Archive for the 'Politics' Category

CBS:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responded Wednesday afternoon to email exchanges made public earlier in the day linking a top aide to the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal that has been under investigation.

“What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better. This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions,” the governor said in a statement.

Uh oh.  Somebody better begin looking for a new job.  They’re getting thrown under the bus.  But why is America shocked over this?  We have known this for weeks, and some of us have known it longer (remember “Get the hell off the beach” said to people whom he didn’t have any legal right to force out?).

In 2010, John F. McKeon, a New Jersey assemblyman, made what he thought was a mild comment on a radio program: Some of the public employees that Gov. Chris Christie was then vilifying had been some of the governor’s biggest supporters.

He was surprised to receive a handwritten note from Mr. Christie, telling him that he had heard the comments, and that he didn’t like them.

“I thought it was a joke,” Mr. McKeon recalled. “What governor would take the time to write a personal note over a relatively innocuous comment?”

But the gesture would come to seem genteel compared with the fate suffered by others in disagreements with Mr. Christie: a former governor who was stripped of police security at public events; a Rutgers professor who lost state financing for cherished programs; a state senator whose candidate for a judgeship suddenly stalled; another senator who was disinvited from an event with the governor in his own district.

In almost every case, Mr. Christie waved off any suggestion that he had meted out retribution …

Just like he has done in this case.  And just to remind everyone, Chris Christie made his fame in New Jersey pushing gun control.  He is a gun grabber from way back.  And gun grabbers are bullies.  You know that, right?

Corner:

“The establishment types didn’t like the Cuccinelli campaign, didn’t back the Cuccinelli campaign — for whatever their reasons were. Whether it was his hot social-conservative rhetoric from the past, whether it was the way the campaign was structured presently, I don’t know,” Steele says. ”I know I tried to raise some money for him and ran into all kinds of resistance from folks and excuses.”

“People were clearly behind the Christie effort. In a lot of respects, Cuccinelli was the step child. He was the one that people made excuses not to support . . . I think there was a conscious decision to sacrifice Virginia,” he adds.

Like I said, this will come back to haunt the GOP.  I will grant that there are a lot of low information voters who spend their time watching night time comedies and worthless television programming.  But there is a slice of voters who know this and understand that the old line GOP establishment is trying ever so hard to cast the future GOP in its own image.  And remember based on the margin of loss for Romney during the last election, the margins are smaller than they’ve ever been – they’re razor thin.  The great un-mined middle exists no more and America becomes increasingly bifurcated.  All it takes is loss of a small margin to lose an election.

Watch as the informed voters turn their back on the GOP establishment.  If the Cuccinelli campaign was a “step child,” the GOP establishment is a “dead man walking.”

Politico:

Just a brief note to Jasmine Rand, attorney for the Travvon Martin family, whom I just saw on Greta Van Susteren saying something like the following: “I am more than an attorney and I have commitments to more than just the law.  I am a social engineer …”

Listen lady.  I am a registered professional engineer, and I work with other registered professional engineers.  We have to know things like Calculus, physics, and mechanics of materials.  Unless you want to go to school and take the classes and the tests and the state boards, you’re no engineer.

You may fancy yourself some sort of frustrated social planner or something, but referring to yourself as an engineer or actually performing engineering in most states gets you a cease and desist order from the state boards of registration for engineers and land surveyors.  But then, this wouldn’t happen with you because you don’t do engineering.

I think you’re self important and a little too big for your britches, as they say.

Senator Tom Coburn cooperated with Senator Manchin (and Schumer) for a while on “expanded” (universal) background checks before he pulled out of the negotiations for whatever reason.  He was simply indignant when Senator Reid later pushed him around.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on Thursday blasted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as a “failure” and said the Democratic leader broke his promise to allow him an amendment on last month’s gun control bill.

“Harry Reid is a nice guy. I like him. But I think he has been a failure as a majority leader for the Senate in terms of keeping the history of the Senate and the progress of the Senate in line with what it was intended to be by our founders,” Coburn said.

The Oklahoma Republican was appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to explain why he had attempted to attach an amendment to a water resources and infrastructure bill that would have allowed gun owners to carry firearms into recreational areas.

