Go north to Alaska, east to Atlantic City
Or south to Rio, almost as far as you can go
Get outta town, just rent a car,
So they won’t know where you are…
Not everyone in Roseburg, Oregon, is glad that President Barack Obama will visit the town Friday. The president was expected to travel to Roseburg after a mass shooting last week to comfort the survivors and families of those killed. However, opinions are divided in Roseburg about Obama’s gun policies, and gun rights supporters planned to protest during the president’s visit.
At least one parent of a student who survived the shooting says he will not meet with Obama, according to the Associated Press. The student said she does hope to meet with the president.
“He’s not wanted here. He’s coming here purely to push his garbage, and we don’t want it,” Michelle Finn, who is helping to organize the protests, told the AP.
The protests are expected to take place on intersections near the airport where Obama’s helicopter will touch down. In the days after the shooting at Umpqua Community College, it was widely reported that Douglas County, where Roseburg is located, is home to many gun owners who believe that more guns, not fewer, are needed to solve the problem of mass shootings.
The issue of guns on the Umpqua Community College campus had been a topic of discussion for months before the shooting, and faculty and staff had debated whether to arm campus security officers, the AP reported. On the morning of the shooting, just one unarmed security guard was on patrol.
I’m old enough to remember when the President showing up to speak to a community after it suffered heartbreak was considered a sign of respect, and that respect was returned. That apparently ended on January 21, 2009 and I guess I just missed the memo or something.
I mean, it’s not like the guy abandoned a major American city to a hurricane and then botched relief efforts or anything, folks.
elmo
There has actually been considerable discussion on the part of protest organizers about *what kind of gun* is appropriate to bring to the protest.
I so very much wish I was kidding.
gex
I’d be half tempted to tell them, “Okay, if that’s what you want.” and let the rest of the community turn on the people who couldn’t even countenance the President visiting to pay his respects.
But Obama is a far more patient and conciliatory than I.
bystander
I’m dreading this. No matter how few protest the POTUS’s visit, that will be the focus of the media. No one will cover them as they would that bunch of nuts who try to interfere with funerals of vets and gays.
eric
on the bright side, there has been another mass shooting, so Carson has someplace to go!
liberals are so…impatient
bystander
I’m now getting to the point that I have no sympathy for these nuts. I’m completely unmoved by the flooding in South Carolina. How am I supposed to be sympathetic to people who refuse to believe unlimited access to weaponry is dangerous?
eric
@bystander: easy, you accept the teachings of their jesus christ….oh wait, their jesus christ turns the other cheek to avoid the recoil from his automatic weapon.
Face
Lots to unpack here.
So the mother of the swiss-cheesed student hates Obama and his stance on guns, but the actual victim of gun violence welcomes his message. Imagine that. I’m guessing their nightly dinner convos are interesting. I’m wondering if this mom was instead the mother of a dead student, if she’d have the same arrogance and worldview.
Is the emphasis in the last sentence supposed to be “one” or “unarmed”? Because 20 unarmed guards were unlikely to stop this, nor would 1 armed guard be lucky enough to be in the correct building to shoot back. I guess they’ll need to triple the cost of tuition to ensure that 40 armed SWAT members are patrolling campus in military Humvees at all times to keep the peace.
benw
These assholes were the ones screaming “respect the office” the loudest, 2000-08 edition.
That should make discussion over Thanksgiving dinner fun this year!
David Koch
Meanwhile, there has been a new school shooting
JPL
@eric: That one doesn’t count, because classes weren’t even cancelled.
eric
@David Koch: they should not be called “school shootings” but “educational firearrms gatherings.”
Sincerely
Wayne LaPierre
eric
@JPL: school shootings are the new black.
russell
I say the folks in Douglas Country can try that on and let the rest of us see how it works out.
gogol's wife
I am filled with white-hot rage at the fact that I have to watch a video trying to tell me little fixes I can try when someone shows up at my school with an automatic weapon that should not be available to anyone outside the military or police, because the SECOND AMENDMENT is our sacred text.
When are we going to rise up and stop this madness?
ruemara
To quote BWD, “Black President Side Effects”. I, too, have hit a state of limited compassion. Glad I can tune out these disrespectful motherfuckers and honor the grieving who are thankful to have a President who is a consoler in chief at times of need. If only there were less of these times of need.
