NRA on Kagan

I've been watching (and poking) the chief apologist for the NRA (Sebastian) about the Elena Kagan nomination to the Supreme Court, and the reported gag order the NRA issued to it's board members (as reported by Erik Erickson at RedState).

Of course, once Sebastian had a statement from Tom King (NRA board member) that he had not been gagged, he declared the gag order a hoax. Ok, I'll give him this one (even though there are far more than just one board member). So lets look further, shall we?

The statement by the NRA regarding Elena Kagan is here, but it doesn't fill me with confidence that the NRA is actually looking out for firearms rights.

The NRA are "carefully reviewing her record in other government posts", all of which are anti-2nd amendment rights. So what's the problem with saying so?

Contrast that with the statement of the Gun Owners of America:

Kagan doesn't have a record of judicial opinions, but her views on the Second Amendment are no mystery:

* Kagan drafted a directive in favor of a semi-automatic import ban while serving in the Clinton administration;

* As a law clerk, she advised against allowing the Supreme Court to hear arguments in Sandidge v. United States that the D.C. gun ban was unconstitutional;

* Kagan was also part of the Clinton team that pushed the firearms industry to include gun locks with all gun purchases and was in the Clinton administration when the president pushed legislation that would close down gun shows; and

* Just today, Kagan gave a hint to her true colors. When asked a simple question by Senator Grassley of Iowa -- does the Second Amendment codify a pre-existing right from God or is it a right created by the Constitution? -- Kagan looked like a deer caught in the headlights. After an awkward pause, she said: "I've never considered that question."

Gee, the GAO seems to have no problem making a stand. There's more; read the whole statement.

This comment from the RedState article was telling:

When the gentleman answered I asked him point blank whether the NRA was opposing the Kagan confirmation. He paused about 5 seconds and then began to stumble through his regurgitation of the NRA statement that they were “watching” the questioning.

The fact that his answer was not an immediate “Yes, we are actively opposing her confirmation because she is a threat to the 2nd Amendment and our Right to Bear Arms” tells you everything you need to know about today’s NRA.

My sentiments exactly.

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For a change

At last, a good story about piracy:

For the first time, a Somali pirate turned against his fellow brigands, to help a captured crew kill its guards and get away.
Ahmed (13 yrs old) gave the captives 3 AK's, which they reasonably used to kill the pirates and then call authorities.

A storybook ending, if you ask me!

h/t Ace

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Dems are happy?

Allahpundit at HotAir seems to think so:

Which is to say, in places where it matters, the gun-rights crowd has won this debate — decisively enough that the Dem leadership is actually cheering the Supremes’ decision insofar as it knocks this issue off the table for them in the fall.

True enough ... I can imagine the Dem's wanting to deflect attention away from the fact that Heller and McDonald, while being landmark decisions, haven't really solved the problems.*

So get ready to keep up with the realities and be prepared to bring these realities up this fall.

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* McDonald merely incorporated the 2nd amendment to the states, and only remanded the case back to the appeals court level. And getting a handgun is still exceedingly hard in D.C.

The new Dale Peterson

Running for office in Arizona:



And like a commenter at HotAir said, I'd drop the part about 100% rated by the NRA.

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Kagan revealed

From her arguments in Citizen's United:



So if the government is going to pass a law it won't enforce, why pass it? Kinda like immigration laws.

She is an idiot.

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Hee hee ...

This is how to treat an intruder:

"I knew I had it under control because when I told him put his hands up, I told him, ‘Don't you take them down.’ I said, ‘If you do, I'm going to shoot you.’"

Sounds like a winner to me!

h/t Mike at Sipsey St

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Government ...

... making sure you're a good citizen slave:

The state's highest court ruled — in a case titled State of South Dakota v. Fifteen Impounded Cats — that a police officer acted correctly in August when he seized the aforementioned 15 felines from a vehicle belonging to Patricia Edwards.

Yep, gub'mint making sure you don't have too many cats.

