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Former Pa. Gov.: The ‘Good Thing’ About Newtown Is That it Was ‘So Horrific,’ Gun Control Advocates Have Been ‘Galvanized’

Jan. 11, 2013 3:53pm Becket Adams

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell during a Friday broadcast of MSNBC’s “Now With Alex Wagner” explained why he thinks it’s a “good thing” that the shooting spree in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 people dead, including 20 children, was “so horrific.”

“The good thing about Newtown is, it was so horrific that I think it galvanized Americans to a point where the intensity on our side is going to match the intensity on their side,” said the former mayor, referring to the current debate between gun control advocates and supporters of the Second Amendment:

His remarks were made in response to a question from host Alex Wagner who argues that “no one, anywhere” wants to abolish the Second Amendment.

“Newtown seemed like an inflection point, if you will — a change in the national dialogue about sensible gun laws,” said the MSNBC host.

“And yet, the response that we have seen in recent days from members of the gun-toting – gun-toting enthusiasts and the NRA has been, to say the least, something that has – has dismayed me and very much disappointed me. I wonder what you make of some of that rhetoric,” she added.

Final Thought — Don’t be too shocked by the former governor’s remarks. After all, this isn’t the first time that someone on that network has noted, with a certain amount of satisfaction, the political opportunities presented to their cause by a terrible tragedy:

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

(H/T: PJ Media). This post has been updated.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (129)

athiest-infedel
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:34pm
The ‘Good Thing’ About Newtown Is That it Was ‘So Horrific

Sick basta**, to stand on the bodies of dead babies like this for his agenda….wow wow wow
these “people” are twisted.

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- AvengerK
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:42pm
  “little martyrs”…”the good thing”….the left loves to exploit misery and suffering to stir trouble and unrest to further their agenda. Never waste a good crisis right?
  
  Report this comment
- 83plus
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:50pm
  Absolutely despicable Rendell and boo to MSNBC for letting him say that. That’s one cable/satellite channel I’m glad I don’t have.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 5:23pm
  and look at Chrissie tingles lardball Matthews…he doesn’t even blink.
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 5:35pm
  I speak from experience when I say…
  
  The good thing(s) about Newtown were that nearly 1/2 the girls living there were hot, there were plenty of places to party, we had dominant athletic teams, a very good local music scene, plenty of good pizza parlors & delis, several ponds sufficient for playing hockey, reasonable cops that knew their constituents, pretty good teachers, a decent small-town Labor Day parade, and a great big giant flag pole in the middle of the town’s main intersection that flew a 25-foot long American Flag.
  
  https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStvZDAH2Db0xeyRwisIyG8wLjhAVgW2SzzSFj1lwx7aeXckpcj
  
  Report this comment
- rs9
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 7:47pm
  Finally one of the A##holes admits it they are estatic over twenty dead babies
  
  Report this comment
- AlbertMaslar
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:44am
  Liberals are liberal, a right they deny to non-liberal conservatives. Every horrific thing is okay if it advances the liberal agenda that in fact is anti-American. When is Bush going to be blamed for this?
  
  Report this comment
- LaTxGuy
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:07pm
  I do seriouslt feel the extreme left, the libs , are trully happy about this tragic event! I am a serious gun advocate and collector and I actually cried several days over the Sandy Hook shootings. Do they actually think we conservatives are happy?? No Way! but they just as well put that sick shooter as their poster boy! It just goes to show their motives are jealous control of the people and not the sorrows that happened. I believe the more shootings the more excited they are getting! talk about sick people.
  
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zetuff
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:33pm
when will people wake up..the media lied….sandyhook was just a drill… no one really died..they where in on a drill… notice the media stop all follow ups.. the story is dead..

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Metallicat
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:23pm
That is the perfect description of Ed Rendell

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- Metallicat
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:29pm
  This was a response to a post that compared Rendell to an anus.
  
  Report this comment
THX-1138
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:22pm
Gun Free Zones were not created by the NRA; they were created by the Leftist Government.
Gun Free Zones INVITE massacres.
Twenty Children were (probably) killed in one of their Gun Free Zones.
This has happened MANY times since the introduction of these Gun Free Zones.
This is a CLEAR Pattern.

Tell me how the Government is *not* (at least Morally) responsible for these murders?

Rendell Killed Those Children; not the NRA.

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- WTFHappenedToTheUSA
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 8:51pm
  In CT, by law, all public schools are Gun Free Zones.
  
