Rupert Murdoch's recent tweet on the Newtown murders, "Nice words from POTUS on shooting tragedy, but how about some bold leadership action?",
will serve to brand him forever as a mealy-mouthed hypocrite, unless he and his rich & powerful cronies set up a front of decisive action within a day or two.
It's a dictum that wealth without power is despised. Murdoch's great wealth has been acquired within a complex relationship to political power.
Wealth without power can exist, but not in the public space. Also, some rich & powerful may choose not to influence the settings on gun ownership. For example, someone on the board of Lockheed would not be able to act on an opinion like Murdoch's because that may be against the interests of shareholders. Neither of the above seem to apply to Murdoch. He has taken a seat with the barrackers who have nothing to lose.
Murdoch may be able to redeem himself, though, by being party to a foundation of private individuals set up to deliberately alter the course & nature of American society. Let's see what comes out this week. Tomorrow's headlines in The Australian may well give a hint. Or not. I call bullshit.
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NRA's LaPierre is copping some stick for proposing armed guards in every school. It's an entirely rational response when the ducks are lined up.
(1) NRA initial ambit was their usual "get guns away from maddies", but a few moments reflection shows this can't be done.
(2) As lobbyist for shooters & gun-makers, NRA's only logical step is what they say today, ie., that's what they get paid to do.
It makes sense, though I reckon they've jumped the gun.
I mean it may have been better to stick with (1) and let others say why it wouldn't work, the main one being that US society produces a fair range of people who could be put on a "watch" list. Then, of course, that would be "unconstitutional". So, what next? Oh, it's the responsibility of families to keep watch on their home-grown nutters? How about identifying the social factors, like violent males, that lay the groundwork for nascent shooters?
None of that would do the NRA any harm at all, and after a week or two of national navel-gazing, Joe Biden would be left with a seriously wounded duck to pluck in his kitchen.
This early bid by NRA may have done Obama a favour, though. Any school, now, can pay to put an armed guard in a corridor. Most will not, because the local sheriff & police chief will have something to say about that. Obama, then, can get with the NRA to take some weapons & magazines off the shelf.
