Demonizing and silencing gun owners
I wanted to post about this yesterday, but Blog-City was down for a long stretch. By now you've probably seen or heard about Rep. Alcee Hastings' smear of Gov. Sarah Palin. But in case you missed it, Hastings issued a warning to a National Jewish Democratic Council audience (emphasis added):
“If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida said at a panel about the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats Wednesday. … “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through,” Hastings added as the room erupted in laughter and applause.
Stripping moose — did he mean skinning? In any case, his point is clear: hunters and gun owners are all dangerous racist bigots who will do who-knows-what to minorities.
When they're not demonizing gun owners, Democrats are trying to silence and intimidate them. For instance, last week Obama himself suggested that his supporters get more confrontational:
In an appearance in Nevada, anti-gun presidential candidate Barack Obama told his followers:
"And if they tell you that, 'Well, we're not sure where he stands on guns.' I want you to say, 'He believes in the Second Amendment.'" (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8999386&nav=168XYT17)
"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face," he said.
Barack Obama has gone beyond lying about his long anti-gun record. Now he is inciting his followers to lie for him and to be aggressive and confrontational with anyone who will not buy his lies.
Now his campaign is threatening radio and TV stations that air NRA-ILA ads about Obama's anti-gun record (emphasis in original):
As a staunch advocate of the First Amendment, I have to say that this is one of the scariest things I’ve seen since . . . well, since the last time Democrats used thuggery to try to squelch free speech.
Here’s the rundown. NRA does commercial highlighting Obama’s anti-gun record. Biased “fact-checking” site falsely claims that the NRA is being deceitful. Obama’s lawyer sends thuggish letter to networks threatening to try to get their license pulled.
Dat’s a nice broadcasting license you got dere. Sure would be a shame if anything was ta happen to it.
Xrlq thoroughly dismembered the Obama campaign's letter to radio and TV stations. And the "falsely" link in the Patterico quote above is to the NRA's response (PDF) to the WaPo claims regarding the ad. This morning, Instapundit posted a roundup of related stuff, plus the NRA ad in question. It's much like the radio ads airing here in Colorado, and none of the claims made in it were unknown to me — Obama's anti-gun history is pretty clear, extensive, and well-documented.
UPDATE: Don't miss that Gateway Pundit link in Instapundit's roundup, or Gateway's link to the St. Louis C of CC Blog. Democratic prosecutors and sheriffs in Missouri are suggesting that anyone who utters "false criticisms" of Obama may be arrested and prosecuted. Unbelievable!
What's next? Brown-shirted Obama youths disrupting McCain rallies and breaking heads?
Obama was a state representative from Chicago and as here in Philadelphia,
no one is exactly running for office on a NRA platform. It is not an
intellectual argument of what ifs, when most in the city feel differently
in the city than of those in the rural areas. I see no violation of the 2
amendment, if our city wants to limit the quantity of guns during one
purchase. You see law abiding citizens turn into criminals when the profit
motive is high enough and they have no moral qualms about selling guns in
neighborhoods of people they consider to be less than human.
What kind of dimwits support and VOTE for a scumbag with a history like
this?????
The same ones who talk openly about voting for Obama JUST because
he's "black", without knowing ANYTHING about what his agenda is.