Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

The anti-gun furies are out in full force after three mass shootings (four, if you consider Brooklyn, which no one seems to) in a space of less than ten days. It’s the perfect opportunity to politicize mass murder, call for someone to do something and assign blame to politicians that the anti-gun left doesn’t like.

Those who point out facts such as the actual rarity of mass shootings in the US or that the rate of “gun violence” is at historic lows in this country, are drowned out by the shrieking of the civilian disarmament industrial complex, shouting that those on the other side are racist, white supremacists, gun industry shills who openly encourage violence.

It’s curious that no one ever balances out the number of those killed each year — about 35,000, every one a tragedy — with the number of defensive gun uses. That number, compiled by the CDC, is usually pegged at about 1 million annually. But for argument’s sake, let’s say the real number is only half that.

That means there are about 500,000 times when guns are used (most often without a trigger being pulled) to stop crimes like robberies, assaults, kidnappings, rapes and murders. Pose this question to the next anti-gunner you talk to — to cut down on civilian gun ownership and save some of those 35,000 lives, a lot of those 500,000 crimes won’t be prevented…how many more murders, rapes and assaults are you willing to trade for fewer guns?

CDC leading causes of death in the US
Courtesy Centers for Disease Control

But that’s neither here nor there. We’re just a bunch of rabid gun nuts who are busy compensating for our physical deficiencies and trying to sell more firearms to toothless rubes. Any points we make aren’t worth acknowledging.

Enter Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist and probably the most publicly prominent scientist in the nation. He’s also not someone who will ever be mistaken for a creature of the right.

After this weekend’s horrors in El Paso and Dayton, he took to Twitter to point out that . . .

Well would you look at that? Some dispassionate perspective on what happened, horrible as it was. And this from someone the left holds up for his scientific acumen, public persona and pithy (frequently political) observations.

All of which means…this must not stand.

The anti-gun left and the media (but I repeat myself) were OUTRAGED that one of their own would point out that their OUTRAGE might be overblown (or, though Tyson didn’t say so, opportunistic and politically motivated).

As CNN opined,

By comparing the loss of 34 people over the weekend to deaths caused by illness and accidents, many people felt Tyson was downplaying the role that gun violence plays in American society.

Salon said,

Tyson’s response sparked backlash as many social media users felt his comment diminished the tragedies of the two mass shootings.

What Tyson actually did was put the weekend’s crimes into some reasonable proportion. But by doing so, he exposed those who only want to whip up still more OUTRAGE and paint their political opponents as un-caring apologists for the NRA and the gun industry…and maybe even force the passage of another gun control law or two.

Tyson’s tweet was detrimental to that effort. Which means that he must be made to atone. And atone he did.

My intent was to offer objectively true information that might help shape conversations and reactions to preventable ways we die. Where I miscalculated was that I genuinely believed the Tweet would be helpful to anyone trying to save lives in America. What I learned from the range of reactions is that for many people, some information –-my Tweet in particular — can be true but unhelpful, especially at a time when many people are either still in shock, or trying to heal – or both.

So if you are one of those people, I apologize for not knowing in advance what effect my Tweet could have on you. I am therefore thankful for the candor and depth of critical reactions shared in my Twitter feed. As an educator, I personally value knowing with precision and accuracy what reaction anything that I say (or write) will instill in my audience, and I got this one wrong.

The only thing missing was Tyson being publicly marched in an absurdly large dunce cap while being humiliated and denounced for his crime of being unhelpful in the effort to rid America of the scourge of civilian-owned firearms.

The left hates nothing quite so much as one of their own who strays from the reservation.

So, of course, Tyson’s public apology isn’t nearly enough. The far left’s true believers are never really placated until all dissent is quashed.

From the Daily News . . .

“I find it incredulous that an intellectual such as Neil deGrasse Tyson would be so unwittingly tone deaf at a time like this,” wrote a Facebook commenter named Andrew Smith. “Which makes his attempt at an apology rather disingenuous.”

Another user named Kellie Gerardi commented below Tyson’s new post: “The depth of your reflection in this note is offensively shallow. You used data to draw a false equivalence with unfathomably hurtful timing, and your arrogance has you doubling down with ‘true but unhelpful’. Why even bother with a note?”

Good luck, Dr. Tyson.

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125 COMMENTS

    • Tyson is a Lefty, but he leans pragmatic.

