Cam Edwards at NRANews.com tipped me Friday night: The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence will have another $250-a-plate fundraiser in Washington on May 15, like their 2005 event at the French Embassy celebrating the 80th birthday of liberal political humorist Art Buchwald (one major toastmaster was CBS News legend Mike Wallace).
An ad on the Brady Campaign home page for this year’s "Stand Up For A Safe America" fundraiser (honoring Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel) shows this year’s Master of Ceremonies is ABC News legend Sam Donaldson. Sam just wisecracked on This Week that gun owners have their weapons "to shoot the paperboy and the relative coming home late at night."
Sam is still an employee of ABC News, hosting the daily program "Politics Live" for ABC News Now, a digital network, with a "Stump Sam" feature. I'm stumped as to why Sam Donaldson thinks this doesn't create a partisan image for ABC, but ABC must have given him the okay.
Let's stump Sam with one of the dumbest weapon-control media quotes ever. It's so dumb that I still remember it, and it's very dated. It's from 1990. But it made me wonder if we'd have a National Knife Association soon:
"The slaying, and those that preceded it and will follow it, certainly will intensify cries for more police and harsher penalties for criminals. But as long as the type of knife used to kill Watkins is sold in half of the variety stores in Times Square, it will be difficult to recruit enough police to erase this crime wave." -- Washington Post reporter Michael Specter on the stabbing of a Utah man in New York, September 6, 1990.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center
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The Bible says that the wise
April 28, 2007 - 07:16 ET byThe Bible says that the wise shall be fools. This is what I see, when I see these otherwise intelligent people, talking so foolishly.
What part of, "The criminals will not adhere to gun laws," do people like Sam Donaldson not get?
I don't get people like Sam Donaldson.
Debra...
GWB Did it!
April 28, 2007 - 08:17 ET by JimboDemocrat Wants White House to Provide Documents on Pat Tillman's Death
This just in...... George Bush killed Pat Tillman!
Jimbo says - "There is a fine line between freedom of speech and treason"
Isn't there an ethical proble
April 28, 2007 - 08:23 ET by Gat New YorkIsn't there an ethical problem with journalists hosting a political fund raising event?
Sam's Brady bunch
April 28, 2007 - 10:15 ET by Tim GrahamYes, it would promote the appearance of favoritism to one side of a political debate. Clearly, this is not a concern at ABC. They might think that it's the least they can give Sam, since they shoved him aside from This Week in 2002 to make room for Stephanopoulos....
Didn't Cokie Roberts run into
April 28, 2007 - 10:44 ET by americaneagleDidn't Cokie Roberts run into trouble from ABC a few years ago for taking some speaking engagements from groups that were political players? How can it be that no one at ABC News seems to realize that speaking at a gun contol lobby-funded event gives the appearance of impropriety? I guess it doesn't matter so long as the group holds the "right" views, huh?
I'd like to throw something o
April 29, 2007 - 16:43 ET by BeowulfI'd like to throw something out on the table here. Let's forget the pro-gun and anti-gun rhetoric. Let's forget the "studies". Let's forget all the polls. How about one irrefutable bit of information on whether public ownership of guns creates or reduces crime:
25 years murder-free in 'Gun Town USA'
Crime rate plummeted after law required firearms for residents
How's THAT for a headline?
And how about this:
Prior to enactment of the law, Kennesaw had a population of just 5,242 but a crime rate significantly higher (4,332 per 100,000) than the national average (3,899 per 100,000). The latest statistics available – for the year 2005 – show the rate at 2,027 per 100,000. Meanwhile, the population has skyrocketed to 28,189.
In 25 years, the population has quintupled, yet the crime rate has dropped by over 50%. And guns are REQUIRED by law. Kinda makes you go hmmm...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55288
The Closed Mind Builds Strong Barriers
B good comments howev
April 29, 2007 - 16:51 ET by botgB good comments however isn't your 0 tolerance for extremes rather extreme? (its in your profile) ;>)
I'm not adopting an extreme s
April 30, 2007 - 12:10 ET by BeowulfI'm not adopting an extreme stance. I am placing hard numbers on the table for discussion. I obviously don't condone disarming the public, I also don't condone hard-core, anti-government militias. But I also refuse to sit by and allow the incredible volume of disinformation and outright lies to go unchallenged.
This article proves that, at least in this instance and this location, having it well known that everyone in this city is armed has reduced crime. It also refutes the anti-gun claim that, as in about every case where harsh gun control is defeated, having an armed populace will create the "wild west" and people will be shooting the paperboy or blasting away at each other over traffic accidents. The anti-gunners say the same thing every time, and are proven wrong every time. Yet they keep beating the same dead horse again and again.
The problem has several dimensions:
1. Many people have never even touched a gun. Therefore, the only information they get about guns is what they hear in the news. And the news generally distorts the issue or just plain lies about it. You rarely ever hear anything positive about guns. Yet, while making statement after statement with no basis in fact, they are never challenged except by those wild-eyed gun fanatics from the (gasp) evil NRA.
2. Another problem is that the anti-gun position is based almost exclusively on emotion, while the pro-gun position is based on hard numbers. Anti-gunners yell and scream, disregarding majority opinion. Pro-gunners back up virtually every statement with easily referenced facts.
3. The major players for the anti-gunners are political. They lie about their position on guns until elected, then back-stab their constituents. How many times have pro-gun bills been passed by state legislatures, with the full concurrence of their constituents, only to be vetoed by mayors or governors? And if the mayors and governors are so right, why are so many vetoes being overridden? Why are there so many gun owners if the majority of Americans don't want guns? Why do 40 of 50 states have some version of right-to-carry?
The list goes on. The only reason there is a debate at all is due to the misinformation and lies spouted by anti-gun advocates.
The Closed Mind Builds Strong Barriers