Go ahead. Tell me there's no resemblance.

[Heidi]

When I see guys like the "rock out with yer gun out" guy pictured below, I'm reminded that "inbreeding" isn't a regional phenomenon. It's a sort of cultural incest that has less--despite the nasty jokes we make among ourselves--to do with region or biology than outright collective, willful ignorance. Make no mistake: gun guy is smart enough to know he's well within his rights. His problem is _not_ stupidity (a not-so-nice term for a condition of birth). His problem is a mean-spirited intent to intimdate based on a confidence borne of fear-based, figurative inbreeding.

The insular, damaging sort of figurative inbreeding I'm talking about reaches across our country by internet, phone, clandestine meetings between folks "just like us," folks who share one's opinions and whom one can trust when confiding uneasiness about matters outside a narrow circle of people with very, very similar prejudices and experiences.

Heaven, if there is one, forbid we become like that: seeking only the circle jerk of mutual congratulation, fear-based banjo-boy-esque unwillingness to so much as shake the hand of a stranger, the blind and frightened kum-baya of history marching backward.

Tell me there's no resemblance. I'm waiting.

[endarkenment]

1. gun boy is eager for his opportunity to kill somebody

and he is not alone.

[Heidi]

3. Cultural incest.

"He is not alone."

[asdjrocky]

2. I just call him ratboy.

[Heidi]

10. It's the mindset more than the appearance that troubles me.

As I see it, the similar appearance is basically a metaphor for a plague of cultural incest. These people aren't stupid. Their ignorance is a fear-based lifestyle choice and their aim is to make the rest of us afraid, too. They're bullies.

[asdjrocky]

27. I understand that.

I like to hold bullies up to ridicule, which is what I'm doing to ratboy.

[underseasurveyor]

4. OK, There's no resemblance.

There I said it:evilgrin:

Seems a funny thing to ask since there IS a definite resemblance:rofl:

But seriously the resemblance is strikingx(

[sharp_stick]

5. Never trust someone who

is too dumb to buy pants that fit or at least hem the damned things. I'm sure this tool lives with mommy so if she's not too embarrased she could do it.

What a pathetic idiot. I'd love to know what sign he had to recycle to paste that stupid quote on.

BTW I wish people would stop insulting the poor banjo-boy by comparing him to these assholes. ;-)

[Heidi]

6. Banjo boy was a character. Sadly, those showing up with guns at their own peril

and the possible peril of our democratically-elected president are real people with very real beliefs too often based on cultural fictions. :(

[Atman]

7. I don't get the jeans thing...

You can buy Levis with a 50 inch waist and a 28 inch inseam. Why the hell would you WANT to have to roll up the hem of your pants? Is there an actual need to scream to the world "I'm a fucking RUBE!"? Just buy pants that fit!

Oh, and don't hang around presidential rallies with a sidearm strapped to your leg.

.

[Heidi]

8. If he'd done this at a Bush town-hall meeting, the press would have been interviewing

his survivors instead of him. Just sayin'.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

22. At least Banjo Boy had a great musical talent and brought beauty into the world

The reactionary assholes bring nothing but crap into the world.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. That guy moved from Arizona. Arizona was also where Tim McVeigh hung out.

[Heidi]

13. It's not about where he's from, I think. It's about willful ignorance

and bullying. I know there are pockets in our country that are friendly to or turn a blind eye to people like this, and I guess that's okay with me -- at least they're not underground. Banjo/Gun-boy ought to be saluting the constitution that provides for him to wear a weapon anywhere near the president.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. This deserves one of these;

[Heidi]

15. The first-ever LOL-birfer, and the root of this OP.

I made it a couple of weeks ago to blow off steam when I first began thinking about the circle jerk of cultural incest and willful ignorance.

[foxfeet]

12. It's past time to water the Tree of Sanity.

[ThomWV]

14. The rolled up cuffs on the blue jeans, now there's a look I haven't seen since Leave it to Beaver.

[Heidi]

16. His jeans (and genes) are the least of my complaints.

Hi, ThomWV! :hi:

[TexasObserver]

17. He shore does have a purdy mouth, that one on top.

I hope he likes being watched, because there's little doubt that he will be watched more closely now.

[Heidi]

18. "MOUF" not "mouth."

Gawd, you and your education. :sheesh:

[CanonRay]

19. Big gun, usually means little pecker

I bet this guy fit the type.

[Sal Minella]

20. I want to know who printed out that sign for him.

Or does he just happen to have a Mac with graphics program (and CD of US Patriotic Clip Art) in the garage behind that there lawnmower he's gonna up an fix up someday?

[TlalocW]

21. What's scary about certain "gun nuts"

And I, for the most problem, don't have a problem with gun ownership, is that on the conservative side that is a subsection that goes beyond wanting a gun for protection. They are actively hoping (probably even praying to Jebas) that someone gives them a good excuse to blow that someone away - breaking into their house, stealing something of theirs, etc.

That guy looks like one of those people.

TlalocW

[Marr]

23. I don't think he's stupid at all.

Did you see the interview with Chris Matthews? He seemed fairly sharp and aware of the big picture. And frankly, while I'm not a gun enthusiast, I understand the point he was *trying* to make in wearing his weapon. I think his problem is that he's in something of a bubble, and is out of touch with the way people perceive an act like that. The vast majority don't see a guy asserting a right-- they see political intimidation. And rightly so. That was an intensely stupid thing to do at a presidential address.

I think the average person around DU has a political outlook more similar to the one espoused by this guy than we have to the Republican base. I know it sounds weird, but there you go.

[endarkenment]

24. His point was to incite other nuts to do something nuttier.

Like for example, assassinate the president. "The vast majority see political intimidation" - perhaps because there is an organized effort to intimidate people?

[Marr]

25. That's how I read it, too.

And that's what I said-- the image was one of political intimidation. If his intent was in fact as he described it in his interview (assertion of rights), then he portrayed it horribly-- but that sentiment is not one I disagree with, and I doubt that many here would.

[hfojvt]

26. we might have cheered such a sign less than a year ago.

and I sorta like Banjo Boy. He wasn't the bad guy in that movie. Maybe not that bright, and hadn't been taught them big-city manners, but a talented musician and not necessarily a thug or a rapist.

The trouble with willful ignorance is that everybody's guilty probably. People assimilate information instead of accomodating it, changing their worldview to fit the facts. You can spend lots of time seeking and reading and learning 'facts' that will fit your worldview. I think it is dogmatism more than ignorance or inbreeding, although the inbreeding supports the dogmatism.

We think that WE are not dogmatic, but how quickly we turn to insults when our beliefs are challenged or another point of view is presented.

[slampoet]

28. Like i said yesterday. This Person has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Features.

[Stinky The Clown]

29. He resembles this guy, too .......