      This, for example, his recent book, “Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military”

      The book outlines how much military research is tied directly to astrophysical discovery. Like how the Hubble space telescope is not much more than a CIA KH-series (Keyhole) photo-reconnaissance satellite looking into space rather than on the earth’s surface.

      https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BLKXV68/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2

      I’d like to think (but I’m likely wrong) that he gets frustrated by the hard core Leftists who demand that science have zero connection to the military. When every space-based observatory is there because the military wanted new technology to see their enemies.

      I was surprised to learn from it that telescope adaptive optics (Google it, it’s quite cool. Ground-based telescopes can now see sharper and clearer into deep space than Hubble) was initially a Regan-era ‘Star Wars’ technology developed to clearly see ICBM warheads so they can be targeted and destroyed while still outside the atmosphere.

      But he still likely votes Leftist…

      • He’s smart enough to see a lot of the factual bullshit on the left, if not the philosophy (although his recent “me too” controversy may have made him more critical) but if he needs to be described as ‘lefty’ it’s because he also sees the massive pile of bullshit on the right as well. You can’t expect intellectuals to flock to a political party that loves to deride them and puts up candidates like Sarah Palin or Donald Trump.

        He laughs at the idiot politicians on the left, too (especially when you listen to him on podcasts) but we can’t help but throw people in one of two containers because of our screwed up system.

        • Hannibal, find someone better and persuade then to run and we will vote for them, until then, except what we have. Marine drill sergeants have a name, they like to use when training a new batch of mommy’s boys, they call them “magnets” and to shut the hole in their face. In other words, to stop winning and/or crying and get the job done. I think some on this link could use a little close-order drill, you think.

        • The Left have become enemies of America. So, yes, we all are in 1 of 2 baskets. You’re either pro America or on the Left

      • Next year is the scheduled launch of adaptive optics space based scopes. They’re cool but nowhere near as cool as the ones that are planned in the next 2-5 years that do the same thing in other parts of the spectrum and can cross reference the data from the various spectrums to come up with pretty accurate information on exoplanet atmospheric compositions in great detail and at shocking speeds.

        Then there’s the fact that within 15 years, barring any major political interference (looking at you AOC) we’ll have boots on Martian soil and within 30 years be launching probes to other star systems. All of which are past the initial phases and now into actual program development at shockingly low costs that will only be driven down by private sector refinements of already declassified tech.

        Christ only knows what they’re doing “off the books”. I could guess based on how the military priorities things, butbitbwould only be a guess.

        • Interesting. Boots on Mars -sooner rather than later – I can see.
          Interstellar probes seem like something of a pipe dream for multiple reasons.
          1) By the time the probe sends any relevant information, will we even understand the program language?
          2) Whom will exist, at that time, to intercept the signal? All of recorded history has occurred in a much shorter time period. Civilizations have a tendency to rise and, inevitably, crumble and fail.
          3) Would any such(forgotten) signals then be taken as evidence of intelligent life elsewhere?
          I’m no expert on the topic but many such issues come to mind with only a cursory viewing.

        • “Then there’s the fact that within 15 years, barring any major political interference (looking at you AOC) we’ll have boots on Martian soil and within 30 years be launching probes to other star systems.”

          Not to rain on your parade, but this reminds me of cold fusion. I’ve heard the same prognosis ever since I was a kid dreaming about becoming an astronaut. I’m almost 50 and we are still 15-30 years from Mars/extrasolar expedition.

          There is always some interference. People don’t want to pay for space programs even though they always paid back in technical progress. ‘Why spend money in space? Give them to the poor!’ Well, there will always be poor people.

    • I love it when the Left eat their own. They do it daily. Even though this D-bag was right about something non-scientific for once.

    • Wait, so by his own list, the other causes outnumber guns death by more than 30-to-1, and he’s focused on the smallest one?

    • If only there was a search engine available somewhere.

      Not surprised though…. You always seem to find a way to make every TTAG post about the medical industry and/or vaccines. Give it a rest dude.

        • What would do with your time if you didn’t stalk me with your multiple profiles? It’s actually somewhat entertaining watching you make a fool of yourself at times.

      • It’s a 100% BS statistic. it’s unfortunate that you’re not bright enough to understand the implications of letting government fiction numbers go uncalled. But your apathy and ignorance does help explain the mess we’re in.

        • Season length and impact

          The 21 straight weeks of elevated outpatient ILI activity is more than any of the past five seasons, including last year, which was particularly severe. From 2013-14 to 2017-18, above-baseline ILI activity stretched for 11 to 20 weeks (in 2014-15), with an average of 16 weeks.

