In this, there's a strong similarity to how the GOP victim blames others it doesn't want to help: low-wage workers, folks without health care, dreamers, etc. And so there's a whole set of GOP/NRA rhetorical responses meant to deny gun violence victims status of "worthy victimhood" that would morally impel us to collective action. Of course, the same logic applies on anything requiring government action, except when it comes to the tiny sliver of GOP-approved victims. But that would violate GOP orthodoxy, especially on guns, so it absolutely cannot be allowed to happen. The GOP's logic is simple: If you let people think about victims, they can become sympathetic, and then action on their behalf is the logical response. The worst thing anyone can do is “try to politicize it,” which means seeing the victims as real flesh and blood people, whose lives should have never been taken, and then acting accordingly. And if you must talk about the victims, say you pray for them-and tell everyone to pray too. Jeb Bush's “Stuff happens” is perfect-a feature, not a bug. On the right, the first rule of gun violence is you don't talk about gun violence-especially about the victims. Why was he so incurious about what had happened in Roseburg, particularly given how quick he was to pontificate in ignorance?Ĭarson didn't know about Mintz because he didn't want to know. That's exactly what should be done."īut if Carson is now saying that Mintz did “exactly what should be done," then why didn't he say that in the first place? Why didn't he know what Mintz had done? Why was Mintz an unperson to him? "From the indications I got they did not rush the shooter.” That's what Carson initially said. He's someone who did act heroically."Ĭarson: "And that's what I'm saying. He did actually rush the shooter, and he's being hailed as the hero, he actually saved people's lives. O'Donnell: "So, Chris Mintz is an Army veteran and he was shot seven times. O'Donnell: "Do you know who Chris Mintz is?" The shooter can only shoot one person at a time, he cannot shoot a whole group of people." Norah O'Donnell: "Do you believe the victims in Oregon just stood there?"Ĭarson: "From the indications I got they did not rush the shooter. In Carson's case, this reality denial was revealed by the following exchange on CBS This Morning: To regard them as real people is simply too threatening to contemplate, because it would open up the possibility of taking political action-action that even NRA members would support, according to two Frank Luntz polls ( 2009/ 2012). Denying the reality of gun violence victims has become a central tenet of Republican ideology in recent years. But the more fundamental problem was that the victims simply did not exist for Carson. Initially people were upset with Carson's apparent implicit admonishment of the victims-a charge that Carson tried to dismiss by claiming he was looking forward, trying to “plant a seed” for what people should do in the next such incident. He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all.’” And then he smiled and chuckled, apparently quite pleased with himself. “ I would not just stand there and let him shoot me,” he told "Fox and Friends." “I would say, ‘Hey guys, everybody attack him. Ben Carson has caught a lot of flak for some of his remarks on the Oregon mass shooting.
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