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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Time to Stop Being Dicks

Time to Stop Being Dicks

by $8 blue check mistermix|  February 28, 20188:41 am| 109 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Dicks Sporting Goods will stop selling assault rifles and will also stop selling guns to 21 year-olds. Apparently they did the same thing after Sandy Hook, and then started again, but I’m sure some smart and motivated teenagers will keep an eye on them this time.

But how the hell will they know which guns are assault rifles? As Marco Rubio flop-sweatedly explained at the CNN Town Hall last week, it’s just unpossible for mere mortals to identify which guns are assault rifles and which are not. Legislation that complex simply cannot be written without the help of Gandalf, Albus Dumbledore and Black Panther.

That said, be sure that you don’t make fun of Marco, because he has very delicate fee-fees and he might have to take a nap in a quiet room if things get too heated:

The debate after #Parkland reminds us We The People don’t really like each other very much.We smear those who refuse to agree with us.We claim a Judea-Christian heritage but celebrate arrogance & boasting. & worst of all we have infected the next generation with the same disease

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 28, 2018


Just imagine if this pampered wimp had to face some real adversity instead of a few burns on social media.

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Reader Interactions

109Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    February 28, 2018 at 8:46 am

    We’ll see if Dick’s Sporting Goods really mean it this time about not selling marco rubios anymore.

  2. 2.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    February 28, 2018 at 8:47 am

    Is Marco talking about Drumpf?

    We smear those who refuse to agree with us.We claim a Judea-Christian heritage but celebrate arrogance & boasting.

    and Drumpf Jr?

    & worst of all we have infected the next generation with the same disease

  3. 3.

    The Moar You Know

    February 28, 2018 at 8:51 am

    Huh. First thing Rubio has ever said that I agree with. Although unlike him, I would cite Rubios existence as a huge part of the problem.

  4. 4.

    Nicole

    February 28, 2018 at 8:51 am

    I’m sorry, has he read the Bible? The Judeo-Christian heritage is full of people smearing each other for belonging to the wrong group and being petty. Hell, if God had just shown some manners said, “Thank you very much” to Cain and then simply regifted, think of all the violence that could have been avoided.

  5. 5.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 8:51 am

    You shoot just a few of them and the rest get all rude and disrespectful.

  6. 6.

    matt

    February 28, 2018 at 8:52 am

    Rubio sounds sad that people no longer are settling for politely disagreeing with him while he does what they don’t want.

  7. 7.

    geg6

    February 28, 2018 at 8:53 am

    Oh my, the whining of Little Marco! Oooooo, teenagers who survived a massacre were mean to me on the internet! I AM BEING OPPRESSED!

  8. 8.

    msdc

    February 28, 2018 at 8:55 am

    & worst of all we have infected the next generation with the same disease

    Translation: “I just got owned by a bunch of high school students on national TV.”

  9. 9.

    bobbo

    February 28, 2018 at 8:56 am

    Also too, please no swears people

  10. 10.

    debit

    February 28, 2018 at 8:57 am

    @geg6: Maybe he could run to the comforting arms of Erik Erikson, who called David Hogg a bully.

  11. 11.

    JPL

    February 28, 2018 at 8:58 am

    @geg6: Marco is part of the problem, but yet he wants to preach to us.

  12. 12.

    JGabriel

    February 28, 2018 at 8:59 am

    Marco Rubio:

    The debate after #Parkland reminds us We The People don’t really like each other very much.

    No, Marco, it’s a reminder that people don’t like enablers of mass murderers. If you got any other meaning out of it, you wildly missed the point.

  13. 13.

    donnah

    February 28, 2018 at 8:59 am

    We the People are tired of being shot at, Marco.

  14. 14.

    randy khan

    February 28, 2018 at 9:03 am

    “It’s just too hard to tell what’s an assault weapon” seems to be the new talking point, at least based on my personal Facebook troll, who appears to have the talking points beamed into his head. When I pointed out that you could define what’s permitted and not permitted by using objective criteria like how fast you can shoot bullets, how many a gun can shoot before reloading, and the velocity of the bullets, he moved on to listing the guns he owns, as if that proves anything.

  15. 15.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 9:04 am

    These guys are all going to end up like Berlusconi, flouncing offstage carping about how the US is a shitty country that makes them sick.

  16. 16.

    cleek

    February 28, 2018 at 9:07 am

    We claim a Judea-Christian heritage

    how about you don’t tell other people what they claim, fucko?

