[ad_1]
Sacha Baron Cohen has deceived many public servants for about two decades of television and film work, playing a variety of characters who mollify outrageous and embarrbading statements by people like Newt Gingrinch, Ralph Nader, Ron Paul, and then host of "The Apprentice", Donald Trump
The comic actor even made a few trips to Charleston for one of his previous television shows, deceiving more than just some of our fellow residents of the holy city to the camera.
In other words, it would be silly to blame the American representative Joe Wilson, RS.C., who appeared in the first episode of Mr. Cohen's new show "Who is America?", Sunday , to be dropped by the tricks of a jester. But it is clearly less stupid to worry a little about what Mr. Wilson seemed to be warmly supporting on the show.
The centerpiece of Sunday's episode was a bit where Mr. Cohen was playing an Israeli anti-terrorist expert named Erran Morad. Several officials and gun rights advocates approved Morad's extravagant program of "Kinderguardians" as a solution to shootings at school
Why arm teachers, the field went, when students too young people 3 years old could be trained intruders? (But not younger than 3, of course, because "they call them both terrible for a reason," quipped Mr. Cohen in the episode.)
Obviously, such a plan would be ridiculous – without speak dangerous. That's all the sense of the joke. But the representative Wilson, who said Tuesday that he was reading a scenario that producers of the series gave him, followed him.
"A 3 year old child can not defend himself from an badault rifle by throwing a Hello Kitty kit at him," said Wilson. "Our founding fathers did not set an age limit for the Second Amendment."
Yikes.
U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, former Senator Trent Lott and former representative Joe Walsh also gave resounding endorsement to the Guardians of Youth.
Again, it's not so much as Mr. Wilson and his current and former lawmakers colleagues Mr. Cohen's cunning. Which of us has not fallen for a joke at one time or another?
But the apparent willingness of Mr. Wilson to accept a clearly ridiculous proposition is less troubling than the extent to which such an absurd policy idea seems trivial in this era of heightened polarization and decreasing l? appreciation of what has long been considered obvious common sense.
Cohen's show up to now has garnered mixed reviews for precisely this reason. The headlines of any given day are so unbelievable, and the daily Twitter of President Trump is so incendiary that even the most striking commentary of a public figure seems commonplace.
True, people put their feet in their hands. mouth so to speak for as long as there were people, feet and mouths. And Mr. Cohen has shown himself particularly apt to elicit reputable reactions from very serious people.
Yet, apparently, we live in a time when "guns for toddlers" are an acceptable proposition for subject legislators. It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry.
[ad_2]
Source link