          The proportion of outpatient visits for ILI last week was 2.4%, down from 2.8% the week before but still above the baseline of 2.2% Seven of 10 US regions reported ILI at or above their region-specific baselines.

          In its latest estimates on flu impact today, the CDC said the disease has sickened from 36 million to 41.3 million people this season through Apr 13, of whom 16.7 million to 19.4 million sought medical care. In addition, the disease has hospitalized 502,000 to 610,000 patients and killed 34,400 to 57,300.

          The CDC bases its estimates on its weekly FluView surveillance reports, which summarize key flu activity indicators. The agency has not previously provided in-season estimates.

          The estimates of hospitalizations places this season in the same range as the 2012-13, 2014-15, and 2016-17 seasons, all of which were fairly severe. Last season’s year-end estimates neared 1 million flu-related hospitalizations.

          The overall hospitalization rate again climbed last week, from 59.9 per 100,000 population the week before to 62.3 per 100,000. The rate among people 65 and older rose from 195.9 per 100,000 to 206.5 per 100,000. The groups with the next-highest rates were adults 50 to 64 years (77.8 per 100,000) and children under 5 years old (71.0 per 100,000). http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2019/04/us-flu-still-elevated-dropping-deaths-high-57000

        • Just because I don’t agree with you turning every article not related to your CL worthy rants does not meant I all the sudden trust the government and believe every number printed on wikipedia, asshole. I simply just want you to shut the fuck up and stay relative. Find a vaccine forum and bitch there. You do nothing but look like a troll here doing it. That said… did you ask him on twitter where his numbers came from? Did you google it? Nope… you just rant to troll and bitch to complain. Nice to see the internet making you feel like anyone gives a fuck what you say.

        • @mark….”flu estimates”……thank you for proving my point. The CDC flu numbers are pure fiction.

        • BD, I like where he got his numbers. And they’re fiction. Not sure I give a shit what you think of my posts?

      • Pg2, the only other profile I have used on TTAG recently was “The Frito Bandito”, and that was only maybe 2 times.

        Ask Dan Z., he will verify that.

        That you seem to believe I’m using multiple screen names to torment you is paranoia to such an extreme, it would be funny as hell, if it wasn’t as pathetic as it is.

        Have you ever stopped to consider that there may be a few people here in TTAG that are getting as sick and tired as I am over your insistence of making nearly every fucking comment about your anti-vaxx one-trick-pony bullshit?

        Have you? How about just knocking that shit off?

        • I actually use this alter-ego handle just for Pg2. I certainly have never posed as Geoff, as he seems to be doing just fine on his own and can handle his own battles. And no need to pose as anyone else. Just me and myself.

          I like to reply to Pg2 because he was instrumental in driving user Knute(ken) away, along with possibly a few others.

    • You can do the math yourself from the CDC stats listed in the post above. “Flu” is too narrow of a term, but influenza and pneumonia kill about 150 people a day. Every day.

    • “Influenza killed about 80,000 people in the 2017-2018 season, according to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The previous high for a regular flu season, based on analyses dating back more than three decades, was 56,000 deaths.”

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/last-years-flu-broke-records-for-deaths-and-illnesses-new-cdc-numbers-show/2018/09/26/97cb43fc-c0ed-11e8-90c9-23f963eea204_story.html

      80,000/365 = 219.17/day x 2 = 438 per two days on average

      • And we all know that government agencies NEVER manipulate data to support their own agendas. We have all read the reports that the CDC manipulates data concerning gun-related violence. It has been presented on this blog. So why believe their data on the flu? They are the largest single purchaser of flu vaccine, rather than leaving it all to private enterprise. Conflict of interest?

        OK…I will go no further…let’s keep the focus on guns.

        • I’ll just chime in… they purchase it yearly as a stockpile in case of a pandemic. And when, not if, that happens I’d like every anti-Vaxxer to be honest and not ask for a dose.

          Darwinism in action is gonna suck.

          My guess is the cdc data underestimates flu rates. Many private offices don’t test for it routinely because it doesn’t change management (since we try to limit tamiflu usage) and costs patients money. The ER’s do it all the time because they don’t think like that and they hand out tamiflu like candy.

          Now back to guns.

        • Joe guesses the CDC guesses are wrong…..priceless. And this passes for science in the Bill Nye world.