  Report this comment
red_white_blue2
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:20pm
My God, can you picture a parent hearing that that lost a child. These people have no soul..yes, “these people”

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klatoo
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:17pm
Well there is no doubt that once again Ed Rendell is still in Earth orbit. I always thought he was a communist but beside the point, with Piers Morgan Yeah he hates the constitution Piers should. America kicked their English but and then saved it twice. Yeah he hates it but why the gov hates it too well that leads back to my original thought but again beside the point. The 50 states (well most of them anyway) are afraid of the federal government. Always have been for 250 years. The second amendment is the ONLY thing that has kept the Federal Government from becoming Caligula. The states know it. Guns ain’t goin away guys and yes I want a 20 round clip if I could ever afford a gun that takes one. Hey if the fed gov’t was truly understanding of our rights instead of foreign aid they should be subsidizing my purchase of an AR 15. What do you think?

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- Metallicat
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:27pm
  I agree. purchasing a legal firearm should be a tax write off for an American citizen,as it lends to the defense of this nation,your state,and your community.
  
  Report this comment
- vendingdude
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 11:55pm
  hmmmm, since I run a home-based business can I claim my weapon as a business expense; you know, my security system?
  
  Report this comment
65Mustang
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:16pm
Ed Rendell, liberal bast**d that he is, speaks the truth….obama’s administration doesn’t give a rat’s azz about those children.

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- mercenary4freedom
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:33pm
  somethng still very ratty smelling about Sandy Hook!
  
  Report this comment
- Hammernsickle
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 5:43pm
  I prefer a late 60′s Chevelle but that’s beside the point, didn’t you see our fearless leader shed a tear for the camera? Clearly he cares deeply! So deeply that he’s gonna trample more of our rights-it’s for our own good!
  
  P.S. no not really!
  
  Report this comment
GroundZero is Nuclear Demolition x3
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:16pm
Nobody but RT is saying anything about more tougher perscription statues: http://youtu.be/p1VzKb7IUGk

Seriously, we know ritalin is a sch 2 controlled substance like cocaine, why is it being approved for children under 7? ALL of these mass murders are on PSYCOTROPIC DRUGS.

HELL THESE TWO BIG P WORDS AREN’T EVEN IN BLAZES SPELL CHECK, goes to show who is paying attention.

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- The-Monk
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:38pm
  The Blaze doesn’t have a spell check. That’s your browser. : )
  
  Report this comment
Cavallo
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:15pm
No shock here. This is who they are. Bloodthirsty fascists slavering for the death of children so they can enact their central oppression on the people.

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Dismayed Veteran
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:13pm
Well we now know the value of the liberals agenda. 20 dead children. 6 dead adults. These souls are now pawns to be played in every discussion about firearms.

The narrative will never change. Conservatives would rather have children killed by crazed gunmen than have their guns controlled.

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- klatoo
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:37pm
  Thanks to the states liberalizing gun laws and concealed carry over the years a lot of gun crime has dropped. More than half in 15 years. But prior to these times gun control was rampant in this country and people were victimized by rampant crime and high murder rates. Yeah look at Chicago, gun control-oppolis. If these progressives really cared about lowering the victimization rate (and they don’t) they would pass concealed carry and gun crimes would drop tremendously. What I am hearing is national politicians want gun control and sky high murder and crime rate because a liberal state back east refused to protect their citizens?
  
  Report this comment
surf0766
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:12pm
He took money from gas tax and push it to septa for a perm funding stream for votes. Nothing like watching buses at rush hour with only 1 person on.

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- Lee_in_PA
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 7:38am
  Fast Eddie Spendel. Out of offce but still wanting the press. Eddie, your 15 minutes were up a long time ago.
  
  Report this comment
- katgolf
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 8:56am
  Yea Surf- all of us PA folks (with our guns and religion) miss him terribly! Our daughter lived in the SE PA area, and was more familiar with him than I befor he became govenor, and warned us about him by saying he probably do for pa what he did for Philly area. God she wa right- Fast Eddie is gone and hopefully stays gone-unless of course BOBO has him in his next cabinet
  
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am123
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:12pm
Are we so sure there were 20 children killed? One of them was supposed to be Emilie Parker, and yet she was sitting on President Obama’s lap, 2 days after she was supposedly murdered. Here is a Facebook picture of Emilie (all the way on the right, notice the part in her **** and the dress she is wearing):

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=495784143778454&set=a.495784137111788.109539.495772320446303&type=1&theater

Now here is a picture of her with President Obama when he went to Newtown for the memorial service 2 days after she was supposedly murdered:

http://abcnews.go.com/meta/search/imageDetail?format=plain&source=http://abcnews.go.com/images/US/ht_barack_obama_ss_w_newtown_jp_121217

Perhaps this explains why Robbie Parker was laughing and grinning on the way to the podium to tell the nation about his supposedly dead daughter. Why isn’t the media questioning this?

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- donsfirstwife
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:43am
  Interesting. I hadn’t seen or heard any of this before today. Makes me wonder about what’s really going on. I know the Devil is at work. Are ‘the man’ and his Liberal/Islamic/Marxist friends really the Devils disciples?
  