Ms Edwards acknowledged that she had been living out of her car, and was on the way to Montana, and yes, she had 15 cats in her car when the constabulary interdicted her.

She had a bag of cat food, several bottles of water, and a full litter box. If you've ever had a cat, you know what shit and piss factories they are, so given 15 cats, it's not hard to imagine a full litter box.

But did she do anything wrong (besides almost backing into the cop)? Did she break the law on feline transport? How about the law on having a too-full litter box?

Nope .... she ran afoul of government busy-bodies who thought she should live her life differently.

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Happy McDonald Day!

An interview with Otis McDonald and John Lott.



h/t Ace

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JPFO Alert

Two alerts from the weekend:

O'Reilly gets an earful!

Learn about the McDonald decision today.

RIP, Sen Byrd

Sen Robert Byrd has died at the age of 92. I've seen a couple of posts about his illness and death, and they're pretty denigrating, if I do say so myself.

Funny how a senator being a member of the KKK and leading a filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 can bring out the worst in people.

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I'm humbled

Mopar gives me props on a JayG thread!

As you were, as you were .... I'll be in the area all day.

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Differences

I know this is true, intuitively. But I was reading a post by Breda, which linked me to a post by Peggy, and it was further picked up by Uncle, and I was struck by how differently gunnies and most other normal folks think about things. Take Peggy's post, about an amputee-mommy taking her 4 yr old son through a TSA checkpoint and the resulting humiliation.

All of her regular commenters are posting warm and fuzzy comments, like 'Awww it'll be ok' and 'Those brutes!'. Peggy also mentioned that she doesn't want anyone to lose their job.

But when Breda's readers started posting, there was a definite change in tone, like 'Heads should roll' and 'You should sue' - some even hinted at retribution.

And I'm not sure I'm against the retribution. The TSA operates as a part of the government, and as such, has the respect that the government has. So they should technically be held to a higher standard, since most normal people don't question the government.

But gunnies all have a healthy lack of respect for the government, since they typically are held to lower standards than the rest of us. And gunnies are of the opinion that criminals, whether they wear a uniform of not, need to be punished.

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Jan, stop trying to work with him ...

... 'cause President Present Procrastinator has no intention of honoring any promises he made then, or now:



Jan, Jan, Jan ... Obama will lie to you - you can see that, can't you?

Mobilize your state guard to patrol the border, and make sure to let the Border Patrol know that they are not to interfere in any way with the Guards' activities.

Give SB1070 6 months to work .... then start throwing the high heat at the feds!

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You know ...

... there really is a lot of stupid going around:



And read the link ...... it's interesting.

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This is what happens ...

... when you humans get involved with animals.



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I have little to say

... about this example of law enforcement gone completely off the reservation:

Understandably alarmed — and probably more than a little disgusted — by the presence of uninvited armed strangers in her home, Lona ordered them to leave. This directive, issued by a fragile female octogenarian confined to a hospital-style bed and tethered to an oxygen tank, was interpreted as “aggressive” behavior by Officer Thomas Duran, who ordered one of his associates : “Taser her!”

Now this is a time when your right to carry a rifle would come in handy, because then maybe the public servants would have more incentive to, you know, leave when asked to (especially since they weren't called in the first place).

I am glad that all of my dealings with law enforcement have gone well, and I hope beyond hope that it stays that way.

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PINAC

That stands for photography is not a crime, and it's a website started by a gentleman who was arrested for photographing police. Lots of good stuff there, but this video caught my attention, with the following commentary:

Members of the La Habra Heights Improvement Association were concerned that videographer George Edwards would make them look bad with his camera.

So they pounced on him and attacked him before he could do so, making themselves look bad instead.

If you're ever being photographed in public, best thing to do is nothing!

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This is weapons-grade stupid

From VerumSerum by way of HotAir:



I'm not really sure what to say.

Wow ..... just, wow.

The Border Patrol has no place in the community?

This lady needs a 230gr cranial injection.