      • Well, yeah, but those are GOVERNMENT numbers, and everybody KNOWS that the Government lies about pretty much everything, so OBviously they’ve inflated those numbers so that more people will be afraid of dying from Influenza and its major killing complication, pneumonia, and more will get vaccinated every year, which allows the Government to inject everyone with mind-altering nanobots to make us sterile or homosexual or Liberal Progressive and want to give up our guns, plus the added benefit of making more money for Big Pharma which donates to all of the political parties anyway and wants us all hooked on Krokodil or Fentanyl or whatever the drug-du-jour might be and make us buy only Priuses. Priusii? Priusese? and support the Green New World Order.

        “It’s a trap!”

        • Don’t forget making the friggin’ frogs gay. They’re doing that too.

      • How many of those are confirmed cases of the flu? Don’t let facts get in the way of your BS serge.

  4. The internet has always been a dangerous place. Scammers, pedophiles, etc. Now it’s dangerous just to go there to say what you think…even when what you say is objectively true. Neil also speaks at a lot of colleges, the only places more dangerous for honest people than the internet. I like the guy so I hope they don’t tear him to pieces.

    • As an engineer, I too like the guy. Aside from the internet mob backlash, there will be those few rational folks, left or right, that actually were able to digest Tyson’s factual message, learn something, and think for themselves instead of allowing the media and politicians to do that for them.

  6. The slogan has gone from “common sense gun control” to “f*cking do something”.

      • Her career will be circling the drain,why can’t they understand just shut up and sing.

        • Just look at what happened to the careers of the ‘Dixie Chicks’ when they decided to shit on Bush II.

          Stall, spin, *splat*…

      • “If we, after a tragedy, only confine ourselves to doing those things that would have prevented this tragedy, we are missing a real opportunity,” governor Mike DeWine of Ohio said.

        So literally anything I guess as long as it makes some people feel good.

        • That quote says it all. They are not doing any of the things that could possibly prevent such a tragedy. Instead they just double down on the narrative and the agenda. Why would they actually try to *fix* something they can use as leverage to pry votes out of the gullible and uninformed? Or the recently dead but still registered?

  7. How is his apology equivalent to recanting? He didn’t claim that his data were wrong, nor did he change his conclusion based on those data.

    Everything else, I agree with. But I don’t see how he “recanted”. He merely apologized for upsetting the delicate sensitivities of the perpetually aggrieved SJWs who need safe spaces from objective reality.

    • Agreed.

      When you read it, he seems to be acknowledging their whinyness.

      Granted …emotions are certainly raw dor those communities.

      But you you shouldn’t base legislation on emotion….unless you’re a leftist..of course.

    • It was a very non-apology sort of apology. “I’m sorry that you’re upset” isn’t the same thing as “I’m sorry.”

      In this case it’s a great response; they don’t deserve a real apology anyway.

    • What does Bill Nye think?

      “Carbon emissions from firearms contribute to climate change.”

      – Bill Nye (Probably)

      • Now that’s comedy gold right there (IMHO)… Not to cast a net at your feet but it’s always good to hear from you Chip… That is all… Carry on Sir…

      • There is some fact that firearms release lead dust and some carbon into the air when fired. A suppressor will actually catch a lot of the particles, kinda why they get so dirty. So saving the environment and hearing would be a great reason to deregulate silencers.

        • Let’s see now… if I’m a libtard, deregulate suppressors or create more noise and pollution????? That was easy!👍

      • That’s four wasted minutes I’ll never get back. Do these people actually get paid to do this stuff?

        • Well, now you know it’s out there. If anyone *ever* brings up Bill Nye again in a future debate, you can link to this video and say

          “…ahem, you mean this Bill Nye?…”

          So, PeeGeeTwo, you never bothered to respond. You were referring to this Bill Nye?

        • Too bad you’re night bright enough to realize Guesty isn’t me…

      • Alright, now I’m confused. Is that a dude who thinks he has a vagina or an woman who actually has a vagina?

  9. But did he recant? Not really… he just apologized for knowing, lol. His apology was directed at those who knee jerk react. He never said that his scientific logic was untrue.

  11. Another leftist intellectual bullied into apologizing for telling the truth! “Gotta keep my job”!

  12. I think the title is a little misleading. If you read his “applogy” he basically states “my data is true, I made a mistake by thinking anyone on twitter was smart enough to comprehend math, and I am sorry that some of you think the sky is purple but it is not so go back to coloring so the adults can talk”.