  Report this comment
...sam
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:11pm
Ed says the otherside is nutts “off their rocker” why? because we know history?we know the true evil of man driven by greed and power? I say the left in this matter is either naive or has a agenda, and fear it is the latter.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:09pm
Leftist are fumb ducks. They act like the do not understand that guns are not just for hunting, they are for fighting our own goverment when it is too tyrannical.,……like now. This ex-governor hasn’t seen galvanization like he will if Obama puts one more anti-gun law in effect. Obama is a traitor to the constitution. His delay until Tuesday will not defuse our anger.

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pavepaws
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:08pm
Rendell should be in jail for racketeering under RICO laws.

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Metallicat
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:07pm
This tragedy has proven to me that the entire MSM is corrupt enough to use the tragedy of 20 dead children to further the anti gun agenda,irregardless of knowing the facts surrounding the shooting itself,and ignoring all the symptoms that are present in everyone of these shootings. Theyve focused on villifying legal gun owners,while overlooking the fact that everyone of these shooters have been treated for mental illness and treated with prescription mind altering drugs.

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- THX-1138
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:13pm
  They CAUSED this massacre and now they blame US?
  
  Cold.
  Dead.
  Hands.
  
  Report this comment
Tri-ox
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:06pm
Rendell, like all liberals, is simply following obama’s lead, and exploiting the tragic murder of 26 children and adults for personal gain – this is what liberals do, and they don’t care who they hurt.

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ExO
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:05pm
“The Good Thing” Really?
These morons we have put in power get dumber by the second.
Never in the history of this country have some many morons been in charge.
These Elected officials that feel a need to step on the constitution saying that we do not deserve the freedom we have all fought for and many have given there lives for is sickening.
The idea that they are doing in to protect people when all they care about is there pay check and low informed voter base is a complete slap in the face to all Americans

Personal Liberty and Personal Freedom Require Personal Responsibility….

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- cosette
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:18pm
  Nothing that spills out of the mouth of Fast Eddie Rendell surprises me. My state suffered under his “leadership”, for lack of a better word, for 8 years. he is a complete horses a**, and about as corrupt as they come. I am elated that, as expected, the liberals are revealing just how twisted they are. Imagine if a conservative had made such an insensitive remark.
  
  Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:05pm
“The good thing about Newtown is”

This is yours, Leftists. Own it, or disavow it. There is no middle ground.

Any attempts at word games and manipulating meaning and context or syntax will be taken as your admission that you own these comments, and are justly happy that the event happened insofar as it gives you politics you can play on the national scale.

What say you, Leftists? Do you own the comments, or do you disavow them. One word answer please.

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- bonesiii
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:22pm
  “This is yours, Leftists. Own it, or disavow it. There is no middle ground.”
  
  Amen. How is this any better than for example Akin’s infamous comment? They’re so quick to pounce at the slightest thing a Republican says. How about “binders”? Yet… well we all know the story, we’ve seen their hypocrisy on display so often!
  
  Report this comment
- checkingbothsides
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 5:09pm
  Yes. I’ll own his comments, but with a clarification. Can something good ever come out of a tragedy? Sure. If you can do something to make sure that it never happens again, then that is a good thing. Why are you people so one way about everything? Issues are nuanced. NUANCED.
  
  Does what happened in Sandy Hook mean we should ban all guns, get rid of the second amendment? No, of course not. Are there reasonable things we COULD do to make gun ownership safer? Yes. Will we ever talk about them? No, because the nuts on both sides of the aisle are furthering their own agendas (Left = Ban all guns and we’ll all hold hands and sing kumbaya! Right = The new world order is coming for my guns so they can make me have abortions!) and refuse to have any serious debate.
  
  I mean, really. GHOSTOFJEFFERSON, you seem like a generally reasonable guy. Is this situation just not up for debate? At ALL? I mean, does nothing need to be done? Not looking into mental health? Not closing gun show loopholes that avoid background checks? Just guns for whoever want them, wherever? You can answer in more than one word if you wish. :)
  
  BTW to the Blaze editors: Huffington Post emails you when somebody responds to your comments. If this site did that there’d be a lot more real conversation. How do I even know if somebody replied to me?
  
  Report this comment
- YOURSENSEI
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 7:10pm
  Mr or Ms GHOSTOFJEFFERSON,
  
  This is what you must know:
  
  We’re still waiting for conservatives to disavow the National Review’s Charlotte Allen who blamed Sandy Hook on a “feminized setting.” Get in line.
  
  It is so.
  
