Wayne LaPierre may not have accomplished his aims during yesterday's NRA press conference, but his performance achieved something even more remarkable. While telling us that the best way to stop the senseless violence in our schools is to fill them with armed "good guys," LaPierre conjured the working-stiff ghost of Archie Bunker.
As a lifelong fan of the 1970s TV sitcom All in the Family I remember the episode when Archie, brilliantly played by Carroll O'Connor, gave an equal time appearance on his local TV news program. For those of you too young to remember there once was a time when anyone could voice their opinions on TV, at least before President Ronald Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine.
Anyway, Archie Bunker had an answer to the big public scare of the time, which was the hijacking of commercial aircraft by armed assailants. A flop-sweating Archie stared doe-eyed into the camera and explained that each passenger should be given a gun as they boarded their flight.
If everyone on the plane were armed, he reasoned, no "bad guy" would ever think of pulling out a weapon. Upon safely arriving at their destination, passengers would simply surrender their guns as they de-planed.
Case closed!
If Wayne LaPierre fails in his quest to defeat proposals for even the mildest forms of gun control, as he has done so deftly throughout his years as president of the NRA, he should at least be awarded one of Carroll O'Connor's Emmys, for proving to us that the spirit of Archie Bunker is alive and well.
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Great story. I miss ol' Archie. I'm delighted to see that you are still blogging -- keep blogging away!
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