Sebastian in Guns | 28 comments Posted byin

Tam notes in response to this segment with Pat Mac on Jordan Klepper’s Comedy Central special:

Tam notes:

I’ve participated in two internet lynch mobs of the sort. Both were for print journos (former Outdoor Life writer Jim Zumbo and former RECOIL editor Jerry Tsai) who spoke up in favor of AWBs at times when such things were realistically still on the table. And Jim Zumbo got a pardon, as far as I was concerned, after a public recanting and a carbine class with Pat Rogers.

I also thew a few logs on those fires. Plus, during the 2008 campaign, I built the pyre that Dan Cooper was burned on, even if it was others who tossed on the gasoline and lit the match.

My enthusiasm for burning heretics ain’t what it used to be, so forgive me if I don’t toss any wood onto Pat Mac’s fire. But nor am I going to grab a bucket either.

I don’t really care what Pat Mac said or didn’t say, or whether there was a whole conversation that was heavily edited. Pat Mac’s sin isn’t what he said. I know Comedy Central heavily edits everything. So does everyone else with half a clue.

Pat Mac’s sin is that he gave Comedy Central what they wanted: a laugh at the expense of gun rights activists who are trying to move the ball forward, and to try to marginalize the activists away from the larger body of gun owners and enthusiasts. I don’t care that Pat Mac said he supported NRA many times, and that it ended up on the cutting room floor. You’d have to be a fool to not understand that would happen.

I often think this is not foolishness, and is perhaps more aptly blamed on hubris; a kind of thinking that makes someone believe, “I can play their game and win. I will come out smelling like a rose. The people will love me when they see how well I represent!”

No you won’t. The person with the tape splicer (yeah, yeah, I know it’s all digital now) is the one holding all the cards in that equation.

So for Christ’s sake, for the dozenth or so time: don’t talk to the fucking media or Comedy Central. They are snakes with cameras and editing rooms. They will make you look bad. No you can’t beat them at this game. To quote one of my favorite movies: “The only winning move is not to play.”