“They were very good to allow me an amendment, and the reason they did is because Harry [Reid] denied me an amendment on the gun bill on one that would have passed and solved the problem, which he promised to give me,” Coburn said.

“He has been dishonest with me, not truthful, not kept his word,” Coburn continued. “He’s played games, you know? We’ve done our own damage to that in response to it. So what we have is people pointing fingers at each other.”

Coburn’s amendment to the water and infrastructure bill would have allowed states to decide whether visitors to areas controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — including many of the nation’s campsites and trails — would be allowed to carry weapons. The amendment failed Wednesday in a 56-43 vote, four short of the 60 necessary to proceed.

More specifically, Coburn’s proposal would have opened up lands heretofore prohibited from weapons as well as begun to make DHS accountable for it’s ammunition orders.

The Senate has rejected an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that would have repealed a ban on carrying guns on land managed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The amendment, by Sen. Tom Coburn, was defeated 56-43, falling four votes shy of the 60 needed to defeat a Democratic-led filibuster. Coburn withdrew a second amendment that would require annual reports from federal agencies on ammunition and gun purchases and firearm thefts.

Democrats said it could “threaten critical facilities like dams and flood control projects.”  So in addition to .22 LR shots potentially adversely affecting the nation’s energy grid, we now have rifle or handgun shots that can take out a dam.  The power of small projectiles is storied and amazing, to be sure.

The real lesson in all of this isn’t the amendment, which was sure to fail, or the moronic Democrat response to it, but that Coburn offered it.  He is feeling heat from his cooperation with the totalitarians on gun control, and he’s trying to shore up his pro-gun credentials.

It won’t work.  Gun owners never forgive, and never forget.  Like wicked men chasing after whores, the politicians in Washington chase after the next feel-good measure rather than act on principle.  But when you sleep with the enemy you contract their diseases.  Coburn is damaged goods.

As for guns on federal land (specifically, guns in national parks), my FOIA request proves that the predicted apocalypse of gun crime after weapons were made legal didn’t obtain.  To the surprise of the Brady campaign, gun owners are responsible people.

CBS News:

A pair of bipartisan senators on Wednesday announced they’ve reached an agreement over a bill to expand background checks for gun sales, marking a significant first step as Congress attempts to tackle the thorny issue of gun control. While the Senate is now one step closer to actually voting on the legislation, the bill’s fate remains far from certain, its authors acknowledged.

“I think this is a fluid situation, and it’s hard to predict,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., one of the drafters of the background check bill, said of the legislation’s chances. He added, however, that the legislation represents common ground and that he’s “hopeful” it can pass.

“Criminals and the dangerously mentally ill shouldn’t have guns,” Toomey said. “I don’t know anyone who disagrees with that premise.”

You’re a liar.  That criminals and the dangerously mentally ill shouldn’t have guns isn’t your premise.  Your premise is that what you propose for universal background checks would have any effect on criminals and the dangerously mentally ill having guns.  I think you know that this is a false premise and doesn’t comport with the facts and data.  In fact, let me remind you just why the left really wants universal background checks.

The only way we can truly be safe and prevent further gun violence is to ban civilian ownership of all guns. That means everything. No pistols, no revolvers, no semiautomatic or automatic rifles. No bolt action. No breaking actions or falling blocks. Nothing. This is the only thing that we can possibly do to keep our children safe from both mass murder and common street violence.

Unfortunately, right now we can’t. The political will is there, but the institutions are not. Honestly, this is a good thing. If we passed a law tomorrow banning all firearms, we would have massive noncompliance. What we need to do is establish the regulatory and informational institutions first. This is how we do it.  The very first thing we need is national registry. We need to know where the guns are, and who has them.

Thus ends two non-remarkable careers in politics.  I hope you enjoy your new buddies, Pat.

UPDATE: David Codrea asks:

Why Toomey felt compelled to take this stance, particularly noting the slim margin he was elected to office by and the likelihood that angry gun owners will remember at the polls if he decides to seek office again, remain unclear. While the bill is far short of what President Obama wants to sign into law, if it passes, it will be used as the plateau from which the next series of demands will be issued.

