Jered Townsend: The Reason Interview

David Weigel | July 25, 2007

On Monday night Jered Townsend of Clio, Michigan got a question into the fourth Democratic debate: Would the candidates protect his "baby"? The baby he was referring to was a Bushmaster AR-15.

Sen. Joe Biden shook his head at Townsend, saying "I'll tell you what, if that is his baby, he needs help" and "I don't know that he is mentally qualified to own that gun."

Last night I called up Townsend to ask him what he thought of Biden's answer and the audience's loud applause for the senator.

Reason: What went through your mind when you saw yourself on TV getting called out by a presidential candidate?

Jered Townsend: I just couldn't believe the video got onto CNN. So I was thinking: "Is this really on?" I couldn't really believe it.

Reason: And what about the candidates' answers?

JT: Richardson tried to answer it, but it was a limited timeframe and he didn't get much time to answer. Joe Biden totally did not answer it. He took the fastest and easiest way to blow it off that he could find. But, you know, no skin off my back.

Reason: No skin off your back? He basically called you a lunatic.

JT: No, not really. I just laughed when he said that. He made himself look stupid and he didn't answer my question. Anybody who knows me knows different.

Reason: And when the room applauded his answer?

JT: Again, no skin off my back.

Reason: Are you really a Democrat?

JT: You know, I don't really vote by party, I go on a person by person basis. [Ed: Townsend has made no federal political donations.] If you're asking whether I'm a liberal or a conservative, I'm a little bit more liberal, except on Social Security and oil prices.

Reason: And the Second Amendment.

JT: Yes! That's a sticking point.

Reason: Back to the debate... I think Biden's snap response to your video was so snippy because he thought you looked crazy. Why did you call the gun "my baby?"

JT: First off, I used the word "baby" because I was sitting there thinking of a way to stand out, and me talking about a "baby" makes the judges think: "Oh, this guy is against guns." And then I revealed what I was talking about. I wanted a bold statement and I wanted it to be effective—to stick in your mind and stay there.

Reason: What was the point you were making about the 1994 gun ban?

JT: Well, I bought that Bushmaster AR-15 under the ban. Biden said he supported the ban, so maybe he was thinking the gun I was holding I bought outside the law. But the ban is all cosmetic: They attack the guns that look mean because they want to set a tone.

Reason: What do you use it for?

JT: I do target practice with it. I hunt coyote with it. It's a good varmint rifle.

Reason: So why were you wearing shorts and a tank top?

JT: Because that's what you wear in the middle of July in Michigan when it's 100 percent humidity. I don't know what Joe Biden wears in his air-conditioned limousine or his private jet. But I should say that I tried to write Biden about this. I sent him an email, saying "come to come Clio, I want to talk to you, we'll sit down and talk about this issue."

Reason: What'd he say?

JT: No response yet. And I sent a phone message and an e-mail.

Reason: You were undecided going into the debate. Did the debate change your mind at all?

JT: I'm still mostly undecided but the odds of supporting Joe Biden have expired and disappeared completely.

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x,y|7.25.07 @ 10:45AM|#

While Biden's an demagoguing fool, what does it mean to be less liberal on oil prices?

|7.25.07 @ 10:50AM|#

Let's elect this guy, he sounds more reasonable than anyone running for prez, on both sides, with the exception of Ron Paul, of course.

Maybe a Paul/Townsend '08 ticket?

|7.25.07 @ 10:52AM|#

x,y: probably pro-drilling, less enviro restrictons, though that's just a guess.

Biden's a dickhead and by that I mean "unpresidential." He's not aware that people call their prized possessions "my baby"? Does Biden think Townshend changes diapers on the AR-15, or think that Townshend thinks the gun is literally a baby? Or does Biden just think that anybody whose prized possession is a gun is, a priori, maniacal?

x,y|7.25.07 @ 10:56AM|#

I only caught the last 20 minutes of the debate, but the audience's reaction to Biden's snark tells me just about all I need to know about mainstream Democrats.

To be fair, the audience's reaction to Rudy's 9/11 demagoguing tells me just about all I need to know about mainstream Republicans.

|7.25.07 @ 10:59AM|#

x,y: the respective audience reactions to Biden and Rudy suggest that we're more interested in zinging undesirables than analyzing issues.

|7.25.07 @ 11:05AM|#

of course, Biden is from the state of Delaware, where there have been some real 2nd amendment questions brought up. Like that crazy inbred DuPont kid who owned a tank, and murdered someone with shells shot from said tank.

