“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
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New York Times Editorial: An Appalling Silence on Gun Control
It was remarkable that the Republican presidential candidates’ debate this week, supposedly focused on keeping Americans safe, was devoid of questions and comments about the public health issue of gun violence.
Instead, the nine Republican rivals spent much of their time dwelling darkly on potential threats from Islamic State terrorists. And when they brought up the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., this month, carried out by a couple found to be inspired by Islamic State violence, the discussion never veered to the easy gun access that enabled those killers — and many others — to commit swift and horrific slaughter of innocent people.
That would have complicated their pitch, and more important, would mean thinking about gun violence in ways that would displease the gun industry and its political lobby. Those forces demand unquestioning allegiance from politicians fearful for their careers — outspoken candidates who retreat into shameful timidity when serious ideas on gun safety are needed. Strangely, the debate moderators didn’t care to touch the gun issue either, thereby burying a public health challenge that is a lethal, daily threat.
Trevor Timm: Congress just revived the surveillance state in the name of ‘cybersecurity’
Negotiated in secret and tucked in legislation thousands of pages long, Congress is about to pass an awful surveillance bill under the guise of “cybersecurity” that could open the door to the NSA acquiring much more private information of Americans.
You may remember that Congress already passed the “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act” (Cisa) last fall – a surveillance bill in cybersecurity’s clothing. It essentially carved a giant hole in all our privacy laws and gave technology and telecommunications companies a free hand to give all sorts of private information – including our emails – to the government without any court process whatsoever, as long as there was some sort of vague rationale involving “cybersecurity”.
But now the legislation has gotten even worse. Because the House and Senate passed slightly different versions, they had to be combined and voted on one more time – and, in negotiations, the bill’s most fervent supporters decided to strip away the (already really weak) privacy provisions from both the House and Senate versions. These protections, while wholly inadequate, were the only reasons that many members of Congress who would’ve otherwise opposed Cisa voted for it.
Joe Cirincione: I Got Your Nuclear Triad Right Here
The Nuclear Triad is not the Holy Trinity. There is nothing sacred about it. It is an accident of history. And it’s time for it to go.
In Tuesday’s GOP debate, Donald Trump clearly could not answer moderator Hugh Hewitt’s question on what priorities he would have for building new nuclear weapons. He rambled, concluding with the odd, frightening, “For me, nuclear is just the power; the devastation is very important to me.”
Marco Rubio, playing the smart kid in the class, then explained the nuclear triad to Trump and “the people at home,” but failed to go much beyond the deep conservative insecurity that permeates every foreign policy discussion: We built these weapons, we need these weapons, we must build more weapons.
So, for all you “people at home,” here is a short guide to our ability to destroy human civilization and most life on the planet.
Nick Turse: America’s Secret African Drone War Against the Islamic State
On October 7th, at an “undisclosed location” somewhere in “Southwest Asia,” men wearing different types of camouflage and dun-colored boots gathered before a black backdrop adorned with Arabic script. They were attending a ceremony that mixed solemnity with celebration, the commemoration of a year of combat that left scores of their enemies slain. One of their leaders spoke of comraderie and honor, of forging a family and continuing a legacy.
While this might sound like the description of a scene from an Islamic State (IS) video or a clip from a militia battling them, it was, in fact, a U.S. Air Force “inactivation ceremony.” There, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Drake handed over to Colonel John Orchard the “colors” of his drone unit as it slipped into an ethereal military limbo. But that doesn’t mean the gathering had no connection to the Islamic State.
It did.
Robert L. Borosage: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: The Republican Debate
Las Vegas makes its money by catering to our baser appetites. Last night, Republicans followed suit. Carpet bomb ISIS. Take out Assad. Destroy Iran. Shoot down Russian planes. Launch cyberwar against China. Expand the Army, Navy, Air Force; modernize nuclear weapons on land, sea and air. Spy on everyone. Build walls, close doors. The only thing we have to fear is insufficient fear itself.
CNN marketed hysteria to promote last night’s debate. And, in the wake of Paris and San Bernardino, it isn’t surprising the Republican candidates rose to the bait. [..]
Republicans scorn the real and present threat of catastrophic climate change, even as its cost in lives and resources soars. We have a debate on national security without even mention of the global stagnation that now threatens a return to global recession or worse. These candidates bray about spending more on a military that is the most powerful in the world while — other than Donald Trump — ignoring the reality that we aren’t making the investments at home vital to our economy and society.
We got a large helping of fear and loathing last night in Las Vegas. Time will tell which candidate fared the best. But we already know that the Republic was not well served.
Charles Kurzman: America Is Holding Itself Hostage to Terrorism
So far this year, Americans have been more likely to be killed for being Muslim — than by a Muslim. One in one million Muslim Americans died because of hatred for their faith, compared with one in 17 million other Americans who died at the hands of Muslim militants.
Fortunately, both types of violence are incredibly rare. In a population of approximately three million Muslim Americans, three students in North Carolina were murdered by a neighbor who reportedly couldn’t stand women in head scarves. Among 319 million non-Muslim Americans, 19 were killed in Chattanooga and San Bernardino by supporters of the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
It does no dishonor to the memory of these victims to point out that they are massively outnumbered by the 14,000 Americans who are murdered each year, at a rate of approximately one in 24,000. Of all the threats to public safety in America, ideological violence has accounted for a minute fraction.
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