Law West of the Pecos, Tom Jones drawing.
When I still used Facebook I put up a version of the nonsense I’ve blogged here as “A Modest Proposal” (with nod to Jonathan Swift). A Modest Proposal At the time, a bill to foment the sale of silencers was before Congress. I don’t know where the matter stands at present.
From out of the blue, a gentleman appeared in the FB comment section. He informed me that the efficacy of silencers was greatly exaggerated in the movies. They did not, he said, suppress the report and flash of a firearm to the extent portrayed. He concluded that it was right and proper for gun enthusiasts to have greater access to silencers in order to protect their hearing.
I thanked him as neutrally as I could for his feedback. I haven’t the fortitude to cross swords with Second Amendment crusaders. I surmised there might be a contingent of them who monitor social media in order to catch and rebut messages possibly adverse to their cause. Had he taken my FB post seriously? How had I even come to his attention? Who knows? The man disappeared as abruptly as he had surfaced.
The point is, the argument I put forth there, as well as here in “A Modest Proposal,” is the sheerest of sheer nonsense — as much so as Swift’s satirical claim that one-year-old children of the poor could be “delicious nourishing and wholesome food.”
Silencers? I’m not brave. I shun confrontation. Oblique satire is the only refuge I have against what I consider to be arrant folly.
(C) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
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About JMN
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day, and watch Netflix and Prime Video for entertainment. I like to read and memorize poetry.
Postscript to “A Modest Proposal”
Law West of the Pecos, Tom Jones drawing.
When I still used Facebook I put up a version of the nonsense I’ve blogged here as “A Modest Proposal” (with nod to Jonathan Swift). A Modest Proposal At the time, a bill to foment the sale of silencers was before Congress. I don’t know where the matter stands at present.
From out of the blue, a gentleman appeared in the FB comment section. He informed me that the efficacy of silencers was greatly exaggerated in the movies. They did not, he said, suppress the report and flash of a firearm to the extent portrayed. He concluded that it was right and proper for gun enthusiasts to have greater access to silencers in order to protect their hearing.
I thanked him as neutrally as I could for his feedback. I haven’t the fortitude to cross swords with Second Amendment crusaders. I surmised there might be a contingent of them who monitor social media in order to catch and rebut messages possibly adverse to their cause. Had he taken my FB post seriously? How had I even come to his attention? Who knows? The man disappeared as abruptly as he had surfaced.
The point is, the argument I put forth there, as well as here in “A Modest Proposal,” is the sheerest of sheer nonsense — as much so as Swift’s satirical claim that one-year-old children of the poor could be “delicious nourishing and wholesome food.”
Silencers? I’m not brave. I shun confrontation. Oblique satire is the only refuge I have against what I consider to be arrant folly.
(C) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.
Share this:
Like this:
About JMN
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day, and watch Netflix and Prime Video for entertainment. I like to read and memorize poetry.