Ayn_Randian|7.25.07 @ 11:08AM|#

Erm, even though Clio's fairly close to the lake, let's try not to exaggerate the mild heat of Michigan into some scorching sand-pit where you just have to wear a tank top and shorts. I mean, what, it's topped out at a whole 90 in the Midwest this summer so far? Some people are such drama queens.

It's Michigan, not goddamn Arabia. (where it's 130 today, thanks very much)

x,y|7.25.07 @ 11:09AM|#

x,y: the respective audience reactions to Biden and Rudy suggest that we're more interested in zinging undesirables than analyzing issues.

If by "we" you mean mainstream Democrats and Republicans, then yes, I agree with that.

|7.25.07 @ 11:21AM|#

At least it's a dry heat in Arabia.

Russ 2000|7.25.07 @ 11:23AM|#

where you just have to wear a tank top and shorts.

We're all supposed to get into casual business attire for YouTube videos now?

|7.25.07 @ 11:24AM|#

clearly he is mentally unstable and should not own a gun. He fetishizes firearms because he derives antisocial forms of sexual pleasure from them. Why else would he call it "his baby" WHY WHY WHYYYYY

He was exactly right. The qualities that made his video stand out and get selected are what made Biden's cheap-shot too easy.

Beyond that I don't think Jered is as good a spokesman as say RON PAUL

GO RON PAUL!

RON PAUL in '08

The Wine Commonsewer®|7.25.07 @ 11:25AM|#

Or does Biden just think that anybody whose prized possession is a gun is, a priori, maniacal?

Well, yes.

But if your baby was powder blue 66 Chevelle SS 396 with fat cam and 411 gears he'd be more sympathetic.

|7.25.07 @ 11:30AM|#

x,y: by "we" I mean "they" and by "they" I mean America, but not us.

|7.25.07 @ 11:36AM|#

Townsend may be in fact a reasonable, thoughtful person but when of all the political issues facing Americans today he chooses the "the government's gonna take my gun" (which is not going to happen, of course) while posing with what he admits is a scary-looking rifle then of course he's going to be considered a stereotypical gun nut.

Biden just said what everybody else was thinking, including most of you guys. You may defend Townsend's right to be a gun nut, but I bet you'd lock the door and call the cops if you saw him prowling through your upper-middle-class neighborhood with his AR-15 in tow.

Da|7.25.07 @ 11:38AM|#

OT: How come there aren't comments allowed on the Reason online article?

http://www.reason.com/news/show/121553.html

This one I just read on Michael Vick and illegal gambling was awful. Amateurish, like a HS level piece.

|7.25.07 @ 11:41AM|#

I'd like to thank Dave Weigel for providing me yet another opportunity for me to engage in identity politics!

Dave, you're the best!

Timothy|7.25.07 @ 11:43AM|#

Weigel is just shilling for Big Guns. A post about Chippendales is next.

LibertyPlease|7.25.07 @ 11:43AM|#

"The qualities that made his video stand out and get selected are what made Biden's cheap-shot too easy."

Jared's attempt to make his video stand out did all of us (those interested in liberty) a disservice by playing into the sterotype. To the masses watching the debate, he embodied the nut fetishizing guns. Sure, people who know him personally may know differently, but to the (gun-fearing) masses he plays right into their pre-conceptions.

He might as well have been an anti-rights plant.

Abdul|7.25.07 @ 11:43AM|#

I bet you'd lock the door and call the cops if you saw him prowling through your upper-middle-class neighborhood with his AR-15 in tow.

Nah, we wouldn't need to call the cops. We all have guns too.

|7.25.07 @ 11:44AM|#

No offense meant to Jered, but I do find it somewhat unfortunate that they didn't use a better question, like this one.

|7.25.07 @ 11:47AM|#

Well, yes.

But if your baby was powder blue 66 Chevelle SS 396 with fat cam and 411 gears he'd be more sympathetic.

