The Politics of Life or Death

Democrat John Giannetti represents a number of Washington suburbs in the Maryland General Assembly. He’s a freshman state senator, and while he’s a Democrat, he has a thoroughly crappy record on gun control. He voted against a number of common-sense gun control measures, including a firearm accountability system and the assault weapons ban. Basically, the guy likes his weapons a little too much to be a good Dem.

What’s weird is that Giannetti represents, at least in part, Prince George’s County. For those of you who don’t listen to rap music or know the Mid-Atlantic very well, Prince George’s (better known as “PGC”) is one of the most violent municipalities in America, with a murder rate that’s starting to play in the same league as Baltimore. Last year, PGC (with a population of 850,000) went up to 173 murders, while Baltimore fell to 269 with 650,000 residents. PG is rapidly rivaling “The City That Bleeds” as one of the most dangerous places in America.

(If you’re interested in learning more about how dangerous these “suburbs” can actually be, Gory Prince George’s does a pretty good job of tracking violence in the county, in the same manner that Baltimore’s City Paper tracks them with “Murder Ink.”)

Here’s the point. PG Police Chief Melvin High repeatedly stressed the need to take guns off the street, even instituting the uncreatively-named “Take Away Guns,” or TAG program. Yet Giannetti seems to do an outstanding job of undercutting the safety of his own constituents by denying police officers the common-sense gun control laws that they desperately need.

So the Brady Campaign has targeted (forgive the expression) Giannetti in this primary, hoping to replace him with, in their words, “someone who will make sensible gun laws a priority.” It’s set to be an ugly race between him and Jim Rosapepe, a member of the University of Maryland Board of Regents who’s practically salivating at the chance to attack Giannetti’s gun control record.

So last Wednesday night, Rosapepe was at dinner in Annapolis when he started choking. A friend tried the Heimlich maneuver to remove the airway obstruction, but it didn’t work. Suddenly, someone waiting at the take-out counter ran over and performed it correctly. The food came loose and Rosapepe’s life was saved.

As you probably guessed, the guy at the take-out counter was none other than Giannetti. He didn’t recognize his opponent until afterwards. Maryland’s Senate President expressed his hope that the incident would lead to a much more “uplifting” campaign.

I just find it funny that Democrats who hate each other will jump in to save each other’s lives, while Republicans will shoot their campaign donors in the face.