RIP Charlton Heston

[Gemini Cricket]

Heston's speech at the meeting mocks the mayor's request. Planned in advance or not, it was poor form. It could have been postponed.
Heston's speech

[Alex]

Where is the mayor's request mocked in that? He explains why the mayor's request isn't granted, but I see no mockery.

And he's right, for the NRA to cancel their event because of Columbine would have been to implicitly endorse the idea that the NRA was somehow entwined with Columbine.

I've said in other threads that I don't really support the idea of a right to bear arms (I agree one exists in our constitution but would have no issue with its approval). But I see no reason why the NRA convention should have been canceled because of Columbine. Any more than it should have been because of any of the other gun-related crimes that occurred in Denver in the weeks leading up to that convention.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Alex

Where is the mayor's request mocked in that? He explains why the mayor's request isn't granted, but I see no mockery.

And he's right, for the NRA to cancel their event because of Columbine would have been to implicitly endorse the idea that the NRA was somehow entwined with Columbine.
...

Okay, I'll bite, let's be pedantic about one word.

It's mockery to me.

He could postpone the meeting without seeming to cater to the wills of someone he disagrees with. It's done all the time. Postponing is not giving in.

And Columbine was not just any crime. It was a huge deal. Maybe not to some but to a majority of the country.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

Okay, I'll bite, let's be pedantic about one word.

It's mockery to me.

I still don't see how it is mockery. I hate using the dictionary definition, but I had to (to make sure that I wasn't going crazy)

mock·er·y –noun, plural -er·ies.

1. ridicule, contempt, or derision.
2. a derisive, imitative action or speech.
3. a subject or occasion of derision.
4. an imitation, esp. of a ridiculous or unsatisfactory kind.
5. a mocking pretense; travesty: a mockery of justice.
6. something absurdly or offensively inadequate or unfitting.

Other than #6 ("offensively unfitting" would be my guess), I can't see where the word fits in. But even then, I would still wholeheartedly disagree.

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

He could postpone the meeting without seeming to cater to the wills of someone he disagrees with. It's done all the time. Postponing is not giving in.

The NRA canceled all events (normally several days of committee meetings, sporting events, dinners, and rallies) save the annual members' voting meeting -- that could not be canceled because the state law governing nonprofits required that it be held. [Their attorney had advised there was way to change location, since under NY law you have to give 10 days' advance notice of that to the members, or hold the meeting anyway and vote on it, there were upwards of 4,000,000 members -- and Columbine happened 11 days before the scheduled meeting.] Source (but the basic facts are in a lot of places)

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

And Columbine was not just any crime. It was a huge deal. Maybe not to some but to a majority of the country.

And no one is disputing that. I certainly hope that you don't believe that Charlton Heston nor the NRA nor any other rational person in this country believes otherwsie.

[Gemini Cricket]

So the whole repeating the "don't come" phrase is not mockery...
Okay...

No one has to agree with me on this. I have my opinion (the guy was a loon) and there it is.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

So the whole repeating the "don't come" phrase is not mockery...
Okay...

If you focus on JUST the 'don't come', perhaps. But if you read the entire speech you will see that he is responding to the request of the mayor:

Originally Posted by Heston's Denver speech

Wellington Webb, the mayor of Denver, sent me a message: "Don't come here. We don't want you here."

_____________


In light of WHY (and how) the NRA continued with holding the meeting in Denver in May 1999, do you still believe that they were wrong to hold it?

[Sub la Goon]

I liked The Naked Jungle.

Even though no one got naked.

[Strangler Lewis]

Should the porn industry cancel its annual Vegas convention if it turns out that at the same hotel a bunch of drunken bachelors got revved up on hours of bondage videos and then killed a hooker?

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

Should the porn industry cancel its annual Vegas convention if it turns out that at the same hotel a bunch of drunken bachelors got revved up on hours of bondage videos and then killed a hooker?

If the convention's main focus was about touting the safety and necessity of the freedom to own whips and 12 hookers were killed with whips and 23 others were hurt by them (without consent) less than a couple of weeks ago... uh yeah.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I always thought it was the "Right to arm Bears."