Dr. Krauthammer on Freedom 

Friday - October 02, 2015

RUSH: Here's Lou in Brooklyn.  Hey, Lou, great to have you on Open Line Friday.  Hi.

CALLER:  Thank you for taking my call, Rush.  Basically my concern is focused around the shooting in Oregon and what I learned yesterday was through a phone interview on Fox.  Alek Skarlatos, one of the heroes in the European train incident in the way they thwarted a mass shooting there --

RUSH:  Right.

CALLER:  -- called in, and he indicated that he actually goes to that school, and I thought that's pretty odd, and he happened to be away that day.  Accordingly, they said he was shooting an episode of Dancing With the Stars or something.  I think that's what I heard.  But I'm hoping that in their investigation of some of the motives here that they may take that into consideration.  It just sounded a bit, how should I say, coincidental to me.

RUSH:  I had not heard that.  So the hero of the train shooting thwartery, the guy that thwarted that goes to this junior college?

CALLER:  Yes. 

RUSH:  So what's the thinking, that he may have been targeted, that's why this school was targeted, somebody putting that together, two and two equals four?

CALLER:  I'm not saying that's a total fact, but someone should question it.

RUSH:  Well, it is an interesting coincidence.  I didn't know that.  I appreciate the call, though.  

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:  Actually grab sound bite 13.  This is Dr. Krauthammer on Fox on The Kelly File last night, and she said to him, "Is it just the America in which we live where we're disconnected and we're on the machines all day, we have less empathy for our fellow man, according to the studies that I see. Is that just the reality of America in 2015, we're just disconnected, less respect for life, we're gonna see more shootings?"

KRAUTHAMMER:  Under our laws, which allow for maximum freedom, the mother couldn't do a damn thing until he killed. And that's a problem, it's an inherent problem in our society to balance security and liberty. And we have tilted towards liberty, which is completely understandable. And, as a result of that, and the same with possession of guns, as a result of that, we who live in the far more liberal in the sense of believing in liberty society, than any other in the west we have these incidents that are a result of that. We have to make a choice and we try to choose the fine line. It’s extremely hard to do, and however we choose, we are going to lose something.

RUSH:  Now, the question related to specifics, Sandy Hook and, you know, cops, we can't do anything to a shooter 'til they've taken action.  And she wanted to know, is all the disconnect in this country, so many people on iPhones and iPads, you know, the smartphones and connecting via text rather than actually in person, is it leading to a desensitization among people and the resulting loss of respect for the sanctity of life, is that a factor, she was asking him. And as such are these shootings just gonna continue, because his answer basically said, "Look, we have a problem in our society. We tilt toward liberty. We tilt toward freedom, and there are prices to pay for it, and there are consequences, and possession of guns is thrown into that equation, and we are gonna have to make a choice as we try to choose a fine line between liberty and taking liberty away from people." 

His point was it's extremely hard to do, and whatever we end up choosing, we're gonna lose something.  Some people are gonna lose some liberty.  And, folks, I don't know whether you understand precisely what he was saying, but the upshot of this is right on the money, because the proponents of more gun control are damn right they're trying to take away liberty.  That's exactly what it's about.  And the problem is that liberty and freedom is not the problem here.  This is my opinion.  And you've gotta be very, very careful that you don't agree with the premise that there's too much freedom and too much liberty.  That's what this sportswriter Albert Breer's point is when he says that these shootings are evidence the American public has blown it's right to bear arms. 

These shootings didn't happen because of freedom.  Shootings happen because of evil, mental disability, derangement, what have you, cultural things that result in the loss of respect for life.  But it's not liberty and freedom doing this, and if you think it is, if you think the solution to this is to shrink and reduce liberty and take it away from people you're gonna be taking liberty away from people that do not do this. 

Why should they be punished?  Why should all of us be punished by having freedom and liberty taken away under the premise that we're all being made safer?  Oh, man, that argument has resulted in more tyranny than any I know of.  Give away your freedom. Give it away in exchange for, "I will protect you."  Well, people think that's what the cops are gonna do now.  People think that's what's the government's gonna do now.  Lo and behold, they don't; they can't.  In fact, they come up with plans and policies that put people at more risk, such as no-gun zones.

But you gotta be really, really vigilant here that you don't inadvertently end up agreeing with people who think the solution to these shootings is a reduction in liberty for everybody, because we have people breaking the law here.  The victims are not breaking the law, and you and I who were not there are not breaking the law.  The National Rifle Association was not there.  We have a single shooter, and the single shooter probably has copycats, and probably people like this shooter pockmarking all over this country. 

We can find 'em if we wanted to.  If anybody deserves to have some freedom restricted, it would be some people that have already demonstrated a mental illness -- and for their own good and everybody else's, be institutionalized or what have you.  But the answer to this is not taking people's freedom away.  Maybe you disagree. Maybe you think freedom is the reason this is happening. Do you believe in the concept of too much freedom?  Is the Second Amendment too much freedom?  I don't happen to think so. 

And I would fight anybody who wants tell me that our problems result from too much freedom, as a blanket explanation.  You might be able to convince me that the criminal class may have too much freedom.  Don't forget, now, folks, we are being led by an administration that ran a program called Fast and Furious.  You remember this?  In an effort to get more people opposed to guns and to support gun control, this administration enabled the sale of AK-47 type weapons to Mexican drug cartels. 

They were purchased in American gun stores and it ended up they were allowed to cross the border into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, and then they were to be used by these cartels in the commission of their crimes. And if Americans were killed or injured, we were supposed to be outraged and demand the government do something about it.  It was a totally manufactured plan, and it blew up in their faces.  A Border Patrol agent got killed.  So be very, very vigilant here that you don't inadvertently agree with giving up your freedom as a solution.