Politics – Page 50 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Is Christie Stupid Enough to Bite?

The Democrats have reached a deal that would reduce from 15 to 10 the number of rounds a magazine may legally hold in New Jersey:

Democratic lawmakers in both house of the legislature have struck a deal that would allow passage of a measure restricting gun owners to a 10-round
magazine, down from the current limit of 15, two sources with knowledge of the
deal said today.

In exchange, the legislature will shepherd through a gun-owner championed bill that would define what are known in the gun world as “reasonable deviations” to the law governing transport of a firearm.

Currently a gun owner may only transport an unloaded, stored weapon straight to the destination, be it on a hunting trip or to a gun range. Under the law, a gun owner may detour from the route only for deviations that are “reasonable.”

So in exchange for something that they should just give us, because it’s a right, you know, they go from 15 to 10? No deal. Kill it with fire. I believe the purpose of this is to tempt Chris Christie to ruin his own national ambitions. The Democrats probably feel they have nothing to lose. If Christie signs the bill, he’ll create the same problems with the base that McCain and Romney had. If he vetoes, Democrats in New Jersey believe gun control wins elections, so they will make an issue out of it in the next Governor’s race. The Dems believe they have everything to gain and Christie everything to lose. But will he be dumb enough to sign it if he wants to run for the GOP nod for 2016?

Missouri Legislative Problem Solved

It looks like the problem of having anti-gun language tied on to a nullification bill in Missouri may now be resolved with a few phone calls from unhappy voters.

Jonah Goldberg on the “Heart of Liberalism”

If you haven’t read Liberal Fascism, I’d highly recommend it. It’s not real fire breathing stuff, but is rather an in-depth exploration of the intellectual roots of modern liberalism. In this article he mentions something on the same topic, in regards to guns:

Consider gun rights. Yes, conservatives believe in second amendment rights because they are in the Constitution. But they also value a culture of self-sufficiency, self-defense and a traditional understanding of individual sovereignty. (Relatedly, I think itâ€™s fair to say that hunting culture is inherently conservative and, very broadly speaking, anathema to much of liberal culture). Liberals dislike gun rights, because they detest gun culture (their Constitutional arguments in this regard have always struck me as nearest-weapon-to-hand debating points and rationalizations given their general disdain for Constitutional literalism in nearly every other regard) and see gun violence as a kind of public health issue, which means the State should have an unlimited license to deal with it. The right of armed self-defense also offends the Stateâ€™s monopoly on violence, and liberalism is a jealous guardian of State power.

One might wince at the two dimensional political spectrum, but this is quoted somewhat out of context. He goes on to explain why he thinks conservatism is more libertarian leaning than liberalism.

I appreciate well-thought-out philosophical political constructs, but I don’t think real people fall neatly into them in most cases. Most people either don’t put that much thought into their political philosophy, or have strongly held beliefs that move across the spectrum of liberal-conservative-libertarian-authoritarian. There are also many legitimate pragmatists out there, or people like me who value philosophical political constructs, but have a strong pragmatic streak as well.

Feeding the Maybe Not-So-Tin-Foil-Hat Conspiracies

I have to agree with Glenn Reynolds that perhaps the greatest “achievement” of this Administration is making crazy conspiracy theories seem less crazy. This begs the question:Â what the US government needs 600,000 AK-47 magazines for?Â As Clayton notes, that seems awful excessive if your intention is only to arm Syrian rebels. Clayton speculates that perhaps the goal is to dry up the civilian supply to make them more expensive. Previously I’d say that was tin-foil hat territory, but with this crowd, I’m not so sure.

NJ Trooper on Christie Security Detail Arrested in Hamburg, PA

Apparently he stands accused of kleptoing himself about $267 bucks worth of shooting supplies from Caleba’s. But get this:

â€œCarvounis said he was on the governorâ€™s security detail,â€ Tilden Township Police Chief William J. McEllroy told New Jersey Watchdog. â€œHe said he makes $140,000 a year, and heâ€™s afraid of losing his job.â€

140 large a year? I’m in the wrong line of work!Â I’d say he likely has a compulsion he could use some help with. Apparently he tried to get someÂ â€œprofessional courtesyâ€ out of the local constabulary, but to their credit they didn’t take him up on it. I’d be OK withÂ ARDing him if he gets some help with his problem, though.