I don’t know why Toomey felt compelled to take this stance.  Why does any tyrant feel compelled to be one?  Original sin due to the “federal headship” of Adam.  If you don’t like that answer, you don’t hurt my feelings.  Queue one up of your own.  Either way, I hope Toomey chokes.

US News:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is actively shopping for a drone that would “stalk hunters,” the organization said Monday.

The group says it will “soon have some impressive new weapons at its disposal to combat those who gun down deer and doves” and that it is “shopping for one or more drone aircraft with which to monitor those who are out in the woods with death on their minds.”

The group says it will not weaponize the drones, but will use them to film potentially illegal hunting activity and turn it over to law enforcement.

[ … ]

The group may want to carefully monitor its drone—last year, an animal rights group drone was shot down while it was attempting to monitor pigeon hunters in South Carolina.

Pigeon hunters in South Carolina.  Did PETA think it would end well?  South Carolina?  Really?  And the PETA representative on the video thinks it amazing that “a blogger” would advocate shooting down this drone.

Let me say it here and now, for everyone to see.  I not only advocate shooting down this and similar drones, I advocate that we find out when the drones will be used and we deploy hunting parties specifically for them.

Can we get a PETA representative here to debate it?

Concerning Pat Toomey:

Two influential senators, one from each party, are working on an agreement that could expand background checks on firearms sales to include gun shows and online transactions, Senate aides said Sunday.

If completed, the effort could represent a major breakthrough in the effort by President Barack Obama and his allies to restrict guns following last December’s massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn.

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., could nail down an accord early this week, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private talks. With the Senate returning Monday from a two-week recess, the chamber’s debate on gun control legislation could begin as soon as Tuesday, though it might be delayed if the lawmakers need more time to complete a deal, the aides said.

The potential deal, which aides cautioned still might change, would exempt transactions between relatives and temporary transfers for hunters and sportsmen, they said.

Manchin is a moderate who touts an A rating from the National Rifle Association, which has opposed Obama’s gun control drive. Toomey has solid conservative credentials and was elected to the Senate two years ago with tea party support from his Democratic-leaning state.

A united front by the two lawmakers would make it easier for gun control advocates to attract support from moderate Democrats who have been wary of supporting the effort and from Republicans who have largely opposed it so far.

As for Toomey, you go right ahead and connect with your “moderate” constituency.  I hope you choke on them.  Remember when it was urgent necessity to elect Toomey to the Senate?  Yea, just like it was to elect Scott Brown, who supports a so-called assault weapons ban.

The Republican party is dead.  It’s merely a different color of vanilla, no different than the Democrats.  And that’s why they lost the last election.  And lose they will, again and again, trying to connect with their “moderate” constituency, because that’s what the highly paid talking heads and moron consultants are telling them they need to do.  Choke and turn blue on it.

David Codrea is a little wiser in his counsel for Toomey:

As for Toomey, if he and his staff hadn’t opened their yaps to indicate things were open to discussion, they wouldn’t be in this self-created pickle. He, too, has had a pretty good record on guns (even Gun Owners of America grades him at “A-”), and he needs to be reminded that his duty is to improve that score, not to threaten the rights of a core constituency that entrusted him with power.

Read it all at Examiner.  Okay.  Change his mind and remember his supposed values, or choke and turn blue.  Either way is fine with me.

Ammoland has two extremely depressing reports.  We already knew that Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan were pretend conservatives with plans to cave on universal background checks.  This first report makes it sound even worse.

[The] Republican Majority Leader is leading the charge to cut a deal with President Obama.

The following are just some of the threats to innocent school children and our God-given 2nd Amendment liberties that Republicans are about to shove down our throats:

1.The NRA is cutting backroom deals to centralize gun owner data collection into the Obama/Holder massive government data base.

A centralized system is less costly to fight and far more lucrative for the NRA to appear to be “fixing“.

Like all establishment political lobbies the key to their job security is assisting in making problems they end up being called upon to “fix“.

2. Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor is leading the charge to give Obama and Holder what they want in exchange for appearing to be “fixing” the problem of innocent children being butchered in our public and private schools.

