Disappearing act

November 20, 7:22 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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The City of Cleveland is taking full advantage of its partnership with allies in the local press to promote its latest gun "buyback":

In order to decrease violence, the city is offering incentives to those willing to surrender their firearms voluntarily.

You see the assumption. It's shameful to think it was blindly accepted by a professional reporter and approved by a professional editor. But for those of us who have been watching such things over the years, it's also expected. The concept of media watchdogs, as opposed to lapdogs, appears lost on hacks who view journalism as a public/private partnership. Also missing is the fundamental rule: write what you know.

Were they inclined to watch a little closer, the top professionals at WKYC ("Report the facts. Respect the truth.") would realize what they, and we through them, will be presented with is nothing short of a magic act, and rather cheap and common sleight of mind at that. So when Police Chief Michael McGrath says

I can't tell you who and I can't tell you when, but someone's life will be saved because of the event."

he might as well follow it up with "Abracadabra!" or a stentorian plea to the spirit world. Dang--which shell is that pea under?

The marks will be hustled and the snake oil supplies depleted (until they can make up a new batch for the next show).  But here's what they'll be doing with the hidden hand as our attention is redirected by their stage moves and incantations: They'll make liberty disappear a little bit more. They'll reinforce the hypnotic suggestion that the average person is just too untrustworthy and incompetent to keep and bear arms, and that they, the ruling class and their enforcers, are the "only ones" qualified to possess them.

Let's explore that, shall we?

A newspaper reports that guns, large quantities of drugs and thousands of dollars seized over the past decade are missing from a suburban Cleveland police department.

Nothing up my sleeve...and PRESTO!