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JPFO Alert

Bill O'Reilly: Dangerously stupid or despicable liar?

Invasion USA

Only not starring Chuck Norris:

Mexican drug cartels have set up shop on American soil, maintaining lookout bases in strategic locations in the hills of southern Arizona from which their scouts can monitor every move made by law enforcement officials, federal agents tell Fox News.

If there were ever a reason to station troops on the border, this is one.

Gov Brewer needs to quickly call out the AZ National Guard and get them involved ...... let that putz President Present Procrastinator squirm.

My wife tells me I have a simplistic view of the world .... of course I disagree. Most of the delay and indecision in the world is caused by a lack of will. In her job, there is, by agency policy, supposed to be cooperation between counties, but in reality there is little. My solution is to have the head of the agency make it clear that counties are to be cooperating with each other .... as in you will cooperate wih other counties, understand?

Likewise, Gov Brewer needs to get with the Adjutant to get a plan to get these illegal alien fucks out of this country, consequences be damned.

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JPFO Alert

What will you do?

Another case in point

From the headlines at Hot Air comes this story of a government gone insane:

The federal government is shutting down the dredging that was being done to create protective sand berms in the Gulf of Mexico.

How, exactly, is the government shutting down this dredging? Why doesn't the state just keep building the sand bars until Obama threatens to start shooting?

That'd look real good, huh?

It's time to start pushing some buttons.

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Could this be an opportunity?

From WND we hear this:

"We understand that there's a push for your administration to develop a plan to unilaterally extend either deferred action or parole to millions of illegal aliens in the United States," they wrote in their letter. "We understand that the administration may include aliens who have willfully overstayed their visas or filed for benefits knowing that they will not be eligible for a status for years to come."

Now this is an interesting situation .... let's see if we can find a silver lining.

Wih this development, we now know that the Obama administration has no intention of effecting the federal government's responsibility to enforce border security. We also know that Arizona is (and other states are considering) passing laws that allow local and state law enforcement to do the fed's job, under the fed's rules.

So if President Present Procrastinator actually signs an order halting deportations (in violation of it's proclaimed purvue), why would Arizona (and other border states) not be entitled to exercise it's nullification powers to take over the enforcement if its' own borders?

Maybe with a newly-formed state militia?

I did some quick math, and found that given the length of AZ's border with Mexico (370 miles), you would need to find (roughly) 1 citizen out of every 1374 willing to serve in order to have 24/7 coverage of the border, stationing one armed citizen every 300 yards along said border.

I think AZ could handle that. And they could sweeten the deal by issuing good quality weapons to said citizens (maybe even full-auto?!), and let them keep them after their hitch is up.

Maybe things aren't looking so bad after all!

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A note of thanks

A quick note of thanks to (both) my regular readers, and all of the casual readers for being patient with me while I've been trying to help manage things during my mothers' illness.

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Grading politicos

Uncle has a post up about some revelations regarding Elena Kagan:

And National Review has learned that in 1996, Kagan apparently tied the NRA to the KKK — yes, the KKK — while debating the Clinton administration’s position on a bill.

Wonder how (or if) the NRA will score this vote to approve Kagan?

I've always had problems with gun rights' groups ratings of politicians, mostly because you don't know how they are arrived at. So here's my proposal for a rating system ......

Scale starts at 60 and goes to 100, with a 10-point spread between letter grades: 90-100 = A; 80-89 = B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; and below 60 = F.

All votes that have to do with gun rights are scored either up or own - vote for gun rights, win a point; vote against gun rights, get no points. Then your number of points are weighted by your term in office length - representatives would be two, senators would be six - by multiplying. Except for Supreme Court nominees .... those would be multiplied by the average length of service for justices (currently under 16 years .... say 15 to be charitable). Now divide your total # of points by the multiplier ... that's your score.

Example: a bill to repeal the Hughes amendment is up for a vote. Heath Schuler (A-rated) voted to repeal. He gets one point, times 2 since he's a representative, gives a total of 2 points, divided by his term length which is two, so his score is 1 ..... he gets an A.

