Chris Matthews Unloads On Protester Who Carried Gun To Obama Event

[One two three]

Damn, all the cool people seem to love NH now

[Bill Brasky]

You'd have to be off your fucking rocker to open carry, or conceal, around Obama.  I'm not disputing your "right" to do so, but I will call into question your grasp of reality.  This guy's gonna be on Secret Service lists for the remainder of his life.

The short list. 

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

You'd have to be off your fucking rocker to open carry, or conceal, around Obama.  I'm not disputing your "right" to do so, but I will call into question your grasp of reality.  This guy's gonna be on Secret Service lists for the remainder of his life.

The short list.

Well, some might say we're all going to be on the short list soon enough. Might as be there first.

[spicynujac]

I gotta agree with iprik here.  I didn't watch the footage of this, but this is not the type of event where you're going to need a gun for any possible reason other than just to cause a ruckus.  So you gotta wonder why he brought it.  And one of the things going through a lot of people's heads has to be assassination.  Why else bring weapons around a major head of state?  This has got to be one of the safest places in New Hampshire at the time.  Seriously, who was he planning to shoot?  I'm all for freedom, but come on, a little common sense please.

[Steven from Colorado]

"Why were you carrying a God-Damned gun to a presidential event?"


So when will Chris Matthews be receiving his half-a-million dollar fine from the FCC?

I think that the FCC doesn't have jurisdiction over cable broadcasts.

Yet.

[Cowcidile]

I gotta agree with iprik here.  I didn't watch the footage of this, but this is not the type of event where you're going to need a gun for any possible reason other than just to cause a ruckus.  So you gotta wonder why he brought it.  And one of the things going through a lot of people's heads has to be assassination.  Why else bring weapons around a major head of state?  This has got to be one of the safest places in New Hampshire at the time.  Seriously, who was he planning to shoot?  I'm all for freedom, but come on, a little common sense please.

The main reason to open carry is to bring attention to the fact that it isn't illegal, This guy just showed that off on a national level. The fact that he wasn't a jibbering lunatic on air gives it that much more validity.

[miamiballoonguy]

"Why were you carrying a God-Damned gun to a presidential event?"


So when will Chris Matthews be receiving his half-a-million dollar fine from the FCC?

he won't.  he's on cable.

[Icculi]

I gotta agree with iprik here.  I didn't watch the footage of this, but this is not the type of event where you're going to need a gun for any possible reason other than just to cause a ruckus.  So you gotta wonder why he brought it.  And one of the things going through a lot of people's heads has to be assassination.  Why else bring weapons around a major head of state?  This has got to be one of the safest places in New Hampshire at the time.  Seriously, who was he planning to shoot?  I'm all for freedom, but come on, a little common sense please.

How dare a lowly peasant be armed in the presence of his master?  Only the royal guard can be armed in his presence.  Now, get back to work in those fields!

[sillyperson]

You'd have to be off your fucking rocker to open carry, or conceal, around Obama.  I'm not disputing your "right" to do so, but I will call into question your grasp of reality.  This guy's gonna be on Secret Service lists for the remainder of his life.

The short list. 

Maybe, but I have video of several other people -- including a nice, chubby, grandmotherly-type lady -- who were concealed-carrying at the event. Should have it posted later today.

At any political event in NH -- from big outdoor protests to testimony at the State House -- you can pretty much assume there are people carrying, that ain't cops.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8047016128665007678&hl=en

[One two three]

You'd have to be off your fucking rocker to open carry, or conceal, around Obama.  I'm not disputing your "right" to do so, but I will call into question your grasp of reality.  This guy's gonna be on Secret Service lists for the remainder of his life.

The short list. 

I thought over a million people were on the no fly list or something?  Anyway, most of the best activists in the nation are likely already on more than one list.

On the other hand, while I have no problem with people open carrying, and I don't understand it makes everyone safer, I wouldn't open carry at most political events. 

[rookie]

"Why were you carrying a God-Damned gun to a presidential event?"