3. Newly appointed Republican Judiciary Chairman, Bob Goodlatte R-VA 6th District, is providing political cover for the sneaky back room gun control deals and gun grabbing sell outs that his political masters – – John Boehner and Eric Cantor – – are cutting with Obama and his corrupt Attorney General, Eric Holder.

Political insiders have confirmed to me,  that Goodlatte earned his brand new chairmanship by ignoring the constitutional demands and grievances of every Republican Unit Chairman in his own 6th district.

And for the second report.

You might think that with Republicans in control of the US House of Representatives there would be no way ANY gun control legislation could reach the floor.

But sadly we are already beginning to see so-called “conservative champions” folding to pressure from the anti-gun media to sell-out gun owners.

Former Vice Presidential candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan, has stated that he would support legislation that bans private sales at gun shows.

In the House, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, along with the help of Rep. Scott Rigell (VA), Patrick Meehan (PA) and others, have stated openly that they will work together with anti-gun Democrats from Maryland and New York to tighten restrictions on private firearms sales and expand background checks.

Possibly even more upsetting has been Senator Tom Coburn’s willingness to work alongside anti-gunner Chuck Schumer (NY) to propose “bi-partisan” anti-gun legislation in the Senate.

Make no mistake, so-called “expansion” of background checks is little more than a blatant attempt by anti-gunners to register all firearms and gun owners in America.

That is why Representatives Steve Stockman (TX-36) and Paul Broun (GA-10) have drafted a letter to Speaker Boehner and the Republican leadership urging them to require the support of the majority of Republican members in the House before bringing any anti-gun bills to the floor.

This so-called “Hastert Rule” would mean that 117 Republicans would have to support a particular bill before it had any chance of getting a floor vote, not just the support of the anti-gun elitist in leadership.

Such political ploys would be unnecessary if the GOP weren’t filled with such weasels.  I cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports, but I have followed Cantor and Ryan for a while now on firearms freedoms and gun rights, and it doesn’t surprise me in the least.

It’s fascinating that the GOP leadership would be willing to sacrifice their careers on the altar of political correctness.  And it will cost them their careers.  I don’t know how else to say it other than to keep repeating myself.  The gun owners who recently waited in lines for three or more hours to pay exorbitant prices for guns were not repeat buyers (long time gun owners like me already had most of the firearms we wanted and so we are purchasing ammunition now).  They were first time buyers.

I’ve watched them at the ranges.  I have overheard their conversations, I have watched them at the gun stores and gun shows.  I have heard their relatively ignorant questions (not ignorant because they’re stupid, but because they’re in the process of learning).  They are not us.  We already have guns.  These are new gun owners.  The polls they are trotting out to show the number of gun owners  decreasing are all lies.

I don’t know whether the questions aren’t being honestly answered or what other source there could be for the error.  But the polls are in error.  Don’t believe them.  And as for older gun owners like me, and even the newer gun owners like I have monitored for the past half year, we have made it clear with our voices and wallets.  No new gun laws.  None.  Period.  Not one more inch.  Not one.

Is this so hard to understand?  Note to legislators.  Tread carefully.  Don’t cross lines from which there is no return.

UPDATE: Sebastian believes that this is weak tea.  Whatever.  Look, I said that I could not vouch for the source of this information.  What I did say is that Cantor and Ryan are essentially dead to me.  They have both advocated universal background checks before, and that fact is undeniable.  Coming to their defense is strange and not at all something I would do.  What I also said is that the general thrust of the reports doesn’t surprise me based on my previous work to follow these two sellouts (and I do mean to say that Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor are sellouts – you simply cannot convince me otherwise because you don’t have the evidence).  Also, not that I dislike Breitbart.com, but I have never read anything they had to say about this issue.  What is the source behind the Ammoland reports?  They will have to answer that.  Finally, I note that Sebastian didn’t interact with me on this issue, just Ammoland.

I figured this: I write articles for my web site, and I am getting a decent amount of traffic recently (though not as much as I would like), so what more can I do?  I’ll leave it up to everybody else to fill in the gaps.

Until I read David’s web site today.  He shames me, and I’m not sure why I consider him my buddy since he has a way of doing that.  So I tried it with my U.S. Senators.

See how easy that was?  You too can be a five minute gun activist.