When it comes to guns, the United States really needs to take lessons from the rest of the world. From enlightened, low-crime countries. You know: like Mexico. And Venezuela.
That was the thrust of a hand-wringing CNN segment this morning. Narrated by Brit CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, the chyron set the tone: "World Puzzled as U.S. Grapples with Latest Mass Shootings."
Walsh condescendingly explained how backward the U.S. is in the eyes of the world:
For the anger and bewilderment has slowly turned global. The US has been here many times before. And so has the rest of the world watching on. Bewildered by the all-too-familiar debate about gun control, and the US paralyzed by politics. Elsewhere, in their moment of violent tragedy, the answer seemed clear.
He added, “The reality is this is an American malaise with only American solutions. And which the rest of the world simply looks on in disbelief.”
If it weren't so infuriating, it might have been amusing. There was Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister, telling Christiane Amanpour that after mass shootings in Australia and New Zealand, each country "changed its laws." Concluded Ardern: "To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States."
And then there was the President of Mexico, self-righteously proclaiming that the United States "needs to control the indiscriminate sale of weapons." This from the head of a country with a murder rate five times that of the United States.
The icing on the absurdist cake was the mention that Venezuela--Venezuela!--has issued a travel advisory to its citizens against travel to the US. Right. Stay safe, Venezolanos. Don't travel to the U.S. Remain in your country, where the murder rate is . . . 10x that in the US!
At segment's end, Walsh did make passing reference to the right to bear arms and the Second Amendment. But CNN's message was unmistakable: on guns, the backward United States needs to learn from its enlightened neighbors around the world!
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
CNN
New Dayton
8/7/19
6:57 am EDTERICA HILL: As America grapples with the mass shootings here in Dayton and in El Paso, some countries are issuing travel warnings for those planning to visit the US. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explains.
NICK PATON WALSH: The grief here is local. And agonizing.
JUAN MARTINEZ: [school superintendent of an El Paso-area district]: Not our children! Please don’t! Not one more.
WALSH: For the anger and bewilderment has slowly turned global. The US has been here many times before. And so has the rest of the world watching on. Bewildered by the all-too-familiar debate about gun control, and the US paralyzed by politics. Elsewhere, in their moment of violent tragedy, the answer seemed clear.
JACINDA ARDERN: Australia experienced a massacre and changed their laws. New Zealand had its experience and changed its laws. To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States.
. . .
WALSH: But the Mexican president went a step further. It’s time for American leaders to take action, he said.
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR [through translator]: The US needs to control the indiscriminate sale of weapons. I say this with all due respect. It is not our intention to meddle in the internal matters of any country, but, yes, the matter should be reviewed.
WALSH: The suspected El Paso shooter was a 21-year-old, apparently fueled by hatred of immigrants and hispanics. It's prompted some Latin American countries to update their travel warnings. Venezuela is urging its citizens to postpone their plans or exercise caution. And Uruguay is warning travelers of, quote, "the growing indiscriminate violence in the US."
The reality is this is an American malaise with only American solutions. And which the rest of the world simply looks on in disbelief . . . An extraordinary disconnect to how Americans don’t seem able to address politically this key issue. Americans you speak to feel the same frankly about the European view of their right to bear arms and the Second Amendment. They say it’s part of life. But really, so much shock, I think, felt globally over the past week. John.
JOHN BERMAN: Nick Paton Walsh, so you say there’s a cognitive dissonance. How could this possibly happen, is what we hear from around the world.
