Kevin has a hilarious example. Constitution? I do not think it means what you think it means. The sad part is, I’m going to be willing to bet this person is actually considerably higher on the information rung than your typical low-information voter, but the ignorance of the Constitution burns with the heat of a pool full of Sriracha sauce.
Month: December 2012
Alan Gottlieb & Dan Gross on Piers Morgan
Video here. What’s funny is that he pretty much ignored Dan Gross so he could spend time attempting to savage Alan Gottlieb, which he was not very successful at. I thought Paul Helmke had some issues in terms of the overall strategy for the Brady organization, but I always thought he was a decent spokesman for the group. I feel like every time I hear Dan Gross talk it sound something like this:
“Hi Piers, the Brady Campaign has a simple message for Americans: we are better than this. Gun violence is a serious problem in this country, and the truth is we are better than this. In conclusion, Piers, my organization stands for all Americans who have a heartfelt, honest belief that, when it comes to gun violence we are just better than this.”
I mean, I know no one watches Piers Morgan, but even he thought Alan made for better talking head entertainment for the four Americans who tuned in to watch. I’m not impressed with Gross’s messaging. Surely the formerly leading gun control organization in the United States is better than this. At this point I almost feel like CSGV is more relevant, because at least there’s a market for the crazy juice they are peddling in the far left reaches of the cosmic mouth foam region of the Internets.
No Privacy
Thanks to Tam (who suggests we’re all probably not paranoid enough) for this and this stories on how Uncle Sam is crushing our privacy and protections from searches. Let me tell you, I’m so glad we don’t have that civil liberty stomping Bush in the White House anymore, and replaced him with a thorough progressive Democrat who will protect our civil liberties.
Often times when I talk about self-hosting, people wonder why I would do such a thing, given that hosting providers are cheap, and doing it myself is more complicated. This is a big part of the reason why. What happened to Wyatt is another big part of the reason why. I control the horizontal and the vertical (even if the signal is still vulnerable, it makes it harder for them, at least), and if someone wants access to the e-mail on our servers, they have to hand a subpoena to either Jason or me personally. Plus, given that we have redundancy on the signal, if someone decided to cut my line, I can be up and running somewhere else within hours, since my data is not at the mercy of some IT drone at an ISP.
Yesterday
Posting was light because we had our quarterly whole-company meeting, along with a Yankee Swap and holiday dinner at the Iron Hill. I discovered my coworkers are ruthless thieves of liquor gifts. I tried to score a bottle of single malt Islay Scotch, and that didn’t last long. Nontheless, I did manage to come home with some hooch and a large amount of sweets (which I shouldn’t eat). I thought my RC helicopter would be more popular, but it was opened too late in the process.
Chicago Really Helping NRA
The latest check. I’d be OK with sending Rahm a hat, and considering the magnitude of the donations, I think a letter from Chris Cox would be nice too. I’m sure that can be arranged for high donors like Rahm.
The New Red Dawn
Last night, Sebastian treated me to a movie and finally had a movie theater experience that he found remotely pleasant. We picked the 10:35pm mid-week showing of a movie that’s already been running for several weeks, so the theater was empty. Warning, there are some spoiler-like comments ahead. But then again, it’s a damn remake. You should already know the larger plot.
There was a line in the opening sequence about everyone asking how the North Koreans could actually manage to become a serious military strength to threaten a country like the United States. That’s exactly what serious viewers would ask, too. Now, I realize that the North Koreans weren’t supposed to be the original enemy, but that’s how the final product was released. Therefore, I think it’s reasonable to criticize just how much the filmmakers expected us to suspend disbelief.
I did miss the line about the 4473s from the original, but I can understand why they would want to cut that for a wider audience. The fact is that only gun owners who seriously understand the political process of gun regulation really got that reference.
Other than that, I thought it was reasonable entertainment. As Sebastian noted, the urban warfare environment made far more sense for guerrilla tactics than the open countryside setting of the original movie. The heavier reliance upon explosives, even when they just ended with a gun battle, was also a bit more realistic to the narrative of causing problems for the invading enemy with more troops and firepower than the Wolverines.
I’m not going to pretend that the flick is a highbrow cultural masterpiece. It’s just a little fun with some reminders about how there are people out there willing to fight for basic freedoms. It’s better than we both thought it would be based on initial previews. It’s not an exact replica of the original Red Dawn, but it’s not so wildly off from the original that anyone who loved the fun of the original will be lost.
If you haven’t caught it yet, the number of theaters showing it after tonight will drop since it’s been out for several weeks. However, it is still performing in the top 10 of movies. In fact, in the early release, Red Dawn pulled in almost as much per screen as Life of Pi which was based on a book that became an Oprah-recommended best seller. It’s worth a few bucks to go see it.
Winning in the Culture
The Washington Post is holding a holiday crafts contest, and 7 entries made it to the finals out of 166 submitted. One of those entries is probably the best shotgun shell wreath I have ever seen.
The paper is accepting reader votes for the winner. You know what that means. Go vote.
Help the gun culture win in the popular culture. For what it’s worth, their caption on this project in the photo gallery is straightforward with no commentary. They just note the woman who made the wreaths collected spent shells on the sporting clays course of the hunting preserve she owns.
This isn’t the only moment of “we’re winning” the culture wars of accepting lawful gun ownership I’ve spotted lately. I was perusing the list of top selling Kitchen gadgets on Amazon the other day, and one of the biggest sellers (#25 at the time) was for a handgun-shaped ice cube tray. One of the next big sellers in the novelty kitchen gadgets was for the ice cube tray shaped like ammunition rounds.
Now we just need to translate that culture war winning into more measurable political and legal wins.
The Voting Habits of Mythical Creatures
I’m pretty sure that polling has jumped the shark when they start asking people about their thoughts on Santa’s partisan voting habits. Yes, Santa’s party registration is up for debate in a new poll from a Democratic pollster.
But leave it to Jim Geraghty breaks down why this poll is likely wrong.
And just wait to see what he has to say about the Easter Bunny’s positions on public policy…
More on the Michigan Assault
Glenn Reynolds notes the silence from the mainstream media. Most of the media bias comes in what they choose not to cover. I’ve always been a bit ambivalent about right-to-work, because in an ideal world, if employers and employees wanted to get together and negotiate a closed shop, they should be free to do so. But the fact is that Unions enjoy significant government protections. Employers are forced to collectively bargain with employees if employees vote to do so. Without right-to-work, Employees who don’t vote for collective bargaining can be forced into unions under threat of their jobs.
In most right-to-work schemes, which were authorized under the Taft-Harley Act of 1947, employees who opt out of the union are still covered by collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the union, and the unions are required to represent workers who opt out. This is the free rider problem the unions have so eloquently pointed out (with shouting and fists). If they weren’t acting like violent thugs, they might have a point. I tend to think you should not be forced into collective bargaining against your will, and I agree with right-to-work from that point of view. But I also think the unions have a point about the free rider problem. If you leave a union, you should be required to independently bargain with your employer, and the union should have no obligation to represent you as an employee.
Corbett Refusing to Set up Exchange for Obamacare
Capital Ideas is reporting. This makes 28 states that have refused to implement a key piece of Obamacare.