FOX NEWS HOST LAURA INGRAHAM SINKS TO THE LOWEST OF THE LOW BY MOCKING PARKLAND STUDENT DAVID HOGG

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     Laura Ingraham is a nasty, harsh and callous person who is beyond disgraceful.  For the Fox News Channel and syndicated radio host to verbally attack Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior David Hogg - in a Wednesday, March 28th, 2018 tweet - defines her as cruel and heartless.  Ingraham has the empathy and compassion of a desert rattlesnake.

     As are other survivors, David is undoubtedly suffering from emotional pain after some of his classmates were shot to death by a deranged gunman on February 14th, 2018.  But David's anguish over the loss of his friends apparently didn't matter to Ingraham when she mocked the 17-year old Parkland, Florida student for not being accepted to certain colleges.  She tweeted..."David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it.  (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rates.)"

     Ingraham had cited a story that was published in The Daily Wire, which stated that David "revealed on Tuesday (March 27th) that four universities rejected his application."

     David Hogg is one of the inspirational and articulate students from Stoneman Douglas High who has become a prominent voice in spearheading a movement across America for improved gun control laws in the aftermath of the massacre at his school.  He is one of twenty founding members of the gun control advocacy group, Never Again MSD.  As I have written in other columns since the carnage in Parkland...students such as David...embody "wisdom far beyond their years." David and his friends have joined together...and continue to stand together in an uplifting exhibition of solidarity.  So how could anyone be anything other than proud and impressed with this young man and his dedicated and patriotic teenage partners?  David Hogg - and many other students from across America - deserve to be admired and respected...not criticized.   

   

     The student-led campaign against gun violence saw an estimated 800-thousand to one-million people participate in the March 24th March For Our Lives event in Washington, DC...along with hundreds of thousands more individuals who attended peaceful protests in about eight-hundred cities and towns that day.

     But rather than praising David Hogg - and other students like him - for being champions...following a tragedy that killed fourteen of his schoolmates and three faculty members...Laura Ingraham decided to use her on-air microphone as a vehicle for her venom.  Instead of offering applause and credit, she stooped to the lowest of the low to viciously taunt a teenager about being rejected by certain colleges.  To disparage David and belittle his grades is unconscionable... so, therefore...to call Ingraham contemptible...would be an understatement.

     The above being said...David wasn't going to sink to Ingraham's despicable depths by offending her on a personal level.  His teenage intelligence ranks over and above hers...despite the fact that she's a Dartmouth College graduate with a University of Virginia law degree.  David knows that the best way to take on someone like Ingraham is through her pocketbook.  So he responded to her with the following tweet.  "Soooo @IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers...Asking for a friend.  #BoycottIngramAdverts"

     A few minutes later, David tweeted..."Pick a number 1 - 12 contact the company next to that #

     Top Laura Ingraham Advertisers
     1.  @sleepnumber
     2.  @ATT
     3.  Nutrish
     4.  @Allstate & @esurance
     5.  @Bayer
     6.  @RocketMortgage Mortgage
     7.  @LibertyMutual
     8.  @Arbys
     9.  @TripAdvisor
     10. @Nestle
     11. @hulu
     12. @Wayfair

     Speaking the language of the almighty buck is all that was necessary for Ingraham - on Thursday, March 29th - to react with an apology...if you can call it that...which she attempted to do with two tweets...but that are combined below. 

     "Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA - incl. @DavidHogg111.  On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland.  For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David...immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how 'poised' he was given the tragedy.  As always, he's welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion."

     Laura Ingraham would have never issued any form of an apology without her sponsors telling her to take a hike.  Only nationwide pressure forced Ingraham's statement...in which she never used the words...I'm sorry.

     Nutrish - which is television personality Rachael Ray's brand of dog and cat foods - tweeted on March 29th..."We are in the process of removing our ads from Laura Ingraham's program.  The comments she has made are not consistent with how we feel people should be treated."

     The Daily Beast reports that Wayfair has announced..."As a company, we support open dialogue and debate on issues.  However, the decision of an adult to personally criticize a high school student who has lost his classmates in an unspeakable tragedy is not consistent with our values.  We do not plan to continue advertising on this particular program."

     And a third company - TripAdvisor - included as part of their statement... "TripAdvisor believes strongly in the values of our company.  We do not, however, condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster.  In our view, these statements focused on a high school student and cross the line of decency."

     Two other advertisers on David's list - Hulu and Nestle - also pulled their spots from Ingraham's programs on March 29th.  Nestle says it has "no plans to buy ads on the show in the future."  And Hulu tweeted..."We are no longer advertising on Laura Ingraham's show and are monitoring all of our ad placements carefully."  On Friday, March 30th, Liberty Mutual - also on David's list - announced it was taking off their commercials too from the conservative commentator's broadcasts.  

     Of the twelve companies that David Hogg listed in his tweet, six - at the time this column is being published - have decided they no longer want to have anything to do with Ingraham's programs.  In addition...six other businesses - not included on David's list - have also severed ties from the shows.  Johnson & Johnson says their company has "pulled our advertising from Ms. Ingraham's show."  And Expedia told CNBC that it "no longer advertises on this show.  We have pulled the advertising." The other four companies that have abandoned the Ingraham ship are Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Jos. A. Bank and Stitch Fix...bringing the total to twelve advertisers who have decided not to sponsor Laura Ingraham's programs.
   

