Media Musings: Medellin 'n' Miller

I saw a couple of interesting things this morning. First up, we have this from Huntsville, where murdering scumbag Jose Medellin, just before 10 last night, finally got what was coming to him...

Medellin spent today with his parents and grandmother in the visiting area of death row at the Polunsky Unit outside Livingston.

The couple had been barred from the unit since authorities learned they and other relatives, during a 2001 visit with Medellin, had discussed a possible escape attempt.

Wow, talk about taking enabling to a whole new level. You bust your ass to give your kids a better life than the one they had before (going so far as to break the laws of your new country just to get in it), they basically go and shit all over your efforts by raping and murdering two teenage girls during a drunken gang initiation, and you plot for only God knows how long to get them out of having to pay the price for their actions? I'd say the relatives in question deserve the needle almost as much as Medellin did, if only pour encourager les autres, as the old saying goes. Now, let me make one thing crystal-clear here -- I am by no means condoning the fact that Medellin came to this country illegally. In fact, I'd say this case only emphasizes the need for tighter border control, if only to keep amoral pieces of shit like Jose Medellin (and his parents) out. But the truth of the matter, at least as far as I can tell, is that they did come here because they could do better for themselves than they did in Mexico. And as far as sticking the needle in Medellin's parents, I suppose some might say we're better than that -- and maybe we are -- but the fact is that by enabling him like they allegedly did, they're setting a damned near criminal example, and ultimately it's society at large that's left to pay the price for that example. And if exacting some price from parents like that did make other parents think twice about excusing even acts like shoplifting a pack of gum, well, I'd say that's well-worth it in the long run.
Next up, from the Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle on the saga of NRA spy Mary Lou McFate, we have this whopper from Bryan Miller of Ceasefire New Jersey:

In the battle of ideas with the gun lobby, we're at a constant disadvantage because we're honest.

What-the-fuck-ever, you self-righteous son of a bitch. There is SO much I could say to that, but it's all very neatly encapsulated by a couple of comments from Chronicle readers..

Honest? Not even close. Fabricated statistics, fearmongering, and playing on the emotions of the ignorant and uneducated are the trademarks of the gun control lobby. These are organizations whose sworn goal is to eradicate one of our most basic human rights, and to eliminate the constitutional amendment protecting that right, by whatever means necessary.
If the NRA planted enough "spies" in these groups to bankrupt them and cause them to disband, I wouldn't shed a single tear and we as a country would be better off for it. This is unlikely, since most of the groups are supported by the likes of the Joyce Foundation (a.k.a. a handful of rich "progressives") rather than citizens' dollars. Unlike the NRA, which actually has the popular support of millions of Americans.

and one more...

I just love how this gentleman feels so self-righteous, particularly since the anti-gun and anti-self-defense lobby usually has no qualms about using smoke screens and mirrors when it serves their purpose. In my home state of Washington, anti-gun lobbyists have even set up a shill organization named the "American Hunters and Shooters Association" which, despite the name, has a decidedly anti-gun record and is backed and financed by people who view the 2nd amendment as an outdated relic they can just ignore. I don't know if Mr. Miller's allegations are true but if they are, I have very little sympathy.

Neither do I, buddy. Neither do I.