Dick Durbin votes against the companion legislation in the senate, so using my formula, lets see ..... 0 x 6 = 0 and divide that by 6 and you get 0. Little Dicky Durbin is a resounding F.

But if we have a bill do repeal the NFA, Heath Schuler might vote not to repeal, so he gets no points ... if you add this vote to his last vote on the Hughes amendment, he's got 2 points divided by 4 ..... uh oh, down to a score of 50. Now Mr Schuler is F.

Is this a legitimate score? It is to me. If I can't count on you to defend my rights all the time, you shouldn't get an A. You only get an A if you defend my rights every single time you have an opportunity.

Only seems logical.

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Light blogging

Or maybe none at all. My mother's back in the hospital, and I'm going up to see her; internet access is a bit spotty at the hospital.

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Ace brings it

Teh funny, that is:



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Happy Father's Day

Enjoy it as well as you can!

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NRA doubles down

Wrote about this one yesterday. Rumors floating around the internet seemed to suggest that the NRA were reconsidering their pragmatic decision.

Fat fucking chance.

The NRA has doubled down on their decision to sit this bill out, now that they've secured an exemption from it, but in the press release, they start using what I consider to be untrue statements.

Unfortunately, critics of our position have misstated or misunderstood the facts

I wish this were true, and it was all a misunderstanding. Alas, no one has misstated or misunderstood the facts. We know that the NRA were never going to support this bill, and to my knowledge, no one has alleged that. Rather, we thought that since they initially thought is was such a bad bill that they would at least oppose it .... and they did .... until they were offered an exemption.

Only them.

This bill would force us to choose between training our men and women in uniform and exercising our right to free political speech.

As I posted a Sebastian's, this statement is akin to the Democrats claiming that Republicans want senior citizens to have to choose between buying medicine or eating dog food. This is an unconscionable stretch, especially for the NRA.

The press release prattles on and on ...... and only gets worse.

I'll definitely give the NRA mad props for looking out for their members; I'll take them to task for their 'ends justifies the means' strategy.

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Alarm!

Is it time to go when a non-III'per says it's time:

Frankly, the only proper response for Arizona at this point is to tell the Feds to fuck the fucking fuck off — and tell Obama that if he wants to stop them from protecting their own borders, he should send some troops down to police those citizens who are hoping to police those own borders, or else bring his own smarmy ass down to the desert and make them stop using the power of his words.

Time to go OUTLAW x infinity. Else we’re forever doomed.

Heh.

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Two headline worth reading

Glommed from the Ace of Spades headlines panel come two items very much worth reading.

First, an analysis of oil disasters and the evidence that they're not nearly as bad as we think:

The spill is clearly an ecological disaster, but overreaction to it could cause more environmental and economic harm than good. It should be viewed in perspective historically and environmentally, and policymakers should wait to make changes until the full effects of the spill can be understood.

Policy makers wait? Hah!

Next, more reasons that renewable energy isn't the answer:

The growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has, predictably, resulted in a new chorus of voices calling for increased use of renewable energy sources. But over the past five decades renewables have actually been losing market share.

In 1949 nearly 91% of America's total primary energy came from coal, oil, and natural gas. The balance came from renewables, with hydropower being a dominant contributor. By 2008 the market share for coal, oil and natural gas, along with nuclear, had grown to 92.5% of total primary energy in the U.S. with the remainder coming from renewables.

Didn't see that coming.

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Another nice one

From Uncle comes this list of the 5 most ridiculous myths about guns:

Even in gun-crazy America, most of us aren't shooting things as part of our day-to-day routine. So most Americans actually know very little about guns. Hollywood writers realized this a long time ago and, being writers, used it as an excuse to never do any fact-checking ever again.

Heh.

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A thought about the NRA and DISCLOSE

Given that the NRA has received an exemption from the 'onerous' provisions of the bill, doesn't that kind of make them the "Only Ones" of the gun rights community?'

