In McDonald v. Chicago, Supreme Court offers handguns as affirmative action for the poor and oppressed

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

It troubles me that Dennis, who I admire very much, would use ADSL to mount a political diatribe that has nothing whatever to do with language. Moreover, what he has shared with us in the way of fuming has all the rhetorical zaniness that I associate with Rush Limbaugh rather than a scientist and temperate student of the humanities that I know Professor Baron to be.

I share Dennis's dislike for the Court's ruling, but I deplore his rhetoric. It is not true that the Court based their decision on a belief that the "best way" for anyone to "improve their lot" is to buy a gun. The majority based their decision on their reading of the 2nd Amendment. I agree with the minority that that reading is wrong. But to say that they "wrapped themselves in the mantle of" the Amendment implies that they had some other (unnamed!) nefarious agenda. What could that be? That they own stock in Colt? That they were being bribed? That they feared assassination by the NRA? Nonsense.

I think they are wrong. And their activist court frightens me. But I think there is enough to worry about without taking cheap shots.
------Original Message------
From: Dennis Baron
Sender: ADS-L
To: ADS-L
ReplyTo: ADS-L
Subject: [ADS-L] In McDonald v. Chicago,             Supreme Court offers handguns as affirmative action for the poor             and oppressed
Sent: Jul 1, 2010 10:29 PM

There's a new post on the Web of Language:

In McDonald v. Chicago, Supreme Court offers handguns as affirmative
action for the poor and oppressed

The U.S. Supreme Court has found that the best way for African
Americans, women, and other oppressed groups in America to improve
their lot is to buy a gun.

In any irony hard to overlook, in the same week that Republicans on
the Senate Judiciary Committee would attack Elena Kagan for her
association with civil rights activist and distinguished Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court's conservative majority
wrapped itself in the civil rights mantle to celebrate the Second
Amendment as a vital resource for the nation's downtrodden and
oppressed.

read the rest of this post on the Web of Language:

http://bit.ly/weblan
____________________
Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

http://www.illinois.edu/goto/debaron

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