A lot of the time, I think we're expected to ignore dumb conservative arguments (Examples: "Why isn't there a white history month?" and "Why do gay people have to keep rubbing it in our faces?") because they're dumb. But the problem with ignoring these arguments is that if they continue unchecked, they eventually become the kind of bromides that wind up on a teabagger's sign, and then, frustratingly, they enter the national conversation. During my visits to conservative blogs recently, I've seen the following bumper sticker a few times, and I'm afraid that if someone doesn't point out the obvious flaw in this argument, it will become the new "Guns don't kill people—people kill people." So here is the bumper sticker:

guns_pencils.jpeg

And here is what's wrong with the bumper sticker: While guns and pencils are both tools, you can't make that kind of false equivalency without ignoring the responsibility inherent in using a gun. A fucking pencil can't murder 6 people in a Safeway parking lot in a blink of an eye. A misspelled word isn't a dead 9 year old girl, and this kind of idiotic statement is the kind of bullshit that is making us all dumber.