Like him or not, Keith Olbermann has a position. And this morning’s episode of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” dealt with a subject that is as politically hot as any: guns.
In it, he raises a question on bans that has stuck with me. It centers on the duplicitous way the modern-day GOP approaches any subject in which they hold a staunch view. Take the examples he cites:
- Drag shows
- For the “protection of the children”
- Books
- Isn’t this the concept pointed to as proof that facism is alive and well?
- Access to Votingo
- Immigrants (full-stop)
- Stem cells
- Transgender care
- Looking at you, Florida
- Historical accuracy (ex: critical race theory)
- Again, looking at you, Florida
- Abortion
All of these things are either banned already or are in the cross-hairs of national and/or state legislators.
Yet, we (the collective we) won’t ban guns. Or even assault weapons. Why? (Calm down, Sparky. Let’s hold the BS 2nd Amendment argument aside for just a second.) Because they will argue that bans don’t work.
The realization that these two standards are utterly in competition with each other, logically cancel each other out, doesn’t seem to bother them or their supporters. It’s just taken as accepted and not talked about further.
This is what is so unnerving about the current civil rights struggle (yeah, I used that term. What would you call it?). The cognitive dissonance it must take to be a supporter (of this group) these days is truly staggering.