  17. 17.

    yam

    February 28, 2018 at 9:07 am

    The debate after #Parkland reminds us We The People don’t really like each other very much.

    No, Marco. We just don’t like YOU.

  18. 18.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 9:08 am

    @randy khan: They dredged it up from the complaints about the 1994 ban, which defined “assault weapon” in a complicated and arbitrary manner. But it’s not as if we couldn’t do better. It’d just likely be a stricter ban.

    It’s of a piece with the attacks on the ACA and on social programs: first you push back as hard as you can and chip away at the edges to produce a weirdly compromised product, then you complain that the whole thing needs to be scrapped because the boundaries of it are illogical and perverse.

  19. 19.

    Shalimar

    February 28, 2018 at 9:09 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: He must follow all the Trumps on twitter.

  20. 20.

    cleek

    February 28, 2018 at 9:10 am

    @randy khan:
    here’s an easy way to tell:

    does that rifle have a pistol grip, a top handle, and a hollowed-out stock? it’s an “assault rifle”. all of that stuff makes it better at the job of killing, under tough conditions, people who might fight back. that’s why all of the Army’s weapons are styled that way.

    traditional hunting rifle with a wood stock, no pistol grip, no handle on top? that’s not an assault rifle. they’re fine for killing deer, but they’re a little awkward if you’re shooting then running for cover.

  21. 21.

    JPL

    February 28, 2018 at 9:10 am

    Marco is a sanctimonious ……… !

  22. 22.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 28, 2018 at 9:11 am

    I admit, you describe Republicans well, Rubio.

  23. 23.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 9:12 am

    @cleek: I’ve read a million complaints from Gun People that the ’94 ban allowed guns like that that were just as rapid-fire as an AR-15. Those were “cosmetic” distinctions, completely illegitimate in a gun law apparently.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:14 am

    STFU Marco

  25. 25.

    cleek

    February 28, 2018 at 9:14 am

    @Matt McIrvin:
    because they’re idiots.

    if those things were simply cosmetic, militaries wouldn’t waste money adding them to the millions of weapons they purchase.

    tell the Army to go back to M1s. see if they’re cool with it.

  26. 26.

    MJS

    February 28, 2018 at 9:14 am

    Assuming Marco includes himself in “We the people” can he explain who it is he “doesn’t like”? Given the context, it appears he doesn’t like school shooting survivors. Prefers they all die, I guess.

  27. 27.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 28, 2018 at 9:15 am

    Uh, correct me if I’m wrong, but Dick’s Sporting Goods, as a retailer, doesn’t need either simple or complex legislation to decide what to stock. They can make up their own minds. If their head sportswear buyer says “no, these socks are ugly”, then they don’t get stocked. Simple.If customers don’t like their decision, they can go elsewhere. If investors think it’s a bad idea, their stock will go down. Free market, bitches.

  28. 28.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:16 am

    What humors me is that little Marco thinks his platitudes are gonna quiet the students who see him for the empty shell that he is.

  29. 29.

    Amir Khalid

    February 28, 2018 at 9:17 am

    @Nicole:
    The Abrahamic deity wields His power in confusing and contradictory ways. He demands belief and obedience, yet has set up His creation so that there’s really no way to prove he even exists. He predetermines all the choices we mortals make, and then judges us on them. He is provoked to great anger at the pettiest of slights, like humans not worshipping Him, yet overlooks horrific crimes by those He favours.
    It strikes me that the Bronze Age concept of an almighty deity wasn’t really that well thought through. There’s a lot in Abrahamic scripture that wouldn’t stand up to modern scrutiny.

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:17 am

    TEE HEE HEE

    I spoke to a source I hadn’t spoken with in months. We’d had a bit of a falling out. Not bad-I mean they did pick up the phone-so they kind of quipped, “you’ve got one question”….what would you ask? Anyway, I asked “Did Gates deliver Trump”. They said, “yes” and hung up.

    — Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) February 27, 2018

  31. 31.

    eric

    February 28, 2018 at 9:18 am

    a few points

    first, two words: “chosen people” See Bible, Hebrew.

    second: “He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork.” See Bible, Christian.

    third: so he is throwing shade on people that people that gently called him out for truthfully noting his response was shallow and stupid after the speaker survived a killing spree? Just shut up and take it.

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:19 am

    These rotten, evil azz muthaphuckas.