As in, 'We're the only ones powerful enough to fight for your rights'?

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9 years

Happy anniversary!

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NRA and DISCLOSE

This is going to be a long post, since this will be my first try at fisking. It is my humble opinion that the NRA's stand on the DISLOSE act and subsequent statement deserves it.

For those who have limited time, it is my opinion that the NRA's position, boiled down to brass tacks, is that our members' free speech rights are sacrosanct and are to be protected at all costs (even by way of an under-handed exemption from the terms of the law), but the rest of you proles can fuck off.

If you've got a bit more time, stick around ..... this won't take too long.

At issue is the DISCLOSE Act, designed to make campaign advertising more 'transparent', but the reality is much different. DISCLOSE would require those producing campaign ads to disclose the names of the five largest contributors of the producing group. The effect would be for either groups to think twice about putting such information out, or causing top donors to donate less.

The NRA, to their credit, initially opposed this act, since it would probably be struck down by SCOTUS (though that's hardly foolproof); they even threatened to 'grade' the vote, potentially downgrading certain pols ratings.

So the Democrats in the House, understanding that they can't be held accountable for a vote, decided to carve out a curious exemption that has to apply to everyone, but was constructed to 'fit' the NRA's conditions.

Miraculously, the NRA dropped its opposition to the bill; liberals were outraged. So were some conservatives.

Sebastian, being the NRA's cheif apologist, has had the most to say about the situation (here, here, here, and here). Check these links out, and read the comments.

That being said, let the fisking begin!

STATEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION ON H.R. 5175, THE DISCLOSE ACT

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The National Rifle Association believes that any restrictions on the political speech of Americans are unconstitutional.

That's what any fine, upstanding and patriotic organization would say, and I applaud the sentiment.

In the past, through the courts and in Congress, the NRA has opposed any effort to restrict the rights of its four million members to speak and have their voices heard on behalf of gun owners nationwide.

Ah, so now we come to ..... it's not Americans' rights they're concerned with, its their members' rights.

The NRA’s opposition to restrictions on political speech includes its May 26, 2010 letter to Members of Congress expressing strong concerns about H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act. As it stood at the time of that letter, the measure would have undermined or obliterated virtually all of the NRA’s right to free political speech and, therefore, jeopardized the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding American.

Watch out! Like Obama, the NRA are writing strong letters! And it's not just the NRA's political speech that would be undermined or obliterated, it would be everyone's (except for unions, don't ya know)

The most potent defense of the Second Amendment requires the most adamant exercise of the First Amendment. The NRA stands absolutely obligated to its members to ensure maximum access to the First Amendment, in order to protect and preserve the freedom of the Second Amendment.

But I thought that the NRA was a single issue group, and not concerned with freedom of speech? Do you mean to tell me that unfettered exercise of the First amendment is crucial for the protection of the Second?

The NRA must preserve its ability to speak. It cannot risk a strategy that would deny its rights, for the Second Amendment cannot be defended without them.

Thus, the NRA’s first obligation must be to its members and to its most ardent defense of firearms freedom for America’s lawful gun owners.

So now we're back to the NRA's sacred duty to protect the rights of their members, and we'll do that even if it means we have to stand on principal.

On June 14, 2010, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pledged that H.R. 5175 would be amended to exempt groups like the NRA, that meet certain criteria, from its onerous restrictions on political speech. As a result, and as long as that remains the case, the NRA will not be involved in final consideration of the House bill.

On second thought, now we don't have to stand on principal (and we all know how uncomfortable that can be). Hey it's not our fault the Dems offered us this exemption in return for us not grading the vote. What, you didn't think there wasn't going to be some quid pro quo here, did ya?! And as long as we're going to be exempted, we might as well stop talking about how bad this bill is (for the rest of you poor fuckers, anyway!).

The NRA cannot defend the Second Amendment from the attacks we face in the local, state, federal, international and judicial arenas without the ability to speak. We will not allow ourselves to be silenced while the national news media, politicians and others are allowed to attack us freely.