J
Never ceases to amaze me that people are so far gone that nothing–not a mass shooting in their midst–will induce them to reflect and stop and reflect. Hatred of Obama–for entirely imaginary reasons so far as I can tell–and what he represents to them must be the most important thing in their lives.
shell
Speaking of Carson, seems like hes blessed us with another of his deep thoughts.
Now hes saying that the Holocaust could have been prevented if people only had guns.
Uh-Huh.
That statement makes about as much sense as saying the Great Irish Famine could have been prevented if people only had food.
amk
It’s prolly gonna be a dozen or two tattooed rednecks toting their pen..ses. rwnj’s always hype their ‘protests’ and the 3rd rate media always obliges them b spreading their hype.
Gin & Tonic
@elmo: From what I’ve read, the Secret Service is not generally happy about guns in the vicinity of the President, and they have the wherewithal to express their unhappiness.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and if he didn’t go, they would be saying he was snubbing them because they’re real heartland Americans, and half the Village would be agreeing, the other half would be saying it Raises Serious Questions
Elizabelle
MSNBC reporter this morning said PBO was not going to be “political” like he was with his speech in aftermath of the latest mass shooting on campus.
Roseburg is the first community I’ve encountered where I’m thinking: “terrible tragedy, I mourn the victims and those affected” and “I don’t think I want to visit that place. Some of them are rabid.”
Way to roll out the welcome mat, Roseburg. Maybe the folks who tried to settle in Leith, MN should head toward your neck of the woods.
Calouste
@russell: Gun owning households already own 7 guns on average. How many more guns do they need?
It can’t be far off from the point where the gunatics are starting to call for mandatory carry laws, just like their predecessors in the 1850’s wanted to force slave ownership on the rest of the country.
dmsilev
@elmo:
The Secret Service undoubtedly has an opinion on the matter. It starts with “none”, and then goes on to add “are you fucking kidding?”.
Culture of Truth
Hey, it’s a free country. Although not sure why Obama would need to meet a survivor’s mother.
SteveinSC
@russell
“He’s not wanted here. He’s coming here purely to push his garbage, and we don’t want it,”:
Welcome to Oregon, Where Herd-Thinning is a game the whole family can play.
Elizabelle
Did you guys happen to see Charlie Pierce’s Esquire blogpost on Roseburg’s conservative newspaper this week? Inundated by rightwing radio trash talk trolls. To his credit, Mr. Pierce left their posts up there, as a monument.
1,000 comments. Just says 1K comments. Who knows how many are really there?
SFAW
@Calouste:
“I don’t know, how many you got?”
Punchy
@JPL: It doesn’t count because the shooter did not have “Al-whatevs” in his last name. Also, not enough dead to matter. Threshold of >5 funerals necessary to make the top of the local broadcast.
The question I have is….was the carrying of his weapon legal on that campus? If so, is it still that way today?
tbone
Fuck these people.
That is all.
Calouste
@shell: It must come as a bit of a surprise to those 8.7 million dead Soviet soldiers that there guns didn’t safe them like Ben Carson said they should.
Scott S.
At least one parent of a student who survived the shooting says he will not meet with Obama, according to the Associated Press. The student said she does hope to meet with the president.
The guy hates Obama more than he loves his daughter. That’s something else.
Paul in KY
@shell: If those lazy Irish had just got in the harvest of diseased potatoes, instead of lying around drunk & hitting each other with shilleighs, there would have been no famine!
Oatler.
Give Obama points for showing up at all. Oregon’s like Afghanistan,lots of mountain pockets full of angry gun-nuts. But our tribesmen aren’t hardscrabble shepards but idle unemployed “loggers” driving pickup trucks painted flat Taliban-black.
JPL
@Punchy: You are suppose to leave weapons locked in your car.
Elizabelle
A reader comment on Pierce’s post. “Kentucky with a coastline.”
JPL
The President should open the meeting with a prayer, for the latest victims.
Ejoiner
@bystander
I pick up your frustration but don’t let it blind you to the suffering of others. I happen to live in one of the hardest hit areas of the state (fortunately I just lost water for a few days) and it’s also one of the reliable “blue dots” in the state with a large Democratic base (for now). Not everyone in SC is a raving nut – they just outnumber us by quite a large margin currently. And everyone needs help regardless of political affiliation. Again, I often feel the way you do – imagine living here surrounded by well meaning crazies and hypocrites and racists – but you’ve got to see beyond a blanket red/blue label across entire regions. :)
Calouste
My wife’s first cousin is a freshman at Northern Arizona University. He is not a frat boy type, so I have good hopes he is safe. Haven’t heard anything yet though.
boatboy_srq
That time you remember? In those days the pResident was white and had a normal name (like van Buren).
