Posted by
Ron Devito on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 9:23:22 PM
As was widely reported today, CNN's John King felt compelled to
apologize for using the term "cross hairs." We hate political
correctness at US for Palin.
We use gun metaphors all the time. The whole site is based on a gun
metaphor. So, while CNN has put cross hairs in their cross hairs, we are
going to take the contrary approach and celebrate this reticle
consisting of a horizontal and vertical line inside a circle. We would
imagine that Algebra and Geometry are in the PC leftists' cross hairs
next, since the cross hair is formed by the intersection of the x and y
axes. We will assume for now, that these two mathematical disciplines
are safe and not in any one's cross hairs.
What is playing out is very similar to "good naked and bad naked,"
which was the theme of a Seinfeld episode. You see, cross hairs are
"bad" when Gov. Palin uses them to mark districts in which candidates
are to be voted out.
A deranged gunman who disliked the news, did not watch TV and did not
listen to talk radio went on a rampage, and leftists concocted a blood
libel against Gov. Palin. They will not let it go.
But, when the Democrats were targeting their districts, their reticles and use of gun metaphors are good.
It's even good to say that their districts are behind enemy lines.
Mass murders were committed in at least some of the DLC states over the
years. The Virginia Tech massacre must be the DLC's fault! After all
Virgina had a bulls eye on it! We've got to find a way to pin the
Virginia Tech massacre on someone really big in the Democratic Party.
It's Obama's fault! There! Why not? One good blood libel deserves
another after all. Turnabout is fair play. What's the matter? You mean,
it's not funny? It's bad politics? Absurd? Malicious? Libelous? All of
the above? Darn straight it is all of the above.
Don't want a WalMart store in your neighborhood? Putting a cross hair
on the developer and protesting at his house is really cool when you
have a "D" after your name. Have an "R" after your name and want to
cross hair your opponent on an ad? That might cause you some problems.
A Reticle-ular Celebration
Since CNN wants to banish the cross hair - and we could conclude - all reticles - just on spite, we think it's time to celebrate the cross hair.
So, let's get this lock and load party going! Cross hairs come in many
different flavors and what we present here in our "reticle-ular"
celebration cannot possibly cover them all. We thought of doing one
cross hair type a day for 31 days, so we could call ourselves the Baskin Robbins of Cross Hairs.
Well, we're not going to do this for 31 days and Baskin Robbins might
not take too kindly to trademark infringement. We also have really
important issues to address: jobs, stanching the debt, producing energy
using our own resources, and national security, because as a nation
several enemies have us in their cross hairs.
Lit Up in Cross Hairs
The Simmons Tru-Plex based on the Leupold Duplex is a nice simple
cross hair. It consists of two thick lines leading into finer lines
directing the eye to where they intersect.
The cross hair on the scope mounted atop the Savage Arms 7mm Remington Magnum rifle Gov. Palin used to take a caribou in Sarah Palin's Alaska,
episode four uses the opposite approach from the Tru-Plex. The lines in
this cross hair do not meet. The open space where the lines would
intersect is what directs her eye to the center. Just ask the caribou in
Gov. Palin's freezer how well it worked.
The Mil Dot is what snipers and some hunters use. The round Mil Dot
is the US Army standard. By knowing the target size and how many mils it
occupies in the scope, the shooter will know far away the target is and
be able to calculate by how many mils below the cross hair to hold the
scope or adjust elevation.
When pilots shoot an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach, the localizer and glide slope form a cross hair.
The Leatherwood Automatic Ranging and Trajectory Scope uses Mil
stadia and Mil Dots to enhance the cross hair. You set a cam for the
round you're shooting, frame the target size within the bracket and the
scope automatically calculates range and trajectory. Leatherwood ART's
are effective to 1,200 meters.
Not a cross hair per se, but definitely a reticle, the EOTech 552
uses a 65-Minute of Angle (MOA) circle and a 1-MOA dot in the middle.
Horizontal and vertical stub lines form the cross hair.
AimPoint sights - like the mounted to Gov. Palin's M4 in Kuwait - use
a 2-MOA dot to define the target, dispensing with the cross hair
entirely, but performing the same function.