Damn it, there's that right-that's-not-our-single-issue right again. Fuck, you'd think the First Amendment means something, or, something. Well, good thing we don't have to worry about all that peon shit now, huh?!

The NRA will continue to fight for its right to speak out in defense of the Second Amendment. Any efforts to silence the political speech of NRA members will, as has been the case in the past, be met with strong opposition.

Yeah, we'll continue to fight for us and ours, but the rest of you?

Go fuck yourselves.

Hey NRA ...... right back attcha!

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RobCon ...

... commenter at Hot Air, won the internets last night!

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Uncle calls them 'Scum'

I have to agree:

Clear Creek sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested a rafting guide for swimming to a stranded young rafter who had tumbled from his boat on Clear Creek.

Ryan Daniel Snodgrass, a 28-year-old guide with Arkansas Valley Adventures rafting company, was charged with “obstructing government operations,” said Clear Creek Sheriff Don Krueger.

“He was told not to go in the water, and he jumped in and swam over to the victim and jeopardized the rescue operation,” said Krueger, noting that his office was deciding whether to file similar charges against another guide who was at the scene just downstream of Kermitts Roadhouse on U.S. 6.

Duke Bradford, owner of Arkansas Valley Adventures, said Snodgrass did the right thing by contacting the 13-year-old Texas girl immediately and not waiting for the county’s search and rescue team to assemble ropes, rafts and rescuers.

I sent a letter of support to Arkansas Valley Adventures, and they're appreciative, even offering to email me if a legal defense fund needs to be started.

This is one I'll donate to, fer sher.

If you want to send email, info@coloradorafting.net

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If you can't stand the wet ...

... then stay out of the ocean:

THE mother of rescued American teenage sailor Abby Sunderland has said the family cannot afford to reimburse the Australian Government for the cost of saving her daughter which could top $300,000.

The mother claims they're not wealthy people.

I beg to differ. Offshore sailing is not a poor mans' sport. The vessel I'm sure cost a pretty penny, endorsements not withstanding.

I've got nothing against Ms Sunderland attempting the circumnavigation, for whatever reasons she can come up with. That said, you need to be aware of the risks, and be ready to bear the costs of any eventuality.

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Interesting ...

... that this is found at MSNBC:

The NRA announced its backing of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in a letter to members that bestowed the gun-rights organization's top rating on Strickland and endorsed him in his contest against Republican John Kasich.

I don't know anything about Ted Strickland, but I think I'd rather have John Kasich as my governor, all things considered.

The NRA 'F' grade is troubling, but then again, the NRA's grading 'system' has never really made sense to me.

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Wow ...

... they really are better than we are:



h/t Hot Air

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Made me smile ....

JayG gets some humor in his mail box from Old NFO!

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Manufacturing?

This grandma might not say so:

A North Memphis grandmother was arrested on drug charges after police found potted marijuana plants outside her home.
[She] was charged with Manufacturing Marijuana and is currently being held on $5,000 bond at the Shelby County Jail.

Yeah, like the garden club 'manufactures' petunias.

A free people are allowed to make stupid decisions ... one of these days, we'll recognize that.

JPFO Alert

Obama White House wants your name.

That zany Tally-wacker-ban ....

... are at it again, executing a 7 year-old boy for spying:

A seven-year-old boy was executed by the Taleban in a brutal act of retribution this week, after his grandfather dared to resist the insurgency’s iron rule.

And it wasn't even the boy who actually did anything, it was his grandfather who resisted the insurgency.

I'm not really sure what to say about this that would be even marginally productive, rather than being viciously vengeful. I'd like to see some group put the Tally-wacker-ban on notice that any such atrocities will result in swift retribution upon random mooslims, anywhere in the world, by a factor of 10.

Is that too harsh? I don't think so .... ask Abdul Woodod Alokozai, whose grandson was just hanged.