A guy
Jpl, it would be a Muslim prayer I’m sure. And speaking of presidents abandoning cities in storm, Obama has done just that in charleston sc and columbia sc
Punchy
Quite often, I’m assuming, shootouts with ne’er-do-wells, petty thieves, and bitches who wont nuke your corndogs to quite the desired warmth deplete at least 6 fully loaded guns, necessitating that 7th weapon to finish the job.
boatboy_srq
@eric: More like school shootings are the new wide stance. Ammoaexuality is like “passing”: there’s no such thing as either too armed (or too butch) if it covers cowardice (or queerness).
Chyron HR
File Photo
Geeno
@Punchy: Yes and yes.
Calouste
Is it too early to hand out the asshole of the day award:
And what is that if not politicizing the tragedy to push the product of the Merchants of Death?
peach flavored shampoo
@Paul in KY: If those lazy Irish had just bum-rushed all those diseased potatoes, the fucking spuds would have gone down long before they had a chance to kill so many spotted peeps.
Kryptik
@Calouste:
Guns are the only safety ever. Guns are the only freedom ever. Guns uber alles.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
I only made it through a dozen comments and then I had to leave. WTF?????
Paul in KY
@Calouste: Good point! Will certainly use that when some RWNJ mentions Brave Sir Ben’s idea.
Belafon
@JPL: He should invite all those who survived to the White House, along with their parents.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: And people pretty much seemed to be commenting under their own names, too (or what passes for same on Facebook).
It’s a scary, awful, retrograde planet they inhabit.
Josie
@Ejoiner: This is well stated and such an important message. Since I live in a blue island in Texas, I can totally relate to what you are saying. Commentors who are lucky enough to be in completely blue states should think about this before they make snap judgements.
Paul in KY
@A guy: That’s a bit better than some of the lameo stuff you posted in some earlier threads.
boatboy_srq
@Scott S.: He can beget more daughters. But there ain’t gonna be no more niCLANG Preznits if’n he can help it.
Chyron HR
@A guy:
That’s nice, dear.
bemused
@SteveinSC:
Rightwingers think the majority of americans believe exactly what they believe and that they speak for nearly all americans. WE don’t want BO to come. WE don’t want this and WE don’t want that. Granted, they generally live in a rightwing bubble and don’t associate much with people outside their own circle of friends and family. They act like small children who think they are the center of the universe until they start growing up and out of that stage.
shell
Oh for fucks sake. Ben Carson is on the Brian Lehrer show on NPR? Why is anybody giving this buffoon the time of day?
Paul in KY
@peach flavored shampoo: You know it!
AxelFoley
@A guy:
Last I checked, assmunch, SC had a governor. How about she govern her state during this crisis?
Josie
@bemused: This is similar to the small percentage of RWNJ’s in congress who say things like, “The American people sent us here to ……. or the American people want………” I keep wanting the interviewer to ask them exactly how many people actually voted for them in comparison to the millions who didn’t.
Paul in KY
@shell: I think the more ‘sunlight’ he gets, the worse he will do. Let him speak, as his mouth will kill his fantasies.
catclub
@eric: educational firearms displays
JPL
@AxelFoley: Gov. Haley said it was the time, to address the issues with the dams. They will later though. Right now she is just hoping the federal government will bail her out.
shell
@AxelFoley: And the last time I checked, Obama declared SC a disaster area, qualifying it for federal funds.
“a guy”, is he a real troll? I mean, hes not even trying.
bemused
@MomSense:
Tuesday there was an opinion letter in the Mpls Star Trib, “It’s our gun culture that’s mentally ill” that had close to 1,500 comments by Thurs. I only read the first ten or so and didn’t want to read anymore.
amk
@A guy:
what happened? I thought hugging the confederacy flag will save ya all.
Zandar
@Calouste: If orbital ion cannons are outlawed, then only outlaws will have orbital ion cannons.
catclub
@Elizabelle:
I bet that is area, not population.
