In yet another sign of how America’s partisanship has permeated our culture, a Republican Congressional candidate said in “99 percent” of the cases it was about Democrats pulling out their guns and shooting people:
Congressional District 1 candidate Gary Kiehne made extreme comments about gun rights at a Republican primary debate Saturday.
Asked how he would protect gun rights, Kiehne said he owns more guns and ammunition than the other candidates and said everyone should own a gun.
When it comes to mass shootings, “if you look at all the fiascos that have occurred, 99 percent of them have been by Democrats pulling their guns out and shooting people,” Kiehne said to an audience of about 60 people. “So I don’t think you have a problem with the Republicans.”
Now, if you watch how our politics operate, there will be some (not all) Republicans who’ll either slightly agree with it or change the subject to any angry reaction by Democrats.
But the bottom line is that it’s a sad reflection of our times — and also the kind of rhetoric that some nod their heads and cheer. Red meat emotions and political tribal appeals can trump the meat and potatoes and veggies of real issues and thoughtful discussion.
(“Thoughtful? What’s THAT?”)
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.