"But Limbaugh claims the right-wing pro-guns stance had no influence on the attacks, while heavy music did.
He says: “The guy listened to heavy metal, and some of that anarchist stuff. We’re dealing with an insane individual.
“It’s the liberals, not us conservatives, who glorify criminal behaviour and violent imagery. They say it’s art.”
Care to explain then, Rush, if 'heavy music' influences gun crime, how the likes of Filter could have released "Hey Man, Nice Shot", based on Budd Dwyer's suicide, eight years after the incident?* PROTIP: Dwyer was a Repubican. Y'know, as in right-wing. To kill himself, he used a .357 Magnum. Do you think he would've used such a method, if he was a 'Liberal', and thus by your own definition, anti-NRA & 2nd Amendment?.
Pop quiz, hotshot: What is Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's** stance on gun control? And what was it Marilyn Manson ('heavy music' artist, and 'God of Fuck', whose music could be considered by some as 'anarchist') said on the subject, in the documentary film "Bowling for Columbine"? (and he's also known to be a Republican). Enjoy your paradox, Rush.
Proof you don't have to be right-wing to be a Republican. Y'know, as in Moderate.***. Two Words: Abraham Lincoln.
*- In 1987. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer
**- Arnold Schwarzenegger is Pro-Choice too. You gonna tell him to his face he's wrong, Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, Failin, et al?
***- Why, as far as I'm concerned, Edward Heath was the last true Conservative; certainly the only one I would've shaken by the hand. Post-Thatcher (*spit*), Conservative = right-wing = Evil. You certainly prove that fact, Rush Limburger.
@Pup
"Oh please. The guy was seriously disturbed - was paranoid and had an existing alcohol problem."
And a certain right-wing talk radio presenter is paranoid about anyone & everyone not exactly like him. Has been (and, for all we know, still is) a prescription drug addict. What he says isn't exactly what you'd expect from a psychologically balanced - certainly secure - individual. What you could call seriously disturbed (otherwise he wouldn't speak, act & think the way he does).
Coincidence? You decide. And now this outburst. Oh, the double-standards. Oh, the hypocrisy. Oh, the SHAME! But then, as I've said before but bears repeating: Hypocrisy: It's hardwired into the DNA of the right-wing. Ergo Rush Limburger is a vile, inferior subhuman right-wing blubberbag hypocrite. QED. And his radio programme is mere 'satire'? (emphasis added):
'On March 1, 2009 CBS's Face the Nation asked White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel who he thought represented the Republican Party; Emanuel named Limbaugh as his choice.
In remarks aired by CNN on March 1, 2009, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said that Limbaugh is "an entertainer" and his rhetoric is "incendiary" and "ugly".'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh
Ugly and deliberately incendiary rhetoric? The actions of a normal, mentally balanced & secure person? Remember, Rush (and all his ilk; yes, Faux News, I'm looking at you): Opinions are like arses. Everyone has one, but not everyone wants to air theirs in public. They certainly don't want yours shoved in their faces. Least of all allowed to use such to influence people politically.
At the other extreme, LBC Radio's Nick Abbot:
image
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Abbot
It wouldn't kill you to be like him, Rush. The 1st Amendment may give you the right to say what you want. But rights can be abused. And when you abuse those rights, then such should be forfeited.
Maybe that's precisely why there's no such thing as a UK arm of Faux News. Or why you've never deigned to have a TV programme in this country eh, Rush m'boy? Because you'd have to be both right- and left-wing simultaneously. Because you'd be legally forced to. One Word: OFCOM.
There's something to be said for not having a US-style Constitution in this country. If legally forced (and enforceable) balance and neutrality in broadcasting means slime like Limburger will never appear on our screens, then I'm all for it. USA could do with it's own OFCOM.
@freako104
"Metal music gets blamed yet you have yet to show that Loughner should not have had weapons. It was Loughner's fault."