Amnesty Light

I’ll be honest, I’d personally be fine compromise in theory, but I suspect it’s bad politics for the GOP:

â€œIllegal immigrants, assuming they have lived here for a decent period of time and have not committed a felony, can have amnesty, but they can NEVER be allowed to vote. They can do anything else that is legal, but if they want to vote â€” or run for office or practice law in our country, as just happened in California â€” they must return home and go through the normal immigrant application process, however long that may take until they have citizenship.â€

I’ve posted on this before. Most of the arguments against this idea were the slippery slope, namely if we give them a limited amnesty now, they’ll just vote in a full one next chance they get. I believe in slippery slopes, and agree it’s no fallacy. Gun control is absolutely a slippery slope. Here’s what I look at:

Is the interest pushing for half the cake now in hopes of getting the whole cake later. Well, the Democrats certainly want them to have the vote, because they want a more solid majority, but it’s less clear the Hispanic community honestly cares all that much about the vote, and polling also shows they care about border security too. The political elites and activists are likely to keep pushing for the vote, so I think this plays in favor of the slippery slope.
Does the half cake strengthen our opponents hand any, or make their arguments better? I don’t really think this changes the rhetoric at all. In contrast to say, accepting the NICS system under Brady, which I think weakened our hand in arguing that expansion is a bad idea. I’m not sure this plays as well with the slippery slope. If anything, I think this would weaken their hand to the near future.
Does the half cake take people out of the issue in terms of fighting further encroachments. Absolutely. I think a lot of people will walk away from the GOP if they push through a half-cake amnesty bill. This would make it much easier for the Democrats to pass the rest of the cake when they get back into power.

So while I think the deal, in theory at least, would be acceptable to me, I think it would only contribute to the further destruction of the GOP at the cost of the Democrats winning several more election cycles. I’m not convinced anyway, that amnesty is the key to winning the latino vote. I think Republicans are pushing for limited amnesty largely because business interests want it, and because they have K street consulting firms whispering in their ear that this will allow them to win the latino vote.

Connecticut GOP Primary Shapes Up

Also from the Wall Street Journal. One of the candidates is the Mayor of Danbury, who is a MAIG Mayor. Some of the other guys are willing to run against the new gun control laws. No matter what the outcome of the general election, gun owners in Connecticut need to make sure the gun control supporting Republicans get squashed like bugs in the primary, especially if they were members of MAIG. MAIG membership needs to become toxic for those seeking higher public office.

Ready for the SOTU?

I am. I think I am sufficiently sauced. What I’m going to be on the lookout for is whether he brings up gun control. Last year he certainly did. They got their vote and they lost. Will he want to expend political capital on gun control this year? We shall see. I’ll update if he says anything worth noting.

UPDATE: Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly will be releasing a new ad during SOTU, but will the President back them up with rhetoric of his own?

9:21: He still hasn’t said anything yet. I mean anything. Not just about gun control. Blah blah blah blah.

9:23: Everyone looks dour. Even the progressive Dems don’t seem to have the energy for Obama. Even Michelle looks clinically depressed.

9:23: The death of upward mobility! Well, not like you’re helping with that any, asshole.

9:24: He’ll expand opportunity for American families, even if it means having to become a dictator!

9:28: I’m pretty sure I could code something up to write Obama speeches at this point. This is objectively bad. He’s saying everything short of “shovel ready.” It’s like every Obama speech is a compilation of every other Obama speech. I thought Bush was bad in this regard.

9:31: The federal government is responsible for Google and the iPhone, according to President Obama! There’s nothing the .gov can’t do!

9:32: I actually agree with the President on patent reform. This is a rare occurrence for me to agree with anything he has to say.

9:34: Man, this whole Congress could use some Prozac. I think they’re all clinically depressed.

9:35: “Fuels of the future.” Unicorn farts, apparently.

9:37: Fixing our “broken immigration system” is the only thing that seems to make Democrats not be clinically depressed.

9:38: Dick Dubrin seems to be the only asshole that still gets a hard on from Obama’s speeches. He’s smiling like a squirrel in a nuthouse.

9:40: He’s commanded Joe Biden to find everyone who needs a job the training they need to get a job. I’m guessing that’s going to keep him too busy to lobby for more gun control.

