Friday, June 29, 2012

Locked, Loaded, Liberal, and Lesbian

At the the Westside Pistol & Rifle Range

This is Rachel Maddow, arguably the smartest woman on television. 

She's the GOP's nightmare.  As a Rolling Stone profile put it:

She's America's leading lefty wonk, complete with chunky glasses, Ph.D., and a deep faith in activist government. But Rachel Maddow is also, a little unexpectedly, totally into guns.

Well, maybe not totally unexpected if the liberal you are talking to has actually taken the time to read the U.S. Constitution, understands the roots of violence (it's more likely associated with booze than bullets), knows statistics and American history, and has been to a firing range a few times.

For more on all that, see The Liberal Case for Gun Ownership.
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11 comments:

Chas S. Clifton said...

Who shoots a shotgun in an indoor shooting range? I smell posing.

Seahorse said...

"I pity the foo'" who argues about Rachel Maddow's intelligence. She has the unerring ability to take large, cumbersome topics and distill them down into doable doses. I love when she says, "Now, here's why this is important."

I love smart so much I'd be her girlfriend...and I'm straight!

Seahorse ;)

PBurns said...

Chas --

Oh SURE this was posing. 100% It was a photo shoot. That's the name of the game at a photo shoot.

What kind of gun do you think that is?

I think it could be her own gun, and that it might be an antique model rifle (or remake) circa 1870-1900 or so. I could see her going with some high-caliber repro-history piece. The thing that makes me think I am wrong, of course, is the hose clamp hanging off the barrel. Is that what that is? Hard to believe, but I am not a gun guy soooo... your guess WILL be better than mine!

P

Kerry Cowman said...

I think it is either a Henry Big Boy, a modern lever action rifle with traditional lines (made in NYC); or its an Italian reproduction of the Model 1866 Winchester.

Your guess is as good as mine relative to the hose clamp, which is not part of the gun.

Richard Grossman

Mailey E. McLaughlin, M.Ed. said...

I can shoot my shotgun at my favorite range. They prefer slugs. It makes a loud "boom" and I like that.

Chas S. Clifton said...

I must not have taken P. Burns' advice to drink coffee, and my blurry eyes saw that as something like a Winchester Model 12. Obviously it is not. My mistake.

Chas S. Clifton said...

No eye or hearing protection though. That says, "Not really a shooter"

PBurns said...

Dunno, but apparently when she lived in New York she shot weekly and would sort of brow beat the young interns to go shooting... became like a bowling league. She thinks the left should know about guns. One thing for sure is that at a photo shoot, you do not control much. I was at one for a book a few months back and was put in what I suspect was a ridiculous pose, but the subject 's job is to follow directions. Real photographers of this kind are incredibly bossy, and he/she may have thought glasses and ear protection covered up the money shot, which is Maddow, not sports equipment.

Gina said...

The fact that she is wearing make-up should tell you "posed." She's not a make-up kinda girl.

Anyway, she is indeed a fan of shooting. Her first date with her girlfriend was at an NRA event. She thought, "Wow, weird, but ... let's do it." The girlfriend's sister is a conservative and an NRA member.

She liked the woman, and the shooting. Both stayed in her life.

Citation: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/maddow-meghan-mccain-nra_n_810445.html

Disclosure: I am a fangirl. We share a love of dogs and infrastructure. http://rachelmaddowheygirl.tumblr.com/

Very much recommend her book, "Drift."

She has a very interest bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Maddow

Gina said...

Whoops, wrong "hey girl" link. This is the one I meant to use:

http://rachelmaddowheygirl.tumblr.com/post/16817774737

Unknown said...

"Unexpectedly?" Why so unexpected? Somebody at Rolling Stone is paying too much attention to stereotypes.