tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34529754.post9141630264645590171..comments2023-10-16T07:06:52.428-05:00Comments on Armed and Safe: Answering some criticsKurt '45superman' Hofmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14091930034162667742noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34529754.post-50547319050343431742007-06-25T00:02:00.000-05:002007-06-25T00:02:00.000-05:00Exactly as I predicted, there's no level of condem...Exactly as I predicted, there's no level of condemnation that's good enough. <BR/><BR/>If the ISRA says nothing about it, then they're the callous ISRA who all but brainwashed decent people into pro-gun unabombers.<BR/><BR/>When it's pointed out that the ISRA actually did condemn the threats, then it was just a cynical fig leaf used to cover up the fact that they're the callous ISRA who blah blah blah unabombers.<BR/><BR/>If the ISRA came out with the same message, but stated " . . . and to that end, we're putting up $500,000 to pay private investigators to find the people responsible for this outrage" then Rob would find a way to dismiss that, too. Probably it would be a sure sign that the ISRA is not only callous, but grandstanding and publicity-seeking, too.<BR/><BR/>If the ISRA said "Senator Kotowski can rest easy tonight, because we at the ISRA have identified the idiot who sent the threat and he was booked into Cook County Jail ten minutes ago" Rob would tell us all that they'd just set up a patsy to take the fall. <BR/><BR/>There's only one solution: Richard Pearson and Todd Vandermyde have to team up to form the greatest bounty-hunting/cyborg chess-boxing team ever conceived, and they must find the man who made those phone calls.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15824445546892392815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34529754.post-73406933498445093782007-06-23T08:50:00.000-05:002007-06-23T08:50:00.000-05:00As for Fr. Pfleger's inflammatory rhetoric, while ...<I>As for Fr. Pfleger's inflammatory rhetoric, while I agree it was unnecessarily jagged you fail to recognize that he did not first declare that he has a gun, unlike the threats Kotowski and his staff received.</I><BR/><BR/>No instead of a gun, the good Father merely incited a crowd of people. How do you suppose his immediate audience would define the phrase "snuff out"?BoonDoggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11472197145758638551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34529754.post-27567517208009161782007-06-22T15:45:00.000-05:002007-06-22T15:45:00.000-05:00I acknowledge that the police officers (or detecti...I acknowledge that the police officers (or detectives, if that is the more accurate way to refer to them) conducting the actual investigations are acting on orders from on high, and thus perhaps deserve some slack, even when those orders have them investigating the senders of non-threatening FAXes, because of the allegedly threatening phone calls <I>made by others</I>.<BR/><BR/>Back in my military days (when, incidentally, we would have been "Pres. <I>Clinton's</I> goon squad"), you may have been surprised at some of the names I had for the folks in command.<BR/><BR/>I still disagree with the statement that I am "turning a blind eye" to what is being said about Kotowski. I would think that you have noticed that I <I>actively participate</I> in the anger being directed at him--I see him as leading the charge in an assault on my Constitutional rights. As I've recently said, "people tend to take that kind of thing personally." <BR/><BR/>I have tried to point out that I do not condone threatening him with violence. However, I do not feel at all guilty about condemning his agenda in no uncertain terms. If, with my paltry language skills, I manage to "raise the ire" directed at him, great--I am succeeding beyond my expectations. <BR/><BR/>It would seem a rather enormous stretch to claim that anything I have said is an incitement to threats of violence, let alone actual violence.Kurt '45superman' Hofmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14091930034162667742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34529754.post-14299327199377851972007-06-22T15:19:00.000-05:002007-06-22T15:19:00.000-05:00As you know, Kurt, I'm one of the folks criticizin...As you know, Kurt, I'm one of the folks criticizing the fact you call our state troopers a "goon squad" -- our policemen and women deserve better. <BR/><BR/>Do you run around calling your fellow military folk "Pres. Bush's goon squad"? Didn't think so.<BR/><BR/>As for that one line tucked into the middle of the ISRA's original press release, yes, Mr. Pearson did cover his butt with a little MAD Magazine "Who Me?" line. <BR/><BR/>But the rest of the press release which you, like so many other gun enthusiasts, copied and pasted without question was clearly intended to raise, not lower, the level of ire directed at Sen. Kotowski. And it's that sort of flame-fanning which is precisely what led to the death threats in the first place.<BR/><BR/>Clearly the police had good reason to launch an investigation. The one person anonymously noted in the ISRA release was either someone the police thought might provide important information and insight or would potentially be able to provide evidence. <BR/><BR/>As for Fr. Pfleger's inflammatory rhetoric, while I agree it was unnecessarily jagged you fail to recognize that he did not first declare that he has a gun, unlike the threats Kotowski and his staff received. <BR/><BR/>Like many of the benign, if harsh, faxes and letters Kotowski received the phrase "snuff out" has multiple meanings.<BR/><BR/>Kotowski himself rec'd several faxes saying things like "Judgment Day would be coming soon". Just like Pfleger saying he wanted to "snuff out" the gun store owner, that could be taken to mean 'murder' or it could simply mean 'put out of business'.<BR/><BR/>But if you want to continue to appear hypocritical by railing against a Catholic priest but turning a blind eye to the irrational level of anger and vitriol hurled at Kotowski, that is your <I>first</I> amendment right.mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00242783273849238577noreply@blogger.com