"How Dare You? You Think We Don't Have Hearts?"
No, Congressman; we KNOW you don't have hearts. Or spines. Your actions prove it.
There are a few basic rules of life that are always good to keep in mind:
Never bring a knife to a gunfight
Never wear white after Labor Day
Bacon makes everything better
The Green Bay Packers suck
Always choose your battles carefully when arguing with your wife
The ‘90s sucked
It’s best to avoid Iowa unless you can drive through it without stopping
Soccer is great, beer is good, and people are crazy
Whatever you do, DO NOT HAVE REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX) MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT FOR YOU; you WILL live to regret it
For some reason, Republicans forgot the last rule. They didn’t realize they were debating Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who’s extremely well-equipped when it comes to brain cells. Of course, Gohmert can’t even spell “brain cells,” and as a debater…well, you probably couldn’t expect much from America’s Dumbest Congressman. He doesn’t disappoint.
Gohmert was, in effect, the Republican knife to the Democrat’s howitzer in Swalwell. The poor country lawyer from East Texas never stood a chance.
The Texas congressman took great umbrage at comments made by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday regarding legislation that would raise the age limit for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
Swalwell went scorched earth and bluntly asked his Republican colleagues, “Are you here for our kids, or are you here for the killers?”
“Because if you were here for the kids, you would do all you could to protect the next school shooting that’s about to happen, and we know it’s gonna happen in America,” he said.
“You would vote to raise the age on purchasing an assault rifle, you would vote to ban high-capacity magazines, you would vote to require safe storage and you would vote to address ghost guns, which are ravaging communities across America,” the lawmaker continued. “But if you’re here for the killers, you would do everything to make it easier for the next school shooting to happen.”
Then Rep. Gohmert was allowed the opportunity to respond, and he was, as you can see in the video, a wee bit unhappy with Rep. Swalwell’s comments:
“How dare you? You think we don’t have hearts,” Gohmert said. “We care about people. We care about their lives and lives that have been so trivialized. We care deeply. How dare you? How dare you? You arrogant people attributing murder to those of us who want to do something to stop it.”
Of course, he went on from there, as you can see from the video above. His response included taking crime statistics from several major cities out of context, and as his anger rose, his ability to argue rationally declined precipitously.
One Twitter user likened Gohmert’s reaction to “acting like an overgrown child whose toys might be going away.” Yeah, he nailed that one.
Rep. Swalwell wasn’t “inferring” anything. I thought he was pretty straightforward and spot on. Rep. Gohmert didn’t like being called out for the GOP’s bullshit, but the truth is that nothing Swalwell said was malicious or incorrect. Republicans have resisted common-sense gun control. They’ve seemed far more concerned about guns than human lives. And Gohmert is a 24-karat, Grade-A, first-class, USDA Prime nutjob. He doesn’t have to like the characterization, but it’s the truth. He’s America’s Dumbest Congressman for a very good reason.
Methinks mayhaps Rep. Gohmert doth protesteth overmuch.
Certainly, he can waste a whole lot of righteous indignation over Rep. Swalwell’s characterization of Republican intransigence on gun control, but to what end? It’s just so much Sturm und Drang, a lot of noise and fury that ultimately signifies nothing.
Then again, it’s easier than Rep. Gohmert acknowledging the truth and admitting that the GOP is being held hostage by the NRA.
(Yes, he is…but let’s not embarrass the poor guy any more than we have to, ‘kay??)
So, how dare Democrats accuse Republicans of standing in the way of common-sense gun reform? Quite easily, because that’s exactly what they’ve been doing for years. After every mass shooting, they refuse to discuss gun control, always saying that it’s “too soon” and that discussing gun control immediately after a tragedy risks politicizing the deaths of the victims.
Ultimately, there’s never a good time, because it’s always too soon. Republicans use this as a deliberate strategy to keep from having to have the conversations that Democrats demand. And because Republicans love guns (and NRA money) more than life itself.
So, yeah, the Republicans’ first mistake was letting Rep. Gohmert try to rebut Rep. Swalwell’s statement. Don’t any of them watch television? Surely, someone must have know that putting Gohmert up against Swalwell was like have Our Lady of Perpetual Motion’s JV team play the Golden State Warriors. Gohmert was WAY overmatched from the outset, and no, upping the righteous outrage and the volume did nothing to even things out.
Someone really ought to tell Rep. Gohmert that if you’re going to use statistics, it’s best to use them dispassionately and not out of context. His demeanor was one that said, “Neener, neener; I know I am, but what are you??” He wouldn’t have won a debate with a six-pack of Lone Star Light.
So, do we think Republicans don’t have hearts? No, we don’t THINK that; we KNOW it, because after every mass shooting, they make it clear it’s “too soon” to discuss common-sense gun control. It’s always “too soon” for them, because they have no intention of ever seeing things change in any shape, manner, or form.
For Republican, dead bodies aren’t human beings; they’re abstract concepts. As cruel as that might sound, their actions speak the truth. They don’t care about the body count. They don’t care how many are injured. There only concern is to fend off Democrats who demand common-sense gun control.
Ultimately, it will probably take a mass shooting involving members of Congress or their loved ones for change to occur, and even then it’s problematical. Republicans are so addicted to sucking at the NRA’s teat that it’s difficult to see that changing, regardless of the circumstances.
It’s what happens when you lack a heart. Or a spine.
Then again, if nothing changes, nothing changes.