It seems there's an endless parade of stupid by the right in reaction to the Newtown tragedy -- Megan McArdle's bum rushing toddlers, and Charlotte Allen's men can block bullets better than women are the leading contenders for blinding idiocy. (Ms. Allen was last seen expounding on the virtues of reanimating the political corpse of Sarah Palin in major newspapers last month.)
But now, Ross Douthat, David Brooks' scribe in waiting at the NYT today makes idiot analogy number 850 on the gun subject. Reacting to Adam Gopnick's comments on gun control as a "preventable disease" at the New Yorker, Ross thinks he has come up with a brilliant response: Just as a lot of people die from drinking, a lot of people die from guns. Therefore, gun control is just like prohibition!
Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Proliferation of assault weapons is exactly like sales of alcohol Why should we punish those "social" assault weapons shooters for the sins of an occasional mass killer with guns. Those people who want to stop bloodshed by limiting assault weapons are just the same as the Prohibition blue-noses.
Even Nucky Thompson and Al Capone would agree that Ross is out of his mind on this.