The Greatest Thing Anyone’s Ever Written About Me
A wannabe David Horowitz has written this about me calling the NRA a terrorist organization on Twitter. It is entitled, “Professor calls for assassination of NRA CEO.”
The only downside is crazy people flooding my e-mail in box during finals week. But so be it.
…..You will all be happy to know that one of these lunatics called the Rhode Island state police accusing me of calling for the assassination of Wayne LaPierre. 2 officers came to the house. I was in a meeting on campus. I now have to meet these police officers at a gas station in the middle. Yes, this sounds a bit suspicious to me too. If this is a trap and I get shot tonight, let it be known that someone had to say these things.
…..Not dead yet. Do have a meeting with the dean tomorrow though. Yay!
Uncle Kvetch:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Just don’t let the lure of celebrity go to your head.
(OTOH, it would be kind of cool to be able to say “Hey, I was reading Loomis years before you hipsters got into him.”)
brad:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
“The professor could not be reached for comment at the time of publication and URI was did not provide a spokesperson for comment to Campus Reform in time for publication.” [very sic]
I want to tease about EL hiding from the truth, but stupidity like this can make it difficult to distinguish sarcasm when in close proximity.
Substance McGravitas:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
You know what would go well with a head on a stick? A vodka martini.
Malaclypse:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
I’m almost tempted to point this guy in the direction of Alterdestiny, with the masthead of dairy products, the white race, and the survival thereof, just to watch his wingnutty head explode.
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Gin sir! Gin!
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
I can’t help but wonder, does this guy think terms like “head on a stick” are usually meant to be taken literally?
Because he must think our political and social discourse is just… awfully violent in general.
The kindest scenario I can think of is that this is snark. Someone thinking “Wait, they’re blaming Wayne LaPierre for this shit because of what he says? That’s bullshit. I mean, this guy called for LaPierre’s head on a stick; by that standard if someone actually did that, we should blame him. I will make an article highly the ridiculous standard.”
But I don’t think he’s that smart.
Also, LaPierre isn’t CEO of the NRA, which I believe isn’t incorporated.
Speak Truth:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
…me calling the NRA a terrorist organization…
Yeah, well, when you make crazy statements, you get crazy critics. Go figure. That was out there.
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
I mean really, if I was going to call for the assassination of LaPierre, wouldn’t I have said to use the same gun the asshole in Connecticut used? Killing and the NRA does not exactly need to be obscured through language.
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Do you facilitate the murder of 20 young children before or after you eat your morning waffles?
Colin:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
If given the opportunity, I will take it as a point of pride to say, “I was writing alongside Loomis years before you kids had heard of him. [Now get off my lawn.]“
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
“I’ve known Loomis for so long, I remember when he was advocating for the assassination of Jesse Helms.”
joe from Lowell:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Congrats.
Vance Maverick:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
How does that cross the line from legitimate hyperbole to “out there”? Terrorists use violence to advance political ends — the NRA uses politics to advance violence.
Manta:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Since the US policy is to imprison without trial or murder (people the government decides are) terrorists, by saying that the head of NRA is a terrorist you were calling for his assassination (or imprisonment without trial).
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
See, I would respect that guy more if he had made those connections himself. On the other hand, of course it was far beyond him.
Aaron Morrow:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Terrorists can’t be white! They must be Freedom Fighters TM.
Vance Maverick:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
And if he had called LaPierre a fraud, that would have amounted to calling for his imprisonment? I eagerly await the application of this hyperliteral standard of acceptable speech to the provocations of Ann Coulter.
Thers:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
I liked this comment:
“Erik Loomis is why more and more parents home school and then send their kids to Liberty or some other Christian college.”
Secular humanists like yerself just completely suppress the Christian message of plentiful assault rifles. Typical.
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
My wife also found that comment especially entertaining.
Joseph Slater:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Guns don’t kill people. Blogs kill people.
wengler:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
A Glock won’t help you against a drone attack.