  Report this comment
- TADTAD
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 7:52pm
  Hey leftists/apologists/assorted dupes; I’ll never forget one of my Russian History courses (Czarist Russia) with a fellow student who was an immigrant from the Soviet Union (at that time). He was in his 50′s and I was 20. He turned to me one day and stated something to the effect of, “Never trust. The Soviet Union sent thousands into this beautiful country to infiltrate and take over in 1920s, ’30s, and 40s. You know name Kruschev, yes? He told your country he bury from within, yes? It is true. Your Joe McCarthy, on track, yes?” To whittle it down, dupes, it’s called an AGENDA. Not on my watch.
  
  Report this comment
naughtycal
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:04pm
WTF?
This Gov. just said he was happy about Newtown AND 20 CHILDREN BEING MURDERED because it will help his ideology and political position…..

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- pavepaws
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:07pm
  Rendell should be in jail for racketeering.
  
  Report this comment
- cosette
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 7:26pm
  @ Pavepaws… You got that right!
  
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biohazard23
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:04pm
Leave it to a lib to not just dance on the graves of children but to throw a party on them. Liberals have no conscience or shame. Period. And no one in the media will ever call them out for it. Not that we have come to expect anything different, but it’s still pathetic and disgusting.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:10pm
  BIOHAZARD, Yep, Ed Rendell, a skunk with slightly different stripes than Pepe!
  
  Report this comment
- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:10pm
  They are a cult. Honestly, there is no need any longer to debate them or entertain their ideas or thoughts. They are cultists led by an elite full of self-important con artists. As far as I’m concerned, they no longer rate conversation. The only thing we should respond to any of their snarky word games with is “You are wrong. I defy you and I oppose you. Good bye”.
  
  Report this comment
- biohazard23
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:18pm
  RJ, not even Pepe smelled THAT bad. :)
  
  Ghost, should we add, “Bless your little heart” to that? I was raised in the South so I’m rather partial to it. :)
  
  Report this comment
progressiveslayer
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:03pm
You are a sick twisted man indeed just like Barry Soetoro,he’ll use that massacre to advance his total gun ban agenda and we all know it because he’s doing it,more gun laws are needed BS. Anyone who uses that massacre or any shooting to advance their gun grabbing agenda has no business in politics and is in need of some psychiatric care.

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- BODYBAG
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:22pm
  Typical PROG mentality. It was Matthews who stated hurricane sandy was a “good thing”.
  Yep. These are the mentally retarded people who spawned the KKK, Eugenics, forced
  sterilization, the lethal chamber [George Bernard Shaw], and modern day Propaganda techniques
  which were adopted by Nazi Germany.
  
  George Bernard Shaw – Monster
  http://www.conservapedia.com/George_Bernard_Shaw
  
  Progressivism and the Lethal Chamber
  http://progressingamerica.blogspot.com/2012/07/progressivism-and-lethal-chamber.html
  
  Gas chambers were used in the Third Reich as part of the “public euthanasia program” aimed at eliminating physically and mentally retarded people and political undesirables in the 1930s and 1940s.
  
  Report this comment
- BODYBAG
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:28pm
  Perhaps these monsters should be subjected to their own devices.
  I would have no problem with it.
  
  Report this comment
- THX-1138
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:35pm
  Careful.
  
  “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you. ”
  - Friedrich Nietzsche
  Beyond Good and Evil”, Aphorism 146 (1886)
  
  Report this comment
- BODYBAG
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 5:04pm
  @THX-1138
  Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:35pm
  - Friedrich Nietzsche – Beyond Good and Evil”, Aphorism 146 (1886)
  —————————————————————–
  Im very familiar with him.
  I do not give much credence to a megalomaniac who stated that “God is a crutch for the weak-minded”, carried on a trist with his own sister and finally died in an asylum for the insane.
  
  One of the great historical examples of Karma along with Freud who died of mouth cancer.
  
  “When Adolf Hitler first met Benito Mussolini, he presented him with a gift of the collected works of Nietzsche. It was an appropriate memento. Hitler’s ideas about life and politics were largely derived from Nietzsche. Hitler subscribed to the Nietzschean idea that superior people have an inborn right to rule. ”
  - William Kilpatrick
  
  Report this comment
- roscoe569
  Posted on February 2, 2013 at 11:20pm
  I believe that it is you slayer, who is the sick twisted one…such vile statements you churn out on a regular basis……..did your mama not hold you when you were an infant?
  
  Report this comment
IndyGuy
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:02pm
Leave it to the left to call the Newtown massacre good because it was so horrific…This is the mentality of the left…Massacre of 20 little kids=good because it lets them advance their agenda…

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justangry
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 4:01pm
These people are sick monsters. There was nothing good that came from a whack job killing a bunch of kid.

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Dushman Kush
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 3:57pm
Comrade Rendell has been supporting gun control for twenty years. Bless his heart,

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- TurboCat
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 5:08am
  Does he have one?
  
  Report this comment

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