    GOLDMAN SACHS: There’s an attractive way to profit from the $1.3 trillion student-loan bubble
    Akin Oyedele
    Dec. 9, 2017, 7:05 AM

    The $1.3 trillion student-loan market is a “bubble,” Goldman Sachs strategists said in a recent note.
    The banks believes the market for asset-backed securities refinanced by private lenders like SoFi “may offer relative value” compared to public student-loan securities.
    Asset-backed securities bundle pools of loans with similar risks that investors can profit from when former students make their payments.
    Although student loans are in a bubble, Goldman doesn’t see them as a risk to overall financial stability.

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    February 28, 2018 at 9:21 am

    We the people are tired of sacrificing our children so the NRA will keep filling your campaign coffers, Marco Rubio.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:21 am

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    Company with DeVos ties awarded Education Dept debt-collection contract: report
    BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN – 01/13/18 07:09 PM EST

    The Education Department has awarded a contract to a company with financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, The Washington Post reports.

    Performant Financial Corp. is one of two companies selected by the Education Department to help the department collect overdue student loans. Windham Professionals also secured a contract.
    DeVos invested in a firm tied to Performant before she was named Education Secretary and was required to divest from that company within 90 days of her confirmation.
    An Education Department spokesman told The Post that DeVos had “no knowledge, let alone involvement,” in the contract with Performant.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    February 28, 2018 at 9:23 am

    Marco es un hombre pequeño y un pendejo muy grande.

  36. 36.

    Wapiti

    February 28, 2018 at 9:24 am

    @randy khan: California has a law that defines assault rifles by their characteristics, adding to laws that listed the known types of assault rifles. This law was put into place in 2000, and hasn’t been overturned by the USSC.

  37. 37.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:27 am

    The point was made on MSNBC last night…
    After yesterday, there doesn’t seem to be a way for
    McMaster
    Kelly
    Kushner

    to ALL be working at the White House.
    That story last night explicitly saying that 4 countries ADMITTED that they were playing Kushner, because he was weak and vulnerable, makes it clear- HE IS A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY.

    …………………………

    Trump family blames Kelly for negative coverage of Kushner: report
    BY JOHN BOWDEN – 02/28/18 08:49 AM EST

    Members of President Trump’s family believe that White House chief of staff John Kelly is allowing Jared Kushner to be exposed to political attacks, Axios reported on Wednesday.

    A White House official told the news outlet that Trump’s family, particularly his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is furious with Kelly for seemingly leaving President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser open to attack after downgrading his security clearance from “interim top secret” to “interim secret” on Tuesday.

    “‘Javanka’ and Kelly are locked in a death match. Two enter. Only one survives,” the unidentified source told Axios, referring to Kushner and his wife, first daughter Ivanka Trump.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    February 28, 2018 at 9:29 am

    @NotMax:
    Es verdad.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:31 am

    Nobody FrontPaged this?

    Pence: Abortion will end in U.S. ‘in our time’
    BY JESSIE HELLMANN – 02/27/18 02:56 PM EST

    Vice President Pence predicted Tuesday that legal abortion would end in the U.S. “in our time.”

    “I know in my heart of hearts this will be the generation that restores life in America,” Pence said at a luncheon in Nashville, Tenn., hosted by the Susan B. Anthony List & Life Institute, an anti-abortion organization.

    “If all of us do all we can, we can once again, in our time, restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law.”

    Pence has long championed anti-abortion policies, as a congressman, as the governor of Indiana and as vice president.

    He told the crowd he has seen more progress in the Trump administration’s first year in office than he has in his entire life.

    Since President Trump took office last year, he has signed legislation reversing an Obama-era rule that blocked states from defunding Planned Parenthood and reinstated a ban on federal funds for global health programs that cover or promote abortions.

  40. 40.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 28, 2018 at 9:33 am

    @rikyrah: Unfortunately, Claude is often a fabulist.

  41. 41.

    lollipopguild

    February 28, 2018 at 9:35 am

    @cleek: Anything with bolt action where you have to eject the cartridge after you shoot is a hunting rifle anything where you just keep pulling the trigger is an assault rifle.

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:36 am

    News day inundated with Trump scandals

    Rachel Maddow rounds up the overwhelming number of major news stories that broke over the course of the day, including the NSA director’s Senate testimony, the Trump 2020 campaign manager’s ties to a sketchy company, new contacts exposed between Roger Stone and WikiLeaks, and more White House departures.