    • WTH right? They just spent the past week telling us how racist it is to criticize a black man. I’m beginning to think maybe they aren’t very sincere.

  14. Poor Neil didn’t realize that a moment of sanity will always be drowned out by the Red Chorus. He should have followed up by suggesting that they FOAD.

  15. The anti Republic,Constitution, Liberty Leftards,just can’t help themselves,lies and untruths is all they have.

  16. Facts? Pffft! We don’t need no stinking facts! Can’t step off the plantation or they will destroy you.

  17. “hmmm… we just report the news and let the facts fall where they may, until we don’t like where the facts fall, then the facts distract from the agenda and it is tone deaf to report the news?

    Did i get that correct?

    • Pretty much except… WHITE SUPREMACY!!!! White men are the greatest threat to our country, and basically the world!

  19. I always enjoyed sharing the data that beds are twice as dangerous as long guns, per the CDC.

  20. I don’t write this to criticize the author or the readers of TTAG but to try to help you see something I think you are missing. People aren’t irrationally upset over the shootings in El Paso, Gilroy, and Dayton because they don’t understand statistics. Everyone understands that people are dying all the time due to innumerable causes, namely old age i.e. 55 million+ per year according to unverified google search and are generally unbothered by it. It is the malevolence and seemingly random nature of the murders and what they represent that leave people enraged. It is not just a crime against the people murdered, wounded and their loved ones. It is a crime against God and humanity. In the face of malevolence and senseless suffering, the right answer is not to minimize what is going on by putting it in the “big scheme of things.” If that’s the case, the millions fed to the gulags and concentration camps of the 21st century in service to the “greater good” of the hundreds of millions could be justified in some worldview. Brooklyn doesn’t get the attention that the rest do because at least on the surface of it, it seems there is a reason behind the shooting. Gang members shooting at gang members, the one who got killed was the intended target, the rest just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (or so I read). Belittling people for not understanding statistics in an effort to downplay mass shootings (although it may be true) cuts your legs out from under you if you ever try to appeal to their emotions by saying things like “how many more murders, rapes etc are you willing to accept for fewer guns?” Which I think is a great line of reasoning by the way since it does appeal to emotion and (sadly) emotional reasoning is going to win over data in a public debate. My two cents. Take it or leave it. And I suddenly feel like writing this comment was a big waste of time. Thanks!

    • Uh, yeah, well, you did. The fact is that people get upset and angry EVERY TIME someone dies needlessly or “senselessly,” for example, a cancer that kills in days from the time of discovery, the death of children from cancer and other childhood diseases such as mumps, chicken pocks, measles, etc, deaths in accidents, death from preventable medical error. That is human nature.

      But because it is GUNZ people are more upset because of the malice involved in using a gun to shoot innocents, as opposed to someone losing control and plowing through the front door of Walmart, killing and injuring dozens. And that frightens people because–as is the purpose of a terrorist attack–it makes people fear that it could happen to them any time any place and that they will be unable to do anything about it. They don’t think for a minute that they could be killed by a drunk driver going the wrong way, or a tree falling on their head, even if the odds are roughly the same. What they do not consider is that unlike the latter two examples, there is actually something they can do to protect themselves, unlike the tornado that destroys their house, or the storm that floods the whole town. They can go armed. They CAN fight back.

      • @Mark N: You nailed it. So, why are people more afraid of guns than tornados? My theory is that everyone believes they understand something about tornados, no one politicizes tornadoes. But many people do not understand guns and are stuffed with misinformation and media-provoked hysteria. We fear that which we do not understand.

        • “So, why are people more afraid of guns than tornados?”

          Because it serves their political purposes. They know that as long as the ‘common people’ can have guns, it threatens their hold on political power.

          This is a *highly* organized strategy to make those who vote so terrified of the prospect of guns that they will vote for the party that will ‘save them’ from the threat. Emotions are a powerful drug, and they will be happy to be the pusher that will give them a fix…

    • RE: Gang violence. “…the rest just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time..”
      It sounds like you’re minimizing gang violence. You think it makes more sense because they usually have reasons for their targets? BTW, sometimes gangs fire into random crowds. Why? Initiation maybe, who knows? It doesn’t make any sense to me. I understand just fine what a terrible tragedy these mass murders are, as I’m sure everyone here does. The reason we’re all so jaded is because of the blatant dishonesty, hypocrisy, and downright ignorance from the fools screaming from the mountain tops to just “Do Something!”

