tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post5243459865332440564..comments2024-03-28T22:15:17.067-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Mass shootings aren't the problemNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-45837485736943837432015-10-21T15:27:14.606-05:002015-10-21T15:27:14.606-05:00A sound wager. No need. As for the lyric: Hart r...A sound wager. No need. As for the lyric: Hart rocks!.<br /> <br />TomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-41346235742498905352015-10-21T14:58:08.045-05:002015-10-21T14:58:08.045-05:00Ah, Tom, if that classic and versatile Emerson quo...Ah, Tom, if that classic and versatile Emerson quote hadn't been included in your reply, I'd have assumed you were asleep at the wheel. Well played. I'll wager that no consultation of your "mish mash book" was required for that one, though! ; )<br /><br />That is a wonderful lyric that you've directed to the Cubs fans. As for quotes, "It ain't over till it's over" comes to mind at this dire moment, though the great Yogi was referring to the Mets when he said it, of course...Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-16545115901844715062015-10-21T13:18:15.157-05:002015-10-21T13:18:15.157-05:00Factoid: Adlai Stevenson, age 12, killed a 16 yea...Factoid: Adlai Stevenson, age 12, killed a 16 year old girl in a gun accident.Hattiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13297404386730167834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-1364455546504618272015-10-21T13:14:24.039-05:002015-10-21T13:14:24.039-05:00I'm all abashed! And can only quote Emerson in...I'm all abashed! And can only quote Emerson in my defense: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." <br /><br />And one can only encourage Neil to keep pebbling that particular fragment of the old zeitgeist.<br /><br />Speaking of quotes, and on a different, but recently covered, subject, I just heard a chap on NPR discussing the lamentable scene at Wrigley Field trying to give some solace to Cub fans by quoting a lovely lyric from a Rodgers and Lorenz Hart song called Glad to be Unhappy.<br /><br /> "My mental state is all a jumble.<br /> I sit around and sadly mumble.<br /> Fools rush I, so here I am<br /> Very glad to be unhappy<br /> Unrequited love's a bore<br /> and I've got it pretty bad. <br /> But for someone you adore<br /> It's a pleasure to be sad."<br /><br />TomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-43389389294440294612015-10-21T11:13:03.749-05:002015-10-21T11:13:03.749-05:00Well-said, Jakash, although I would race to point ...Well-said, Jakash, although I would race to point out that wondering whether any particular column will have any effect is the wrong question. It is a twig snapping in a bonfire the size of a barn. But enough twigs snap, and you have your fire. My only goal is to give readers something to think about and toss my pebble at the zeitgeist. "Ours is only the trying," as T.S. Eliot wrote. "The rest is not our business."Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-70192209820104175172015-10-21T11:09:27.656-05:002015-10-21T11:09:27.656-05:00Nicely said, Tom, but I wouldn't be a nitpicki...Nicely said, Tom, but I wouldn't be a nitpicking bastard if I didn't point out that that's a pretty different response than my comment on the "Humanity Lower than Ducks" EGD post received from you. There, I was quoting another guy remarking about how attitudes had changed with regard to drunk driving and also smoking, due to grass-roots efforts. You were much more pessimistic, lamenting the effectiveness of the NRA and and the power of single-issue voters. Obviously, I have no "reach" at all, and my "frequency" is seen here as more of a bug than a feature, so there's a good reason for the difference, but I'm happy to see that you seem a bit more optimistic about the possibility for change today. : )<br /><br />The problem here, as I see it, has to do with people's sense of personal control of a situation. Everybody with any sense KNOWS that flying in a commercial airplane is far safer, statistically, than driving one's car. Yet many still will avoid flying and drive somewhere instead, partly because they feel like they're in control when driving, but helpless as passengers at 30,000 feet. However statistically insignificant the chances of it happening are, everybody recoils at the thought of being a sitting duck in range of a mass shooter. Many feel like, at least with a gun, they have some possibility of controlling the situation. Even though they quite likely won't, if the situation actually arises. The same attitude pertains to many living in dangerous neighborhoods. I believe that the point NS makes here is an excellent one, and it should be emphasized, but I'm not sure how much traction it will gain with some of those who feel like they are safer with a gun in their house, and who believe that they can effectively control its use. After all, as impressive as it is how the view of smoking has changed in this country, despite all that progress, 25% still smoke. That anybody under 50 smokes today never ceases to amaze me. But one can hope that the message of this column will get through to some, at least.Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-54794407678753391912015-10-21T10:01:52.285-05:002015-10-21T10:01:52.285-05:00Sanders won his first Senate race in part because ...Sanders won his first Senate race in part because his opponent was targeted by the NRA. Since then he's been, shall we say, extremely respectful of gun rights. (A bad look for someone with his holier-than-thou approach to politics.)Bitter Scribenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86556724071604678252015-10-21T09:16:01.852-05:002015-10-21T09:16:01.852-05:00A very sensible column, but it if only appeared in...A very sensible column, but it if only appeared in EGDD I would be apt to dismiss it with a couple of well-known clichés: "preaching to the choir" and "pissing into the wind." However, you reach a much wider audience when it appears in the paper, as this one did, and that's important if the shift in public attitudes we hope for is to occur. It's probably a subject you're tired of writing about, but you do a public service by airing these views on a reasonably repetitive basis.. (Having worked in advertising, I tend to appreciate the importance of "reach" and "frequency." And of the notion expressed in the old adage "selling a product (or idea) without publicity is like winking at a pretty girl in the dark.")<br /><br />Tom EvansAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-67347073225379696642015-10-21T09:10:22.930-05:002015-10-21T09:10:22.930-05:00Seems like a good first step would be to push elec...Seems like a good first step would be to push elected officials to restore funding for the CDC's research into gun violence. Maybe I'm just unaware of it, but it would seem that we could leverage technology to make our voices heard more clearly by those we elect...Genenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-22018601930334888322015-10-21T08:21:41.174-05:002015-10-21T08:21:41.174-05:00okay, I got the wrong New England stateokay, I got the wrong New England stateAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-46319452972772048822015-10-21T07:30:49.901-05:002015-10-21T07:30:49.901-05:00Actually he is from Vermont. In some ways Vermont...Actually he is from Vermont. In some ways Vermont is like Texas, only without the oil.<br />BarbaraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-26167090094115683782015-10-21T07:14:24.902-05:002015-10-21T07:14:24.902-05:00a FaceBook friend follows news about gun killings,...a FaceBook friend follows news about gun killings, mostly the ones in your focus. each day, EACH DAY, there is at least ONE child murdered by a gun, and not through gang killings or things like that. mike/https://www.blogger.com/profile/11163390678835337738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-4559546849278182172015-10-21T06:43:37.842-05:002015-10-21T06:43:37.842-05:00That's shocking about what happened to the Cen...That's shocking about what happened to the Center for Disease Control. Didn't know that. Yes, the NRA and gun manuf. has Congress, especially Repubs and some yahoos, by the balls.<br /><br />Some others may have also had that thought some time back-eventually the NRA too will fall like Big Tobacco did & mindsets will change, but not for a while. So in the meantime......<br /><br />Yes, it's ridiculous of Carson to have made that comment a few weeks back.<br /><br />Sanders has been criticized for not being anti gun leg. enough but he said he couldn't do that and win in NH. Sounds like it was TX there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com