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Really, if I’m going to go old school and put LaPierre’s head on a stick, I am going to contact my medievalist historian friends and get some advice on how to do it right.
Malaclypse:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Look, I’m just gonna point out that if Jesus had an assault rifle in Gethsemane, that centurion wouldn’t have even had an ear for Jesus to reattach. Let’s see the liberals argue that away.
John:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Don’t you remember when Obama literally threw Reverend Wright under a passing CTA bus, resulting not only in serious injuries to the reverend, but significant damage to the bus?
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
And Gin?
John Brown:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Quite right!
Manta:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
All by himself? Eric must be proud to be able to fill all Christian colleges.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Although based on Horowitz’s history, it would be more to the point if you said that if Trotskey had only had an assault rifle, no icepick-wielding Stalinist could have taken him out.
Anonymous:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Just think: we all knew Erik way back when he was a nobody…
Fake Irishman:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I’m sure SEK could put up another Game of Thrones post to show you how to display your heads on sticks in the most visually meaningful way.
Manju:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
I swear to freakin’ god, last Wednesday afternoon:
And I wasn’t even raised to posses the skill of knowing wine.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
When was the last time anyone ever used an assault rifle to put someone’s head on a stick, anyway?
Anonymous:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Worst. Carvel. Ever.
actor212:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Grrrr, those last two Anons were mine. Sorry.
actor212:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Well, first, you have to call it a “pike,” not a stick.
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
He really does seem unaware of the concept of metaphor, and this is a very common one. You would think that a “writer” might be familiar with things like this.
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Obviously a pancake apostate. Time to burn him a steak.
xxy:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
I’d like to see a screening of Les Miserables at the Leadership Institute. I hear their projection is top-notch!
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Vietnam, 1965-1975.
actor212:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Here’s the thing, Murc. There are many on the right…and some on the left…who go out of their way to exaggerate and sensationalize comments and statements, sucking the underlying truth out of them (that LaPierre ought to be publicly made ot account for his sins in this) and turning them into some attack, so they can beat back the straw man.
I, along with SEK, have been on the receiving end of this treatment on at least one occasion. It’s not pretty, but there are ways to fight it.
somethingblue:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Make sure you forward that one to your publisher.
Hogan:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I think it’s more like chicken satay.
Malaclypse:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
And list it as “community service” in your tenure package.
mark f:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
I just don’t know where else to share this, so I’ll add it here.
Jonah Goldberg, John Podhoretz and somebody named Rob Long have solved the problem of mass shootings.
1. Gun control is stupid and useless.
2. People with mental illness should be institutionalized by force.
3. Barack Obama should lecture black fathers more.
4. Repeal the New Deal.
5. Charles Murray is great.
I am not kidding.
Davis:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Putting his head on a pike would imply that he be charged, convicted, and executed, rather than assassinated.
joe from Lowell:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Um…
Seriously, trolly, I don’t think there’s anyone here who doesn’t want to see LaPierre tried and held in federal prison.
jon:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Why, we knew him when he was only calling for the beheading of one person, long before he moved on to the genocide that always throbbed in his dark heart. And look at him now, so pleased with himself, sitting on top of his pyramid of skulls.
PSP:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Doesn’t he have to drawn and quartered first?
jon:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
The separate subject of first removing head from body will be covered in an upcoming post-graduate colloquium. In the meantime, feel free to improvise with a rusty catfood can lid.
Linnaeus:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
You’re bloody well right.
Matt:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
He thinks Liberty University is a great place, so his command of metaphor may be slightly impaired – a pretty common affliction among people who’ve convinced themselves that a book of fairy tales by Iron Age shepherds is literal truth.
Malaclypse:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Pedant: the fables are mainly Bronze Age, not Iron Age.
Sherm:
December 17th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
With a side dish of dried ears, of course.