  43. 43.

    Hoodie

    February 28, 2018 at 9:36 am

    @cleek: Here’s a few more: no ability to accept external magazines and a limit to capacity of internal magazines. Go even further: no gas operated loading. Maybe you catch some guns that wouldn’t be considered assault weapons, so what? Guns don’t have rights. There are plenty of shotguns, hunting rifles, revolvers, etc that would still be legal, thus satisfying any 2nd amendment bullshit. If you can’t defend your home with what’s left over, you need to move. How about an ATF approved guns list, kind of like FDA approval? That would provide a safe harbor for mfrs. Old guns grandfathered with restrictions on resale and a buy back program. Semiautomatic guns available at licensed private shooting clubs, with guns secured on premises. Sounds like a well-regulated militia to me. This is not hard.

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:37 am

    Kushner eyed over foreign contacts, vulnerability to manipulation

    Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter for The Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about new reporting about concerns over Jared Kushner’s interactions with foreign officials and efforts to manipulate him.

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:38 am

    Potential for blackmail an obstacle to Kushner security clearance

    Nicolle Wallace, former White House communications director for George W. Bush, talks with Rachel Maddow about why Jared Kushner’s security situation in the Trump White House is not only unusual and politically awkward, but dangerous.

  46. 46.

    Chyron HR

    February 28, 2018 at 9:38 am

    @rikyrah:

    An Education Department spokesman told The Post that DeVos had “no knowledge”

    Well, their story checks out.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:39 am

    Hotel in Panama fights to shed Trump name citing name’s stigma

    David Fahrenthold, reporter for The Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about the Trump hotel in Panama fighting to remove Donald Trump’s name, and the potential political implications if Trump tries tries to insert himself.

  48. 48.

    laura

    February 28, 2018 at 9:39 am

    @rikyrah: Let 10,000 Becky Bell’s bloom Mike Pence didn’t add.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 9:40 am

    Democrats flip seats in N.H., Connecticut special elections

    Rachel Maddow reports on three state special elections, two of which, in New Hampshire and Connecticut, were formerly Republican-held and flipped by Democrats, and a third, in Kentucky, that was retained by Republicans but saw a 28 point Democratic swing versus Donald Trump’s 2016 victory in that district.

  50. 50.

    lollipopguild

    February 28, 2018 at 9:41 am

    @Hoodie: You make excellent and intelligent points which is why what you are saying will be ignored by the gun lovers.

  51. 51.

    rp

    February 28, 2018 at 9:49 am

    @cleek: McArdle argued a few years ago that the assault weapons ban was stupid because it focused on purely cosmetic issues. And her main example was the fact that shotguns with pistol grips were banned but traditional grips were fine. She said this as if it’s a truism that there’s no meaningful difference, but if that’s the case why do modern military rifles all have pistol grips?

    EDIT: Oops, didn’t see your follow up post.

  52. 52.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 9:50 am

    @cleek: My response has always been “okay, let’s ban those guns too.”

  53. 53.

    Kay

    February 28, 2018 at 9:52 am

    Baud bait:

    The Times newsroom can be a perpetually aggrieved place where reporters and editors often can’t help themselves from keeping tabs on their colleagues’ misfortune. And after the Norton fallout, some Times journalists went from skeptical consternation regarding Opinion’s latest iteration, to outright concern that some of Bennet’s decisions were damaging the paper’s credibility. “Until yesterday,” a senior newsroom figure told me in the aftermath of the contretemps, “people felt like [Opinion] was a shakeup. Now people are worried. The newsroom feels embarrassed.”

  54. 54.

    henrythefifth

    February 28, 2018 at 9:53 am

    @rikyrah: I’m sure DeVos divested herself.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    February 28, 2018 at 9:55 am

    @rikyrah:

    They’re mad at her because she stopped putting events on her public schedule. It’s kind of amazing. She just stopped.

    These people don’t give a shit. They’re not going to follow any rules at all unless they’re ordered to by a court. Even then, they may say fuck off. It’s so funny that conservatives laughed at “privilege”. This is EXACTLY what it looks like. They are exempt from the norms because they are so fucking fabulous and valuable.

  56. 56.

