick one.

Public Discourse - Leftist Style.

Check out this "diatribe" between Piers Morgan and Larry Pratt, president of the American Gun Owners, and notice how Morgan devolves into name-calling - "You're a very stupid man" - about half-way through.



Reason magazine picks up on the contrast between Pratt's easy-going style, albeit he loses points for the "Brits tend to do that" gibe (although there was a lot of provocation by Morgan before that came out), and Morgan's nastiness:

CNN talk show host Piers Morgan recently debated Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, about the proper response to the Sandy Hook massacre. A sampling of Morgan's arguments:

You are talking complete and utter nonsense....

What you just said, Mr. Pratt, was an absolute lie....

You’re an unbelievably stupid man, aren’t you?...

What a ridiculous argument. You have absolutely no coherent argument whatsoever. You don’t give a damn, do you, about the gun murder rate in America. You don’t actually care....

It’s complete nonsense....

I know why sales of these weapons have been soaring in the last few days. It’s down to idiots like you....

You are a dangerous man espousing dangerous nonsense, and you shame your country.

The exchange, during which Pratt remains admirably calm, pretty accurately reflects the general tenor of the current gun control debate, with raw emotionalism and invective pitted against skepticism and an attempt at rational argument. I am not saying that every supporter of gun control is a raving bully on the order of Piers Morgan, or even that Pratt is right. (You can judge that for yourself.) But proponents of new gun restrictions are counting on emotional appeals for victory, which is why they insist that action must be taken immediately, before the grief and outrage provoked by Adam Lanza's crimes starts to fade.

There is an argument against guns in the school. Morgan began with it but then dropped it in favor of name-calling. I generally side with Morgan's instincts - as do, I imagine, most non-gun owning people - but Morgan's general "stink up the joint with bullying" made me sympathetic to Pratt and, accordingly, sympathetic to his arguments.

If that is what Morgan was aiming for, good work.