United Liberty

Piers Morgan has been using his show since the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook to call for increased gun control measures, including a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” During his segments on the issue, Morgan frequently tears into his guests, insulting them, and, as Ben Shapiro recently put it, making them look like they “don’t seem to care enough about the dead kids.”

One would think that these sorts of tactics are too much for a major news network, Jeff Zucker, President of CNN, supports the way Morgan spoken out on the issue, according to Politico:

CNN president Jeff Zucker told CNN New York staff today that he supported Piers Morgan’s decision to speak in favor of gun control, sources at the network tell POLITICO.

During a town-hall meeting with staff, Zucker was asked about CNN expressing opinion, something it has traditionally tried to avoid. Zucker said he was in favor of it where it was appropriate, citing Morgan’s stance on gun control as one example, sources said.
[…]
Today’s meeting in New York was attended by at least 600 staffers, sources said. One described Zucker’s support for Morgan’s taking a position as “clear and unequivocal.”

Since the mid-December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Piers Morgan has been using his show to endlessly complain about guns. Since he couldn’t argue the issue intelligently with people like Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, Morgan brought on Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist talk show host, to help him frame gun owners as crazy people.

On Thursday evening, Morgan hosted Ben Shapiro, editor at large of Breitbart.com, to discuss guns and the Second Amendment. It. Was. Epic. While he was calm and collected, Shapiro was sharp in his criticism of Morgan from the start.

Kicking off the segment, Shapiro told Morgan, “Honest, Piers, you’ve kind of been a bully on this issue because what you do…is tend to demonize people who differ from you politically by standing on the graves of the children of Sandy Hook, saying they don’t seem to care enough about the dead kids; if they more cared about the dead kids, they would agree with you on policy.”

Shapiro explained that this sort of Morgan’s tactics don’t serve the debate well, noting instead that “we can have a rational political conversation about balancing rights and risks and rewards of these different policies.” Shapiro added, “I don’t think what we need to do is demonize people on the other side as being unfeeling about what happened in Sandy Hook.”

Watch the segment:

Since the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Piers Morgan has been using his CNN talk show to rail against guns and calling for stricter gun control measures. On his most recent “Reality Check” segment, Ben Swann went over some of the statistics that Morgan has been using on his show, noting that the CNN host has been less than forthright:

Politics is a nasty business. A Really dirty business in which a select few are qualified to engage. Even fewer can do this and retain their own integrity and principles.

Those who watch from the outside tend to romanticise the process. This is probably because those who write about history and current events rarely give the general public a peek into the sordid affairs of politicians that does not involve naked women or bribes. Parliamentary procedures and party rules aren’t that exciting.

A prime example of how the media has, from time immemorial, missed the entire point, can be found in the Republican nomination process. You know, the one where Willard “Mitt” Romney has been named the presumed nominee months before the nominating convention has even been assembled.

But before examining this recent example, let us examine the process of a rag-tag band of colonists who were attempting to shrug off what they considered bonds too tight to bear; bonds which by today’s standards would be laughably inadequate to justify a bloody revolution.

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson, as a result of parliamentary procedure and reputation, was commissioned to write a draft list of grievances to be presented King George III; a literary gauntlet to be thrown down in response to a growing, oppressive government which considered its subjects chattel for its own hegemonic designs and even mere protestations, acts of open rebellion.

The draft was to be reviewed and revised by a small body of men who had tenuous grasp on power and credibility as representatives of the 13 colonies’ citizens. A Continental Congress sent to Philadelphia to try reason with the Crown after many trips across the ocean to petition the people’s representatives in London had netted nothing but scoffs, more taxes and bullets for the effort.

Politics is a nasty business.

Former Congressman Bob Barr’s organization, Liberty Guard, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Transportation Security Administration to see what they have been saying about the individuals protesting their invasive policies:

The public interest group Liberty Guard filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Transportation Security Administration Monday to determine why many airport imaging scanners were reportedly shut down and roped off on November 24th, the day of a planned “opt out protest.”

“We’d like to think that the TSA has been listening to citizens concerned about being given a choice between naked imaging or pat down searches of people’s private parts,” former Congressman Bob Barr, the Chairman of Liberty Guard, said. “If this is the indeed the case, we’d like to commend the TSA for applying a bit of common sense to the controversial situation. However, it’s far more likely the reason was political and we think the public should be made aware of the motivations of our country’s security chiefs.”
[…]
“We’d like to know if we can expect a policy shift from the TSA or if they were merely attempting to shut down the public outcry regarding their search procedures,” Joe Seehussen, President of Liberty Guard said.

The Freedom of Information Act request also seeks any government documents that contain the following terms: national opt-out day, Bob Barr, Opt Out Alliance, Liberty Guard, John Tyner, domestic extremists, drudgereport.com, Matt Drudge, prisonplanet.com, Alex Jones, and “any other term or proper name germane to the aforementioned terms and matter.”

Contributor Jason Pye recently reported on the government report emanating from Missouri which labeled supporters of Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr as possible domestic terrorist suspects.  Because of the immense public outcry, the report has been rescinded and apologies issued.

From John Tate, Executive Director of the Campaign for Liberty-

Dear Friend of Liberty,

Although it sometimes seems that freedom is shrinking everywhere we turn, the fact is a powerful grassroots stand can still stop Big Government bureaucrats in their tracks.