     David told The New York Times that he is glad that some companies won't be sponsoring Laura Ingraham's shows anymore. But he has labeled his efforts "just the beginning."  David wants all of Ingraham's advertisers to cancel their sponsorship.  When that happens..."we can show that if you continue to bully the students that survived a mass murder, there's going to be consequences."  And David told CNN's Alisyn Camerota..."All we're trying to do here is save lives."

     David Hogg has more than 682-thousand followers on Twitter.  I hope each one contacts all of Laura Ingraham's advertisers and expresses their thoughts of disgust about her detestable language, along with a recommendation that each company remove their commercials from Ingraham's shows.  I further request that all my readers act in the same manner.  And if any business doesn't comply...that they should expect boycotts of their products and/or services.  As to the twelve companies that have already pulled their advertising from Ingraham's broadcasts... kudos and a standing ovation.

     David tweeted on March 29th - after Ingraham's apology - that he would only accept it "if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight." 

     David Hogg is considering to major in journalism or political science when he gets to college.  The four schools that turned him down are the University of California - Los Angeles...the University of California - San Diego...the University of California - Santa Barbara...and the University of California - Irvine.  However, David has been accepted by California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo...California State University - San Marcos...and Florida Atlantic University.  He has reportedly not yet decided where he will attend.

     His grade point average, student ranking and SAT scores aside - all of which are pretty damn good - David Hogg has proven to anyone with any integrity - across America and around the world - that he is one hell of a "kid."  And that no matter what career path he chooses after college, I can assure you this is one young man who is going to be successful. 

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above.  And thank you for reading The Controversy.

Photo credits: Someecards (Laura Ingraham/David Hogg), CNN and Business Insider (David Hogg #1), Vice News (David Hogg #2), ABC News (March For Our Lives), CNN (Alisyn Camerota and David Hogg) and CBS News and CBS.com (David Hogg #3)

Copyright 2018 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.

DOES STORMY DANIELS HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF DONALD TRUMP'S DNA HIDDEN SOMEWHERE?

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     If I was writing a fictional screenplay for a Hollywood motion picture about a president of the United States who - prior to being elected - cheated on his wife and had an affair with a porn star...I'd throw in a "smoking gun" of the president's semen.

     I, therefore, wonder if Stormy Daniels - whose real name is Stephanie Clifford - and who allegedly had a one-night consensual sexual fling with Donald Trump back in 2006...somehow has hidden his ejaculatory fluid that can detect - perhaps even twelve years later - Trump's DNA...and thus bring circumstantial evidence that Daniels is telling the truth that she had sex with the current Oval Office occupant. Again...I just wonder.

     In my fictional movie, let's say the president was a former famous television celebrity who had the power, at the time of the sexual encounter, to further the adult film actress' career in a more mainstream form of entertainment.  But she wanted some insurance to prove, if necessary, that she did indeed perform "bedroom activities" with the TV mogul.  So she was smart and kept some of his DNA.  Years go by - and although she never planned on using what she had hidden - there became a reason for her to do so.  When that happens...in my fictional flick...I would have the attorney for the porn star - who claims to have had unprotected intercourse with the U.S. president - reveal a piece of clothing, a pillowcase, a towel, a tissue or some other material that is stained with the president's semen. According to New Zealand's Institute of Environmental Science and Research, "Semen stains, if kept in a dry environment, could last for several years."  

     I need not explain further...or elaborate on any other details...but it would make for a bombshell ending to my fictional film.  The question now is...will real life... imitate art?   

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above.  And thank you for reading The Controversy.

Copyright 2018 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.

KUDOS TO JOE BIDEN. APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE, MR. VICE PRESIDENT. YOU'RE A MUCH BETTER MAN THAN "BIG BULLY" TRUMP.

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     It's unlikely that anyone will ever forget the Donald Trump/Billy Bush Access Hollywood video from 2005, which became infamous during the 2016 presidential campaign.  But on Tuesday, March 20th, 2018...at an anti-sexual assault rally at the University of Miami...former Vice President Joe Biden reminded everyone of Trump's vulgar language when the now Oval Office occupant bragged about his lewd behavior with women, which he boasted was a perk for being a celebrity.

     As a way to stand up for women everywhere, Mr. Biden verbally slammed Trump in ways that more American dignitaries should have, prior to the election nearly seventeen months ago.  "If we were in high school, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him."

     Kudos to you, Joe.  Applause, applause, Mr. Vice President.

     Mr. Biden also noted..."I've been in a lot of locker rooms my whole life.  I'm a pretty damn good athlete.  Any guy who talked that way...(still referring to the Access Hollywood video)...was usually the fattest, ugliest S.O.B. in the room."

     Vice President Biden received a roaring ovation, for both comments, from the students attending the event at their college campus in Coral Gables, Florida.

     There is, of course, speculation that the former Vice President may decide to run for President in 2020.  His outspoken remarks at the recent rally came because he was referencing back to 2016 when reporters had asked him if he would ever like to debate Trump.  Mr. Biden had given a similar reply two years ago...(as he did recently in Florida)...when he blasted Trump for disrespecting women in the Access Hollywood video.