Given my choice, I would seriously look into moving to Astoria to retire.
gratuitous
President Obama is acutely aware that he’s the president of the American people. All of them. He will pull this off with class and grace, and that will drive the haters even wilder. Oregon’s a funny amalgam of areas, not as liberal as it’s often painted, but with odd pockets. Roseburg is a curious mixture, and the yammering nitwits have long held sway, but there are also many very nice people.
Unfortunately, the major media will fixate on the yammering nitwits because that’s where the story is.
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: I liked this comment: ‘All the guest commentators do realize that the NSA monitors this site and they have all been put on the list to be rounded up and have their guns confiscated when the takeover occurs.’.
Should have listed who wrote it. Whomever they are, they have an excellent wit.
Mike in NC
How many
shoppingshooting days left until Christmas?Culture of Truth
@Calouste: If guns are no more useful tools for killing than other devices, then why particularly do we more of them??
Belafon
@shell: Ben proved he had no concept of what the debt ceiling was on NPR, even those Inskeep tried to give him an out. Sometimes you have to let them be fools in public.
bemused
@Josie:
I’ve had the same thought. They probably have been sent by their voters to do just that but even if they won by a small margin of voters, they still act like they have majority support.
amk
@gratuitous:
yup, they are the main enablers of these fucksticks.
RSA
@David Koch:
But were any liberties infringed upon?
Just One More Canuck
@bystander: I wonder how many of the people in South Carolina thought that Hurricane Sandy was God’s retribution for the wicked ways of those in New York or New Jersey
ThresherK (GPad)
@amk: One dozen gun nuts, fifty Tv crews covering them.
Jager
@Elizabelle:
I commented on that post. I asked the question “what do you do if a gun owning neighbor “accidently” fires his weapon into your house, condo or apartment.” I was called an azehole, a moron, an idiot, stupid. So I replied, “give me a solution because this happens damn near everyday”. Silence except for an over wrought woman who told me I was a chicken sht, never wore the uniform, didn’t respect the country, etc, etc. I told her I had wore the uniform for three years, knew all about guns. Once again silence, no response. I needed to take a shower. These people live in a fantasy world.
Face
Better (more accurate!) title for post — Ore-gun.
O-man comes to town to express his remorse and they protest his ass? F#ckin thankless shitheads. Here’s hoping they Darwin Award themselves into many bullet holes and pooling blood. Cull the herd and all that. More evergreen trees and pot for me.
amk
@ThresherK (GPad):
One of these days, those guns are going to be pointed at them. Mebbe it is even today.
Ryan
@eric: Replete with fireworks!
Matt McIrvin
@bystander: Much of the flooding in South Carolina is in heavily African-American blue counties, nearly shut out of Congressional representation by gerrymandering.
(Though, somewhat surprisingly, the one Rep elected from this area, Jim Clyburn, did vote against Sandy relief; the one who voted for it was a Republican from Myrtle Beach, which got hit hard.)
Joel
What is the ratio of declared Facebook attendance to actual attendance?
1 in 10? in 100?
Waldo
@Jager:
We should be so lucky.
Bill
While this woman’s gun-nuttery borders on psychosis, I’m not going to criticize her for protesting a politician she disagrees with. Circa 2005, I probably would’ve been protesting Bush the Lesser’s appearance in my home town too.
Elizabelle
@Jager: Thank you for your service — in trying to bring reality to that awful thread.
@Paul in KY: Saw that one. LOL.
Keith G
Yes, it is a shame that the overwhelming majority of folks living in and around Rosenberg are not going to be thoroughly welcoming of President Obama’s trip there. I imagine, however, that there is a fair amount of people who want to hear him speak and even a bit larger amount who need to hear him speak.
Leaders in a democracy should make it a point to go places where their message isn’t met with absolute or even a high degree of acceptance. But the bottom line is that we shouldn’t treat the entire Rosenberg community on the basis of what its noisiest and most hateful citizens are able to get into press.
D58826
@Bill: Depends on what W was appearing for. If it was a standard political rally or fund raiser then protest away. If it was for a ceremonial/mourner in chief function then no protest is inappropriate. If a liberal group had done it Faux news would have had an stroke
@Calouste: .He can’t even get his facts straight. There were a number of students on campus with guns. Several of whom decided not to engage because it would on;y add to a chaotic situation and might result in the police shooting the wrong people. There was a guy with a gun during the Gabby Gifford’s shooting incident who also chose not to use it. At the time he said he was about to shot the wrong person. And if I remember correctly there where several people with guns in the Arourua ‘gun-free’ zone that didn’t shot either for whatever reason.
