Great, another bloviating crapmeister. Dress codes are the solution! For the views of another bloviating crapmeister, you can always count on Wayne LaPierre:
A day later, Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association and its chief political strategist, went on the MSNBC program "Equal Time" to say Hollywood's obsession with violence, rather than firearms, was at fault.
Oops, no backup from James Q. Wilson on that one.
In the days after the shootings, many groups recycled familiar themes, fine-tuning them as more facts emerged. But perhaps the best indication that the stakes are mounting may lie in how quickly the rifle association moved to get out its message and what forum it chose.
In the past, the N.R.A. has typically withdrawn from the gun debate right after a large public shooting, experts sympathetic to the group said. And Bill Powers, the group's director of public affairs, said on Thursday that LaPierre's television appearance had gone forward only because it had been arranged before the Colorado shootings.
"This is not the time nor the place to debate public policy," Powers said. "Anything other than prayers and thoughts for the community is not fitting."
But Cory Shields, an MSNBC spokesman, said that producers for "Equal Time," which has a debate format, contacted LaPierre on Tuesday, a few hours after the shootings, and that LaPierre agreed to appear on the Wednesday program. The co-host of "Equal Time," which is the only television show on which LaPierre appeared last week, is Oliver L. North, who is a member of the N.R.A. board of directors.
Asked to respond to MSNBC's version of events, Powers declined to comment. nytimes.com |