     Going back in time, it was on October 16th, 2016...in an exclusive interview with NBC News political director and Meet The Press moderator Chuck Todd...when Vice President Biden first responded to Trump's crude comments on the Access Hollywood recording, shortly after it was made public.  "When a man says that...what he said... is a textbook definition of sexual assault."  Mr. Biden accused Trump of an "instinctive abuse of power."  The former Vice President believes Trump thinks as follows.  "I live in the penthouse...I'm a billionaire...I'm a star...and I can do what I want."  And Mr. Biden feels..."That's the most disturbing piece.  This is not a guy who should be representing the United States in any way."  Too bad not enough people listened to him.

     I doubt any of you don't remember what Donald Trump told Billy Bush on that Access Hollywood video, but just in case Trump's vile verbiage has slipped your mind...I will refresh your memory, as Trump grandstanded about his sexcapades... allegedly with television personality Nancy O'Dell, among others.

     "I moved on her, actually.  You know she was down on Palm Beach.  I moved on her...and I failed.  I'll admit it.  I did try and f--k her.  She was married.  No, no, Nancy.  No this was...and I moved on her very heavily.  In fact, I took her furniture shopping.  She wanted to get some furniture.  I said, 'I'll show you where they have some nice furniture.'  I took her out furniture...  I moved on her like a bitch.  But I couldn't get there.  And she was married.  Then all of a sudden, I see her.  She's now got the big phony tits and everything.  She's totally changed her look."

     The conversation continued as the Access Hollywood bus arrived at NBC studios in Burbank, California and Trump noticed actress Arianne Zucker who he was meeting that day.  

     "Yeah, that's her...with the gold.  I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her.  You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful...  I just start kissing them.  It's like a magnet.  Just kiss.  I don't even wait.  And when you're a star, they let you do it.  You can do anything."  Billy Bush replied..."Whatever you want."  And Trump uttered the line that nobody should forget.  "Grab 'em by the p---y.  You can do anything."

     Trump was at NBC to video tape a scene with Zucker on Days Of Our Lives.  Zucker played the role of Nicole Walker on the NBC daytime drama.

     The Access Hollywood video was obtained by The Washington Post and the newspaper released it on October 7th, 2016...one month before the presidential election.

     On December 3rd, 2017...in The New York Times...Billy Bush confirmed in an editorial that it is, in fact, Donald Trump's voice on the Access Hollywood recording. But reportedly, Trump, in late November 2017, defended himself in private conversations with aides and others in his inner-circle by apparently claiming that the tape is fake and that it's not his voice.

     Since the Access Hollywood video, former NBC Today show anchor Matt Lauer and former CBS This Morning anchor Charlie Rose - who also hosted his PBS talk show, Charlie Rose - lost their jobs with their respective networks after the two veteran television journalists were accused of sexual harassment.  Prior to Lauer and Rose being dismissed by their employers, numerous women came forward - now totaling about fifty - with allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.  The two-time Academy Award winning producer has been accused of everything from sexual harassment to rape...and, as a result, Weinstein was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...and, therefore, has - in essence - been banned from working in Hollywood or anywhere in the entertainment industry.  

     So why did Republicans - and some Independents - overlook Donald Trump admitting that he would do...what he said on the Access Hollywood video?  How could voters still elect such a man to be President of the United States?  And don't say because they didn't like Hillary Clinton.  That is not a justifiable excuse.

     Violence against women - whether physically, sexually, emotionally or mentally - is totally unacceptable behavior by anyone.  Such violence is also unacceptable when against men.  Still...putting all political affiliations aside...it will forever boggle my mind how any woman...or any decent man...could have ever voted for Donald Trump after hearing the Access Hollywood recording.

     Two days after Vice President Biden's comments at the University of Miami rally...Trump - very early on Thursday morning, March 22nd - shot back at Mr. Biden with one of his "big bully" tweets.

     "Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy.  Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault.  He doesn't know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way.  Don't threaten people, Joe!"

     In defense of Vice President Biden, he was not in any way insinuating that he wants to confront Donald Trump NOW...and beat him to a pulp.  Mr. Biden specifically stated that "if we were in high school."  Furthermore, the Delaware Democrat was protecting the honor of all women when he referenced Trump's foulmouthed, toxic tongue in the Access Hollywood video.  But Trump - now 71 years old - decided to go several steps further when he threatened the 75-year old Vice President Biden by targeting him as someone that Trump could defeat in a physical fight.  Naturally - as is par for the course with "The Donald" - he had to use insults too.

     Special Counsel Robert Mueller better work fast in obtaining the evidence he needs to force Trump to resign or to get the House of Representatives to begin impeachment hearings.  Otherwise...if a Biden-Trump debate were to ever become a reality...it just may end up being...a bloodbath.

     In summation...with The White House in complete chaos and America nearing a Constitutional crisis...it's a shame that Democrats throughout our nation couldn't convince enough Independents - or anyone else who either voted for Trump or who stayed home and didn't vote at all - that Hillary Clinton was without question the best choice on the November 8th, 2016 ballot.  And if Republicans on Capitol Hill...and in governors' mansions and city halls nationwide...would have put country ahead of party...the United States would not be facing another possible presidential resignation or an impeachment and removal from office.  But Republicans didn't have the guts...(dare I say the balls)...to speak out against Trump.  And most of them still don't.  Instead...America is stuck - for the time being, at least - with a misogynist... who...as we recently learned...was allegedly involved in a sexual affair with a porn star back in 2006...about a year after Trump married his wife, Melania...and only several months after Mrs. Trump gave birth to their son, Barron.  Donald Trump has denied having the fling with Stephanie Clifford - a.k.a. "Stormy Daniels" - but Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen admits that he paid Clifford 130-thousand dollars to keep her quiet.  Along with the hush money, Clifford signed a non-disclosure agreement. But her lawyer, Michael Avenatti has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Clifford because they believe the deal is not valid since Trump never signed the document.