My peace strategy is a simple one; have superior firepower, and promise (and carry out) retribution with extreme prejudice.

Very simple.

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OC disaster?

I saw this first at Uncle's site, and more at Robb Allen's. A gentleman open carrying his firearm was robbed at gunpoint:

But it wasn't scary for at least one person who robbed "The guy with the gun" at gunpoint.

Note that 'scary' and 'The guy with the gun' are his hoplophobic neighbor's terms.

Now I've not been paying attention to these sorts of things that long, but so far, this is the first instance that anyone can point to where an armed, OC citizen has been robbed.

The article linked is short on facts, so we don't know things like 'did this happen in a high-crime area', or whether the perp approached from the 'weak' side (and didn't even see the firearm until he was committed), or whether the victim was in 'White' mode ...... nor are we likely to know.

The point is, be aware .... practice with your gear, the way you carry it. And understand that there are criminals out there who don't give a rip whether you're armed or not.

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You never know ...

... what you'll find on the internets!

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Now here's an endorsement

Vox Day brings his typical brand of contrarianism:

With the exception of Sharon Angle, I see no reason to think of these Republican candidates as anything but electoral pressure valves. Naturally, she's the one candidate that the Republican establishment opposes.

I don't have a dog in that particular hunt, but Ms Angle's answers to David Codrea's gun rights questionaire made me smile.

Good luck, Sharon!

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Do tell

So someone thinks that Obama wasn't born in Hawaii:

A college professor who worked as a senior elections clerk for the City and County of Honolulu in 2008 is making the stunning claim Barack Obama was definitely not born in Hawaii as the White House maintains, and that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Obama does not even exist in the Aloha State.

Oops ... this guy worked for the election commission for Hawaii.

I don't know whether he was born in Hawaii or not; I tend to think he was, but that a long form would show other embarrasing details, like that Frank Marshall Davis is really his father. And I understand why he's not releasing the document, since it provides a handy distraction to what he's doing while in office.

I just care that his agenda is stopped.

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Later

... is when I'll make some comments about the mad gunman in the UK.

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How are libertarians different from conservatives?

Check this out to see just one of the many differences:

Libertarians typically favor an aggressive judiciary that is willing to overturn mistaken precedents and strike down unconstitutional state and federal statutes. The Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett, for instance, has argued that the courts should adopt a “presumption of liberty,” meaning that the government should be required “to justify its restriction on liberty, instead of requiring the citizen to establish that the liberty being exercised is somehow ‘fundamental.’ ”

That position is almost the exact opposite of the judicial restraint advocated by Meese and other conservatives. As Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review has put it, judicial restraint “is best understood as a finger on the scales, tipping judges in close cases against invalidating the actions of Congress or state or local governments.”

h/t to Jeff, 'cuz when Jeff says you need to read something, well, you probably oughtta.

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I sit in awe ....

... and am humbled beyond words:



Marine's got a set of pipes, huh?!

Semper Fi, Marine ... Semper Fi.

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A great idea!

Vox Day has an idea - give SoCal to the Israelis:

It's a win-win-win situation. The Israelis get better land, security, lasting peace and the chance to dominate the 2020 World Surfing Championships. The Palestinians get the land they've been pestering the world about for the last 40 years. The Americans get 6 million smart, successful neighbors, avoid bailing out California and nip the budding Aztlan irredentist movement in the bud.

Remember, Vox is blog-rolled ......... check him out.

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JPFO Alert

It's time for 'In your face' tactics.

Hey hey ..... goodbye!

Couldn't have happened to a nicer wench:

In a terse statement this morning, the Hearst Corporation announced the retirement of Helen Thomas, the longtime White House reporter whose remarks that Jews should quit "occupying" Palestine and return home to Poland and Germany scorched the Internet.

See ya ..... wouldn't wanna be ya!

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The stupid .... it burns!

This is a good story (which will be ignored by the MSM), but the level of idiocy is pretty high:

[Sheriff] Crabtree marveled at the find. 'Have you ever seen a .50-caliber round?' he asked. 'That’s a big round — the stuff you shoot at airplanes and tanks.'