So when will Chris Matthews be receiving his half-a-million dollar fine from the FCC?

he won't.  he's on cable.

if that be the case, cable broadcasts need to start dropping more F-bombs and showing more naked titty.

[davann]

You'd have to be off your fucking rocker to open carry, or conceal, around Obama.  I'm not disputing your "right" to do so, but I will call into question your grasp of reality.  This guy's gonna be on Secret Service lists for the remainder of his life.

The short list.  

Getting on that list is the reason I would not do it. But this was an excellent reminder to those that need to remember that there are allot more of us than them and we are armed. The reality is after the bailouts and the current silliness with health care reform along with the extremely long list of other reasons they have to be reminded before it is to late. I see this as a last ditch, although doomed, effort to change the current course before the SHTF.

Simple fact is, if these politicians stick to doing things that do not piss off people they do not have to worry about an armed crowd. This is why the Secret Service is such an evil evil organization. They are getting in the way of the will of the people.

I'd also like to point out that 99.9% of the "history" of people being armed and concealed carrying at these events are the Secret Service.

[voodoo]

You'd have to be off your fucking rocker to open carry, or conceal, around Obama.  I'm not disputing your "right" to do so, but I will call into question your grasp of reality.  This guy's gonna be on Secret Service lists for the remainder of his life.

The short list. 

I've observed that, as a general rule, personal protection required follows a simple formula:

P = AC + C
where:
P = protection required
C = celebrity of protectee
A = asshattery of protectee

Obama is a big celeb, in town for a monumental level of asshattery, therefore protection required is through the roof.

Kostric (without his weapon) is not a celeb, but engaged in a low-level of asshattery as explicitly defined by the protectee and his devoted faithful.  So, the personal protection he requires is very low.  Certainly, he can provide that himself.

In this framework, Kostric (with weapon) is being criticized for two reasons:

  A) By carrying a weapon, Kostric's P_actual is in excess of his P_required
  B) Because he's carrying it in the vicinity of a person with high P_required, Kostric's excess P_actual either:
    b1) increases P_required of the protectee; or
    b2) increases Kostric's asshattery, resulting in a higher P_required than his P_actual (self-referential, but that's the argument being made so go with it).

There's an additional assumption that the police/secret service/ABC agents can/will cover the P_required for everybody in the crowd.  I think that's a bad assumption.  If the feared event goes down, the protectors are focused on the protectee, and everyone else becomes suspected threats.

Therefore, you can't disregard a radiating function in the vicinity of a protectee with a high Prequired.  It's an inverse relationship that's some function of distance that increases the P_required of everyone near the protectee and proportional to the P_actual of the protectee.

So the question is, considering all that, did Kostric have a P_actual in excess of his P_required?  As a one-off event you can't answer that question definitively, but you can see that the critiques being offered likely make Kostric's decision to carry more reasonable than the decisions of people who didn't carry.

I would question the sanity of anyone who goes near a protectee with a high P_required.  I would doubly question the sanity of anyone who goes into that danger zone without personal protection.

[upperdeck]

I wanted William to just answer Matthews question on..."Why are you carrying a gun to this town hall meeting?"......"Because...I can."

I'm not sure that the FSP was represented well on this one....On another report, it was stated that "The man with the gun was a member of the FSP...a group of secessionists in NH."   While that may be the goal of many in the FSP...that is not the mission.

[One two three]

I wanted William to just answer Matthews question on..."Why are you carrying a gun to this town hall meeting?"......"Because...I can."

I'm not sure that the FSP was represented well on this one....On another report, it was stated that "The man with the gun was a member of the FSP...a group of secessionists in NH."   While that may be the goal of many in the FSP...that is not the mission.

I think he said more than because I can.  He answered it well the very first time it was asked.

The FSP wasn't mentioned on Hardball.  It was mentioned many times though, though I'm not sure it was mentioned on TV.  I understand that especially some papers got the facts of the FSP wrong.  That is too bad.  It happens a lot.  Don't believe something just because you see it or read it from the news.  Most long reports have at least something wrong. 

Now you (we) know, and knowing is half the battle.