CPAC 1: Kids With Guns

Alex Gerrard of Bolling Green, Ky., tries his shotgun shooting skills at an NRA shooting simulator during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Start with a sample of America’s youth (supposedly wandering aimlessly since ’08 election), add pinch of militia movement, stir vigorously with national obsession with militarism, sprinkle in overblown Tea Party fervor and giddy CPAC fire breathing, drizzle with phallic symbolism … and you’ve got the perfect CPAC news photo. (The orange you’ve got to help me with.)

…Of course, we know how the NRA loves marketing to children.