     Meanwhile...lawyers for Trump are suing Clifford for twenty-million dollars in damages...for what the lawsuit claims are multiple violations of the non-disclosure agreement.  Donald, if you're denying that there was ever an affair with Stephanie Clifford...then how can you sue her for violations of a non-disclosure agreement that you never signed?  Do you see my point?  All that being said...it's amazing that a sitting U.S. President would even file such a lawsuit against a private citizen when all she wants to do is tell the world what - as her lawyer, Avenatti says - "really happened."  It should be up to the American people to determine the truth.

     If all of that is not enough for us to chew on...stayed tuned to this Sunday night's 60 Minutes broadcast when correspondent Anderson Cooper sits down with Stephanie "Stormy Daniels" Clifford for her first interview.  Expect it to be a revealing and powerhouse conversation...and I bet the ratings will go through the roof.  That's 60 Minutes...this Sunday night, March 25th at 7 P.M. in the east and west, 6 P.M. in the central and mountain time zones...on the CBS television network.  

     Finally...whatever happened to the nineteen women who publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct...most of whom came forward after Trump launched his presidential campaign in June 2015?  CNN says that thirteen of the women claim "Trump attacked them directly."  As with the alleged "Stormy Daniels" affair...Trump has denied all of the allegations from these other nineteen women.  But according to the New York Post, attorney "Avenatti has confirmed to BuzzFeed News that multiple women have contacted him about potential lawsuits."  And Avenatti told CNN that some of the women have non-disclosure agreements.  I wonder how much money those women might have been paid to keep their mouths shut.  

     And then there's former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who on March 22nd told Anderson Cooper on his CNN broadcast, Anderson Cooper 360 that she has filed a lawsuit to free herself from a deal she made to keep mum about her alleged ten-month tryst with Donald Trump.  Let us remember...we are talking about a man who - because of the Electoral College - was elected President of the United States.  All of this simply blows the mind.

     But Michael DiGaetano of New York City - in a Facebook post on March 22nd - summed up Donald Trump's alleged affairs and the allegations of sexual misconduct against him.  "I believe the women who say they had sex with Trump.  Because who the f--k would admit that...if it wasn't true?"  There's no way I can top that.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above.  And thank you for reading The Controversy.

Copyright 2018 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.

WE CANNOT BECOME THE UNITED STATES OF GUNS. BUT WITH ABOUT ONE GUN PER PERSON... ARE WE ALREADY THERE?

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     Today's column is a bit out of the ordinary.  But I trust it should make for interesting reading by those of you who - like me - wish that guns were never invented...and by those of you who - for some strange reason - would like America to return to the days of the "Wild West."  It's a peculiar thought, but I'm convinced that many of you would like to emulate such fictional television characters as Marshal Matt Dillon or "The Rifleman" Lucas McCain...and live in an era where people wore handguns or carried rifles twenty-four hours a day.  But America has come a long way since Wyatt Earp and the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.  So if nobody owned handguns...and nobody had any assault weapons...(military-style rifles and the like)...then gun violence in America would plummet to an extremely low number. Perhaps to nothing at all.

     On Thursday, March 1st, 2018 - in the aftermath of the February 14th Parkland, Florida massacre... where fourteen teenage students and three faculty members from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were tragically shot to death by an evil sociopath - I shared an abbreviated, two-minute video on my Facebook page...part of a full video that had been originally posted by admitted gun enthusiast Scott Pappalardo of Scotchtown, New York.  Pappalardo is a devout supporter of the Second Amendment..."a firm believer"...which - as most everyone knows - protects Americans' right to bear arms. The video shows Pappalardo destroying - what he described as - his "pre-ban, legally-registered AR-15," which he purchased more than thirty years ago.  But Pappalardo asked himself a momentous question...and then answered it.  "Is the right to own this weapon more important than someone's life?  I don't think so." Therefore...Pappalardo used a high-powered electric saw to cut the weapon in to pieces.

     After the carnage - on December 14th, 2012 - at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut...where twenty first-graders and six educators were savagely murdered by a psychotic gunman...Pappalardo told his wife that he'd "gladly give this gun up if it would save the life of just one child."  But he admits those were nothing but "empty words."

     However...following the Parkland shootings...Pappalardo pondered once again... the possibility of selling his rifle.  But he was worried that the AR-15 would end up in the hands of someone who would use the gun in an act of violence.  "In the back of my head, I say, well...what if...whoever buys this weapon, their child gets hold of it...and brings it to school one day...and shoots a bunch of people...can I live with that?  I don't think I could.  So...I've decided today...I'm gonna make sure this weapon will never be able to take a life.  This barrel of this gun will never be pointed at someone."  

     On my Facebook page - accompanying the link to Pappalardo's video - I added my own short commentary.  It is what sparked a back-and-forth conversation among three of my high school friends and me.  It is this dialogue that I believe Democrats and Republicans alike will find fascinating.  Since my friends' names appear with their remarks on Facebook, I am publishing them with this column.  First is my debate with Joe Percevecz...a friend who is a school teacher.

