Who among us hasn’t said, “I’m so mad I could beat my television with a hammer”? Finally, the National Rifle Association has acted on the impulse.
“At NRATV, our greatest weapon against the lying #fakenews #MSM is Truth,” its new PSA states. Truth, if you didn’t know, is the English translation of the Norse Mjölnir. A man in a T-shirt reading “Socialist Tears” stands next to a monitor playing snippets of anchors and commentators anchoring and commentating, first about President Trump’s rumored habit of smashing a dozen Diet Cokes a day—because, after all, the NRA’s secondary charge is to recommend against over-caffeination. That is, except, for our hammer-wielding hero, because Jolt is the only legal stimulant capable of motivating someone to bash a TV on-camera.
The shot pans out until the man is fully inside the frame, at which point he—safety first!—lowers a pair of goggles over his eyes, winds to swing, lets it rip, and sends a screamer toward shortstop. (It goes for an infield hit, since 42-inchers are tough to throw.)
At NRATV, our greatest weapon against the lying https://twitter.com/hashtag/fakenews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc^tfw“>#fakenews https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSM?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc^tfw“>#MSM is Truth. https://t.co/4om2Aatqgm“>pic.twitter.com/4om2Aatqgm— NRATV (@NRATV) https://twitter.com/NRATV/status/963128750857641984?ref_src=twsrc^tfw“>February 12, 2018
Advertisements are not always calls to action. But what is the purpose of this? To nab some newsletter signups? To inspire or reinforce anger? To troll? “Troll’s Hammer” does have a nice ring to it as a commercial title.
Whatever the point, let’s just get this out of the way: It is unsettling to watch a relatively jacked dude bludgeon the image of a Morning Joe panel beaming through a flat screen. Not because it’s violent, though it is. Not because it’s a little mentally unhinged, though it’s that, too. But because somewhere in that room is a remote control with an “off” button, which apparently is too tame for a movement—one of many in this country—that constantly needs to be on tilt.
When all you’ve got is a hammer, every TV is a nail.
