Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 1677 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

A Warning to Democrats

Dave Kopel points us to a study done by the Independence Institute that showed the NRA can actually influence elections.Â I think they are using a limited number of elections here.Â You’d have to use more to draw solid conclusions, but it’s interesting, nontheless.Â Particularly in the conclusion:

So, does the NRA have any political impact? The answer is yes. This interest group gathers information on gun control and other issues important to the members, disseminates the information to the membership, represents its members to elected officials, reports to the membership the behaviors of elected officials, and helps shape public opinion on some issues. Put another way, the NRA is like a political party, but one that cuts across the current two-party alignment.

I’d like to see copies of this passed out on the Hill to all the Democrats, to inform them, and to serve as a very subtle warning; cross us at your own peril.Â Read the whole thing.

Rendell Proposes New Tax. Also, Pope Still Catholic.

Ed Rendell’s energy plan is looking great so far:

Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday proposed a new fee on the sale of electricity in Pennsylvania to help finance an ambitious plan to promote alternative energy sources, increase conservation and blunt expected increases in utility bills.

Yay! New taxes. I always love new taxes. But what will they pay for?

The fund would finance grants to reimburse homeowners and small businesses for half the cost of installing solar panels.

Solar panels are a not a solution to our energy problems, because it takes years for a solar panel to produce as much electricity as went into making it. There are numerous engineering problems with solar energy. This ain’t a solution, Ed.

The largest share of the money would be invested in clean-energy projects that include solar manufacturing, advanced coal technologies and biofuels.

I’m not down with any of this, except for clean coal, because of the practical difficulties. We will not grow our way out of our energy problems. If you do the math, it’s just not going to work. The only reasonable alternatives to petroleum are coal and nuclear power. I might even be OK with Rendell’s plan if it proposed putting more into nuclear power, but that’s really more of a political problem than an engineering one, and one that will likely have to be solved at the federal level.

All in all, it looks like a tax that will transfer money to special interests. No thanks, Ed.

Where Can I Go To Escape the Ninnies?

Seriously, the only thing that depressed me more than the PA Senate getting the smoking ban out of committee is the fact that so many Pennsylvanians don’t seem to care about the private property rights of business owners.

I should note that I’m not, nor have I ever been a smoker, but if I’m a bar or restaurant owner, I get to decide.Â If you don’t like that choice, then go somewhere else.Â Aren’t people kind of getting fed up with the government intruding into so many areas of private concern?Â I am, and I worry for the future that so many people turn to government to enforce their own preferences and tastes on everyone else.Â Take that to it’s limit, and we don’t live in a free society anymore.

Hair Questions Only Please

I don’t know if anyone saw the guys that put up the guerrilla marketing LED devices all over Boston give their press conference, but I would highly recommend it, because it’s a total riot. Click on the “TOP VIDEO” link on that story. If I can find a better video feed, I will post it. Looks like their attorney advised them to say nothing about the case, and they decided to have a bit of fun with the press:

“I feel like my hair is pretty perfect but altogether I want to redirect this to the haircuts of the ’70s,” Berdovsky said, ignoring reporters’ shouts.“I really like the one where the hair curls around to the back,” Stevens replied.

“Oh yeah, that oneâ€™s so hot,” Berdovsky then responded.

Frustrated reporters, trying to get the pair to respond to serious questions about the incident that at one point involved the participation of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, finally tossed a question that gave one of them cause to reflect.

When asked whether they were afraid their hair might be cut if they are sent to prison, Berdovsky stopped his rant and answered, “Whatever happens I feel that my hair is safe at the moment.”

Kudos to them for treating this like the steaming pile of bullshit that it is. The only people at fault here are the authorities for overreacting. People should be pissed at their government, not these two guys. It should be obvious to anyone who doesn’t have severe brain damage (i.e. not Boston and Massachusetts politicians) that these devices were NOT bombs, and were not intended to be threatening:

“It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.The surreal series is about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. The network is a division of Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc.

The 1-foot tall signs, which were lit up at night, resembled a circuit board, with protruding wires and batteries. Most depicted a boxy, cartoon character giving passersby the finger â€” a more obvious sight when darkness fell.

“It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,” Menino said Wednesday. “I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents.”

You’ve got to be kidding me? Mumbles Menino can go to hell and so can the Massachusetts AAG. I don’t think their charges of planting a hoax device will stick, and I really hope they go after these clowns for malicious prosecution. If you live in Massachusetts, and you like it there, I think you need to lay off the crack. At the very least, you need to start electing better people to run your government.

UPDATE: Bruce at mAssBackwards makes a really good point.Â But first instincts, I would think, is that a brightly colored LED display with a cartoon like figure on it is not, in fact, a terrorist explosive device, and maybe out to be checked out, but not create absolute panic.Â Bruce does have a good point, though, and I’ll agree that being cautious and checking out the devices was warranted.Â But I still strongly comdemn the Boston authorities reaction in the aftermath.Â Plus Turner came forward and claimed responsbility for the signs, and they were ignored!Â Then the city went ape shit and starting throwing bogus charges around.

The Making of a Dictator

It’s been interesting to watch what’s been going on in Venezuela. It’s not often we get to see a socialist dictatorship emerge right before our own eyes. Today, Hugo Chavez was given the power to make laws unilaterally, so that he may “impose the dictatorship of a true democracy.” That is, a socialist “democracy”.