      • I get it. Don’t let your jaded perspective prevent you from seeing where the other side is coming from. Know your enemy and all that Sun Tzu stuff. Acting like all deaths are viewed the same psychologically is just silly. Obviously that’s not the case since there are a half dozen ways for being charged when you are responsible for killing someone. I.e. 1st deg murder, 2nd deg, manslaughter etc…comparing murder to any other cause of death in order to minimize the outrage statistically in the call for “gun control” just isn’t going to work. Also, since we are generalizing…people make efforts to reduce the chance of death for all of the causes of death entioned above as things “people” don’t worry about. I.e. tornado shelters, flu vaccines, not driving after midnight on new year’s, hurricane Evacs etc. We encourage folks to exercise their natural right to self-preservation in those instances of the time which is exactly why we should encourage a well prepared armed citizenry as well. An armed society is a civil society.

        • I’m not talking about tornadoes or the flue. I’m talking about inner city violence that is ignored strictly out of convenience.
          Exactly what I’m talking about from the Chicago Tribune this morning:
          https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/john-kass/ct-trump-shootings-politics-chicago-kass-20190807-vjr664o3hrer5nx226d7uocgsa-story.html

          But what of the mass shootings in Chicago, the 55 people shot over the weekend, with seven hit near a park and then eight more not far away?

          You might think these are “mass shootings” too, but, in political/media terms, they’re not treated as such. The victims, and in all likelihood the shooters, are black. And Democratic politicians find no political advantage in weaponizing the victims of everyday street violence in a Democratic town. So Chicago’s dead are stepped over by national media and national Democrats on the way to 2020.

          Babies shot in Chicago? Poor people terrorized daily? Cops and paramedics pushed to the breaking point?

          They’re largely forgotten. In political terms it’s all about those white boys with their guns.

          Democrats wrap them around Trump’s neck, focusing on a key voter block, suburban white women with those “Hate Has No Home Here” signs. For two years, the left and media have shrieked unproven allegations about Trump and collusion with Russia. Now that has faded, Democrats adeptly find themselves on comfortable, familiar ground: race.

          *Sorry dude, but I think this deserves equal outrage. People just don’t care because everyone goes to the Walmart, but Chicago is a place most of us will never even visit.

    • The point is not belittling people for not understanding statistics in an effort to downplay mass shootings. It’s rather to show hypocrisy in leftist’s proclaimed motivation for gun grab – saving lives. If they cared about saving lives, their time and effort would be much better spent on other issues which kill many more each year.

      But we know that “gun violence” (and outliers like mass murders especially) are just a convenient pretext for disarming the population.

  21. LOL…so the leftard got criticized. Poor baby. I guess his critic’s weren’t “evolved” enough. Bad luck Tyson😏

    • The left’s intolerance of diversity of thought will be its undoing. Diversity in gender, no problem! You can be any of 36 genders and you can flip your gender every day, but you may not utter anything but the party line.

      • “The left’s intolerance of diversity of thought will be its undoing.”

        No, because to them, they don’t have to tolerate who they consider to be intolerant (meaning, us). Here’s the sick part – They feel good and rightous about being intolerant of us.

        It’s quite a head game they have running…

    • That is an inconvenient truth that goes against the party line. You should apologize immediately!

  24. Tyson is “tone deaf” wrote one commentator, their commment appears above. I wonder as to whether Tyson would be equally “disadvantaged” if the complaining party found his comment more go their liking. I suspect not, but then who knows.

  25. I find it amusing that he still didn’t admit he was wrong in his original tweet (which, of course, he wasn’t.) He just “admitted” that he didn’t realize how pissed off people would be over his being “helpful” in correcting their lousy perceptions.

    Of course, his admission was solely to smooth over the outrage so his own reputation wouldn’t be affected.

    Which means, of course, that he’s a pussy. No surprise there. Most people – and especially those in the public eye – live or die on other people’s perceptions of them.

    At my age, I don’t give a damn any more. Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke. I don’t care how offended you get over something I say – that’s your problem. I’m not responsible for your emotions. I’m only responsible for getting my facts right and my intellectual integrity (which most people don’t have any of.)