    Nicole

    February 28, 2018 at 9:58 am

    @Amir Khalid: I remember, senior year of high school, we were assigned The Book of Job in AP English. We had to write an essay about why God punished Job. I combed the text, tried to find reasons why, and did the best I could. I got a note back at the top of my essay, saying, “No one can understand why God does what God does.” I thought, “Well, that’s a bullshit way of looking at things,” and thus began my road to agnosticism. I’d say atheism except I don’t really care enough about the topic to take the time to form a definite opinion.

    NOTE: My English teacher was not pushing religion; it really was given to us as a piece of historical literature. And viewing it through that lens meant no blind acceptance of what was there. Smart lady, my English teacher.

  57. 57.

    Immanentize

    February 28, 2018 at 10:00 am

    @cleek:
    Right on!

  58. 58.

    JPL

    February 28, 2018 at 10:00 am

    @Gin & Tonic: True, but sometimes it’s okay to dream.

  59. 59.

    rm

    February 28, 2018 at 10:02 am

    Yeshua Fucking H. Christ on a pogo stick. Rubio is dogwhistling for the evangelicals, referencing 2 Timothy 3:1-4, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy . . .” — it goes on, but the first two verses get what he was saying, that these boastful teens are disrespectful of their elders, which makes them Godless.

    About the survivors of a mass school shooting. Holy fucking jesus shit.

    (If you read the rest of verses 1-4, the whole quote is a remarkable good description of a Trumpite.)

    The other thing that gobsmacks me is that Dick’s sells fucking assault rifles. I’ve never wandered into the huntin’ & fishin’ section, so I assumed they only sold hunting-type firearms. Fucking Hell. Jesus fucking crap.

  60. 60.

    The Moar You Know

    February 28, 2018 at 10:02 am

    The Abrahamic deity wields His power in confusing and contradictory ways. He demands belief and obedience, yet has set up His creation so that there’s really no way to prove he even exists. He predetermines all the choices we mortals make, and then judges us on them. He is provoked to great anger at the pettiest of slights, like humans not worshipping Him, yet overlooks horrific crimes by those He favours.

    @Amir Khalid: Can’t remember where I read it, but some said “if you take God at face value as described by His followers, then one is forced to the inescapable conclusion that God is a malign thug.”

  61. 61.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 10:06 am

    @Amir Khalid: When a lot of that was originally written, there wasn’t particularly any concept of God being omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent. Some of the stories make more sense if you think of him as just another tribal deity, a cranky, powerful guy who arbitrarily plays favorites and doesn’t necessarily control the whole universe or know everything. He often does things for no good reason; humans sometimes push back and actually win arguments with him.

    I get the impression that Jewish thought still insists much less on God’s absolute omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence than Christian and Muslim thought does. Later thinkers really tie themselves into knots trying to reconcile all this stuff.

  62. 62.

    The Moar You Know

    February 28, 2018 at 10:08 am

    California has a law that defines assault rifles by their characteristics, adding to laws that listed the known types of assault rifles.

    @Wapiti: We do. It’s not working. The manufacturers send stuff with parts bolted on that can be removed or defeated in less than a few seconds. I can go to my local gun shop and get an CA compliant AR-15, take it home ten days later (thank God this state has waiting periods) and with a few minutes work with a screwdriver I have a general-issue AR. Or even AK if I want to go that route. The “characteristics” thing is not working. We need a total semi-auto ban.

    Hoodie, above, nails down precisely what is needed.

  63. 63.

    Leto

    February 28, 2018 at 10:09 am

    @lollipopguild: @Hoodie: These are logical points, mainly because gun manufacturers have moved towards making their weapons more militaristic: they’ve replaced the front stock with picatanny rails, as well as replaced the carrying handle with picatanny railing there too. How else are you going to be able to sell the gun related accessories of scopes, flashlights (torches for our UK compatriots), laser pointers, gummy bear pouches, water bottle holder, George Foreman grilling accessory, cell phone charger, gun nutz… I mean, how else can one expect to defend their castle if they don’t have gummy bears and laser pointers within immediate reach? Plus the perp will know I mean “srsz bizness” with my gun nutz. True story!

  64. 64.

    JanieM

    February 28, 2018 at 10:11 am

    @cleek:

    We claim a Judea-Christian heritage

    how about you don’t tell other people what they claim, fucko?

    What cleek said.

    Besides the “Judea[sic]-Christian” shibboleth (mostly now used by people who wouldn’t know a Judeo-Christian if it punched them in the nose), “we” is the weaseliest word in the Weasel English dictionary. Other than an American citizen and homo sapiens, it’s unlikely there’s any “we” that includes Marco Rubio that I would want to be part of.

