Chris Matthews is Delusional

"I want people disarmed"

I saw this the other day and haven't gotten the chance to express my feelings about it. It'll have to wait as I'm still a bit under the weather.

Usually I just ignore stupid drivel that pours out of the mouths of talking heads like Chris Matthews. I figure they're members of the mainstream media and are thus paid to spew inane liberal ideology. If they're from Fox News then it ends up being similarly ignorant drivel from the other end of the political spectrum. Glenn Beck is probably the only political show I can watch and not be disgusted by the time it's over. Tucker Carlson is usually pretty good as well. (I used to always watch crossfire)

Much of the time I end up writing off the talking heads as irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. (like Olbermann) I like a host who won't let an interviewee off the hook, but I don't like one who badgers, insults, and drowns out the guests on his show. It is possible to get your point across in a direct and tactful manner that makes the other guy look bad without making you look like an ass.

Matthews usually takes the latter approach, and you can see it here, as he just won't let Murdock expand his positions or refute preposterous and untrue statements. Look at the transcripts. Not once does Murdock get to finish a statement. This was a classic case of "Willfull Ignorance" on Matthews part. He knows how he feels about guns and will do whatever he can to ignore any reasoned argument which is contrary to his belief.

Matthews goes out of his way to ignore Murdock, saying

"You know what I think? In big cities they ought to check people on sidewalks like getting on airplanes. And why an airplane should be safer than an American sidewalk is crazy to me. Why you can walk down the sidewalk of an American city carrying a concealed weapon without a license is wacky."

he knows damn well that Murdock is referring to licensed concealed-carry permit holders yet characterizes Murdock's position as being one where people can "walk down the sidewalk of an American city carrying a concealed weapon without a license." We (pro-gun advocates) are talking about legal, law-abiding CCW holders and Chris is getting himself in a tizzy about people carrying without a license.

Does Matthews even realize that in his blind hatred of guns and gun-owners he's advocating the formation of a police state where the 4th Amendment is non-existent? He's too wrapped up in his emotional, irrational rhetoric to even understand what he's saying. Listen to the video, he's actually proud of his little "plan."

If he wants to live in a police state where a citizen can be strip searched by the police or a military officer at any public place and at any time there are plenty of countries he can move to. America is the one place where individual liberties and freedoms have always been protected. Hell, we even protect Mr. Matthews right to say we should get rid of them. I'd like to keep it that way. If Matthews doesn't want to carry he doesn't have to. It's still a free country and he still has that choice. He wants to disarm all Americans. That is NOT freedom. I'll say it again. I want freedom. Honestly, I don't give a shit what he wants, since it directly involves taking a freedom away from me for no good reason whatsoever.

Oh, and in a police state those officers who would be searching him would be carrying fully-automatic "evil assault weapons" and evil "high capacity assault pistols." Those bad, scary weapons would be out in the open for him to see all the time. Think of the horror! Imagine how the sight of GUNS will emotionally scar the children. Considering the alternative, it's pretty amazing how he reacts to the idea that the responsible citizens around him might be carrying guns that he can't see.

Murdock tries to clarify what I've just explained but Matthews conveniently dismisses it and dives into his moronic rant about disarming Americans. He uses the typical tactics of most anti-gunners. If someone attempts to present facts simply ignore them and continue on your little tirade as if nothing was said. Matthews does exactly that.

"I want to see people disarmed. I want people disarmed in our major cities. How's that for a plan? I don't think we should all be armed, and I don't think more guns is the answer. I think it's wacky to say that the solution to armed robbery and killing in our streets in big cities is to put more arms in the streets. Anyway, thank you Deroy."

For the record, I don't think we should ALL be armed either. I think anyone who has not shown themselves to be a violent criminal should be free to choose. Freedom of choice epitomizes what a nation founded on individual liberty really stands for. There is no question. One cannot be free without freedom of choice. In the utopia that Matthews and others envision you don't have that choice. The choice to be armed and to defend yourself because others aren't obliged to do so.

Sound familar? It's the central premise of contemporary liberalism (and sometimes of those on the religious / authoritarian right) You don't have that choice and we (the government) are going to make it for you. I'm sorry, but governments have a terrible track record when it comes to making choices for individuals and "society" and it usually involves many people dying, either directly or indirectly, at the hands of the government. Give them the power to take away the choice, the natural right of self-defense and you are setting a dangerous precedent for the dissolution of other fundamental rights. That is NOT what this country is all about and I will do everything I can to speak out against it. I'll do it until people like Matthews have gotten their wish and I can no longer speak out.

That reminds me of a Barry Goldwater quote.

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

It's clear that Matthews simply refuses to see that if he gets his disarmed utopia he soon won't be able to speak out against the government. He will have done away with the one serious impediment towards the confiscation of individual liberties. He'll no longer be able to use his soapbox and the "rifle & cartridge box" he always considered a simplistic, brutish anachronism won't be there to save his ass.