Njorl:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Or, that Erik wants to see one of the guys on “Pardon the Interruption” do a rant from La Pierre’s point of view.
Pestilence:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
best bar snacks
Major Kong:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
I’d settle for him to be tarred, feathered and run out of the country on a rail.
I guess I’m one of those bleeding-heart liberals.
Leeds man:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
What, no hanging first? Barbarian!
Stan Gable:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
He’s thrown millions of liberals under the same bus already – I’m shocked that a) the maintenance work alone hasn’t lifted us out of recession and b) that his back and knees are still holding up under the strain!
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Oh, but now I see it’s not Horowitz himself; just a Horowitz wannabe, which is about as low on the food chain as one can get.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Surely they used knives?
Pestilence:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
… with horror?
Pestilence:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Congo, 2012 (well, for generous definitions of stick)
SEK:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
You will all be happy to know that one of these lunatics called the Rhode Island state police accusing me of calling for the assassination of Wayne LaPierre. 2 officers came to the house. I was in a meeting on campus. I now have to meet these police officers at a gas station in the middle. Yes, this sounds a bit suspicious to me too. If this is a trap and I get shot tonight, let it be known that someone had to say these things.
You’ve been hanging around me too long. Clearly, I’m a terrible influence.
Pestilence:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
well that gives low-hanging fruit a new definition
Randy:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Favorite comment:
“how bout we get rid of all inteligentsia that would solve the problem what a dumbass!”
Here’s a man who’s willing to walk the walk. No one is ever going to accuse HIM of being part of the “inteligentsia.”
Brian:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
This guy is doing his part:
joe from Lowell:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
Try not to make of the Rhode Island State Police’s silly-assed uniforms.
Brian:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
DAMMIT Randy!
SEK:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
(Or a curse.)
WOOF:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Don’t go.
It’s so much more efficient if
you come to them.
I suspect you will be arrested.
Uncle Kvetch:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
I’ll have a gin martini.
See, there’s your trouble right there. You gotta call your brand.
I order a “Beefeater martini, up with a twist” (or if I’m feeling like a change of pace, a “Bombay Sapphire etc.”). That way I don’t even have to acknowledge the ridiculous notion that there’s something called a “martini” that’s made with vodka.
(Mind you, vodka does have its place: a friend had a party over the weekend where the drink of choice was Absolut Ruby Red mixed with additional ruby red grapefruit juice and a shot of lime. I’ve always poo-pooed the whole flavored vodka thing but this was deee-lishus.)
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
He hires New Black Panthers to do the heavy lifting.
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
well-placed commas are your friend.
Steve M.:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Glenn Reynolds just retweeted this. Twice.
https://twitter.com/maryclimer/status/280811885828399104
https://twitter.com/keder/status/280811798330998784
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Fixed for gospel accuracy.
commie atheist:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
Very butch. They remind me of those guys who always escort coaches off the field at the end of college football games.
scepticus:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
My understanding, or misunderstanding, as the case may be, is that the writers were of the Iron Age, which is too bad, because Bronze Age comes across as bigger, and funnier, insult. I also prefer to refer to them as goatherders, rather than shepherds, for the same reason. [Way off the main point of the Loomis post]
sparks:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Meh, leathery. Better for a dog treat than a human snack. Ears need deep frying.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Why the scare quotes?
For that matter, what have you got against a vodka martini? Vodka goes great with vermouth and an olive, and it’s no less a legitimate martini than one with gin.
Now, drinks that are just vodka with a sweetener, those aren’t martinis. Neither is ordering an ‘extra dry’ vodka martini, because the bartender can and will simply pour you a big glass of vodka.
But the traditional vodka martini is a perfectly cromulent martini.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Er… I actually don’t.