  26. We all know that anyone who doesn’t toe the leftist party line is verboten. I’ve mentioned him before, but if you’ve never read Professor Gary Kleck’s work, you should. Professor of Criminology at Florida State University. He has done some landmark research over the last three decades on the connection between crime and firearms. Understand, he began this research as anti 2A. To his surprise he found that restrictions on 2A did not curb crime, but instead, furthered it. I remember reading that he still didn’t own any firearms, but no longer opposed private firearms ownership. Last night the local CBS affiliate conducted a brief, very brief, interview with Kleck. He said that none of the proposed restrictions on firearms would have prevented any mass shootings. It’s odd. That report didn’t make it to New York.

  27. Exactly who forced Mr.Tyson to “apologize”. How did whomever accomplish this, and exactly what “force” was utilized? I find myself curious regarding the above noted.

  28. Neil, if you ever read this, I want you to know that what you said was the unquestionable truth and the fact that it came from someone with such credibility made it that much sweeter. Objectivity is the first victim in these situations, so thank you for trying to revive it.

  29. Let them chew on him, let him apologize and let them continue to howl for Tyson to be publicly crucified.

    If people had seen what happened to the President of Harvard 10 or so years ago the “me too” movement never would have happened and 3rd wave feminism would have been stopped dead in it’s tracks.

    This is a PR nightmare for the Left. Don’t interrupt them while they’re fucking up this hard. Let this go for awhile and build into a larger object, then pull an Antifa: wrap that object in a sock and start cracking skulls (proverbially).

    • IIRC he was run off because he said Male and Females gravitated to certain fields and were good at them because..Biology. I thought he was stating obvious things but I guess one can’t.

      I remember vaguely some of the articles written..That was pre-metoo and prewoke days.

      • He got fired for saying that at the time there were fewer women in the sciences than men and suggesting that this be researched to find out why women didn’t gravitate towards the hard sciences the way that men do.

        He then went on to say that based on the findings K-12 and college educational institutions should use those findings to, where applicable, determine how to better teach such subjects in a way that women would find appealing.

        Essentially he argued that there’s a difference between a male and a female brain and that we should adapt teaching, particularly in mathematics, to accommodate that reality. He argued this in the context that women, particularly in biochemistry, had looked at problems in a different way and made breakthroughs by coming at things with a different approach. Therefore women are valuable to the pursuit of science and we should try to make sure that they get a fair shot at being involved.

        In essence he argued that women were probably being somewhat shortchanged in math education and that this was bad. A lack of of educational opportunity was potentially creating unequal outcomes in favor of men.

        He said this in a speech to faculty.

        A lady from one of the social sciences at Harvard stood up and literally screamed at the President that he was a sexist, basically throwing a “anything you can do I can do better” fit before storming out of the room. She then launched a campaign to oust the President, a campaign that was ultimately successful.

        A 3rd wave feminist got the President of the University fired because he argued that sexism, even if unintentional, was bad.

  30. Quote: “Exactly who forced Mr.Tyson to “apologize”. How did whomever accomplish this, and exactly what “force” was utilized? I find myself curious regarding the above noted.” Excellent question and you are right, no one forced him to apologize. He decided to appease the mob but then decided, no I won’t by writing “So if you are one of those people, I apologize for not knowing in advance what effect my Tweet could have on you.” Basically saying ‘I am not a mind reader and didn’t know you are incapable of processing facts.’ Although in fact he did not need to be a mind reader, just aware of how the Left attacks everything it doesn’t like. Mike Pence had come under fire because he refused to be alone with any woman not his wife. That pretty much ended with #MeToo, #BelieveAllWomen. I am sure Mr. Tyson was aware of what happened to the Covington Kids. Examples abound.

  31. “I’m sorry you were offended” isn’t really an apology, lol

    Has Tyson been awakened from his liberal politics after his brush with #metoo, or what? This is twice in two days he’s surprised me.

  32. What he stated are facts, but anti gunners are hurt because someone is trying to keep the flu at bay and they feel that no one cares that these “dangerous weapons” are out in the hands of people that want to kill innocent people. These people really believe that restricting firearms to LE only will make a difference. They live in their safe communities and now believe(because of all the nationwide coverage on shootings) that people are out the get them. Never mind that the numbers are half of what they were 20 years ago, they believe the news.
    This is a people problem and we need to fix this. It is not allowing kids to find a pecking order. It is pulling kids apart rather then letting them have it out(when they are 10 years old). When they find their pecking order, when they figure out that no one wins in fights, one just gets hurt less than the other(part of growing up), they get some maturity.
    When mommy says that they are only jealous and the kid believes it, it just notches up the frustration.
    These kids need to be put in their place BY THEIR PEERS, even if it takes a few to beat down a bully. Adult interference does not help, they should learn by the time they are in middle school.

