Between Canadians and Americans

This is not about the latest mass murderer/gun maniac Elliot Rodger. However, I posted a comment on White House correspondent and Daily Banter columnist Tommy Christopher's article on said gun maniac. Then I wanted to review a post I wrote some time ago called "It's not the guns, it's the attitude" and got a slight chill when glancing at my stats. There were several hits referred from a site called "Canadiangunnutz.com". Uh oh I thought, somebody is unhappy with what I wrote. As someone who regularly deals with the raving mob of online gun "enthusiasts," I was understandably worried. Were they ripping me apart on facts? On my analysis somewhere, simple ad hominem attacks, or making fun of my stuff generally? Or worse, were they discussing just what tortures I should endure for my crimes against the second amendment (which, as we know, is the only one that matters, and free speech is verboten)? The fanaticism of American gun nuts is well known to me, as is their proclivity to violent solutions to intimidate their "enemies."

Amazingly, none of the above. So far I have basically flown under the radar of any American gun guys. I am apparently not worth the trouble or in true Daily Me fashion, their trolls simply don't fish for small fry. I mean they do not seek out little blogspots to attack, so far anyway. Nope, Canadians have a reputation for being nice, polite, non-confrontational. And I was happy to find out that what they were discussing on this forum was not in fact 101 ways to roast sea monsters, but the link that still gets page views despite being over two years old. They were talking about Rum and the Misfits, a post I made after seeing a commercial for Sailor Jerry that had Where Eagles Dare as its soundtrack.

This incident may just be anecdotal or apocryphal, but what a difference a border can make. I just finished Michael Kimmel's excellent book  Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era and boy does it bring into focus what drives all the rage we see everyday. The Kraken will not be jumping to conclusions in the future. There are angry white men out there, there are also Americans who dig guns that are not into hate or authoritarianism.

P.S. I think I finally figured out why the Misfits were interested in having their song in that commercial. Glenn and Jerry made the news recently. Apparently Jerry Only, as the only remaining original member, cut Danzig out of some royalties and Danzig is suing over it. So Jerry, like the rum brand Sailor Jerry (get it?) probably cut a deal for some quick cash. I'm not judging you understand, anything you've got to do to make a living. Reminds me a little of another punk icon dispute; back in the late '90s Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray wanted to put the band back together and sued Jello Biafra for the rights to their song catalogue. The punk rock ethos was egalitarian and all the other adjectives that I am not really qualified to get into. It gets harder and harder to maintain that ethos the longer one lives, not surprising that these musicians are not able to stay "pure."