News Weakly - 3/31/18

A Band-Aid on a Flesh-Eating Virus
By now this story is a week old, but it occurred on the day of my last News Weakly, so obviously it wouldn't make it in that entry. As we all know, hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world marched in protest of school shootings to demand that not one more child or teacher be shot at school. And this isn't just the U.S.; it's global. They want, primarily, gun control. That, they're quite sure, will prevent any further school shootings.

I am baffled, of course. First, they can't eliminate guns. They can only limit them. Second, if they did eliminate guns, it would eliminate school shootings, but certainly not the murders of school children. For instance, on the day of the Sandy Hook killings in the U.S., 28 school children in China were stabbed. Is it really shootings they want to prevent? No. They want safety. They know this. (One Pennsylvania school district wants to stock classrooms with rocks for self defense.) Finally -- and this is the real issue -- it's not about guns. Guns, like chains, knives, baseball bats, or hammers, are a tool. They can be used well or they can be used poorly, but they are a tool. The problem in view is not the use of the tool; the problem here is what makes someone choose this tool to solve their problem. If all we're looking at is taking away tools, we will not be solving actual problems. And as far as I can see, no one in these marches, protests, or calls for ending gun violence is asking any questions at all about how to solve the problems that cause someone to use a weapon. Gun control is a band-aid on a flesh-eating virus.

As Expected
With all the clamor for gun control to fix our problems, the NRA types have been pounding their "2nd Amendment" pulpits while the anti-gun advocates have been assuring us that they do not intend to take away all guns. Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens isn't as duplicitous. He has urged the repeal of the 2nd Amendment specifically on the basis of the recent marches in response to the school shooting in Parkland, FL. "The demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform," he wrote. "They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment." "The enemy" appears to be guns and the NRA. Still no one seems to be asking why these people kill rather than how.

I would expect more these days. "And while we're at it, we're pretty sure we could do some more Amendment house-cleaning. Think about it. The 10th, the 27th, the 22nd, these could go. Definitely the 1st Amendment. Way too much freedom of religion and speech these days. We should regulate speech and, frankly, eliminate religion in public. We define 'person' and 'non-person' from the 14th. Why not just let us decide all your rights and freedoms?"

Not Me Too
So, in response to #MeToo, the national movement to eliminate the harassment of women, Walmart has decided to pull Cosmopolitan out of the check-out lines. Cosmo is known for its racy stories and often scantily-clad women on the cover. (Many stores routinely put a "blinder" over them in the check-out line because mothers with children have complained.) In keeping with ending the sexual objectification of women, Walmart is making this move and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is applauding.

Apparently women aren't. NCOSE says, "That's over 5,000 stores where families and individuals will no longer be automatically exposed to Cosmo's hyper-sexualized and degrading article titles that regularly promote pornography, sexting, BDSM, group sex, anal sex, and more, all while marketing toward young teens with Disney star cover models." Women are saying, "Hang on! What if we want all that stuff?"

In other words, we're supposed to sense at the moment whether or not this kind of objectification and perversion is wanted or not. No rules. No standards. "#MeToo" might mean "I don't want to be objectified anymore" or it might mean, "I do!"

Shadow Boxing
You may have heard about this dispute this week. Conservative Fox commentator Laura Ingraham tweeted an insult about David Hogg, one of the vocal Parkland shooting survivors who has called for more gun control and demanding Congress and the president "do something." He admitted that he had been rejected from some college applications and she called it whining. Hogg retaliated by listing advertisers for her show and calling for a boycott. Ingraham apologized for the tweet while advertisers started dropping her show. And Hogg rejected her apology. So it goes. Advertisers and the public, both liberal and conservative, are outraged at Laura. Insulting victims is never a good move. Insulting children is never a good move. I'm sure there's more to follow.

I don't have a lot to say on the subject. I am disturbed by the duplicity. The Babylon Bee parodied the notion: "I Will Stop At Nothing To Take Away Your Constitutional Rights—Whoa Bro, Why Are You Attacking Me, I’m Just A Kid!" In the same vein, Hogg wrote, "It's time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children." And we all give him a hug and shake our fist at those mean adults. We're pretty sure these "children" (his term) have the answer to the problem of school shootings (and who knows what else) and he's perfectly justified in waging war against those who attack him. How is that fair and reasonable? Some of these kids go to war against parents, government, police, whatever adult environments they want, but expect to be treated as a kid when they get push-back. It illustrates what I consider to be a serious problem today in our youth. Not focusing on David Hogg, but our young people in general, I believe our youth have been pampered and protected so much that they have no concept on how to deal with stresses and strains and believe that "safe spaces" are their divine right. We've given them "shadow boxing" where they know how to land a punch but not how to take one. We have given them, "You're brave and heroic if you can attack those with whom you disagree (as long as we disagree with them, too), but you shouldn't have to bear any consequences for it." If that's what we've taught them, we've failed.