TWC-
IDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICS
IDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICS
IDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICS
IDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICS
IDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICSIDENTITYPOLITICS

I win!

x,y|7.25.07 @ 11:51AM|#

CNN could have picked a "better" question, but would we be discussing gun control today if they did? The question they picked was, IMHO, perfect.

threadjack|7.25.07 @ 11:55AM|#

So, Ward Churchill was sacked.

|7.25.07 @ 12:05PM|#

"Biden just said what everybody else was thinking, including most of you guys."

No, not really. I guess that's the whole point of being a libertarian, we've lost the desire to be utter pricks to people who look different.

"I bet you'd lock the door and call the cops if you saw him prowling through your upper-middle-class neighborhood with his AR-15 in tow."

Gun ownership is not the same as "prowling" through the streets with a gun. Still, throughout much of the south, midwest and southwest people joke that rednecks have gun racks in their trucks. Are people calling the cops all the time, or don't gun racks in trucks qualify as "prowling"?

Rob|7.25.07 @ 12:09PM|#

JT: ... I sent him an email, saying "come to come Clio, I want to talk to you, we'll sit down and talk about this issue."

Reason: What'd he say?

JT: No response yet. And I sent a phone message and an e-mail.

Hmm, I wonder why Biden wouldn't "sit down and talk" with a guy he considers crazy, a guy with a scary gun who Biden has just personally insulted. Its laughable that this guy even attempted to set up a meeting, yet he seems truly disappointed that Biden hasn't responded!

|7.25.07 @ 12:11PM|#

Rob: you're surprised JT didn't even get an automated reply?

Wulf|7.25.07 @ 12:17PM|#

Biden just said what everybody else was thinking, including most of you guys.

Dan T., do you know what everybody else is thinking right now? We're thinking that you are a freakin' mindreader, man! How do you do it?

The Wine Commonsewer®|7.25.07 @ 12:20PM|#

So, Ward Churchill was sacked.

Heartbreak Hotel

|7.25.07 @ 12:21PM|#

I went to high school in the Sierra foothills, back in the 1970s, when politicians in the cities were busy beating the drums to ban "Saturday Night Specials." Kids drove to school with gun-racks in the back windows of their pickup trucks. Some kids actually brought guns to school. (We had a marksmanship club.) Nobody was scared. Kids, most of whom lived "in the sticks," on ranches and farms, typically grew up with guns in the household and learned to respect them for both the good and harm they could do. We never had a gun incident. Our experience was replicated in small towns all over the country.

I suspect that the real "problem of guns" is that cities are pressure-cookers, with numerous causes of stress and strife. Rather than try to find a way to disarm people, might it make more sense to try to find ways to de-stress the cities?

Then again, maybe stress-addicts just naturally head to the cities; perhaps cities cannot be formed except by those who "thrive" in that kind of environment. But if so, why should everyone's freedom be restricted because those addicts pursue their drug of choice?

The Wine Commonsewer®|7.25.07 @ 12:23PM|#

Yes Dan T, if there was a stranger prowling through the neighborhood with an AR-15 I might lock the door and do that little clackety clack thing that jacks a shell into the chamber of the 12 guage. But I wouldn't call the cops 'cuz they aren't coming unless someone's dead.

OTOH, if it was my neighbor I'd not pay much attention less he was doing something stupid.

|7.25.07 @ 12:25PM|#

Citizen: Sir, I'd like to apply for a gun license.

Bureaucrat: Sorry, you're application is denied because of your mental illness.

Citizen: What mental illness?

Bureaucrat: If you want a gun, you're not mentally qualified to own a gun.

The Wine Commonsewer®|7.25.07 @ 12:26PM|#

JAM, Sierra foothills strikes a chord. My cousin (the big cheese over at MacWorld) grew up in Sonora Ca. My dad still lives there. Mrs TWC's dad lives outside of Placerville. Where did you call home? Just asking. :-)

|7.25.07 @ 12:28PM|#

Dan T., do you know what everybody else is thinking right now? We're thinking that you are a freakin' mindreader, man! How do you do it?

He's not a mind reader, his stereotypes are ok because he's just smarter than everyone else...except me of course...Morons!

|7.25.07 @ 12:31PM|#

jtuf -

That's the catch.

What catch?

Catch 22.

CB

|7.25.07 @ 1:00PM|#

In response to this: "Or does Biden just think that anybody whose prized possession is a gun is, a priori, maniacal?"

TWC said: "Well, yes.

But if your baby was powder blue 66 Chevelle SS 396 with fat cam and 411 gears he'd be more sympathetic."