Just to give you an example of why I will never be elected president, I don’t see why the proper response to this isn’t to just say nothing, but to frame the noose that Saddam was hung with, and send it to Hugo, with a note attached saying:

Comrade Chavez,

Congratulations on your newfound power. I hope will will take this gift as congratulations, and as a reminder that I really do not like dictators, and those who have decided to cause trouble for us often find their lifespans severly shortened. But seriously, congratulations, destroying five decades of democratic rule in Venezuela is quite an accomplishment. Rest assured that the US stands ready to offer assistance to your country after you destroy its economy, and we’re forced to remove you from power.

Sincerely,

El Diablo

I mean, how could you resist that. Especially when you read stuff like this:

The law also allows Chavez to dictate unspecified measures to transform state institutions; reform banking, tax, insurance and financial regulations; decide on security and defense matters such as gun regulations and military organization; and “adapt” legislation to ensure “the equal distribution of wealth” as part of a new “social and economic model.”

I’ll bet Comrade Chavez is going to be making healthy use of that particular power. Remember folks, you have to disarm people before you can subjugate them. Let’s not help make it happen here too. Oh, but it gets better:

Chavez plans to reorganize regional territories and carry out reforms aimed at bringing “power to the people” through thousands of newly formed Communal Councils designed to give Venezuelans a say on spending an increasing flow of state money on projects in their neighborhoods, from public housing to potholes.

It’s good to see that Chavez has been reading his Lenin. You know what the Russian word for council is? That’s right, Soviet. If the Venezuelans know what’s good for them, they’ll put a bullet in this commie rat’s head before he can do too much damage.

Quote of the Day

From Jerry Shores in Pinellas Park, Florida, in response to the St. Petersburg Times tirade about Florida’s gun licensing system:

Finally, and again using your reported numbers, there are 408,250 law-abiding, concealed carrying Floridians who have the means to defend themselves and their loved ones (and perhaps you and your loved ones as well) from an attack by an armed criminal. Frankly, I’m much more comforted by that thought than I am by the prospect that all I have to answer a criminal’s armed assault is your paper’s righteous indignation.

Zing! Good comeback.

h/t: Dave Hardy

Add John Rafferty to the List

John Rafferty can now be added to the list of people who can officially kiss my ass. Why? This is why:

The new chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, PJ Stapleton, says the LCB has already approved the transfer of a liquor license to one grocery store that offers in-store dining and will now sell beer, and he says several applications are pending.

Buying beer in grocery stores? Now there’s something I can get behind! In states like Iowa, California, and many many others, you can buy a fifth of rye at you corner grocery store, not just beer. I’m happy Mr. Stapleton is moving Pennsylvania in line with most of the other states in the union. But wait:

But that chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, suburban Republican John Rafferty, says heâ€™s concerned about the number of teenagers who work in grocery stores, and for that and other reasons heâ€™s working on legislation that would close what he believes is a loophole in state liquor law.

Thanks John, for looking out after us, and getting this dangerous loophole that allows beer to be sold in supermarkets, which is clearly turning every other state that does it into a giant drunken frat party. It’s all about the children, after all.

And we wonder why young people are leaving Pennsylvania in droves once they get out of college?

Knox Gets a Boost

Tom Knox it seems has come from way behind to take the number two polling spot in the Philadelphia mayoral race. This is good news, because it pushes Nutty Nutter out of the number two spot and replaces him with a slightly more sane candidate. Tom Knox is also cooler because he has a blog. Bob Brady, the City’s top Democrat, has thrown in officially now too, but he’s still polling dead last, behind Fattah, Knox, Nutty, and Evans.

A Good C&R Carry Gun?

Ahab of WWJWD asks an interesting question about C&R carry guns:

After my recent experiment with the Hi-point pistol and the sundry disappointment that followed, I started thinking about â€œwhat if someone carried a C&R?â€ I ruminated on it for a while; and I did have a couple of germane thoughts. A lot of these older guns are military pieces, designed to ridden hard and put up wet. Apart from the abysmal sights on a good percentage of them, you could do a lot worse for a carry gun that packing a Star Model B (or whatever). Again, Iâ€™d say wait a month and buy a used GP100 for $300, but if all youâ€™ve got is a surplus CZ50 (.32 ACP) and you can shoot it, it beats a pointy stick.

Makarovs are pretty good carry guns. I carry a Bulgarian Mak loaded with Corbon Pow’rball ammo in 9x18mm in my front coat pocket, or on a belt holster from time to time, as a backup gun, or in situations where I can’t carry my Glock. Most Maks, including the Bulgarian, aren’t C&R eligible, but Soviet Military Maks are. There are some out there on the market. They cost a bit more, because they are more collectible, but you can get it delivered to your door by the brown truck of happiness, just like anything else on the C&R list. You’ll feel like you just joined the KGB!

Pennsylvania Should Wait

Bruce’s post about Flutiecare in Massachusetts is a big reason why I’m not sanguine about the prospect of Ed Rendell boldly moving Pennsylvania into attempting to outdo all the other states to show how much we care about our citizen’s health care. We need to see how this works out in other states before we try to one up anyone.

I also notice that Rendell’s health plan includes a state-wide public smoking ban. Ed, you can totally kiss my ass. Remember kids, when the government pays for your health care, suddenly your bad health habits become everyone else’s business. No thanks! Call me a wacky libertarian, but government provided health care has always seemed to be to be the short line to the government controlling way too many aspects of life than any reasonable human being should be comfortable with.

I need a refresher course in exactly how it is I need to vote for Democrats because the Republicans are too busy stomping on civil liberties. Maybe it’s just the wacky libertarian talking again, but as far as I’m concerned, both parties seem to be equally good at trying to run my life, and as far as I’m concerned they can both go to hell.