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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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 OPINION 
38

Gun Nuts Firing Blanks in Power Play

Depleted GOP no "paper tiger — it’s a paper muskrat"

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(Newser) – Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has some gall. The fact that he can defend gun nuts calling for blood to "water the tree of liberty" after terrorist Timothy McVeigh wore the same Thomas Jefferson quote on his shirt in the Oklahoma City bombing infuriates New York Times columnist Frank Rich. When asked about pistol-packing protesters, "Coburn blamed not the nuts but the government," he writes.

"Coburn's implicit rationalization for far-right fanatics bearing arms at presidential events cannot stand," Rich fumes. The gun nuts and their supporters are part of a growing, ugly undertone of violence in current protests, writes Rich. But their "big guns" belie health-care opponents' true power, he adds. President Obama still "towers over his opponents" with the public and has the clout to pass meaningful reform, Rich notes. 

William Kostnic wears a 9mm pistol as he stands outside a town hall meeting on health care held by President Barack Obama.
William Kostnic wears a 9mm pistol as he stands outside a town hall meeting on health care held by President Barack Obama.   (AP Photo/Joel Page, File)
President Barack Obama talks about health care during a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo.
President Barack Obama talks about health care during a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo.   (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
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The GOP, whose ranks have now dwindled largely to whites in Dixie and the less-populated West, is not even a paper tiger—it’s a paper muskrat. - Frank Rich

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38 comments
VIEWING:
 
gabo
Aug 23, 09 8:08 AM CDT
I think most of them fire blanks, that's why they compensate by owning guns. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+13
JaneMP
Aug 23, 09 8:26 AM CDT
Any man who has to tie a huge weapon to his leg and swagger is missing someting elsewhere. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+20
Corona_Kinq
Aug 23, 09 8:30 AM CDT
This is what happens with the far-right. Since they don't possess the intelligence to actually debate the health care issue, they revert to carrying around their guns for no reason to make it look like they're fighting for something. Instead they just come out looking like a bunch of stupid rednecks that just want to bitch about something. Reply
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+21
IN RESPONSE:
dax
Aug 23, 09 12:09 PM CDT
Exactly. Impelled by their deficiency in not being conversant on the subject matter of health care, and not being able to offer intelligent debate, they let their "pieces" do the talking. Their implied message is: if the outcome is not to their liking, then there's going be some shooting. But authentic democracy rests upon open and intelligent debate. So the darker message from these gunslingers and their supporters on the Right, is a threat that our democratic process has a limit, and in fact may be forcibly halted. This is flat out sedition. It is less disturbing that a small number of gun enthusiasts have stepped over the line of civility, than it is that Republican representatives have chosen to condone these baser actions.
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+9
IN RESPONSE:
Cato
Aug 23, 09 11:47 PM CDT
I'm tired of hearing this sort of crap. If you want to carry out a debate [be it on gun rights or health care or whatever else], feel free to email me directly at debate.with.me@gmail.com . If you don't feel you're up to it, you can quit insulting the intelligence of everyone who doesn't share your exact opinion with these ridiculous blanket statements. I'll be waiting. That's an open invitation. dax, shonangreg, emptycalm, gabo, and everyone else can feel free to jump in.
Vote up! Vote down!
-2

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