LaPierre is a sack of shit, but I don’t see how he’s done anything that he could actually be held criminally liable for, at least not without setting precedents I’d find dangerous.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
Wow, Khmer Rouge policymaking is alive and well.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
“I’ve known Loomis for so long, I remember when he was advocating for the assassination of
Jesse HelmsJefferson DavisLucius Cornelius Sulla.”Anonymous:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Those doors won’t open themselves.
GFW:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Yeah, since when can the police tell you to meet them at a gas station?
There are serious differences in law between your property and elsewhere. Basically they can arrest you for darn near anything (claim you were disturbing the peace or whatever they want) at the gas station, while they’d be much more constrained if you’re on your own property (preferably inside your house).
So, make them come to you, and stand on your stoop while you talk to them through the doorway. Or get someone around here with real expertise (not me – this is based on watching L&O a few times) to explain in more details.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:25 pm
His body lies amolderin’ in his grave, but his truth goes marching on . . .
herr doktor bimler:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Hey, man, you don’t talk to Erik Loomis. You listen to him. The man’s enlarged my mind. He’s a poet warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he’ll… uh… well, you’ll say “hello” to him, right? And he’ll just walk right by you. He won’t even notice you. And suddenly he’ll grab you, and he’ll throw you in a corner, and he’ll say, “Do you know that ‘if’ is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you”… I mean I’m… no, I can’t… I’m a little man, I’m a little man, he’s… he’s a great man! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas…
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:28 pm
Or take his lawyer with him to the gas station.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
stand on your stoop while you talk to them through the doorway.
Oh, don’t do that, unless you want to give them a pretext to search your house.
Steve:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Shorter Erik: Send lawyers, guns, and money.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
I honestly don’t know if Erik wouldn’t welcome that.
On the one hand, nobody likes being arrested. On the other hand, Erik is an honest to god labor radical, where being arrested is a mark of honor, and if he had the time he could make life all sorts of difficult for both the cops arresting him and the idiot who filed a false report.
GFW:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
That’ll work too, but costs the hourly rate of the lawyer including travel time. Seriously, if you have a lawyer and plenty of money, the best place to discuss anything with the police, is at the offices of said lawyer. If you don’t have a lawyer and just plan to point out that “head on a stick” is an expression used figuratively in the modern world like “thrown to the lions”, “crucified”, “pilloried”, etc. then I’d say the doorway of your home is a good bet. Don’t come out, don’t invite them in. (This could seem like I’m anti-cop. I’m not, except when there’s reason to suspect motive. If I was reporting a crime, I’d invite them in and offer an appropriate beverage.)
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Oh, and chalk me up as another in the ‘don’t meet the cops at a gas station.’
I mean, really, Erik. You should know better than to trust the cops. You want to meet them on your own property, outside your home, preferably with your attorney present and as large an audience as possible.
Barring that, make them come to you on-campus and make sure colleagues are present.
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
And there are some flavored vodkas that make very fine mixed drinks.
Krugar of Swamp Clan:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Krugar am know Loomis so long Krugar remember when Loomis want someone club Glork of Valley Clan in head with bear femur.
GFW:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
From that link “A consent to search must be unequivocal and specific. It must be given voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly”
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:43 pm
My thought exactly!
GFW:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
+1
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Many of the fables were around long before they were written down. The Pentateuch is most certainly Bronze Age.
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Erik
A little bit of legal advice. When and where you do meet the police, be civil and don’t be a jerk. Explain that what you said was not a threat, that putting one’s head on a pike doesn’t mean you are literally going to behead him – dont go on and on about LaPierre being a terrorist. You really don’t want even frivolous charges being brought.
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
All of them are filled with little horrors.
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
True. I realized that there have been many instances since. I just knew guys who had been party or witness to the incidents in Vietnam.
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
The guy who called the cops is not guilty of filing a false report if all he did was bring to the attention what Erik wrote. And filing a charge against the cops for wanting to talk to him wont get him anywhere. He is not going to be able to make things difficult for anyone unless he wants to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees with no expectation of getting anything back. The best thing to do is talk with the cops, preferably at the police station and preferably with a lawyer, and explain that no threat of violence was made.