Not to threadjack or anything, but good little pandering liberals like Biden publicly disapprove of such global warming enhancement devices like said Chevelle -- unless they're in a room full of Hot Rod enthusiasts, in which case they'll pretend to like it.

If you want to make pandering liberal politicians squirm, put them in a room that's half enviro wackos, half hot-rodders, and then ask whether it's irresponsible to own a car that creates so much greenhouse gases.

Rich Ard|7.25.07 @ 1:00PM|#

let's try not to exaggerate the mild heat of Michigan into some scorching sand-pit where you just have to wear a tank top and shorts.

Have you been here? It's fxcking hot when the haze comes down.

|7.25.07 @ 1:01PM|#

ProL -

Dry heat in Arabia?

Only if you're in the Al-Rub Al-Khali or the Western provinces. In the Eastern Province where I lived, it was 130 F with 80+% humidity. It was like living in a sauna.

And you sure as shootin' can't wear shorts and a tank top in Arabia.

Otherwise, I have nothing to contribute.

|7.25.07 @ 1:13PM|#

"Biden just said what everybody else was thinking, including most of you guys."

"No, not really. I guess that's the whole point of being a libertarian, we've lost the desire to be utter pricks to people who look different. "

Lamar wins the thread!

brian|7.25.07 @ 1:19PM|#

jh

If you want to make pandering liberal politicians squirm, put them in a room that's half enviro wackos, half hot-rodders, and then ask whether it's irresponsible to own a car that creates so much greenhouse gases.

The ideal answer (in my opinion) would be that it's irresponsible to own a car that creates so much greenhouse gases if you are not paying for said emissions. I'd expect a lot of liberals to say something along these lines.

|7.25.07 @ 1:22PM|#

No, not really. I guess that's the whole point of being a libertarian, we've lost the desire to be utter pricks to people who look different.

Right, which explains the numerous "dirty hippie" comments.

|7.25.07 @ 1:25PM|#

Dan. Dirty Hippies aren't people.

brian|7.25.07 @ 1:26PM|#

Right, which explains the numerous "dirty hippie" comments.

Yeah I'm confused by all those in these threads. I thought libertarians were supposed to live and let live, but when someone says they use a cloth bag to buy groceries (rather than paper or plastic), people here denounces them as dirty hippies because they choose to live differently. That coupled with the lack of outrage about the trampling of the 4th amendment on the AG thread, it seems that we have a conservative (rather than libertarian) trend today on H&R...

|7.25.07 @ 1:37PM|#

The problem is that the dirty hippies are trying to use the government to force me to live like a dirty hippie.

Hey y'all. A look through the last thread on this issue will confirm that most of the people here did NOT think he came across like a nut in his video.

I didn't even notice what he was wearing.

And if Biden really is "scared" of this guy, he is an idiot. There isn't a freakin' scary thing about him that I have seen.

|7.25.07 @ 2:24PM|#

There isn't a freakin' scary thing about him that I have seen.

Aside from the fact that he's emotionally attached to an instrument of death?

|7.25.07 @ 2:30PM|#

"Aside from the fact that he's emotionally attached to an instrument of death?"

It's an instrument of power, DanT. Death is just one of the uses (or abuses) of that power. Get it straight.

|7.25.07 @ 2:39PM|#

Reason: What went through your mind when you saw yourself on TV getting called out by a presidential candidate?

Jered Townsend: I just couldn't believe the video got onto CNN. So I was thinking: "Is this really on?" I couldn't really believe it.

Reason: And what about the candidates' answers?

JT: Richardson tried to answer it, but it was a limited timeframe and he didn't get much time to answer. Joe Biden totally did not answer it. He took the fastest and easiest way to blow it off that he could find. But, you know, no skin off my back.

Reason: No skin off your back? He basically called you a lunatic.

JT: No, not really. I just laughed when he said that. He made himself look stupid and he didn't answer my question. Anybody who knows me knows different.

Reason: And when the room applauded his answer?

JT: Again, no skin off my back.

Reason: No no, you're aggrieved! He insulted you! He insulted your people!

JT: Uhhhh...

Reason: Our people are being persecuted! It's the last acceptable form of prejudice.

JT: Ummmm...whoa, look at the time! It's been nice talking to you fellas.

Reason: But...but...