     Gary B. Duglin...Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 7:55 p.m.:  Applause, applause and kudos to an American who cares more about saving lives than his "right" and his enjoyment.  Give this man - Scott Pappalardo - a standing ovation...and a great big thank you.  Now if more AR-15 gun owners...and if Donald Trump, the Republicans in Congress and every Republican governor...would feel the same way as this hero - and yes he is a hero - then more families will not, in the future, have to suffer the same pain that families in Parkland, Las Vegas, Orlando, Newtown and elsewhere have had to endure after their loved ones were murdered by a mentally deranged killer.  I hope anyone who is reading my words...who happens to own an AR-15 - or any so-called military-style assault weapon - will do as Scott Pappalardo did.  Or perhaps you care more about yourself and your own personal pleasures...than the safety and lives of others.

     Joseph Percevecz...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 12:13 a.m.:  Applause for creating an illegal SBR?

     Gary B. Duglin...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 12:24 a.m.: Joe, what you're not seeing in the video is the final destruction of Scott Pappalardo's AR-15.  Check out the photograph of his rifle...cut in pieces.  No short-barreled rifle there.  And Scott's name is posted on the original image.  You can Google it and see his name corresponding to it. (Additional note for The Controversy:  The original picture is also posted on Scott Pappalardo's Facebook page.)

     Joseph Percevecz...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 12:36 a.m.:  Poor, innocent, rifle, never did anything to anyone.

     Gary B. Duglin...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 12:38 a.m.:  And now, thanks to Scott Pappalardo...it can't anytime in the future.

     Joseph Percevecz...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 12:51 a.m.:  He must have been really concerned about his own mental state.  No firearm has ever climbed out of a safe, loaded itself and killed anyone alone.

     Gary B. Duglin...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 1:25 a.m.:  If you watched the video, he wanted to be sure that whomever wound up with his gun, wouldn't use it for killing people.  The destruction of his rifle had nothing to do with his own mental state.

     Joseph Percevecz...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 1:42 a.m.:  Only 300,000,000 to go!

     Gary B. Duglin...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 11:30 a.m.:  Joe, as I say to other Republicans, you can't spin this YOUR way.  There are NOT 300-million AR-15 assault weapons.  The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates there are approximately between 5 million and 10 million AR-15 rifles owned in the United States.  So let's - for argument sake - say there are seven-and-a-half-million AR-15 guns...NOWHERE NEAR 300-MILLION.  (Additional note for The Controversy: According to the Congressional Research Service, there is a total of about 300-million guns, of all types, in America.  And Census.gov says the U.S. population is approaching 328-million people.)

     Joseph Percevecz...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 1:12 p.m.:  OK, let's use your guesstimate.  Only 7,499,999 more to go!  But if you think H.R. 5087 is going anywhere at all, there are quite a few more weapons on that list!  But that bill was only written for political posturing, not reality.

     Gary B. Duglin...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 12:49 a.m.:  Joe, you're doing as most of my readers at The Controversy do...and that's to go off topic.  The issue we were discussing was ONLY the AR-15 rifles - the one that Scott Pappalardo cut in to pieces.  That is why I gave the numbers I noted above. However, I don't believe H.R. 5087 - THE ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN OF 2018 - goes far enough. It is true that bill, if passed, would ban all semi-automatic "repeating" pistols, all semi-automatic "repeating" shotguns, all semi-automatic "repeating" rifles - all of the above including detachable and fixed magazines - plus a variety of other weapons, so there are a hell of a lot more of those weapons than the 5-million to 10-million estimated AR-15 guns.  But that's NOT what we were discussing.  As I wrote to a reader at The Controversy the other day, following the announcement by Dick's Sporting Goods that they will no longer sell AR-15 assault weapons in any of their stores to anybody...plus the announcement by Walmart that they will not sell any guns to anybody under the age of 21, I then wrote..."Watch and wait when big companies like Walmart and others stop selling guns altogether.  It's going to happen.  When?  I can't tell you.  But it's going to happen.  The bottom line is...guns have got to go. The question is...how can America legally do it?"  As I also wrote to a reader recently, "In a perfect world - which we don't live in - every gun on the planet would be placed in a rocketship and launched in to deep space.  But that's never going to happen, so we must have better gun control laws.  Otherwise, more and more people are going to tragically and unfortunately die."  But I will add this - as I have written in other columns about gun control, over the last six years - the Second Amendment needs to be changed, or better yet, abolished.  It probably won't happen in my lifetime, but it IS going to happen at some point. I just hope it happens sooner... versus later.

     Joseph Percevecz...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 1:02 a.m.:  Not going to happen GBD.  H.R. 5087 is politicians playing politics.  It won't pass because it is unconstitutional, goes too far and only has "D" sponsors hoping to win the "outraged" voters.  That way they can thump their chest and scream, "We tried, but those evil "R" and demonic NRA monsters..."  Then voters line up just exactly like your worst nightmare again.  Keep believing the lie GBD.  Your politicians always have YOUR best interest at heart.

     Gary B. Duglin...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 1:15 a.m.:  Joe, I will leave you with this thought. A new common sense gun control law has to be passed. If not, we are sadly and tragically going to witness school shootings...and other mass murders by guns...on a weekly, if not daily, basis...not to mention that there are already about 96 people in the United States killed everyday by guns.  As for my statement above, though, about school shootings and other mass murders...I just hope to God that I'm proved wrong.

     Joseph Percevecz...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 2:32 a.m.:  Just as soon as the zealots on both sides of this debate arrive at a valid understanding of "common sense" then the conversation can begin.  As long as each side is determined to "win," nothing will happen because each side has to prove the other wrong.  I will leave you with that thought.  And we will see who is closer to reality.