DrDick:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Their own little Cultural Revolution I think.
Bill Murray:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
I had friends who, when in the Philippines, had weasel on a stick. That probably looked like their Wayne. Also CMOT Dibbler sold rat on a stick
duck-billed placelot:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Yeah, this gas station nonsense is…nonsense. In the BEST light, it’s two cops who are bored with this whole affair already wanting to get things over with. But since when do we assume the best motivations for cops? At the very least, bring a witness with you; more reasonably, I’d suggest you call and ‘reschedule’ through the main precinct, because there is also the possibility that these cops are not actually cops but instead lunatics hoping to punish EL for his intemperate (and wholly correct) speech. A little confirmation wouldn’t go amiss.
When I was in high school, there was a rash of killings; someone bought a flashing light and affixed it to his murder-car then proceeded to pull women over on deserted country highways. Always confirm with the precinct, people.
Anonymous:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Yeah,….YEAH…
Oh, fuck…I thought you were talking about Eric Holder.
Sorry…
elm:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
There is a good chance that the shit will hit the fan at the gas station tonight.
Bill Murray:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
so that leaves out Rick Ellington from ever giving consent to a search
Manju:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I order Omakase.
Reasonable 4ce:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
A David Horowitz wannabe? I had almost forgotten about that douche nozzle. Is that worse than a Breitbart wannabe?
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Of course, confirm that these guys are cops. But I assume they left their cards when they stopped by the campus. And I assume Erik already called the cop station where he was put in touch with one of them and told of the meeting at the gas station.
herr doktor bimler:
December 17th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Or a freshly-applied iron.
Craigo:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
That’s not quite right. We don’t know exactly what the report said, but if it actually repeated Erik’s exact words, then no cop in his right mind would want to waste time speaking with him. If it said that Erik threatened or incited the assassination of LaPierre, then that is obviously not true.
There will be absolutely no legal fees from pursuing the false report, because that’s a criminal matter and victims aren’t made to bear those costs. And lawyers suing a police department for false arrest and wrongful imprisonment will be happy to work on contingency, trust me.
Speak Truth:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Ya’ know, I’m not too worried about guns. Obama railed against it a couple of years ago when Gabby Gifford was shot and, as he always does, takes whatever position is to his political advantage. And gun control has never been a winning issue.
And in a couple of months after his supporters have calmed down and go back to work, school, etc., Obama won’t give a rat’s ass about guns. It’s a losing position. For most people it would be like getting rid of prescription medicines because 20,000 people die a year from misuse.
Rail as much as you wish. Doubtful anything will happen.
herr doktor bimler:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Quite right
You’re bloody well right.
You got the bloody right to say…
tomstickler:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
ass-U-me
herr doktor bimler:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Next you will tell me that the angry mob from which Obama defended those bankers was not in fact wielding pitchforks.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Which is why my comment specifically pertains to Erik being arrested.
Craigo:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
In practice, those conditions are easily met. The point is that you don’t ever want to be in the position where you’re arguing after the fact that the search wasn’t consensual.
It’s hard to understand the amount of pressure being put on you by two serious men in uniforms carrying guns and handcuffs and telling you that they need to see inside your house.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
I would actually say even that’s saying too much.
Never, ever, ever volunteer information in a police investigation that involves you as a suspect. Answer their questions factually, only answer what was asked, and stick to facts, not inference.
If the cops ask Erik to confirm if certain words are his or not, his answer should be “yes” or “no” followed by closing his mouth and waiting politely for the next question.
Jonathan Dresner:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
If you want to do it Japanese-style, you pickle the head first: pack it in salt, or salted rice. That’s what “sushi” was, originally: pickled fish that was fermented in salted rice. Eventually they figured out that fresher fish and vinegar’d rice worked better for most people. But the “su” in sushi is the root for pickled/preserved (ignore anyone who says that the character doesn’t say that; it’s a modern homophone to hide the origin) and it was done for enemy heads taken in combat, so they could be shipped back to the capitol for accounting purposes and display.