Granted, the dude had some nice weapons, but shooting at airplanes?

If I had had a Barrett .50 cal in Desert Storm, and if I had started shooting it at enemy aircraft, my Btry Gunny would've bounced me on top of the berms for wasting ammo.

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Another One® gets away

Surely a travesty:

Cook County prosecutors met privately with the Lagunas family Friday morning, gently telling them they had no choice but to drop the aggravated drunken-driving and reckless homicide charges against officer John Ardelean. Prosecutors said their case fell apart after Cook County Judge Thomas Gainer Jr. threw out key evidence against Ardelean in late April.

So that's the MO, huh? Collect the evidence so sloppily that any attorney can get it declared as inadmissable? Then when the internal investigation gets started, 'Hey, we thought we were doing the right thing'?

Pretty fucking convenient.

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Lighter side

Something to get you moving on Monday:



The music's not bad for a cover band, but watch the drummer!

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JPFO Alert

The government's Gotcha Gun.

Mom resting well at skilled facility because of closeness to home and cheaper cost to insurance, but mostly cheaper cost to insurance.

I'm back, and all is relatively well.

Mom got moved into a skilled nursing facility, and I think that's she's going to be well-served there. She had been there for 2 full days when I left, and the physical therapists' had already gotten her out of bed and into a chair both days, and they'll probably start on her in earnest on Monday.

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Out of pocket ....

Visiting my mom in the hospital ..... may not post a lot (or at all!)

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Here's a thought

Seems that a few people want the FCC to monitor 'hate' speech on the interwebz:

A coalition of more than 30 organizations argue in a letter to the FCC that the Internet has made it harder for the public to separate the facts from bigotry masquerading as news.

That 'coalition'? All left-wing.

Whadda ya expect?!

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This guy ....

know's what he's talking about:

To accept that the Second Amendment serves a collective purpose, however, is not to concede that it is merely a collective right. Consider, for example, the First Amendment, or rather those clauses of it concerned with freedom of speech and of the press. These rights are exercised individually, by newspapers, other media, the individual members of their staffs, and individual citizens. Its purpose, on the other hand, is to secure the liberty of the collective by giving widespread airing to even unpopular or anti-governmental views.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

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Wow!

Government claims that using a machinegun to commit a crime is a sentencing enhancement, not a discrete crime. SCOTUS disagrees:

The typical mandatory minimum is 5 years, but if the weapon is a machine gun, then the minimum becomes 30 years. The Court, in a unanimous decision, held that the determination of whether the weapon is a mere pistol or a machine gun must be made by the jury where the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Another case of the government criminalizing the tool, not the act.

Doesn't matter to me if you used a tire iron, baseball bat, knife, gun, bazooka or M198 to murder me, I'm still dead. That should be the standard ... not what you used.

h/t Sebastian

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I wonder

If this is as unpossible as Uncle makes it out to be, how come the NRA aren't shouting from the rooftops?

At least 22 people were wounded in separate shootings around the city roughly between noon Saturday and noon Sunday, including a man who died this morning after he was shot in the head, Chicago police said.

I mean, they should be putting out press releases, or something ... right?

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Take note ...

Heh:

In an editorial posted on its website Saturday night, Sarah's Palin's hometown newspaper in Wasilla, Alaska, warned author and journalist Joe McGinniss [...] about a state law that allows the use of deadly force to defend one's property.

Noted.

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More to consider

Joe has a link to a post that brings up interesting thoughts:

Well this proposal tied into some things I have been thinking about in relation to my own life situation to add up to the question "Can anyone ride the Shockwave and remain undetected while still moving through ordinary society and all without engaging in criminal acts?" Well to a surprising degree you can.

And it sounds all secret squirrel!

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Something to consider

From Oleg comes this bit from John Farnam:

My comment:

Never surrender, no matter who orders it!

RTWT to get the full effect.

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