J.D. Prose – 4/21/13

This page was last updated on April 22, 2013.

Heroism in Boston and Texas, but cowardice on Capitol Hill; J.D. Prose; Beaver County Times; April 21, 2013.

According to his Twitter page, Mr. Prose is a self-described “Surly progressive.” As you read this opinion column and his Twitter “tweets,” keep in mind Mr. Prose wears at least one other hat for the BCT. In addition to being an entertainer/pundit, Mr. Prose is a part-time reporter covering political stories. Ask yourself this. When a pundit gives his political opinions in one part of the paper, can he be trusted to report politics objectively elsewhere in the paper? After all, would a person whose opinion is 1+1 equals 3 report 1+1 really equals 2? Does he have a “Chinese wall” in his head to keep his opinions from bleeding into his reporting? (You may recall NPR claimed it fired Juan Williams for doing exactly what Mr. Prose does.) If it can get worse than that, Mr. Prose has made name-calling and personal attacks a foundation of his columns. If pushed, I’d be willing to bet Mr. Prose would try to excuse his writing by claiming he’s paid to be controversial and stir debate. The problem is, you don’t need to get into name-calling and personal attacks to accomplish those goals.

You can find the archive of my Prose column critiques here.

Below is a critique of portions of this column.

“Well, the best and worst of humanity was on full display last week when first responders and bystanders leaped into action to help victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

“As we struggled to come to grips with that attack, we saw courage and public service personified when Texas volunteer firefighters and police officers rushed to a fertilizer plant fire that ultimately turned into a fireball that claimed their lives and many others.”

[RWC] After the insincerity of the first two paragraphs, the remainder of the column is a typical J.D. Prose name-calling exercise. Since this column is a regurgitation of “Blame the cowards, not just the NRA,” please read my critique of that piece for more comments. You can find critiques of other BCT gun-control rants here, here, here, here, here, and here.

“And, we saw the cowardice of 45 gutless senators, mainly GOPers, who refused to support even the watered down legislation that would tighten background checks for gun purchases. (Yes, there were 46 votes against, but one Democratic [sic] vote was procedural.)”

[RWC] Mr. Prose and I appear to have different definitions for “cowardice” and “gutless.” Wouldn’t it be cowardly or gutless to vote for something you didn’t believe in just because polls said you should?

“It gets worse. If the National Rifle Association’s congressional whores — and trust us, they’re whores in every sense of the word — won’t support a weak change like Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and West Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin proposed real changes — like a universal gun registry and an assault weapons ban — are as dead in Congress as those students and teachers in Connecticut and moviegoers in Aurora and on and on and on. And the NRA puppets know it.”

[RWC] If you punish yourself and read the complete column, you’ll find at no point does the author tell readers which provisions of the bill would have prevented the Newtown murders. That’s because Mr. Prose knows no provision of the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act (S.AMDT.715) addressed anything relevant to the Newtown shootings. That is, even if the bill had been implemented long ago, the Newtown victims would still be dead, injured, or grieving for their lost family members and friends.

I covered “assault weapons” here.

I believe this is the first time Mr. Prose mentioned “a universal gun registry.” If you understand the purpose of the Second Amendment, one of the last things you want is a database telling the government who owns what and where should government decide to confiscate firearms.

A common thread of shootings like that of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) and of “those students and teachers in Connecticut and moviegoers in Aurora and on and on and on” is the shooters were mentally ill. In none of his gun-control rants did Mr. Prose mention this aspect. According to MADD, drunk drivers killed nearly 10,000 persons in 2011. Using Mr. Prose’s logic that a tiny number of mentally-ill persons should define our laws regarding firearms, shouldn’t we outlaw motor vehicles and/or drinking (already tried – and failed – via the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, aka Prohibition)? Perhaps we could impose a universal 10-miles-per-hour speed limit. What about pressure cookers? And what about the guy who went on a stabbing spree at a community college?

“That’s why you saw them celebrating as the parents of slaughtered Newtown children wept at the failure of the Senate to reach the magical 60-vote threshold that defies logic and democracy.”

[RWC] Mr. Prose appears to need a civics refresher course, or hopes his reader does. The reason for the Senate – and some of its rules, like the filibuster – is to make it more difficult for the majority to run roughshod over the minority.

“This is your party, Republicans. Shameless U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign Facebook page mocked gun control advocates after the vote and insipid U.S. Sen. Rand Paul insulted Newtown parents as ‘pawns’ in President Obama’s terrifying plan to prevent more massacres.”

[RWC] I just checked and there’s nothing on “U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign Facebook page” posted by the McConnell campaign that “mocked gun control advocates.” That said, the Facebook page allows people to comment regardless of their position so we can expect stupid comments from both sides just like those on the BCT website.

Sen. Paul did not insult the Newtown parents and Mr. Prose knows it. Mr. Paul was talking about politicians and activists/pundits like Mr. Prose. Here is what Mr. Paul said (about 2 minutes into the interview): “This grief is just an unbearable burden and I think that people are politicizing and trying to take advantage. Politicians are trying to take advantage of their grief. And it makes me even sadder every time I see the testimony to see, gosh this person lost their five year old son, and their six year old son, and they’re being put as pawns in the middle of a political debate that’s been going on for years.” I addressed the “human prop/shield” tactic here.

“We’re not exactly sure how anyone can look themselves in the mirror and continue to support such lunacy from the GOP. Spite? Selfishness? A total lack of human decency?”

[RWC] If Mr. Prose can look himself in the mirror, why should anyone else have a problem doing so?

“Now, we don’t want to leave everyone who supports gun control depressed. In fact, there could be a silver lining if you look past the blood and carnage.

“Last week’s display of idiocy in the Senate infuriated millions of Americans, which wasn’t surprising considering that nearly 90 percent of people support expanded background checks. Even some NRA supporters were shocked at the outcome.”

[RWC] Before you accept Mr. Prose’s claim that the vote “in the Senate infuriated millions of Americans,” consider a recent Gallup poll showed only 4% (behind six other issues) of respondents indicated “Guns/Gun control” are “the most important problem facing this country today.”

“So, where’s the case for optimism? Well, hopefully the Republican Party continues to marginalize itself by soundly rejecting public opinion and common sense, and laying bare its corrupt core for all to see. Within 20 years, the Grand Ol’ Party will be a sad, isolated faction full of hate, bitterness and paranoia. You know, just like right-wing radio is now.”

[RWC] Mr. Prose is selective when it comes to “rejecting public opinion and common sense.” For example, it was OK for Congress and President Obama to “reject public opinion and common sense” when a majority of Americans opposed a government-run, taxpayer-funded medical care monopoly (Obamacare) that even some supporters are now calling an implementation train wreck.

Given his body of work, including this piece, Mr. Prose should probably avoid labeling anyone or any group as “a sad, isolated faction full of hate, bitterness and paranoia.”