PrintJanuary 11, 2011
Gun metaphors in American politics (continued)
All the scapegoating of Sarah Palin's map and conservative rhetoric is just so much eyewash, as is becoming clear to nearly everyone except committed leftists. Consider, for example, Governor Jerry Brown's comments on the state budget, reported today:
"Some people might say I am putting a gun to their head," Brown said.
You won't hear Paul Krugman or Sherriff Dupnik denounce Brown because he is a Democrat. But Brown is so accustomed to gun metaphors, a tradition of our political discourse older than America itself, that even in a period of extreme public consciousness of rhetoric, he unselfconsciously used such a metaphor.
Can we just admit that Krugman, Dupnik, and the rest of the speech censors are full of beans, and deserve nothing but scorn?
Hat tip: Elise Cooper