     Gary B. Duglin...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 1:17 p.m.:  I'm not that cynical, Joe.  I guess you are. 

     Joseph Percevecz...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 1:35 p.m.:  GBD, I'm an optimist with realistic tendencies and an observer of the human condition.  I want success in making schools as safe as possible without undermining the very freedoms that make the world want to move to America.  That will require many more difficult conversations beyond "please make all the bad guns go away."  That is not a solution.  That is fear in action.  I prefer actionable, common sense solutions that ACTUALLY make school kids (and teachers!) safe.

      Gary B. Duglin...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 6:29 p.m.:  The only "common sense solution that (WILL) ACTUALLY make school kids (and teachers) safe" is to GET RID OF THE ASSAULT WEAPONS.  And if I had my druthers...to GET RID OF ALL GUNS.

     Joseph Percevecz...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 6:40 p.m.:  And when one side of the argument begins and ends on that perspective, we have nothing more to discuss.

      Gary B. Duglin...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 1:54 a.m.:  As I always say...if the Founding Fathers had a crystal ball in the late 1700s...and they knew how guns would be used by certain people...many years in the future...the Second Amendment would not have been written as it is...and there would be no "right" for Americans to own guns.  What a shame there was no crystal ball. 

     Joseph Percevecz...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 6:52 a.m.:  Then you need to go back and study your history of America and read the writings and letters of Jefferson, Washington and the rest.  By your logic the First Amendment would only apply to the printing machines of the day.

      Gary B. Duglin...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 11:19 a.m.:  You just don't get it, Joe...and you never will.  I'm done here.

     Joseph Percevecz...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 3:36 p.m.:  Bye-bye, GBD.  I get that you don't support the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the rule of Law.

      Gary B. Duglin...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 3:48 p.m.:  Joe, I'm amazed to hear you express those words. I've had Republican readers at The Controversy who accuse me - and other liberals, progressives, Democrats - of not supporting the U.S. Constitution. To make such a hateful remark is like saying we are un-American... which we are not.  Shame on you, Joe.  Shame on you.  Perhaps you should take a lesson from Debbi Johnson Sands.  She and I disagree on the issue of guns and gun control, but we exchanged thoughts in a civil manner.  Debbi didn't call me un-American. And I certainly didn't offend her...or you...with the heinous words..."you don't support the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the rule of Law."  As Debbi said..."Everyone is entitled to their opinions...though they may not always be the same."

     Joseph Percevecz...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 5:40 p.m.:  GBD, you know I don't hate you, and I said nothing hateful to you.  And I never said you were un-American. Don't put words in my mouth.  I was only pointing out what you have already said in this very thread.  You don't support the Second Amendment because you don't agree with it.  There is a method of making changes spelled out in the Constitution. But don't deny me my rights without due process. 

      Gary B. Duglin...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 12:06 a.m.:  Joe, I never said that you hate me.  I said you made a "hateful remark."  By you saying that I "don't support the Constitution (and) the Bill of Rights"...or anyone who claims that any liberal, progressive, or Democrat in general does not support the U.S. Constitution... that is hateful...and is the same as calling us un-American.  So I don't need to "put words in (your) mouth," Joe.  You put the words there yourself by making the statement you made.  It is the SAME as calling me un-American.  I don't deny you your rights.  You do have the right to own a gun, as per the Second Amendment.  I don't agree with it, but you have that right.  As I have the right, as per the First Amendment, to, in fact, disagree with you...and to disagree with part of the Constitution, should I so desire.  The Constitution is a piece of paper...a piece of parchment, if you will.  We...that's you...me...and every American...are living beings. And we have the right to debate issues.  And although Donald Trump doesn't seem to believe it...America IS great.  And our Constitution is one of the chief reasons why it is.  

     Joseph Percevecz...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 4:11 a.m.:  On that we agree.

     During my debate with Joe, you will have read that I referenced another high school friend, Debbi Johnson Sands.  That's because a separate, but much briefer conversation began with Debbi and me when she responded to my remarks and those expressed by Joe.

     Debbi Johnson Sands...Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 1:36 p.m.:  Everyone is entitled to their opinions...though they may not always be the same.  I don’t feel someone is a hero for cutting up a weapon. The heroes are our men and women defending us in the streets and overseas.  My son...my Marine...is my hero...and he can bring as many guns as he wants into my home.  He has taught me how to shoot them and to defend myself as well.  I am a proud carrier of a concealed weapon license.

      Gary B. Duglin...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 1:06 a.m.:  Debbi, I do agree with you that "everyone is entitled to their opinions."  Our most important Amendment in the U.S. Constitution is the First one, which gives each and every American "freedom of speech."  But I do disagree with you that Scott Pappalardo is not a hero because he cut up his gun.  He has perhaps saved lives because he did not want his AR-15 to someday end up in the hands of a mentally deranged killer who would want to murder other men, women and children.  As for those Americans who serve our country - either wearing the uniforms of the Air Force, the Army, the Coast Guard, the Marines, the National Guard and the Navy...as well as those first responders such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics...they are without question, American heroes. Your son, Debbi, is definitely a hero, as he serves our nation in the United States Marine Corps...and I thank him for his service and I wish him safe return to you and his other loved ones.  But...I do not support any law...that allows anybody - besides the military or law enforcement - to carry a gun or to have a concealed weapon license.  I do understand you have that right based on the laws of your state, but I do not agree with it or support it at all...and I never will.  But then...as you said...we are all "entitled" to our own opinion.