  65. 65.

    Boatboy_srq

    February 28, 2018 at 10:16 am

    @Matt McIrvin: They tried that (collectively) not so very long ago. It didn’t end well for them then.

  66. 66.

    Amir Khalid

    February 28, 2018 at 10:19 am

    @Leto:
    I googled “gun nutz” and found only people who are nuts for guns. Were you referring to testicular adornments for firearms?

  67. 67.

    eric

    February 28, 2018 at 10:24 am

    @Nicole: He hits me because He loves me.

  68. 68.

    eric

    February 28, 2018 at 10:26 am

    @Matt McIrvin: remember Job has many offers, and the ending was almost certainly after later to soften the story’s blow
    ETA” offers = authors

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    February 28, 2018 at 10:27 am

    Baby Rubio at his most unctuous

    The debate after #Parkland reminds us We The People don’t really like each other very much.We smear those who refuse to agree with us.We claim a Judea-Christian heritage but celebrate arrogance & boasting. & worst of all we have infected the next generation with the same disease

    Problem is, some of the next generation will not be with us because they were murdered and Rubio’s insistence on being a tool for the NRA keeps us away from reasonable solutions.

  70. 70.

    Amir Khalid

    February 28, 2018 at 10:28 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Some of the stories make more sense if you think of him as just another tribal deity, a cranky, powerful guy who arbitrarily plays favorites and doesn’t necessarily control the whole universe or know everything.

    In other words, God conceived of as Tony Soprano.

  71. 71.

    cleek

    February 28, 2018 at 10:35 am

    @Hoodie:
    all excellent ideas.

  72. 72.

    But her emails!!!

    February 28, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @rm:

    The bible verse is actually about Rubio, not the Parkland students. Even the part about being disobedient to the parents falls flat as there’s no evidence this is literally true (the parents support the students) or even true in a broader sense as protest, opposition to immoral authority and advancing the cause of life and liberty is as much an inheritance from our forefathers as the legacy of slavery, racism and sexism. Rubio is simply too boastful, proud and loves himself and money a bit too much to see it.

  73. 73.

    Betty Cracker

    February 28, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @Nicole:

    Hell, if God had just shown some manners said, “Thank you very much” to Cain and then simply regifted, think of all the violence that could have been avoided.

    Where shall we deliver the internets you won today?

  74. 74.

    randy khan

    February 28, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @Hoodie:

    There definitely are lots of ways to get to where we need to be. I just like to pass along the new talking points when I hear them from my troll so we can point and laugh.

  75. 75.

    Barbara

    February 28, 2018 at 10:43 am

    @Brachiator: If an appeal to patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels like Nixon, then the last refuge for unprincipled hacks like Rubio is a plea for courtesy. Can’t we just be nicer to each other? Strangely, people who just survived a massacre that took a lot of their friends and teachers don’t feel like being nice to the people who take money in order to make sure people like Nikolas Cruz have exactly what they need to perpetrate mass slaughter. Gosh, how rude of them.

  76. 76.

    chris

    February 28, 2018 at 10:52 am

    @Hoodie:

    revolvers

    Just no. AR-15s make the news but handguns probably kill more people.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    February 28, 2018 at 10:55 am

    @chris:

    Gotta start somewhere. We’ll work our way down to the handguns.

  78. 78.

    Kay

    February 28, 2018 at 11:01 am

    @chris:

    Just no. AR-15s make the news but handguns probably kill more people.

    It’s a weird argument, though, isn’t it? Automobiles kill way more people than plane crashes but no one justifies not regulating airlines and pilots and planes because of that. This is the only “safety debate” where there’s a kind of acceptable casualty rate, or where one category of slaughter somehow justifies a smaller sub-category.

    It gets crazy. That many more children drown in swimming pools doesn’t really have any connection to how many children are shot and killed at school.

  79. 79.

    The Moar You Know

    February 28, 2018 at 11:08 am

    Just no. AR-15s make the news but handguns probably kill more people.

    @chris: It’s not even a contest. Handguns are responsible for about 85-90% of all firearms deaths.

    A comprehensive ban on semi-autos won’t get rid of all handguns, but it would get rid of the “black rifles” and most of the handguns used in mass killings. I can’t think of one in the last few years where a revolver was used.