Howlin Wolfe
@Elizabelle: That’s Leith, ND. Please don’t besmirch my beloved state. :)
bystander
@Ejoiner: I hear you. I rationally know that we can’t survive as a nation if we don’t pull together. It is just a little frustrating that such a basic truth can be ignored in favor of cutting taxes, arming ourselves to the teeth, destroying public schools, militarising our police then unleashing them with impunity on select groups of citizens…the list goes on and on.
blackcain
@benw:
I suspect the student has a more relevant experience on gun control.
Jparente
@Ejoiner: My heart goes out to you. I am a survivor of Superstorm Sandy. I hope you folks get all the help you need. I am a die-hard liberal but I need to caution you about any upcoming rebuilding assistance schemes. FEMA and HUD are in business to protect the Insurance Companies. FEMA and HUD have destroyed lives here, in NY and NJ. I myself am losing my home. I would advise all of you to to accept the insurance money you are offered and then contact an Attorney who specializes in disaster litigation. I am saying this because fraud on the part of the insurance companies and their wholly owned minions, the adjusters, is a known fact. It was proven in federal court. Do yourself a favor and look up: “NY Rising Rebuild and Repair Confusion”. Get to know the term: “Dupication of Benefits” . Also look up: “Gauthier, Houghtling and Williams” Disaster Attorneys.
I wish you all good luck. You folks will need it.
Cluttered Mind
As bad as things have gotten recently, it IS worth mentioning that Bill Clinton got the same sort of treatment. Nowhere near this degree of course, but that surely has much to do with how much more insane the wingnuts have grown since the 90s as their racism.
So yeah, it’s not that it changed on January 21, 2009, it’s that these people believe respect for the office is only to be granted when it is occupied by a Republican. In their view, any Democratic leadership is inherently illegitimate. The fact that there’s a black face on that leadership just lets them combine their hatred of liberals with their hatred of black people, but it’s still just straight up frothing at the mouth hatred.
This isn’t to downplay the racism angle. I am certain that the racism is making it worse. There would still be protests, but maybe if the president were a white male Democrat right now there would only be one protest planned instead of two.
Elizabelle
@Howlin Wolfe: Apologies! I was too lazy to look it up!
There’s a documentary film out now about poor little Leith’s troubles.
Elizabelle
@Cluttered Mind: Agreed. It’s anti-Democrat, and these sunshine patriots cannot stand the idea of the other party having legitimately won an election.
john fremont
@D58826: I ‘m a resident of Aurora and I know a few police officers on the Aurora PD. Aurora is the third largest city in Colorado and has a pretty sizeable police department. On the night of the Aurora theater shooting recall that James Holmes had rigged up explosives in his apartment besides causing mayhem at the Aurora Mall Theater. The Aurora Police Department put out a call for assistance to the other Denver metro police departments. There were so many cops, state troopers, SWAT units etc combing the area any body doing open carry at that time stood a real good chance of being shot by the cops after a warning. The police did not know at that time if Holmes had collaborators so anyone carrying would’ve been seen as a threat. The people carrying guns on their person chose wisely as far as I’m concerned.
A guy
It will be interesting to see if the white female gov of South Carolina winds up in jail after this disaster like the black democratic mayor of New Orleans did after Katrina.
Cervantes
@A guy:
Sad thing for her to have done. “White” is a nonsensical designation, anyway, and I suppose it can be read to include many Indians — but I have to guess that she felt being openly Punjabi wasn’t good enough.
How does she explain it?
J R in WV
@A guy:
I’m thinking Nikki is no more “white” by southern standards than President Obama is.
Her heritage is from India, not from England, or Germany, or anywhere in Europe. My understanding of racial categorization in the deep south is that one drop of non-European blood is sufficient to make a person BLACK.
Actually, President Obama is 50% African from his father, and 50% white American on his Mother’s side. Governor Nikki is 100% Indian Punjabi, no European blood at all. None.
Which doesn’t matter to most Americans. But it seems to be a big deal to you, being a total stone racist yourself.
Go back to KKK-land and leave us actual Americans alone, please.
Thanks.
Bye.