     Debbi Johnson Sands...Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 10:43 a.m.:  Gary, love you my friend and appreciate your views.  The areas I work in at times are like the back streets of Newark.  If it is them or me, I choose my life over theirs.  Just saying.

      Gary B. Duglin...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 2:27 a.m.:  Debbi, I wish you much safety in those areas you need to travel for work.

     And then there was another short chat I had on Facebook with high school friend, Mark Hatton...now a doctor.

      Doc Mark Hatton...Monday, March 5, 2018 at 11:07 p.m.:  Gary, not looking to open a whole debate, but do you really think schools will be “safe” and there will be no more mass killings if we get rid of assault rifles (which, by the way, I’m in favor of) [or even “all guns”...which, by the way, I am not in favor of]?  I think that's naive at best.  There are multiple issues intersecting here.

      Gary B. Duglin...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 12:39 a.m.:  Mark, I provide you with the following from a February 20th, 2018 article in Fortune magazine.  After a 1996 mass shooting in Australia, which resulted in the murders of thirty-five people, along with eighteen others wounded..."within just weeks of that tragedy, elected officials in each of Australia's six states and two mainland territories - pressed forward by police chiefs across the continent and by the then newly-elected prime minister - banned semi-automatic and other military-style weapons across the country.  The federal government of Australia prohibited their import, and lawmakers introduced a generous nationwide gun buyback program, funded with a Medicare tax, to encourage Australians to freely give up their assault-style weapons.  Amazingly, many of them did."  Fortune continued..."So what happened after the assault weapon ban?  Well therein lies the other half of the story.  Nothing.  Nothing, that is, in a good way.  Australian independence didn't end.  Tyranny didn't come. Australians still hunted and explored; and they big-wave surfed to their hearts' content.  Their economy didn't crash.  Invaders never arrived.  Violence, in many forms, went down across the country, not up.  Somehow lawmakers on either side of the gun debate managed to get along and legislate.  As for mass killings, there were no more.  Not one in the past twenty-two years.  In 2002, a mentally impaired student at Monash University in Melbourne shot two people dead and injured five others.  He came to his rampage with six handguns, not an assault rifle.  Had he been carrying an AR-15, the toll would have been far worse.  But even so, Australian lawmakers added a new National Handgun Agreement, a separate buyback act, and a reformulated gun trafficking policy to their legislative arsenal.  There has been no similar shooting spree since.  But it wasn't just the murderous rampages that faded away.  Gun violence in general declined over the following two decades to a nearly unimaginable degree.  In 2014, the latest year for which final statistics are available, Australia's murder rate fell to less than one killing per one-hundred-thousand people - a murder rate one-fifth the size of America's.  Just thirty-two of those homicides - in a nation of twenty-four-million people - were committed with guns."  If Australia can do it, Mark...there's no reason the United States of America can't.  So no, Mark... with regards to my thoughts on guns and gun control...I am not at all naive.  And another country...is proof of that.

      Doc Mark Hatton...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 10:01 a.m.:  The United States, its' citizens, and the issues surrounding mass violence are quite different than Australia.

      Gary B. Duglin...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 10:29 a.m.:  You just don't get it, Mark.  And as I've said to others...you never will.

      Doc Mark Hatton...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 11:01 a.m.:  As always... "getting it" is in the mind of the beholder.  Most times we agree.  This time we don't.

      Gary B. Duglin...Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 12:31 p.m.:  And as Debbi Johnson Sands noted above..."Everyone is entitled to their opinions...though they may not always be the same."  I will agree with you on this, Mark.  This time...we don't agree.

     No doubt I will be disagreeing with many of my Republican readers...and perhaps others.  So liberals...progressives...and Democrats in general...who are as opposed to guns as much as I am...it's up to YOU...to speak your mind too.

     Meanwhile...several days after my above Facebook conversation...tens of thousands of students - on Wednesday morning, March 14th - followed the lead of survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School... and participated in a nationwide walkout to protest gun violence in the United States and to demand action from state and national politicians for better gun control laws.  It was a month earlier...on February 14th, 2018...when the fourteen students and three teachers - who I mentioned at the outset of this column - were shot to death in a tragic massacre by a homicidal maniac who had recently been expelled from the Parkland, Florida school because of disciplinary reasons.  At exactly 10 o'clock a.m. local time...in each time zone...students from across the country walked out of their schools for seventeen

minutes...one minute for each of the seventeen people who were murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  Reportedly, there were an estimated 185-thousand people from about 3,100 schools in our 50 states and the District of Columbia who joined the National Student Walkout. 

     I know that people throughout our nation have been saying it for nearly a month...and I expressed similar sentiments in my February 24th column...but it's worth echoing such words again...especially after the national walkout.  "These students have a tremendous drive that is being fueled by their passion...their peaceful anger...and their tears. These are intelligent and creative youngsters with wisdom far beyond their years. It's incredibly inspirational to watch them...and it just may take these 'kids'...to do what adults have never been able to do."

