SALON

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010 4:29 PM UTC

Pat Toomey to shoot up liberal … ideas?

Pa. GOP Senate candidate will attend a fun outdoor event where folks can shoot their guns at symbols of liberalism

By

Topics: Pat Toomey, 2010 Elections, Tea Parties,

Pat Toomey to shoot up liberal ... ideas?Pat Toomey, left, and Ted Nugent

Last week during my star turn on “Morning Joe,” Mark Halperin asked who were the “gun nuts” Eugene Robinson referred to in a critical column about the Tea Party. I had an answer: I said they were the fools who marched in a national park near Washington, D.C., to protest President Obama’s plans to take away their guns — when in fact it was Obama who signed the law legalizing their carrying guns in a national park.

But now I have a better answer: Gun nuts are the folks sponsoring “LiveFreePA,” a fun-filled gathering May 8 where participants can shoot their guns at old cars that represent bad liberal ideas like gun control, healthcare reform and property taxes, as well as taxes and regulations on tobacco and alcohol (h/t BuzzFlash).

“It’s just a unique way to say we’re against these policies — shooting them down,” organizer Nate Benefield told a Lancaster paper. “I don’t really know where we came up with it, but it seemed appropriate.” “Appropriate” isn’t the word I’d choose, but hey, it’s a free country.

Apparently, Ted Nugent headlined the first LiveFreePA event last year. This year, they’ve lowered ticket prices, hoping for a larger, family kinda crowd. Remarkably, admision includes not only breakfast and lunch, but beer and cigars  — but you have to bring your own guns and ammunition, or bows and arrows. There will also be a cannon.

It’s fine with me if Ted Nugent fans want to gather with beer, cigars and guns. But it’s really unbelievable that the leading GOP Senate candidate, Pat Toomey, is slated to attend. Benefield reports that GOP gubernatorial candidates will also show up. One Democratic candidate for governor, Jack Wagner, reportedly planned to attend but pulled out, in what can only be described as an attack of common sense. Five other Democrats, including Sen. Arlen Specter, Rep. Joe Sestak and gubernatorial candidate Anthony Williams, were invited, but declined.

Where are the Republicans with the guts to ask Toomey to decline this invitation as well? You can check it all out and even register — or register your opposition — at LiveFreePA.org.

Joan Walsh

Joan Walsh is Salon's editor at large and the author of "What's the Matter With White People: Finding Our Way in the Next America." More Joan Walsh.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 124 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations