Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Lawrence O'Donnell virtually eviscerates Asa Hutchinson, head of the NRA's "School Shield Task Force," in an interview last night.

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Okay I am not going to lie to you, this interview is long (Just over 25 minutes). But do yourself a favor and watch it, because Lawrence REALLY puts this guy through the meat grinder, and does NOT allow him to bullshit his way out of ANYTHING.

There were a number of times that Hutchinson looked like he wanted to just crawl away, and a number of questions, such as on the extended clips, that he simply could not answer adequately.

This is one of O'Donnell's best interviews, and I think he deserves serious props for getting Hutchinson to come on, and then doing his job as a journalist once he did.

As much as it pains me I should also say that I am impressed that Hutchinson showed up for an interview that he had to know would be hostile, and then sat through it without ripping off his mic and running for the exit. I think a lot of people would have bailed.

By the way to go along with this there is also a report on Raw Story which undermines the very premise of the NRA's "School Shield" findings: 

The proposal appears to be based on a faulty — although widespread — opinion. The NRA has said schools are not safe places for children because gun-free zones make them “utterly defenseless.” However, the article contends schools are in fact safe places. Though gun violence is the second leading cause of death among those ages 5-9 and 15-24, nearly all of those deaths occurred outside of school. In fact, Stephen Brock of California State University, a leading expert on school violence, described schools as “the safest place for a student to be.” 

“To try and reduce something that already is rare… is tricky business,” Crews remarked, noting that there is only 1 homicide or suicide at school for every 2.7 million students. 

Crews and his colleagues found there was little evidence to suggest that placing armed guards in schools would actually prevent gun violence. About 27 percent of schools in the United States already have armed or unarmed security officers. Both Columbine High School and Virginia Tech had armed security guards, but that did not prevent two deadly mass shootings. A 2011 study found schools with armed guards actually had higher rates of violence than similar schools without armed guards. 

Having armed guards in schools also raises the troubling possibility that a student could get ahold of their firearms. 

“Ongoing research that we are conducting with incarcerated perpetrators of school violence also indicates that school shooters have easy access to weapons, often getting them (either as gifts or stealing them) from their parents, neighbors, or friends who may have purchased them legally,” Crews explained. “Putting more weapons in schools just makes more weapons available because inevitably, someone will forget to lock their drawer, misplace their key, or otherwise lose track of their firearm, making it easy for kids who want to have one to take it.”

Personally I think that just about anybody with critical thinking skills could have worked this out on their own, but nice to see a report by experts which backs our commons sense.

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:08 AM

    Asa was on just about every channel last night - I watched Lawrence and think he did an outstanding job - thank you, Lawrence!!!!

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  2. Anonymous10:13 AM

    I enjoyed watching Lawrence's interview. You could tell that Hutchinson was uncomfortable because he kept on saying how indignant he was at being interrupted. He had better not go on Hardball if that's an example of his thin skin.

    Many of those shows do have people who interrupt each other. It's part of the game. A clever lawyer will interrupt the opposition's testimony in court with an objection. Even if the objection is not upheld, he has succeeded in interrupting the flow of conversation. Asa just showed how prickly he is. He is not used to being corrected. He DOES work for the NRA. They are joined at the hip.

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  3. SHARON10:19 AM

    I watched this show and wow....it was really hard not to throw something at the TV. This is exactly what is wrong with the entire debate, it is so damn transparent what the NRA is doing. This former congressman should be ashamed of himself, and indeed he might have been after this...taking money from this despicable group headed by this evil man. You could tell how upset Lawrence was...he was drained and because he was relentless with the non answers his entire show was screwed up with time. I agree this guy at least had the courage to appear knowing what was gonna happen and maintained his civility...there was so much silence between answers, he had no choice but to keep spitting out the same talking points. If I had young children in school...and my school decided to listen to this bullshit, we are talking home schooling. Parents should be screaming in the streets!!!!

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    1. Anonymous1:48 PM

      Do you think they care? They are already trying to destroy public education - and education in general, unless it is job training for the poor achmucks (you) an private schools (but taxpayer funded) for the rich (THEM).

      Read this:
      http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/04/01/notes-from-an-employed-philosopher/

      At the regional campus of my redstate's (Indiana) landgrant university (Purdue) the School of LIberal Arts and Sciences has had to cut $1.5 million form its budget. They have let go teaching faculty and are increasing class sizes (as in doubling in some cases.) Meanwhile, they are increasing athletic teams in hopes of attracting enrollment - welcome to the WWF university.

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  4. Anonymous10:26 AM

    My brother leads a SWAT team, has extensive active-shooter training, and has defused a situation with a gun-toting student at the local high school. He has friends and colleagues who have been on response teams at two high-profile school shootings. Knowing the level of training they go through, the refresher courses they take, the split-second decisions they have to make when students' lives are at risk, and the fact that they live with the outcomes, good and bad, forever--there's no way a few hours of training could prepare a teacher or aide or principal for that. While these cops are avid gun owners and some are NRA members, they think this proposal is not only asinine but dangerous, because there's a high likelihood that students could be caught in the crossfire.