  80. 80.

    maya

    February 28, 2018 at 11:09 am

    How sad for Sen. Rubio. Let’s send him our thoughts and prayers.

  81. 81.

    chris

    February 28, 2018 at 11:09 am

    @Mnemosyne: @Kay: When I walk down the street in Canada I’m pretty sure that no one around me is carrying a gun. In the US I feel the opposite way and it’s unsettling to say the least. IMHO anything you can hide under a coat should be heavily restricted or outright banned.

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    February 28, 2018 at 11:13 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    These guys are all going to end up like Berlusconi, flouncing offstage carping about how the US is a shitty country that makes them sick.

    I beg to differ! None of the guys have what it takes to flounce!!! Maybe, maybe, Ivanka could pull it off with coaching. Jar-Jar, no way!

  83. 83.

    chris

    February 28, 2018 at 11:14 am

    @The Moar You Know: Yeah, OK, but keep in mind that a revolver meets the semiautomatic rule, it fires every time you pull the trigger. (Yes,yes, I know the difference between single and double action.) If all they have is revolvers…

  84. 84.

    gvg

    February 28, 2018 at 11:19 am

    reports are in NYTimes that Walmart is dropping assault weapons too.

  85. 85.

    rikyrah

    February 28, 2018 at 11:23 am

    Democracy is under attack from voter suppression, gerrymandering & dark money. I discussed with @deray on new @crookedmedia podhttps://t.co/Zo2emhxC0W

    — Ari Berman (@AriBerman) February 28, 2018

  86. 86.

    gvg

    February 28, 2018 at 11:25 am

    ok, editing not working, walmart story I referenced above is 2015 not now, sorry

  87. 87.

    JR

    February 28, 2018 at 11:29 am

    Jesus fucking Christ, where is Georges Danton when you need him.

  88. 88.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 28, 2018 at 11:31 am

    F your feeling Rubio with a rusty pitchfork. There is no room for measured, cool discourse when people’s lives are on the line.

  89. 89.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 28, 2018 at 11:33 am

    @The Moar You Know: What bugs me about this example (CA guns) is that my gunhumper friends regard the “5 minutes of work to get around the obvious intent of the law” as a huge concession rather than… bad faith on the part of the gun manufacturers

    They use calls to fix the system as prove that “gun grabbers” will never stop coming for your guns, instead of recognizing that they’re part of the problem.

  90. 90.

    J R in WV

    February 28, 2018 at 11:34 am

    @The Moar You Know:

    “one is forced to the inescapable conclusion that God is a malign thug.”

    Worse than just malign thug, street gangs are malign thugs. More like supremely evil at the core, arbitrarily wicked at every opportunity. I could go on in that vein, but why?

    Jesus is not fundamentally evil, but still sets a bar far too high for most people to pass, without providing points for how hard you try to meet the expectations.

  91. 91.

    lollipopguild

    February 28, 2018 at 11:37 am

    @The Moar You Know: The guy in the Vegas hotel needed an assault rifle(light machine gun) to do what he did. He could not have shot from his perch with a pistol or shotgun and create the same amount of carnage. Cops are going to be much more willing to take on someone with a pistol than someone with a light machine gun.

  92. 92.

    scav

    February 28, 2018 at 11:38 am

    worst of all we have infected the next generation with the same disease

    So, no doubt, we will see Brave Sir Marco leading the way by formally disbanding and disowning all Young Rebublican Clubs?

  93. 93.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 28, 2018 at 11:42 am

    @Kay: Yeah… It’s true that mass shootings aren’t actually the biggest part of the American gun problem, but they’re easily into the realm of daily risks that we try to control with reasonable regulations. And assault-weapon bans simply aren’t unreasonable.

  94. 94.

    Gretchen

    February 28, 2018 at 11:43 am

    Marco Rubio, who insisted in a national debate that Barack Obama was knowingly and deliberately destroying America, laments our current lack of civility.

  95. 95.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 28, 2018 at 11:47 am

    @The Moar You Know: I thought hand guns were the weapon of choice when killing family members and friends.

  96. 96.

    Aleta

    February 28, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    “the debate after Parkland” ? Who does he hear debating, outside of the voice in his head? Congress doesn’t debate, the media doesn’t debate. Anyway, the debate is over.

  97. 97.

    Origuy

    February 28, 2018 at 12:28 pm

    From what I read, the stores branded as Dick’s had already stopped selling the guns in question, but their Field and Stream subsidiary stores hadn’t.

