Musician Ted Nugent compared Democrats to "rabid coyotes" in a Friday discussion on gun control with Infowars host Alex Jones, saying they should be shot on sight.
He's comparing political opponents to diseased animals that should be shot on sight, and yet has the stunning lack of awareness to chase that with this:
Nugent said that "evil" and "dishonesty" are traits of liberals.
Evil and dishonesty are traits sprinkled throughout the human family...and evil is active within those who suggest lawful political opponents, labouring under the same Constitution, should be murdered en masse because they're growing tired of unfettered violence being permitted in the name of freedom; because they lawfully express a different political view.
They're also tired of pundits - and the right is far guiltier far more often of this - who knowingly lie or who pass on potentially damaging and libelous/slanderous claims without bothering to do a proper fact check first.
Editors at Mother Jones have compiled a list of mass shootings in the US from 1982 to 2018.
There was one for the whole of 1982 - an overrun from domestic violence.
There were none in 1983. Two in 1984. None in 1985 or 1986. Two in 1987. One in 1988. Two in 1989. There were 23 throughout the 1990s. There were 20 more between 2000 and 2009.
And there have been 47 (forty-seven) more since 2010.
2010: One instance, killing nine and injuring two)
2011: Three instances, killing 19 and injuring 21
2012: Seven instances, killing 65 and injuring 80
2013: Five instances, killing 35 and injuring 13
2014: Four instances, killing 18 and injuring 28
2015: Seven instances, killing 46 and injuring 43
2016: Six instances, killing 71 and injuring 83
2017: 11 instances, killing 117 and injuring 587
2018 - From 1 January to 14 April: Three instances, killing 24 and injuring 15
405 people have died in mass shooting events over the last ten years, with mass shooting seeming to occur on average once every three-to-four months.
Of the 47 shooters, 22 had definite signs of mental health issues. For another 22 of them, their status was unclear. In only three cases were mental health issues ruled out as playing any role in the murders.
And now the world gets to see how (usually) conservative pundits deal with the information fatigue that occurs whenever the same kind of tragedy happens over and over again: They blame the victims. Certain people on the right, from every tier, have chosen to direct their frustration not at the shooters or at lax gun laws, but at survivors especially of mass shootings at schools - who dare speak with any degree of unity, eloquence, anger, and authority about how they'd rather feel safe at school.
The treatment of David Hogg is a sterling example of the histrionics occurring on the right. He’s a student journalist and so it's no surprise his speeches on this subject are well-written. He's been accused, for the crime of being able to express his anger in clear terms, not only of aspiring to a bloody dictatorship but also of lying about having been to school that day where he interviewed fellow students. (Turns out he wasn't lying. But right-wing extremists certainly lied.)
The people making these comments (about "Hitler Hogg," etc.) are losing touch with reality. They're not even arguing for the Second Amendment anymore, but rather they're arguing against an alternative political stance with rhetoric so overblown and shrill it has emboldened RW domestic terrorists.
Nugent goes on to demonstrate his anti-intellectualism, his paranoia, and his inability to reason all in the space of one comment:
“Don’t ask why. Just know that evil, dishonesty, and scam artists have always been around and that right now they’re liberal, they’re Democrat, they’re [Republicans in name only], they’re Hollywood, they’re fake news, they’re media, they’re academia, and they’re half of our government, at least,” Nugent said according to Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group.
Anyone who counsels listeners to engage in a campaign of hate while at the same time telling them not to ask questions is clearly dangerous and even more clearly immoral or, as I'd personally describe this, evil.
Nugent is part of the media, FFS, and so is Alex Jones. Both men are part of that subsection of pundits who have a troubled and turbulent relationship with the facts.
And, frankly, I'm glad students and other citizens are starting to realise that professional liars like Alex Jones, or professional airheads like Ted Nugent, are impervious to reason. There's no point in arguing with these nutcases anymore. It's time that people who want progress for all realise that some people are self-selecting to be left behind as everyone else advances.
If there is a serious flaw in some strands of liberal thought, it's the belief society as a whole should wait until society as a whole can progress; it's that tolerance' means trying to reply with some level of self-control and integrity to pundits who treat every interview with a political opponent as a cage match where the host must “win” regardless of how many dirty tricks he needs to employ. He must create the illusion for low-information viewers that he's competent and that his opponents are not only wrong but somehow less than human.
