An Awkward Joke Hurts Republicans

The "shoot, shovel, and shut-up" package offered at the Republican convention will likely be the only thing that the opponents of the Republican platform remember. The package was part of a raffle that included a shotgun, a shovel, and a roll of duct tape and it came to general audience's attention when Newt Gingrich was given a free ticket in the raffle. Gingrich was advised that the prize was a method of dealing with Montana's wolf problem, but in response Gingrich (wisely I think) skipped the whole wolf issue altogether and simply said that if he won the package he would give the shotgun to his grandson. I was in the crowd when the prize was announced and I have to admit the first thought that ran through my mind was "please don't do this."

The next morning, the Missoulian devoted a story to the shotgun package and other off color jokes from the convention and I think Republicans were a bit foolish for letting the joke be told in the first place. It's one thing to advocate for local management of wolf populations, but quite another thing to advocate breaking the law (how else can one read the "shut-up" portion of the prize?). I thought the joke was in bad taste, but tell me what you think on Facebook and we'll talk about it.