E.J. Dionne Jr. - The right’s Etch a Sketch imperative
E.J. Dionne Jr.
Opinion Writer
The rights Etch a Sketch imperative
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George Zimmerman, the man who pulled the trigger, was not under serious investigation until there was a national outcry because under the Florida law, a citizen has a right to use force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
These laws perfectly reflect the NRAs utopia. No longer will we count on law enforcement to preserve the peace. Instead, we will build a society where all citizens are armed and encouraged to take the law into their own hands. If you feel threatened, just shoot.
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There was, finally, that toy metaphor from Eric Fehrnstrom, a top aide to Mitt Romney. Asked on CNN if the primary campaign had forced Romney to tack so far to the right it would hurt him with moderate voters in the general election, Fehrnstrom replied that everything changes after the primaries. Its almost like an Etch a Sketch, he added, you can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.
The context matters because Romney later said Fehrnstrom was talking about post-primary changes that would be made organizationally, a claim that is plainly untrue. Ironically, the semi-denial reinforced the lesson Fehrnstrom taught: To win, Romney is willing to change not only his own positions but also reality itself.
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the rest:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-rights-etch-a-sketch-imperative/2012/03/23/gIQAIgReaS_story.html