From TPM Reader HM …
What if I belong to two “tribes”?
Back then I described a city youth with lots of rural experience through a Dad who enjoyed camping and also through the Boy Scouts of America (The Hitler Jugend).
I own (luckily) property and homes on the Upper Delaware River in NYS. I am an avid fly fisherman (as I mentioned) and a deer and bird hunter. I do not own a pistol although I could easily obtain a concealed carry permit (excluding the 5 counties of NYC). They are fun to shoot but I responsibly decline the responsibility.Carrying a loaded weapon is enormously taxing on your powers of self awareness for the safety of those around you. I also have never believed that citizens should be armed in tightly packed urban situations. I possess none in this jurisdiction.
Last week there was a big commotion about that NRA ad calling the President an ‘elitist hypocrite’ for sending his daughters to a school with armed guards while denying that same armed protection to kids around the country.
Most people focused on how disgusting it was to drag the President’s daughters into a political attack on the president or how the president actually wasn’t opposed to schools having armed guards and a bunch of other stuff. After all, the leadership of the NRA is one of the most rancid players in US politics. But it turns out the critics weren’t aiming high enough with the critiques. Read More
I’ll be answering your questions in a Live Chat at TPMPrime at 4 PM eastern. Get your questions in now and join us at 4 PM.
In my ‘tribe’ post about guns yesterday I reprinted an email exchange with TPM Reader AA. He’s now responded to the post. So I’m giving him the floor …
I had a reply written up, decided not to send it because it sounded too circular and admittedly didn’t progress the discussion. I do believe our exchange was productive and I value learning other perspectives. I read your Speaking for My Tribe post and thought you did a good job. We are products of our experience and surroundings.
In case you missed it, Bill O’Reilly came gunning for us last night, going off on one of our reporters, Benjy Sarlin, for saying O’Reilly said something he said. Video after the jump.
O’Reilly also, bizarrely, accused us of ‘stealing’ the phrase Talking Points Memo from him. To this I would only say O’Reilly should be more careful about lying about us on TV. I’ve explained before where I got the phrase. So Bill, stop pretending you didn’t say things you said and stop lying about us. Otherwise, great work. Read More
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) drops debt ceiling hostage demand two weeks after he went full-hostage taker in a Houston Chronicle op-ed. Why the change? “You sometimes try to inject a little doubt in your negotiating partner about where you’re going to go,” Cornyn told the paper.
There’s a photograph of the inauguration of James Buchanan in 1857.
I’ve gotten a lot of powerful responses to my post on the non-gun tribe — many agreeing, others angry, empathetic, many with thoughtful critiques. They’ve run the gamut. There are many pieces I write not to convince or advocate but simply to capture as clearly as I can a certain perception or belief. They also help me learn more about the topic at hand and often more about myself. Much of what I wrote in this post was not to advocate or convince anyone but simply to capture an experience that seems too little unexpressed but is shared by many, many people. Read More