April 20, 2011
Letterman anti-gun rant bombs
Strange days, indeed. David Letterman's first guest tonight was CBS newsreader Katie Couric, and the two soon turned from war in Iraq, war -- er, kinetic military action -- in Libya, the tsunami and nuclear disaster last month in Japan, to a topic far more important and galvanizing to them: the January shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and how we ought to be pushing for more gun control.
Letterman sounded even more uninformed than usual, proclaiming that hunting is the only legitimate reason to own a firearm. The Second Amendment is clearly something he's neither read, nor read about, and the nationwide spread of legal concealed carry to nearly forty states, along with a recent Supreme Court decision, hasn't penetrated his consciousness, either.
The host put on his most earnest face as he railed against "automatic 9 millimeters with 52-round clips," while Couric tried to furrow her Botoxed-brow in concern and agreement, mentioning "loopholes," "political hot potatos," and the dreaded, all powerful NRA.
This is all unsurprising, given the location -- the most anti-gun city in the U.S. -- and the players involved: a liberal comic hosting a liberal celebrity talking-head.
But here's where it gets interesting: the audience was silent. I'm talking crickets. Ordinarily, the audiences at these shows are like putty in the host's hands, clapping, hooting and hollering at whatever leftist claptrap or anti-conservative diatribe spews forth from a disdainful Bill Maher, or a snarky Stewart or Colbert.
But this Manhattan audience didn't make a sound; not a clap, not a "Whoo!" or a "Yeah, man!" and it seemed to take Letterman by surprise, too.
I'm assuming the audience wasn't filled with NRA members attending a convention, which means that even those folks most likely to want to see Letterman live -- a demographic not typically comprised of many conservatives or Second Amendment supporters -- has no appetite for reviving the gun control debate; has no interest in spinning the act of a madman for political advantage; and just might be sympathetic to the idea that the Second Amendment is about more than hunting.
Strange days, indeed.
Posted by Mike Lief at April 20, 2011 12:10 AM
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Comments
52-round clips? Holy Moley . . . how heavy would that thing be?
Posted by: The Little Coach at April 21, 2011 02:57 PM