I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Conflation is a core political tool of the left. Such as, if you’re anti-illegal immigrant, you’re anti-immigrant. If you’re anti-kneeling during the national anthem, you’re a racist. If you’re anti-abortion, you’re a misogynist. Well, another essential tool the left uses is gross exaggeration—yes, the left exaggerates so much I felt an adjective was necessary to get my point across.
Take this “absurd” bit of hyperbole for example. Washington State Governor Jay Inslee recently offered this summary on allowing armed staff to protect students in public schools: “We’re getting these absurd ideas that we want first-graders with Glocks on their hips.” What? Who said that? Not me. Not the NRA. No law-abiding gun rights advocates I know agree with that.
Although, I did first teach my kid to shoot when he was seven years old—Wait! That’s second grade, right? Okay, never mind.
Gov. Inslee’s comment is a remarkable representation of what we school safety proponents, which includes arming qualified and willing school staffers, want, isn’t it? Wow, he really hit the bulls-eye on how we feel. This man who is protected by armed state troopers but who doesn’t think our children should be, provides extraordinary insight into leftist, elitist thought.
Consider this, Governor Inslee: as long as you don’t believe school kids deserve the same security you enjoy, you should decline your armed security detail. I don’t mean you should disarm them. Cops should never be unarmed while on duty (and only rarely while off duty). I’m suggesting you go with no security, just like most public-school students in your state.
I know what you’re thinking: This man must be a genius, right? How could he see through gun-rights advocates’ true wishes? How could he know we want to strap semi-automatic pistols to our first-graders and, along with their lunch boxes, send them off to school?
Doesn’t he sound like the stable, reasonable Democrat voice we’ve been waiting to see still exists in America? Wouldn’t he make a fine standard-bearer for the Democrat Party in 2020?
Some people think so. In 2017, CNN reported Inslee had a chance at getting the Democrat Party nomination for President of the United States. (Anyone else just feel a shiver skitter up their spine?)
Well, we know he’ll be in luminous company. He’ll be sharing the debate dais with the likes of Massachusetts Senator (and Cherokee Princess) Liz Warren, California Senator (and Chief Exaggerator) Kamala Harris, who sees nothing wrong with lying about a Supreme Court nominee, and then continuing the lie even after fact-checkers had debunked it, New Jersey Senator (a.k.a. Spartacus) Cory Booker, and, finally, Ohio Governor (and never-Trumper) John Kasich—oh, wait…is that an R next to Gov. Kasich’s name? Oh, never mind.
Note: How do we know fact-checkers debunked as a lie Senator Harris’ mischaracterizing Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s comment about an abortion case? Leftist-leaning fact-checkers, rather than confirm what she said as true, ignored her comment altogether—as they say, their silence about her lie was deafening.
Now, here’s the part I’ve been waiting to tell you. Not to be outdone by his Democrat “Resistance” comrades seeking the nomination, Gov. Jay “Mahatma” Inslee has expanded his virtue-signaling, anti-gun rights offensive. I guess his attempts to impose leftist climate change and net neutrality standards, and his unilaterally suspending the state’s death penalty, ignoring the convicted murderers’ victims, was not enough—not hardly.
Gov. Inslee recently announced he will no longer take part in an annual event called the Governor’s 20, also known as the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The venerable shooting competition allows civilians of the Washington State Rifle and Pistol Association (WSRPA), and cops of the Washington State Police Pistol Association (WSPPA) to showcase their gun safety and marksmanship.
Since 1903, governors across the country have been signing certificates, recognizing those demonstrating excellence in marksmanship while also exhibiting their safe use of firearms. But, not no more! Uh-uh. Jay Inslee just ain’t gonna do it.
Why?
Because he’s better than you and me, and he needs to prove it. Oh, and because the police organization, WSPPA, is affiliated with the National Rifle Association (insert ominous music here).
You know the NRA, those evil folks who’ve been promoting and protecting the Second Amendment and teaching adults and children (boys and girls) gun safety and marksmanship since 1871 (I am an NRA life member).
KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson, on Mynorthwest.com, wrote that last year, one of the civilian competitors, a 16-year-old girl, earned a certificate. I imagine she competed and won…against boys. I thought the left supported such female accomplishments? I guess, they support it only if the example fits the narrative. A case of dueling leftist issues: What’s more important, female accomplishments or getting rid of guns?
We know where Gov. Inslee stands: gun-grabbing takes precedence. Jane Milhans, of the WSRPA, said, “I thought he [Gov. Inslee] was spitting in the face of law enforcement officers.” Milhans also commented that cops lay their lives on the line and they deserve the governor’s recognition.
Milhans also provided the technical scope of the NRA’s involvement. Essentially, the NRA maintains a common set of shooting competition standards for each state. This is so the NRA can classify competitors should they set national records. Milhans also recognized the NRA for providing officers, serving in smaller law enforcement agencies with no firearms instruction resources, with firearms training. Something I doubt many gun-grabbers even know.
Here’s what the staff of the presidential aspirant—the guy who, if elected, will swear an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution [all of it]—wrote on Inslee’s behalf to organizers of the event who will hold a banquet where officials would have presented honorees with the certificates they’d earned, signed by the governor:
The certificates that were signed last May will be the final certificates signed by the governor… Governor Inslee is no longer able to support any program affiliated with the National Rifle Association (NRA), due to the organization’s obstructive efforts to undermine common sense gun safety measures, including those that enjoy broad public support. We understand competitors will be disappointed by this decision; however, the Governor [sic] believes constructive conversations and meaningful action around gun safety are necessary to better protect our families and communities.
If Gov. Inslee truly wished for “constructive conversations” (I assume he means with the opposition and not just in the anti-gun echo chamber) he would not marginalize gun-rights supporters and demonize the organizations to which they belong. He pretends he supports “common sense” gun laws that “enjoy broad public support.” But this public support he mentions always melts away as people learn the facts about the particular gun control measures. But the mainstream media works hard to make sure only the anti-gun side is heard. People have to struggle to find the truth, while the lies and misinformation are deposited at their feet. And anytime you hear someone say “common sense” gun laws, you’re almost always talking to a gun-grabber.
For example, leftist pollsters will ask people if they support making it harder for criminals and severely mentally ill people to buy firearms? Most people say, “yes.” Hell, with only this information, I would say “yes.” But, as happened in Washington State with I-594, people often find out only after the fact because the mainstream media won’t report the gun rights folks’ side of the issue, that the new law will have zero effect on criminals but a huge effect on law-abiding gun owners.
Criminals don’t care about laws and will get guns anyway. Every openminded person knows this. It’s steeped in logic. Read John Lott’s book More Guns, Less Crime. However, laws like this really affect the good guys. How about the dad who can no longer give his daughter a gun without jumping through the many new government hoops? Completing the same paperwork and background checks he’d have to, to sell to a stranger—and having to pay for the privilege.
The dishonesty and ignorance about guns and firearms issues by the gun-grabbing leftist congregation is staggering. And Gov. Inslee is one of their priests.
Now, I have to ask: Are you as impressed with the holy governor as I am? Jay Inslee is such a good person. I squint in the brilliance of his aura and prostrate myself at the feet of such a worthy human being.
In fact, Gov. Inslee apparently soars so far above ordinary mortals, he felt he could not do what his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, have been doing for many years. He refuses to sign certificates honoring law enforcement officers and their supporters, which recognize their lawful achievements, in this case, in the firearms sport of target shooting.
I am awestruck with admiration for this man’s Gandhi-like countenance and just plain do-gooder-ness of the man. The governor is not Hindu, or for that matter, Catholic, but if he were the latter and imbued with superior virtue, I’d hope the Pope would, without hesitation, put this guy up for sainthood.
Saint Jay Inslee: Washington State’s patron saint of gun control.