JT: You have a good day, now.

|7.25.07 @ 2:44PM|#

PL,

Abu Dhabi sure as hell ain't a dry heat. Anything along the Gulf is murderous. The best part is the time from about an hour before sunset to 2am or so. The heat SLOOOOOOOOOOWLY bleeds off, but in the meantime, the humidity rockets up to insane levels such that around midnight, it can still be 100+ and the humidity can literally approach 100%.

If you're lucky and away from the coast a bit, the scorching sun (and reflection off the sand) can burn off the morning humidity to merely horrifying numbers while driving the temperature up past 115 or more. Only then can you say it's a "dry" heat. But it's still several times more humid than the most humid days in a place like Tucson.

Edward|7.25.07 @ 2:54PM|#

This guy seems pretty smart. I doubt Ron Paul could convince him that the government is planning to stage a terrorist attack, that the founding fathers envisioned a robustly Christian nation, or that Eisenhower was a willing tool of the communists.

Minion of URKOBOLD|7.25.07 @ 3:06PM|#

Dan T. | July 25, 2007, 2:24pm | #
There isn't a freakin' scary thing about him that I have seen.

Aside from the fact that he's emotionally attached to an instrument of death?

*IMAGINES JOKE COMBINING "URKOBOLD" AND "JOHNSON" HIER...

|7.25.07 @ 3:22PM|#

Dan T.,

Chill with the "instrument of death" talk.

Just think of target shooting as really loud archery.

|7.25.07 @ 3:26PM|#

Hippies aren't dirty, they just smell.

|7.25.07 @ 3:28PM|#

Get your patchouli stink outta my store!

|7.25.07 @ 3:48PM|#

Good interview of this interesting character, Mr. Weigel.

joe, calm down, take a pill and stop projecting.

And even though I don't own a gun myself, nor am I really around them ever, I don't find this guy scary or threatening. He looks like some IT guy with a hobby/toy that looks a lot less threatening than the Klingon bat'leth I'd half-expect to see him owning.

Finally, I think it will be ironic if Townsend and his "baby" comment are remembered (even if parodied and joked about) long after Biden's presidental campaign has died.

VM|7.25.07 @ 3:51PM|#

I don't find this guy scary or threatening. He looks like some IT guy with a hobby/toy

damn, Darkly! You ARE brave! That sounds like the very model of a modern scary d00d!

bows to Stevo! :)

|7.25.07 @ 4:00PM|#

Huh. Obscure?

I'm surprised.

As much as I do enjoy pills, Stevo, I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about. Projecting, what?

|7.25.07 @ 4:07PM|#

I guess that's the whole point of being a libertarian, we've lost the desire to be utter pricks to people who look different.

That's flat-out untrue. Libertarianism is a political philosophy, not a moral one.

There's no reason that a libertarian can't be a racist, misogynist, homophobic anti-Semite, so long as they don't favor coercion to enforce their beliefs.

|7.25.07 @ 4:18PM|#

Still, they tend not to be.

To make this somewhat related to the topic, as a gun owner, I'm willing to trust people that I don't even know to act responsibly with the gun(s) that they own.

Edward|7.25.07 @ 4:18PM|#

crimethink

Define coercion.

MattXIV|7.25.07 @ 4:26PM|#

Dan T.,

Well, in the part of the country I live, I wouldn't think that much of someone with a rifle unless he was doing something suspicious since hunting is a common hobby. Your comments really reflect more about your own lack of understanding of the common contexts of gun usage than anything else. I don't hunt and have never even fired a gun, but I associate rifles a lot more with hunting than killing people, probably because I know well over a dozen people who hunt and a handful of competitive target shooters but nobody who has ever been shot at or shot at someone outside of a military combat operation.

Full Disclosure: While I have no financial or personal ties to any gun manufacturers, I have recieved venison jerky free of charge from those who utilize their products.

|7.25.07 @ 4:27PM|#

There's no reason that a libertarian can't be a racist, misogynist, homophobic anti-Semite, so long as they don't favor coercion to enforce their beliefs.

Make that "so long as they only favor coercion to enforce some of their beliefs".

|7.25.07 @ 4:31PM|#

Dan T.,

Chill with the "instrument of death" talk.

LOL. :-D

|7.25.07 @ 4:44PM|#

Maybe "projecting" isn't exactly the right word, joe, but I didn't see any reason to think Weigel was hoping Townsend would play the outraged victim, or was trying to goad him into it.

Or maybe you were just being funny and I'm being crabby. I'm stress-snarking, maybe.

|7.25.07 @ 4:49PM|#

Stevo,

But, you know, no skin off my back.

Reason: No skin off your back? He basically called you a lunatic.

JT: No, not really. I just laughed when he said that. He made himself look stupid and he didn't answer my question. Anybody who knows me knows different.

Reason: And when the room applauded his answer?

JT: Again, no skin off my back...

Reason: Back to the debate... I think Biden's snap response to your video was so snippy because he thought you looked crazy.

Nope, no goading there.

|7.25.07 @ 4:54PM|#

Well, Biden did pretty much make the worst possible public response to the guy. Not only insulting him, but playing up the fact that he helped to author legislation prohibiting firearms similar to the one owned by Jered.

That Jered's so laid back about it doesn't change the fact that Biden's response to the question was condescendingly unprofessional and wholly devoid of any sort of insight. Well, other than his disdain for gun owners.

|7.25.07 @ 5:00PM|#

Edward and Dan T.,

I'm not going to get into "vain disputes over words" here. I was just pointing out that simply being a prick to a member of a group you don't like doesn't necessarily mean you're not a libertarian.

Oh, wait, let me predict joe's response to my thread:

"You're nothing more than an unhinged fetishist who's engaging in identity politics. Stop getting so upset about those who want to infringe on your civil liberties, you baby."

|7.25.07 @ 5:01PM|#

By thread, of course, I meant post.

S.A. Miller|7.25.07 @ 5:01PM|#

We're all supposed to get into casual business attire for YouTube videos now?

When submitting a video question for a nationally televised debate I don't think it is too much to ask that you not be dressed like a slob.

And as someone who's been accused of being all four of those things (racist, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Semitic) on these here threads, I'm glad for that distinction.

|7.25.07 @ 5:03PM|#

SA Miller,

Well, the guy said he thought it had no shot of getting on anyway. If his attire was that much of a scandal, why did CNN choose to show his video on national television?

LibertyPlease|7.25.07 @ 5:05PM|#

"...as a gun owner, I'm willing to trust people that I don't even know to act responsibly with the gun(s) that they own."

Absolutely, I second that. People are generally responsible (until you infantilize them with draconian legislation and cctv cameras babysitting them (see London)). I don't worry about my neighbors or fellow citizens at all. If the time comes I am threatened, well, I have guns.

LibertyPlease|7.25.07 @ 5:08PM|#

"If his attire was that much of a scandal, why did CNN choose to show his video on national television?"

If I was a suspicious man, I'd say they chose his video because of his attire

|7.25.07 @ 5:09PM|#

mediageek,

That Jered's so laid back about it doesn't change the fact that Biden's response to the question was condescendingly unprofessional and wholly devoid of any sort of insight.

Sure.

And that Biden was an a-hole does not change the fact that Weigel was goading him in an attempt to get him to complain about how badly his feelings had been hurt by the Senator's insensitivity to the oppression of his people.

LibertyPlease|7.25.07 @ 5:14PM|#

"...does not change the fact that Weigel was goading him.."

Townsend was oblivious to any of the issues his and Biden's exchange raised. I'm glad Weigel pushed him to address the sorts of questions we've had here on H&R. Hearing that Townsend was just darn happy to be on the television is dissapointing.

|7.25.07 @ 5:52PM|#

JT outclassed Biden. Maybe Weigel was goading him into negatively characterizing the Senator from a-hole, but he didn't bite, and that means something.

S.A. Miller|7.25.07 @ 5:55PM|#

If his attire was that much of a scandal, why did CNN choose to show his video on national television?

I'll just echo what LibertyPlease said. I suspect his attire made him look like even more of a "nut" to CNN, the better to marginalized him.

|7.25.07 @ 6:02PM|#

Reason: What do you use it for?

JT: I do target practice with it. I hunt coyote with it. It's a good varmint rifle.

What if he'd said he used it for self defense?

What difference would that make?

mnuez|7.25.07 @ 6:04PM|#

Methinks CNN chose this video to ask the gun question precisely because the guy looked frightening - and his "baby" even more frightening. He sounds quite reasonable in the presented minutes but the video did look kinna scary and put gun owners in a pretty bad light.