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
You’re assuming he gets arrested and charged. Thats not what is happening now. They only want to talk with him as far as we know. The cops cant be successfully sued for wanting to talk to someone.
I agree that if the report to the police said that Erik threatened to kill LaPierre, its a false report but I highly suspect that these clowns gave Erik’s on line statements to the police (or the police asked for them) before they made a decision to talk to him. If Erik files an action against these guys or the cops, it will cost Erik thousands in legal fees and, unless the cops actually have pursued an action against him for making threats and Erik prevailed, he wont be able to recover monies he spent on counsel (unless there is something special in the laws of Rhode Island I am not aware of)
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:24 pm
You are right if he is arrested. But its not at that stage now. And Erik should not put himself in a position to increase the chance of being arrested, even if the arrest is unwarranted.
sparks:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:24 pm
A B+ rail, hopefully.
John Protevi:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
CALL NOW AND YOU WILL RECEIVE AS A BONUS MY POLITICAL PROGNOSTICATION PUBLICATION IN THE FORM OF A HANDY NEWSLETTER. MY FORECASTING RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
jhe:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Anyone know where I can get a “Free Loomis” t-shirt? Or am I being premature?
Woodrowfan:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
both of them?
Woodrowfan:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
James F. Byrnes high School? Let me guess, South Carolina??
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
We disagree a little on this. My best guess is that the cops want to ask him if he wrote it and then ask him what he meant. At that point, he has a chance to explain that it was not a threat. I highly doubt they are going to ask him if he wrote it and not say anything else.
My other best guess is that they will lecture him, tell him we are living in tense times after what happened in Newtown and warn him to not inflame passions and not say anything which could be interpreted to suggest a violent response. Its up to Erik how to respond. My advise is to keep it low key, whatever he says, and dont champion himself as a firebrand. If I were him, I would downplay the First Amendment defense and attacks on the NRA.
somethingblue:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
You know, this is Rhode Island. They may just want to ask Erik what it’s worth to him.
Sherm:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:39 pm
No reason to talk to them at all.
laura:
December 17th, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Be careful Erik.
Pool of amino acids formed in primordial slime:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
gurgle
Yosemite Semite:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
Assassination is a bit extreme. Let’s just send Wayne LaPierre to Guantánamo with the rest of the terrorists.
jmack:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Neither is ordering an ‘extra dry’ vodka martini, because the bartender can and will simply pour you a big glass of vodka.
And he/she might wave the vermouth bottle over the drink (without adding any) for effect.
Timb:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Loomis’s would SO bea Marian. Although, how his loud mouth would have escaped proscription is beyond me. No way Loomis is as careful as Caesar
Timb:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
By not available for comment, we mean, we didn’t try to contact him, but we did tell on I’m to his boss. Na na na na
Uncle Ebeneezer:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Offered not as a pedant, but as someone who just recently discovered it.
Timb:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
You don’t have to write “Pedant.” I mean, you already signed it with “malaclypse”
Timb:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Believe it or not, yes. At least Breitbart believed part of the grift. Horowitz doesn’t believe any of it
joe from Lowell:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
I’m just arguing for due process. Of course there’s a chance he’d be acquitted.
joe from Lowell:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
The look like the Imperial Prussian Cavalry, Maintenance Division.
Rarely Posts:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
The only rational solution to this is: “a war on metaphor!”
Unfortunately, I’m only able to wage it from my home computer because a detachment of heroin syringes has got me pinned down in my apartment – my location fell behind enemy lines in the War on Drugs back in the 1950s.
I’m also not sure how I’m supposed to violently defeat symbolic language, but maybe an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is the place to start?
