Half right
I really liked Anthony Bourdain’s little gun missive here, namely this part:
I may be a New York lefty—with all the experiences, prejudices and attitudes that one would expect to come along with that, but I do NOT believe that we will reduce gun violence—or reach any kind of consensus—by shrieking at each other. Gun owners—the vast majority of them I have met—are NOT idiots. They are NOT psychos. They are not even necessarily Republican (New Mexico, by the way, is a Blue State). They are not hicks, right wing “nuts” or necessarily violent by nature. And if “we” have any hope of ever changing anything in this country in the cause of reason—and the safety of our children—we should stop talking about a significant part of our population as if they were lesser, stupider or crazier than we are.
But then he goes on to label Wayne LaPierre a “batshit absolutist”, which is clearly wrong. I mean, the President of the US and Wayne agree on school safety. If you want a “batshit absolutist”, that’s the wrong tree to bark up. But otherwise, right on.
October 1st, 2013 at 7:22 pm
One does wonder what “absolutist” means to people on the other side (even as luke-warmly and rationally so as Bourdain).
From over here, I’d think of a 2A “absolutist” as someone who wants the National Firearms Act (and the Gun Control Act, and the Hughes Amendment) repealed… for starters.
October 1st, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Not sure “sides” necessarily even makes sense in this context as it seems there are more shades than binary positions on our issue, really.
Tony pretty well nailed it, and if you haven’t been, Northern NM is pretty damn awesome to drive through.
October 1st, 2013 at 11:39 pm
He did an episode of No Reservations where he went to Ted Nugent’s ranch and shot machine guns, it was pretty good.
October 2nd, 2013 at 8:23 am
Chefs who do TV shows sometimes recognize that the venison used to hide in the woods, the duck confit used to quack, and that there was someone other than a meat department manager involved in getting the food to the kitchen.
That acceptance that shooting is involved in some aspects of food preparation still does not make the chef any more educated on the legal and political issues of gun control in this country.
Still, Bourdain gets an attaboy from me for trying to bridge his cognitive dissonance, even though he failed.
October 2nd, 2013 at 9:29 am
@mikee: good points. I am now raising my own food, including three kinds of foul and pigs – I was a city boy and my wife an LA girl. The people we know don’t quite understand that between the field (which is where they think food comes from because the shrink-wrap doesn’t have a picture of a steel factory packed with hogs that only have a 4×2 foot space in which they “live”), and the store some magic thing happens that does not involve force and sharp blades. It ain’t pretty, and Bourdain being a classically trained chef would have seen it and probably had a hand in the latter stages of breaking down a carcass. They still teach that.
As for his views on guns, I think crossing the dissonance bridge happens in steps, and his was a fairly good sized one if you consider the circles he runs in. Add the fact he is considered a peer leader and he might actually plant seeds in others, too.
October 2nd, 2013 at 9:45 am
I hope not liking WLP isn’t a crime ’cause I’d be guilty too. Mainly because every time he calls he wants money.
October 2nd, 2013 at 10:41 am
Patrick, that’s very true. People cross over in inches. And the biggest step is being able to look outside your position and go “Huh, that doesn’t make sense.”
This also shows the importance the antis put in dehumanizing their enemies and cocooning their side in ignorance. Because they can’t have someone going “Wait… not all gun owners are frothing rednecks…” Or “Huh, this AR isn’t that scary.”
October 2nd, 2013 at 2:05 pm
I doubt Bourdain has actually heard what LaPierre actually says in context as opposed to soundbites in the demonizing press.
Although, to be fair, I cringe at how the NRA often chooses to phrase and present its positions.
It’s -sales- boys, know your intended audience. It is not “weaseling” to say the same thing different ways to different people, it’s simply good marketing.
When you are speaking nationally after a tragedy is the time to preempt the other guy’s talking points and hijack their narrative, not preach to the base or over-simplify and treat the undecided as outright stupid.