    Besides, who's going to pay for the training and weapons? The taxpayers? That's a nice dose of fiscal responsibility.

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    1. Anonymous11:02 AM

      The GOP is fine with the government paying for any kind of weapon's program. In fact, they'd probably lead the charge to require every citizen (including ALL school age children) to be forced to carry a gun. Think of the growth in the economy! Think of all those darling little designer guns our kids could pack (to protect themselves from the bad guys). If all the good guys (in the NRA's own words) are packing then they can defend themselves against the bad guys (who used to be good guys but for some reason decided to shoot someone). The GOP's, excuse me, the NRA's logic is simply stunning!

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    2. Anonymous11:13 AM

      Jim Carrey speaks! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-carrey/the-quality-of-mercy-gun-control_b_3002001.html

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    3. Anonymous11:13 AM

      Of course we pay. The NRA would make money off the scheme, because they get a cut of every gun sold in this country. This is not about safety..it is about more money for the NRA. Period.
      I do wonder how they would really feel if every non-white student and teacher were armed, however. They are mostly milking this for poor white southern states...and look at these guys" all white and fearful for the lives of all our students. Right. Let's turn every school into a war zone...that'll keep us all safe and sleeping at night. Enough GOP. This is not some game...these are the lives of our kids and our teachers you are playing with. This is the end of any kind of civil society should you succeed with this evil plan. Bravo to Lawrence for calling you out. I hope more follow suit.

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  5. Have these clowns really thought this through? Because I'll bet you none of them are picturing schools full of students of color. Let alone faculty, staff, and parents who are also people of color, and purposefully making sure "those people" have guns.

    How about schools with a large population of say, Muslims?

    I am looking forward to hearing the gun nuts' excuses for why the so-called "school shield" program sadly would not work in such schools.

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  6. Anonymous11:24 AM

    I wonder if all these folks who are for staff carrying guns would be ok with a Muslim teacher carrying one. Or maybe that scary looking black teacher. Somehow, I doubt it.

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    1. Anonymous1:50 PM

      Listen to them diss teachers otherwise - teachers can't be trusted to teach without numerous accountability tests. Teachers shouldn't have job security - via tenure or unions, it makes them lazy. Teachers are just overpaid babysitters.

      But teachers should be forced to carry guns.

      Cognitive dissonance anyone?

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  7. @Conga111:31 AM

    Thanks, Jesse, for posting this video. Had a meltdown yesterday re: the craziness and insanity of this gun issue and why some folks are inhumane (ANY shooter and their family history of neglect and/or violence) or why some folks are as mentally rigid or greedy, money-hungry (those who promote the right of anyone to have assault weapons).
    Please follow this link posted on NASA Image of the Day Gallery for a spectacular aerial view of Alaskan mountains -- http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2481.html

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  8. Randall11:48 AM

    South Dakota passed a "school sentinel" bill that allows "sentries" to carry guns in our schools.

    I wrote both my state senators and my one state representative addressing my concerns:
    Who's responsible if/when a student gets shot by a sentinel?
    Will the sentinel be immune from prosecution?
    Will the taxpayers be responsible for the inevitable settlement in such a case?
    Who is responsible if/when the gun is stolen? And used in a crime?
    (and I finished with) Is having deadly weapons in schools the only answer you elected officals can come up with?

    One senator and my representative failed to even acknowledge my query.

    The other of my senators answered thus:

    Randall, I voted YES on the bill.
    "Can we guarantee there are no risks? Absolutely not." (some edited)
    "Please know that this bill was in the works far ahead of the CT school shooting, so it was not a 'knee jerk reaction'". (some edited)

    Although he didn't really answer a single question, I guess I should take some satisfaction that he even bothered to reply

    ...Or was "can we guarantee there are no risks? Absolutely not" - his answer to ALL of my questions?

    (sigh) I live in a very Red State.

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  9. Anonymous11:49 AM

    I watched it last night and I agree Larry gave him the once over. I too was surprised this guy actually stayed and answered questions, even if they were all bullshit. I thought a first grader could have kicked this guys butt in an argument.

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  10. I watched and was impressed that Mr. Hutchinson stayed the course. I find the claim that the NRA is concerned about the safety of children in our schools to be ludicrous, of course. Especially in light of the NRA's support for plastic guns that can get through those metal detectors Hutchinson was touting. So, we accept this ever-escalating violence and are supposed to make our children safe by arming our schools, throwing fences around them and installing special locks? Where does it stop? BTW, Hutchinson looked like the high-priced call girl who just found out that she is no better than a common streetwalker. Both types are in the same business and so is Hutchinson.

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  11. Thank you for posting this!

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  12. Anita Winecooler8:31 PM

    Larry asked the most pertinent questions. I loved when Asshat asked him if he read the two hundred and fifty two page report and Larry snapped him back in his place.

    I loved his points about kids shot at mall parking lots and movie theater, and the NRA ignores those tragedies.

    Thanks for including this, it needs to go viral. Fantastic Journalism in action.

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  13. eclecticsandra3:17 AM

    I think the actuarial figures for schools' liability insurance would show the NRA's position is wrong.

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