  33. Apology? What apology? I didn’t see an apology, just a comment along the lines of I’m sorry you can’t handle true facts. But, bred on fake news, who is surprised they have no capacity to process the truth.

  35. He should have answered the outrage with more facts, doubled down on facts, stood up and said “YOU WANT TO SOLVE THIS YOU BETTER LISTEN TO FACTS!”

    But no, better to crumble under popular pressure, protect your income.

  36. The funny thing is that those numbers don’t lie. Only when it is firearms are involved, then it gets akewed.

  37. I am no fan of Tyson’s politics. He is a creature of the Left. He just survived a ME TOO witch hunt. The Left tried to get him fired with baseless accusations. When an internal investigation cleared him the left was unsatisfied. I suspect, his recent factual Tweet is cannon fodder for the leftist elites who want him destroyed.

  38. It’s ok to talk about gun control in your first statement about the shootings as a politician. But god forbid you provide undeniable facts to show this is statistically insignificant number of deaths as a private citizen.

    Where are these people’s outrage about all the deaths in Chicago? Or how about the legalized drug dealing that is killing HUGE numbers of our fellow countrymen?

    Why don’t you spend time addressing an actual health crisis instead of an statistically insignificant number of deaths?

    Facts don’t care about your feelings.

  39. So, what we should say depends on how people are going to feel about it, not whether it’s true, or useful?

    I’m pretty consistently unhappy with what quite a few people say. Does this mean they have to be quiet now. (Can I hope.)

  40. Apparently, Mothers Against Only Some Violence get bugged when you mention anything otber than their pet issue.

    • Not sure, but I think attacking them with “facts” is now considered some type of hate crime!

  42. Threw Bottles? Great, now ABInBev is going to get sued because thier glass wasnt strong enough to take him out…..

  43. Tyson’s comparison is very ridiculous. There are many programs and people working to try and cure or solve disease but nothing is being done to prevent mass murder by assault rifle and now way less money being spent fighting domestic right wing extremism compliments of the stingy Racist Republicans.

    Trump has actually cut Federal Spending to curb attacks by white supremacists who now commit 70 per cent of mass murder. The major amount of money spent by the Federal Government has been against Islamic Terrorists when they actually are responsible for way less mass murders. It simply once again shows Trumps rabid racism and xenophobia all coming at a cost of putting the average citizen in grave danger by attacks by domestic terrorism which is far more common.

    The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism noted that every single extremist killing in 2018 was linked to right-wing extremism. A senior FBI counterterrorism official told CNN in June that the agency has seen a major increase in the number of white supremacist domestic terrorism cases in the last few months.

    Once again Trump and the Federal Government have failed the people and are responsible for the huge amount of attacks that are not being prevented both because of a lack of new gun control laws and a lack of money to prevent such attacks from taking place.

    In conclusion Tyson should realize that disease prevention is many times more difficult
    than preventing right wing extremism and continued failure to do anything about weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of nut cases hell bent on mass murder.

    • That black man with a PHd really makes you mad doesn’t he?
      He could have also said hundreds of people die in the bathtub or shower stall, much more often than are shot to death in a mass shooting.

  44. The only way to beat the leftists is to use their own foibles against them. For example, I have recently caused them to lock up by asking them:

    “So why don’t we put some actual therapists into public schools? They can identify these issues and a lot more way before they become a crisis and deal with more common issues like eating disorders, depression and so on thereby giving all children a much happier and healthier life.”

    “Have you considered that children often try to provoke over-reaction from their parents in order to make themselves look better and have the parents essentially give them the attention and rewards they crave? Let’s try toning down the reaction as we would with any child so that others stop thinking they’ll get what they want from such terrible behavior.”

    They didn’t lock up so much when I said “Why don’t we start indicting people who were aware of these deranged individuals and did nothing about it? I mean, there are family members and others who are not only tolerating the behavior but providing food, shelter and supplies to these monsters. Let’s get them involved so they understand: you’re not allowed to help people who make threats and death lists plan out crimes.” They immediately responded that was impossible and immoral because those people did nothing wrong. They did lock up when I retorted that neither I nor any other gun owner did anything wrong, so we need to focus on people who did something wrong by failing to act when they had the knowledge.

  45. Frankly, I found his “apology” to contain a well camouflaged note of sarcasm. It read like an apology, but felt like a veiled slapdown.

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