Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

My Invitation to Paul Vitello

I just sent this email:
Mr. Vitello:

I wrote a hostile dissection of your original piece on gun control, and I called you a blatant liar - pointing out several of your assertions that were, at best, hyperbole. That piece is here:
http://www.smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004_02_29_smallestminority_archive.html#107853301015717758

I have done the same to your most recent piece, where I have again illustrated that you are in error. That piece is here:

http://www.smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004_03_07_smallestminority_archive.html#107885502842211218

I called you a liar, Mr. Vitello. I believe your statements to be deliberate and knowingly wrong, not mere misstatements of the ignorant - though you do appear to be unsurprisingly ignorant on the topic as well.

You said: "I do not know why there are any objections, though, to laws protecting citizens from nuts and criminals - and terrorists - who want to buy assault rifles at any sporting goods store in America."

I'd love to discuss that topic with you, at length. The answer isn't simple or obvious, and it requires quite a bit of background information and education to understand. There's a REASON "(t)he gun lobby is intensely well-organized to fight every single one of these laws, however, and to make each one as ineffective as possible." The "gun lobby," Mr. Vitello, is several million politically active but otherwise average American citizens who happen to believe that the Bill of Rights actually means something. All of it.

So here's my invitation: If you really want to understand the reaction your piece drew, let's discuss gun control, preferably in a public forum. I promise you, you'll learn a lot. I don't expect to "convert" you - but you will understand WHY we believe what we believe when we're finished, even if you do not accept that belief.

I await your response, but don't honestly expect one.

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