     I am so very proud of the youth of America.  These young people are joining together...and standing together...in solidarity...and I am totally impressed.  But

it's not enough to just admire and respect them.  This is not just their battle.  This is everyone's war.  At least it should be.  And, therefore, it is a fight that we must all engage in so that no sick-minded son of a bitch is able to steal the lives of another person by shooting bullets from a gun. Nevermore can we allow such tragedies in America.  Adults can certainly learn a lesson from our country's children.  And although they are performing in adult ways...let us remember that they are still children.

     A link to Scott Pappalardo's complete six-minute video is printed at the bottom of this column...as is a link to the shorter version, which was edited and aired by ABC News.  But it's going to take more than just one person to give up one assault weapon.  And it's going to take much more than seventeen minutes to force the President...the Congress...and the governors and state legislators from our entire nation...to end this war.  Because if they don't...more and more people are in all likelihood - dare I say, definitely - going to die.  And the next time...one of the persons killed might be someone YOU love.  Or one of the dead...might be you.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above.  And thank you for reading The Controversy.

Scott Pappalardo's complete six-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/EMIxb6T0Ous

Scott Pappalardo's video (two-minute edited version): https://www.youtube.com/embed/iNGz-kO4VYE

Scott Pappalardo's Facebook page: 
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007513365065

Photo credits: Scott Pappalardo and Huffington Post (Scott Pappalardo)...Scott Pappalardo (Scott Pappalardo's destroyed AR-15)...Time (National Student Walkout Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida)... Thomas R. Cordova/Daily Breeze and Long Beach Press-Telegram (National Student Walkout Day at Woodrow Wilson High School, Long Beach, California)...and Timothy A. Clary/AFP and VOA News (National Student Walkout Day at Harvest High School, New York City, New York)

Copyright 2018 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.

DONALD TRUMP DESPICABLY CROSSES THE LINE OF DECENCY TO ATTACK NBC'S CHUCK TODD

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     I won't lower myself to Donald Trump's contemptible level and use profanities towards him.  That's not to say I haven't negatively written about him with harsh tones.  Any reader of The Controversy is well aware that I have raked Trump over the coals and identified him as a lying, narcissistic, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, racist who acts in a delusional manner....appears to be mentally ill...and thus is unfit to serve as President of the United States.  But for today...I will merely ask the following question.  When will Trump's supporters - be them his so-called "base"...other Republicans...and anybody else who voted for him on November 8th, 2016 - finally realize...that they made a monumental mistake by electing him to be President of our nation?

     Trump's verbal assault on NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd - calling the Meet The Press moderator "a sleeping son of a bitch" - was vicious, vile and vulgar. Such a reprehensible remark should not be tolerated by any decent American...no matter what political party they associate with.  Still... Republicans - and others - are defending Trump and rooting him on.

     At a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, March 10th, 2018...the crowd erupted with cheers of support when Trump re-told a story from nineteen years ago...when he apparently called for President Bill Clinton to order the U.S. military to take out North Korea.  "It's 1999, I'm on Meet The Press, a show now headed by sleepy eyes Chuck Todd.  He's a sleeping son of a bitch, I'll tell you.  And...they showed it this morning...1999, and I'm talking about North Korea...you've got to take them out now."

     But on the Sunday morning, March 11th edition of Meet The Press...the Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin refused to chastise Trump...and he would not give Chuck Todd a straight answer.  Below is their word-for-word dialogue.

     Chuck Todd:  "Many people, including myself, raise their kids to respect the office of the presidency and the President of the United States.  When he uses vulgarity to talk about individuals...what are they suppose to tell their kids?"

     Secretary Mnuchin:  "I'll be with my kids this morning and I'll be focused on them on what the President is doing to protect the United States, its citizens, and more important the economy."

     Chuck Todd:  "So he's not immoral?  Don't worry about his values, don't worry about him as a role model?"

     Secretary Mnuchin:  "I've never said that whatsoever, so I don't know why you're putting these words in what I'm trying to say.  Okay?  So again, I am very comfortable with what we're doing.  Okay?  And again, I think you're trying to take this out of perspective in implying something I'm not saying."

     Out of perspective?  Are you serious, Mr. Secretary?  Why can't you...the rest of the Cabinet...and every single Republican in Congress...have the guts to speak out against the insults and the offensive rhetoric that Donald Trump continues to utter off his toxic tongue?  How can you not acknowledge that he is poisoning our country with unconscionable embarrassments?  You're all a bunch of yellow-bellied cowards.

     Chuck Todd gave Steven Mnuchin every chance to be a man and to not defend the most unpresidential person who has ever occupied The White House.  Yet the interview ended with a total lack of criticism towards Trump by Secretary Mnuchin.

     Secretary Mnuchin:  "He's using the vulgarities in the context of a campaign rally...and obviously there were a lot of funny moments on that rally."

     Chuck Todd (sarcastically):  "Yeah they were hilarious." 

     I can only hope that some of the former Trump aides - who Special Counsel Robert Mueller is questioning under oath - will not lie...but will - for the lack of a better phrase - "throw Donald Trump under the bus" and give Mueller the definitive, clear-cut evidence that Trump obstructed justice, that he has been involved in a cover-up and that he participated in a conspiracy to collude with Russia in an effort to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election so that he could win and so Hillary Clinton would lose.

     Until what I have described above happens...Trump calling Chuck Todd a "son of a bitch"...Trump allegedly having sex with a porn star...or performing in any other obscene or inappropriate way that discredits the Office of the President...won't matter one iota...to people who are willing to put scum on a pedestal...instead of condemning him.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above.  And thank you for reading The Controversy.

Copyright 2018 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.