I'm not saying that I have a strong opinion one way or the other but choosing this video did look like CNN was propping up a strawman to pitch the dems a softball.

Anyhow, most of the YouTube videos chosen were no different than what you'd hear at a townhall debate and thus, while I did enjoy watching the debate, it was a whole helluva lot less worthwhile than it could and should have been.

mnuez

|7.25.07 @ 6:12PM|#

Hmm, so people are defending the Dems for negatively judging this guy based on his look?

|7.25.07 @ 6:24PM|#

And that Biden was an a-hole does not change the fact that Weigel was goading him in an attempt to get him to complain about how badly his feelings had been hurt by the Senator's insensitivity to the oppression of his people.

So what if Weigel was?

Biden, his stance on guns, and his incivil response are really the issues here.

|7.25.07 @ 6:38PM|#

Lamar, did you see the video I linked to upthread?

JR|7.25.07 @ 10:12PM|#

I, for one, am glad that Jared's vid was chosen.

Richardson's response was very telling. He pretty much stated that he was against all private firearm sales. This is a fact that I did not know.

And Biden, well Biden one again proved he is an A**. Biden's condescending response to Jared's question shows the nation just how that anti's feel about gun owners, no matter how they are dressed.

|7.26.07 @ 3:40AM|#

I am literally surrounded by men and women, many of them teenagres, who are armed with loaded, fully automatic weapons.

Call me crazy, but I am not at all frightened by them, in fact I take great comfort in their presence. If guns are so inherently evil, why am I not worried?

|7.26.07 @ 11:23AM|#

Maybe Weigel was goading him into negatively characterizing the Senator from a-hole, but he didn't bite, and that means something.

Yes. For one thing, it means that at least one of the gun owners that Reason claims to speak for finds their identity-politics victim-mongering as implausible as I do.

Sorry your poster boy gave you the finger, Reason.

|7.26.07 @ 2:22PM|#

I happen to personally know JT and I am hear to tell you he is not a nut. He happens to be a everyday Joe who is actually funnier then hell and quite intelligent. Just like in the other comment if it was a 1967 Chevelle it would be ok to call it a baby....what is the difference between the personal choice between the car or gun? I think we have alot of other things to be worrying about and using our brain power then ragging on him about his personal opinion and wanting his question answered...which never did get answered.

James M. Ray|7.26.07 @ 2:43PM|#

I'm just glad SOMEONE did CNN's job...
JMR

|7.26.07 @ 3:43PM|#

here

David X|7.26.07 @ 4:10PM|#

Michigan is not hot. Arizona is hot, and humid thanks to the recent monsoons. I wear a black long-sleeve cotton shirt to work and tan jeans with leather shoes...

hmm... maybe I'm the lunatic.

|7.26.07 @ 6:16PM|#

Beg to differ with you, I also live in Michigan and it most certainly does to get hot granted not like Arizona but we do have hot and humid days believe me....it gets nasty

Matt G|7.28.07 @ 8:59AM|#

I know Jered personally for I am also from Clio. I think what he was trying to do is 2 things. 1. Get a question aired on the debate; this is not an easy thing to do considering that there were over 20,000 for the judges to choose from. He felt that his question needed to stand out, which it did. 2. I believe that his underlying question was just about gun control and the candidates' views on them. It was obvious from the answers, or lack thereof for the matter he did not get it answered in any way.

As for his attire, Jered is an easy going guy who mountain bikes daily; he probably just got in from a ride and shot his question. Damn at least he was not wearing fatigues with a big Nazi flag or something in the background!!

Matt G

|7.31.07 @ 11:41PM|#

If "your baby" is a machine that was designed to kill people, then, yeah, you are on the far outskirts of emotionally human.

Biden dealt with his question just as any sane and compassionate person who understands the gun issue would. Townsend's video was a juvenile and cowardly slap in the face to the people who have in fact lost their babies to idiots with weapons they don't need and can't operate safely.

Instead of writing Biden to ask him to come to talk to you, why don't you write the parent of a REAL baby shot dead by some scrawny hayseed dickhead with a necrophiliac attachment to firearms who forgot he had the safety off one day after a beer too many and tell him why you really, really, really need your 'baby' for "varmint hunting"? Why dontcha do that, Jared?

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