The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

One reason NRA die-hards drive me nuts is the fact they've yet to make a certifiably logical argument against strengthening gun laws. Instead of looking at scientific studies, worldwide legal trends (and their impacts), and/or logic/common sense, they often resort to conspiracy theories and especially bumper-sticker slogans, such as: "Guns don't kill people; people kill people;" "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun;" and "Criminals will always find a way to be criminals." Yes, all of these talking points are ridiculous on different levels, but ironically enough, these same individuals tend to be all for the worldwide war on terror and the belief that, by attacking countries which aren't our biggest fans and which harbor terrorists, we'll find a way to end terror. So where's the consistency? At least with gun reform advocates, we don't tend to look the other way on terrorism and think we should do nothi...

Oklahoma Republican Senator Jim Inhofe has long been a global-warming denier. If it gets chilly on a single day in January, he'll shout to the world, "You see? Global warming is a hoax!" In light of the tornado which recently swept through the state he represents and hearing some Democratic senators claiming that global warming could at least be partially to blame for a tornado of that magnitude, Inhofe, said this: "The liberal media is trying to exploit a tragedy to advance and expand its own agenda. And, believe me, the victims all know this. We were being hit by tornadoes long before anyone talked about climate change, and even before it was called 'global cooling,' before it became 'global warming,' and then 'climate change.'" Why is it that, after tragedies such as the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut or the before-mentioned tornado, it's such a no-no in many of these Congressional Republicans' minds to talk about them ...