Anonymous:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
My office is pretty close to the NRA building in Fairfax, Virginia, and there were multiple occupied police cruisers parked directly across the road when I drove by at midday.
I think you touched a nerve there.
Uncle Ebeneezer:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
I wanted to make a joke but I’m having trouble figuring out what they would have to pry from Erik’s cold, dead hand? Any ideas?
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
In an ideal world, a Deschutes Black Butte Porter. Unfortunately I can’t get that in Rhode Island so I’m not sure.
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Erik
Did you meet with them or refuse or did they call it off? Inquiring minds want to know
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
I met with them. They thought the whole thing was ridiculous. They asked if I owned any guns, which was quite ironic. Then they asked if I was planning to assassinate Wayne LaPierre. Then it was over.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Strange low hanging fruit.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
“A consent to search must be unequivocal and specific. It must be given voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly”
Or more accurately, the police must say that consent to search was unequivocal and specific, given voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly, etc.
rea:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Or fuck consent–all the police have to say is that they smelled something suspicious when you opened the door.
jon:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
No, it means, “I left a vague voicemail five minutes before I hit ‘Send’.”
wengler:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Congratulations. You are the scariest leftist on the internet this day.
These people need hobbies other than soiling their pants.
jon:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
What did you expect? As all true conservatives know, it’s been all downhill since CookiePuss.
spencer:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
+ heh indeed.
Richard:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
Congrats. I thought this would amount to the cops just finishing up paperwork. Hope the meeting with the dean goes as well
spencer:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
I don’t care how many mangoes there are out there, I’m not getting out of the boat.
spencer:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:38 pm
You got any suits at home, or do you like coming to work dressed like you’re gonna invade Poland?
jon:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Some radical. You owed it to the Intertubes to go out in a blaze of glory, like Dillinger in a Peckinpah movie. For saying stuff that wouldn’t get you invited back if you were on the 700 Club, or to any self respecting grade school lunchroom. You make my sister’s book club yawn. Personally, I’m reveling in the fact that saying that maybe folks with guns shouldn’t kill so many children, is an actual, existential threat to people who specialize in collecting and using high powered weaponry.
SEK:
December 17th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
You’ve got a lot of nerve predicting things here. I mean, after this, it takes a lot of nerve to show your face after that performance.
Scott Lemieux:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Beefeater is really underrated. It ranks with Rittenhouse Rye as one of the great values in booze.
swearyanthony:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Hell that’s a quote for the cover of your next book.
RhZ:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
They may be obligated to look into this complaint, by law or by department practice.
I agree that friendly or at least amiable is the best way to go.
You could try W’s dismissive, ‘you’ve covered you ass, now’ tactic…umm on second thought, probably not the best idea.
The prophet Nostradumbass:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
So you just told them that you wanted to send LaPierre on a Holiday in Cambodia?
Bill Murray:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:28 pm
or the two sons of Zebedee, James and John
Bill Murray:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
also count this as free publicity for URI
Poicephalus:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
Best of luck with the Dean, tomorrow.
Hope he ain’t like Wormer.
Double secret probation and all.
Bill Murray:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
but you need to get your mango card reissued
Woodrowfan:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
the big bad “real men are armed to the teeth” NRA called on the cops for protection? What happened to self-defense and real manhood???? Wussies
Bill Murray:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
the pike for LaPierre’s head?
Woodrowfan:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:37 pm
well that’s just swell. What the hell are we going to do with 20 gross of “Free Loomis!” T-shirts now? Oh well, into the charity bag for Central America along with all those “World Champion Detroit Tigers” and “Romney Inauguration” t-shirts….
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:41 pm
I LOL’d
arguingwithsignposts:
December 17th, 2012 at 10:41 pm
LGM store!
Bijan Parsia:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Rod was one of my profs in grad school. As an Ancients scholar (esp. Aristotle) he was quite good. He’s a nice person as well.
somethingblue:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
But not if you owned any sticks?
