The Meerkat Responds: As Sure as Night Follows Day, P2
It is by now a near-certainty that Derrick Thomas Thiessen will respond to my posts with his usual, vapid, misleading attacks, and his by-now normal, fearful excuses to evade accountability and transparency are being trotted out with each failure to conduct himself in a reasonable manner. His latest post failed to address the questions I posed of him, and instead he side-stepped the points I raised in favour of further dishonest rhetoric.
Derrick starts out by suggesting I employed a strawman argument. The strawman is where you attack an argument your opponent has not made, and it is something that Derrick himself employs on a routine basis. He made mention that blue states are among the most dangerous, yet I provided evidence for how red, conservative, Christian-majority states are in fact the most dangerous, refuting his claim. In Derrick’s eyes, this is somehow a strawman? I dare say this underscores Derrick’s lack of logical thinking.
In his latest post, he refers to cities. He claims that US cities with strict gun control are dangerous. Perhaps they are, but are they as dangerous as cities with weak gun control measures?
The short answer is no. Whether Derrick is prepared to acknowledge the actual numbers and evidence remains to be seen (he does seen to have an aversion to evidence), but let’s present it:
According to various sources (here, here, and here), one of the most violent cities in the US is Memphis, Tennessee. As established in my previous post, Tennessee is a red, conservative state with weak gun control measures. There are several locations in Louisiana (another red state with weak gun laws) that are among the most dangerous in the USA. In fact, according to the last link, three of the top ten most dangerous places in the USA are in Louisiana. It’s true that there are locations within blue states that are also dangerous places to be, but all that underscores is a point I have made several times (one I imagine Derrick will choose not to understand). Inconsistent gun laws which vary wildly from state to state have a negative impact on gun safety and gun crime.
It is pointless to address their responses, as it is casting pearls before swine. The point we were making, which was not addressed,d was the fact that gun control does not solve the problem, and it is a point that goes well above the head of MM (MM is Derrick’s cowardly evasive code for Ben Berwick of Meerkat Musings).
It is worth quoting Derrick Thomas Thiessen here, because this statement is yet another, spectacular lie. As pointed out on numerous occasions, and as backed up by various sources and examples, it is clear that gun control works. It exists in various forms around the world, and there is a reason that various developed countries of broadly similar political, economic and cultural similarity to the USA are a lot safer, especially in respect of gun violence. For Derrick to claim I have not addressed this is either pure dishonesty, or complete fantasy. In Derrick’s case it could be a bit of both!
Once again, I present to him some questions. They are of course optional (lest Derrick falsely whinge that I am demanding things of him), but let us see if he can muster up any conviction, and answer them. I would also wonder if he can finally prove he has enough confidence and faith in his arguments to offer correct, proper accreditation to me, or whether he will continue to cowardly hide behind his imaginary constructs?
- What makes Japan the safest country on earth?
- Why is the UK substantially safer than the USA?
- Why is Canada a lot safer than the USA?
Derrick Thomas Thiessen, the floor is yours.