9:41: Restoring unemployment animates the Democrats briefly again…. or maybe not… that died out quickly… second try for that applause line just doesn’t quite do it. Back to clinical depression.

9:43: This is the most depressed I’ve ever seen Congress at a SOTU. Both sides. Even the Republicans can’t get a good boo going. What’ worth booing? It’s just dreck.

9:46: We’re spending all kinds of money and not adding any to the deficit, according to the President. I wish my finances could work like that! Education is an investment! Yeah, I’m still making student loan payments to prove it, and I am turning 40 soon.

9:49: We’re getting all war-on-women now, but it’s all “war on their wallets” and not their girly parts.

9:52: Now we’re on minimum wage, because there’s no downside to anything. Money just farts out of the backside of the unicorn. This from a guy who’s never had to meet a payroll in his life.

9:54: MyIRA? MyRA? I don’t know what he’s talking about. Turns out my namesake family are Ulster Scotts. I don’t support the IRA, sorry.

9:56: Obamacare is helping real people, according to the President. Well, for us real people, it’s made insurance on the individual market unaffordable, whereas it was previously. Thanks, dude!

9:58: Democrats are as animated as I’ve seen them tonight in cheering Obamacare, which has done nothing except make insurance unaffordable and push more people off the insurance roles. Keep cheering. Yes, keep cheering. America is increasingly recognizing this turd for what it is.

9:59: He wants us all to get covered by March 31st! Well, you know, when you charge twice as much for crappier coverage, you can f**k right the hell off. We’re not going to play his game in our house. At least he’s not repeating the lie, “If you like your plan you can keep it!”

10:01: Citizenship is being anti-gun! He’s talking about gun control! “I intend to keep trying, with or without congress….” to shit on our rights as Americans. I’ll get more detail on this section of the speech shortly.

10:03: We’re on to our troops now. Well, that’s some dedication to gun control right there. Didn’t even get two minutes of the President’s time in a longwinded, empty speech. Now he’s talking about how we’re not actually losing in Afghanistan.

10:08: “We have to close the prison at Guantamo!” Wasn’t this a campaign promise in 2008? Five SOTUs later and he’s still making promises about closing Guantamo? Does anyone think this is serious a this point?

10:13: Apparently Iran better never build a nuclear bomb, or Obama will write them another strongly worded letter, saying just how angry he is.

Well, that’s all she wrote. I’ve haven’t witnessed such a low key, depressed SOTU for some time. Shannon Watts and Bloomberg got a whole one minute or so of an hour and five minute speech. Yeah, I don’t think the gun control folks have much to celebrate from this.

Hope for Pennsylvania

Before the 2014 election season truly kicks into high gear in Pennsylvania, at least I have a little hope for the state with two little bits of information.

The big one is that Virginia just overcame the hardest vote to end the ban on Sunday hunting. There’s still a Senate vote to go, but it has passed in that chamber before. If Virginia can do it after years of arguing, then hopefully Pennsylvania can, too. Perhaps opponents will see that the sky won’t fall, just as it hasn’t in the vast majority of states that allow hunting on Sunday, and reason will prevail.

The second item is a bit of an election year kissing babies moment, but it was announced today that Gov. Tom Corbett is going to attend the NRA Friends dinner that will be held in conjunction with the new sportsman’s show in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania gun owners who appreciate our commonwealth’s laws over places like New York, Maryland, and Connecticut should really help out in a big, big way this year. Gov. Corbett came out firmly against gun bans when the press was pushing him hard to make a call for gun control, and he did it early enough that it shut down any major threat from the legislature.

Media MAIG Mayor Politicizes Town Finances

Thanks to a reader for sending me this article on Media, PA mayor Bob McMahon, who pushed to have the town divest in the gun business:

Mayor Bob McMahon, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and a Vietnam veteran, said heâ€™d had â€œa lot of involvementâ€ with assault weapons. He said he saw no reason for their use other than for military purposes.

â€œA message has to be sent. Iâ€™m strongly in support of this resolution,â€ said McMahon.

I think it’s time for gun owners to send a message to Mayor McMahon. The next meeting is the 20th. If there are any gun owners in Media, it would be advisable to make a showing and make your voice heard! It’s like playing whack-a-mole. You have to keep whacking when the gopher pops up or you lose.