And yet, after Dunblane, guns were banned here in the UK. We're still here, Rush, Ted Nugent & everyone in the NRA who faps to the 2nd Amendment. PROTIP: Said ban was mainly due to a massive anti-gun lobbying campaign to Parliament. By the British public. As mentioned above, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a proponent of gun control (irony of ironies!). It wouldn't kill the US to have at least psychological vetting for those who apply for gun licences. As it should've been implemented decades ago. Then John Lennon would still be alive, Waco would never have happened, nor Columbine, and all those murdered in Arizona recently would still be with us.
"The gun is a tool. Metal music is nothing more than entertainment."
Radio is nothing more than entertainment. And Rush Limburger is a tool.
@GodotIsWaiting4U
"Hitler liked fruit.
Therefore fruit is evil.
Hitler liked animals.
Therefore animals are evil.
Limbaugh logic is fun, isn't it?"
Indeed. And to take that (certainly Limburger's) logic to it's ultimate extreme:
Hitler was a right-winger.
[/Reverse-Godwin]
@WMDKitty
"God DAMN, it's obvious that this was a failure of the health care system -- Loughner should have been under supervision or in treatment, and he should NEVER have been allowed to buy a gun."
And who was it who closed all the mental institutions? PROTIP: It wasn't the following, Rush, m'boy:
Bill Clinton.
Barack Obama.
Both Democrats.
A clue for free, Rush: It was someone who was previously acted off the screen by a chimpanzee. And, possibly the ultimate irony: contracted Alzheimer's himself. Also a Repubican. But then, being a right-winger and losing your sanity aren't mutually exclusive. Just look at George Dumbya Bush and Sarah Failin.
@Orion
"You know Rush, even if the metal music did inspire him to kill he still wouldn't have been able to do so effectively if he didn't have a gun handy.
And you know what America (I encourage you Brendan and other fed up Americans to share this tale) there once was a time in Australia when guns were freely available. Then this thing called the Port Arthur Massacre happened."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_%28Australia%29
"So the next time some 2nd amendment fanatic screeches about the horrors of banning guns. Tell them this story about the Aussies who put aside the politics and learned from their mistakes."
As it was with Dunblane here in the UK. Since then, with the police's Zero Tolerance policy towards weapons (certainly knives), even replica guns (even plastic ones - 'Air Soft Guns' - that fire 6mm plastic pellets) used in public, the criminal gangs here have been reduced to sharing the few illegal guns still in circulation. The sky hasn't fallen on our heads as a result, NRA.
@Azathoth's Puppy
"Rather than step up and take responsibility for dangerous, inflamed rhetoric that they've been spewing, they choose to blame everyone else."
Say that to him on his radio programme (and those on Faux News), and this would happen:
image
Because, of course, what would kill Rush (certainly his precious ratings) & his Nazi ilk (the Lord Haw-Haws of Faux News), would be if he had to... dare I say it... admit he was wrong about not just what he says, but everything he does and thinks!!!111ONE1eleventyone1
Then the sky would truly fall on the right-wingers' heads. Completely objective radio broadcasts? (Nick Abbot) News without 'opinions'? (BBC News. Reuters.) Truly the work of teh Debbil!
@k4jun
There's satire, and then there's this:
@CohibaMan
"He doesn't actually believe some of the crap he spouts. Part of his schtick is that he intentionally says over-the-top crap like this to get liberals riled up and talking about him. His ability to do this is what most conservatives like about him."
I wonder why those in Squealikeapiggysville, Bumfuck Alabama, didn't consider this to be 'satire' then:
http://www.snotr.com/video/2889
image
'They really do have an irony deficiency. I honestly believe that in certain parts of America now, people have started to mate with vegetables.'
-Jeremy Clarkson, "Top Gear"
--EDIT--
@k4jun
"^^^^^^^
I'm sure your post was epic, but damn if I didn't read a word of it. You need a blog or something ;)"
Fair point. I do go on, sometimes...!
XP X3