Sounds like you dodged a bullet there.
Murc:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Nah, Erik’s Dean is pretty cool. He used to play bass in the Pretenders.
zombie rotten mcdonald:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Are you willing to go for “Reasonably Priced Loomis”?
zombie rotten mcdonald:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:21 pm
Isn’t that a Springsteen song?
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
Let’s not forget knives. I have a whole set in the kitchen!
zombie rotten mcdonald:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Well, he certainly made SOMEONE pee their pants.
zombie rotten mcdonald:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:24 pm
How much dental floss do you have?
Erik Loomis:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Got to see what the crop is like up in Montana this year.
DocAmazing:
December 17th, 2012 at 11:39 pm
Don’t knock Old Overholt rye, either.
mch:
December 18th, 2012 at 2:29 am
Haven’t read all the comments here, by a long shot.
My advice. Unless your dean has called you in only pro forma and to commiserate. This is the moment to concede. Not your principles, your soul. Save those. Concede, “Yes, I might have phrased things better.”
With power (ain’t it fun to have a rightly noticed blog?) comes responsibility, as they say. Responsibility to do right in the future, too.
bob_is_boring:
December 18th, 2012 at 2:31 am
I feel like it’s safe to say that this is the best thing ever (both Erik and this assessment).
ajay:
December 18th, 2012 at 4:30 am
A good choice of weapon. The femur of the species is more deadly than the male.
ajay:
December 18th, 2012 at 4:35 am
James on the M-60, John as loader.
ajay:
December 18th, 2012 at 4:39 am
Fruit of the Loomis?
swearyanthony:
December 18th, 2012 at 4:48 am
A “Free Loomis” T-shirt would make an excellent Christmas present for someone you are ambivalent about.
rea:
December 18th, 2012 at 6:16 am
I thought that guy ODed on heroin? He became dean at URI instead?
Cody:
December 18th, 2012 at 8:45 am
I googled “Head on a stick” and “Republican”. Loomis can up first.
WINNING!
Cody:
December 18th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Also,
Don’t Google this. Holy Hell are there some stupid websites that come up. I was looking for examples of prominent Republicans calling for someone’s head on a stick, but instead I found a bunch of posts about Loomis and Game of Thrones.
Cody:
December 18th, 2012 at 9:39 am
Don’t you pay the police?
Can’t they be bothered to meet you someplace!? The state police post can’t be that far. I’m certainly not okay meeting someone in someplace unfamiliar after only talking to them on the phone.
Cody:
December 18th, 2012 at 9:45 am
Quick! Flash mob at a random Rhode Island gas station where State Police are!
If I leave now I might make it there… by tomorrow.
Cody:
December 18th, 2012 at 9:47 am
Yes, this seems highly ironic. I assume everyone at the NRA HQ has a gun, and they preach having a gun would stop any kind of violence.
Thus, it would be rather clear they need no protection from law enforcement or other civil services.
rosewater49:
December 18th, 2012 at 11:10 am
My God are you witty! and think yourself now famous. What a sheltered little life you must lead.
RhZ:
December 18th, 2012 at 11:49 am
Wow. Thread over.
J. Otto Pohl:
December 18th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
It is still papaya season. Mangoes will be in season in February.
Hydrogen synthesized in the fires of the Big Bang:
December 18th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
(hums to itself at 1420.40575177 MHz)
Andrae:
December 18th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Whatever you think of its reliability, the books themselves claim their authorship was late-bronze through to early-iron age; depending on the specific tales to which you refer.
(There are references within the histories to the philistines of Gaza having a technological advantage over the hebrews due to their having access to iron weapons).
Statement on Erik Loomis - Unofficial Network:
December 19th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
[...] that someone had informed the FBI that Loomis had threatened LaPierre’s life. Loomis also has been hauled into a meeting with his dean. And now the president of the University of Rhode Island, where Loomis teaches, has issued [...]