There’s been an influx of comments on Twitter noting the NRA ban on guns at their Texas convention this weekend. I thought this had happened in previous conventions so googled it to make sure. Nothing – every search result was about the 2022 Houston convention, no matter how I worded the query. It was like Google had colluded with right-wing media and they didn’t wanna talk about the past so they buried it down on page 9 where they knew I wouldn’t bother to go.
But I did learn something I was not aware of before my search: personal firearms are allowed at the convention. There was only one session where guns weren’t permitted: Trump’s speech. That was not an NRA decision, it was dictated by Secret Service security protocols. Guns are permitted in all other sessions.
This reminded me of an old CNNNN Hamster Wheel skit featuring the Chaser Team, an Australian group of writer-actors who specialise in satire.
Now I know not all satire is funny. It depends very much on your perspective. There is some muted laughter among the Australian audience members but it’s more of a thank-goodness-this-isn’t-us feeling. Australia enacted strict gun laws back in 1996 and because its National Firearms Agreement (NFA) was so effective in preventing mass shootings, Australians wondered why America hadn’t done the same.
The skit was born when the Chaser team speculated about what would happen if there was a mass shooting at an NRA convention, how would the members handle it? They drew on GOP-NRA talking points and produced a parody simulation.
For Americans, it illustrates how other first-world nations view the GOP’s pro-gun attitude and the NRA’s power to keep them in line. There’s also a fascination with how a deliberate misreading of the Second Amendment is used to prop up their indefensible position. That GOP-NRA members are the ones most likely to declare their patriotism loudly and often is considered ironic since their misuse of their nation’s Constitution is the antithesis of patriotism.
The skit is not Emmy quality acting and this is deliberate. Because it depicts a shooting, the group did not want it to look so real that it could be mistaken for an actual event.
WARNING: If you feel that you may find any kind of depiction of a shooting distressing, do not watch this. Your emotional health is a priority. There’s another video after this one and that may be more your style… if you don’t mind some a fair bit a lot of swearing.
For those who feel they can watch The Chaser skit, just press play (white triangle centre screen) when you’re ready.
Another Australian who decided to take on the pro-gun stance of American right-wingers – during his USA tour no less – is comedian Jim Jeffries. I do find this funny but not only that, I find his perspective and arguments interesting too. I think we should try them out on Republicans. See what you think and tell us about it in the comments.
NB: Part 2 will automatically play after part 1.
? There is a lot of swearing!
Most apropos! Now nothing to see here. Move along! Move along!
Both videos were great. Thank you for posting them. I am so enamored of Jim Jefferies that I watched several more of his you tube videos. The short one on Trump was great.
I was just on the DSF. They had a surprisingly good article about the republicans party. So I decided to comment on it. Next thing I know the dam thing messed up and kicked me out of the article. And of course after I went back it had erased my comment. And then you can believe that I mentioned my thoughts on the matter. I come over to your page and it’s working. Thank you for having the intelligence to run a decent news page with the ability of the reader to publish their thoughts on your articles. ☮️
It’s our motto to serve in the best way we can. Thank you for your comment, it is truly appreciated.
And yes, in other countries they have some nut do a mass shooting and the government does something about it and it doesn’t happen again. In this country when we have a shooting the NRA and our friends, the republicans go out and convince everyone that it won’t happen again if everyone goes out and buys more guns. Works for me. Now you may or may not know that your typical Australian thinks that the republicans are the good guys and that democrats are a bunch of losers promoting violence and other crap. I made some comments on a different site and this guy starts going off on me. He knows I’m some dam libtard and he’s giving crap and I notice some anomalies in what he’s saying. So I ask him where he’s from and he’s from down under. So I ask him where he gets his information and of course Fox News is involved and there are some news sites that you get. They have American in the name so they got to be telling the truth. I get a couple not sure why. These sites are out there. They portray the republicans as having walked down from God or some other enlightened place and that liberals and other left wing people are anarchists. I am engaging this guy as now I’m curious where this is going. I had seen some articles and told him the truth and told him where to find the real news. He came back after a couple days and actually apologized for his insults. This was all done through a website with comments. Communication is a wonderful thing. To bad people out there want to twist the truth. Oh well, it’s about 5:30 in the AM and I been up all night again. This country is facing a crisis. The republicans want anarchy so they can wage a war on their brothers and take over the country. It happened once before. Don’t think it won’t happen again. If it wasn’t true you never would have J6. The left needs to step up more now than ever before. The right is worried about their gun rights while they try to overturn fifty years of women’s rights. Remember it’s not just abortion they are after. It’s the whole woman’s healthcare. Women have issues that are cared for far beyond abortion that are part of the same issues. A lot of times the only time a poor woman is anywhere near a gynecologist is through the same clinic that does abortions. And these clinics are closing left and right. The republicans have some nutcase woman that is a religious zealot. She thinks women should go back over one hundred years and be nice stay at home moms that are barefoot and pregnant. No leaving the house for a job. That’s the husbands responsibility. Of course you will still have school teachers and other service people of the rich. But ain’t going to be any women doing anything constructive. You may think I’m kidding. But it ain’t no joke. Trump had met her and he’s all in on her. He’s trying to make her something. Even Russia is calling Trump a fascist. They think he’s an idiot. But like that time at the UN. The idiot thought all those people were laughing at something he said. The moron was to stupid to know they were laughing at him.
This country is turning into a x-tian taliban nation and this latest mass shooting, and the lack of anything being done about it, is meant to exert control on the masses. Ditto the attack by the “supreme” (hah) court on a woman’s right to health care. Soon we can add LGBT and birth control to the list of forbidden things due to that same “supreme” court.
The tepid response by democrats indicates they might just be complicit in the talibanization of the nation. We whinge and moan about the lack of response from the republicans but I’m not hearing too much out of the democrats in congress. Bare minimum gun reform laws are not going to cut it if we actually want to stop mass shootings in our schools.
Let’s face it, you just saw a former “pr*sident” not only attend an NRA rally right after Uvalde, but he was dancing on the stage F.F.S. He will not lose any support because of this. THAT is what this country has become and it is very, very disgusting.