  98. 98.

    TenguPhule

    February 28, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    @Kay:

    These people don’t give a shit. They’re not going to follow any rules at all unless they’re ordered to by a court. Even then, they may say fuck off.

    That’s what I’ve been saying for over a year now.

    And its getting worse.

  99. 99.

    Leto

    February 28, 2018 at 1:25 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Sorry, back from a meeting and lunch, but you are correct. I also wish that part was snark, but alas: Gunsticles! <–link

    Also nothing says this is a penis replacement like adding a scrotum to it. Google images of it are both hilarious (in the point/mock category) and just sad. <–link

  100. 100.

    rm

    February 28, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    @But her emails!!!: EXACTLY

  101. 101.

    Stan

    February 28, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @cleek: @randy khan:
    here’s an easy way to tell:

    does that rifle have a pistol grip, a top handle, and a hollowed-out stock? it’s an “assault rifle”. all of that stuff makes it better at the job of killing, under tough conditions, people who might fight back. that’s why all of the Army’s weapons are styled that way.

    traditional hunting rifle with a wood stock, no pistol grip, no handle on top? that’s not an assault rifle. they’re fine for killing deer, but they’re a little awkward if you’re shooting then running for cover.

    I’m sorry but no, none of those things define an assault rifle in any useful way. AK47s, for example, do not have top handles or hollowed-out stocks and are the world’s most popular assault rifle by a very wide margin.

  102. 102.

    Stan

    February 28, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    @<a

    href=”#comment-6776630″>Matt McIrvin: I’ve read a million complaints from Gun People that the ’94 ban allowed guns like that that were just as rapid-fire as an AR-15. Those were “cosmetic” distinctions, completely illegitimate in a gun law apparently.

    That’s true that they are largely cosmetic. They have some function, but they are not the things that really make it an assault weapon and they are easily swapped out parts. So an illegal gun can be made ‘legal’ with a screwdriver and a few minutes’ work. Yet the basic functionality of the weapon does not change just because you replace the stock.

    it’s not that these distinctions are’illegitimate’ it is that they aren’t super useful and they are easily undermined.

  103. 103.

    Uncle Omar

    February 28, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    How about getting rid of gas-operated recoil firearms. That leaves pump shotguns and rifles, bolt operated rifles, single shots of both, and revolvers. Let the military keep all of the heavy duty stuff.

  104. 104.

    Matt

    February 28, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    Sorry, the only way Little Marco gets any positive credit for that sentiment is if it’s the sign-off for his suicide note. Fuck that guy and rest of the GOP.

  105. 105.

    Stan

    February 28, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    @Hoodie: Very good idea. I like the FDA analogy.

  106. 106.

    Stan

    February 28, 2018 at 2:36 pm

    @lollipopguild:

    assault rifle(light machine gun)

    Those are two VERY different classes of weapon. If the vegas asshole had had a light machinegun and knew how to use it there would have been hundreds dead.

  107. 107.

    Stan

    February 28, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @The Moar You Know: AR-15s make the news but handguns probably kill more people.

    Let’s be honest here, AR15s kill suburban kids; mass school shootings are disproportionately suburban. Much more likely to be white and middle class.

    Pistols kill a wider variety of people and one of my personal bits of angst the last few weeks is that it matters who gets killed. Thankfully there has never been a mass shooting where I live but I know damned well that if 10 suburban white kids get killed its going to ‘matter’ politically a whole lot more than twice or three times that number of black and latino kids getting killed in individual incidents.

    So while we’re in this moment, which like everything else in America has a racial component, let’s ban all handguns too. They’re virtually never used to hunt.

  108. 108.

    jefft452

    February 28, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: ‘Those were “cosmetic” distinctions’
    I love when they use that argument
    The thing is, even if it were true, its still a valid rationale
    Car insurance charge teenage boys more if they drive a sports car
    Why? You could drive recklessly in a mom-mobile too, but if a teen age boy chooses a car, based not on getting from point a to point b, but on “how cool will my friends think I look driving it” the odds of him being reckless goes way up
    Likewise, if you choose a gun based on “how much of a badass will I look like while shooting it”, well, you are probably too irresponsible to own one

  109. 109.

    fuckwit

    March 1, 2018 at 2:28 am

    @The Moar You Know: sociopathic asshole. humans created him in our image

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