No Wayne, your family is not just like the president's
by digby
I know that most of you have probably already seen this latest NRA video already, but just in case:
I don't even know what to say. The logic of that ad says that we all have a right to government paid for armed guards, just like the president and his family, in case some nut tries to kill us. And indeed, we do. They're called police officers and the nation is crawling with them.
The president and his family, however, need extra protection because they are often the specific targets of random obsessive nut cases and political assassins. The threats and attempts on their lives happen a hell of a lot more often than it does to anyone else. And sometimes, they are successful. If these gun owners truly believe that they and their families are in as much danger as the president and his, then we are already in a dystopian nightmare from which there is probably no escape.
Their entire approach to our epidemic of gun violence is nonsensical. They are literally suggesting that we should all be armed and wearing body armor (and if we are husky 12 year old boys, ready to commit suicide) at all times. Their only answer to the Newtown massacre is to put more guns in schools. But more guns are not the answer and adding extra flying bullets in a situation where bullets are flying is almost always going to result in more people being shot. That is simple common sense.
Nonetheless, most Americans agree that there is some utility in having more guns on school campuses (in the hands of school cops, not teachers) and it looks like Washington is proposing to spend a lot of money to do just that so I don't know what the NRA's gripe is. In fact, there is something so deeply creepy about this ad that you have to wonder if the subliminal message is something much more insidious.