Archive for December, 2009

First, there was Sonia Sotomayor

December 9, 2009

Senate Set to Vote on Another Anti-gun Judge

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102,
Springfield, VA 22151
703-321-8585
http://www.gunowners.org

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Here we go again.

First, there was Sonia Sotomayor.  Then there was David Hamilton.

Now, we have another radical, anti-gun judge that has been nominated for the federal judiciary.  His name is Louis Butler, and he is so radical, he was twice rejected by the people of Wisconsin (which is, by the way, one of the most liberal states in our union).

When Louis Butler first ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court — the voters rejected him by a 2-1 margin.  When he was appointed to that court by Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and then stood for retention by the voters, they again rejected him. This was the first time a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was rejected by the voters in more than 40 years.

More importantly, Louis Butler opposes the rights of gun owners. The right to bear arms in the Wisconsin Constitution expressly notes that this right is for personal security and “any other lawful purpose.”  But in State v. Fischer, Judge Butler was the deciding vote in 2006 to hold that a Wisconsin statute barring carrying a concealed weapon for any purpose, at any time, including in a vehicle, does not violate this right to personal security that the voters of Wisconsin chose to expressly protect in their state constitution.

So he ignored the state constitution in order to impose his anti-gun views on the people of Wisconsin.

After the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Heller case upholding Second Amendment gun rights in 2008, Louis Butler spoke at an Obama for President fundraiser and specifically mentioned “gun control” as an issue that potential Obama appointees would impact.

“Gun control,” Butler said, “may ultimately be decided, and the new appointees can tip the very balance of the court.  [The] background, personal beliefs and policy decisions of the justices selected will influence how they will vote on the difficult cases before them.”

There you have it.  He is a radical activist who wants to move the courts — and our country — in a new direction.  We’ve already had enough “hope and change” for a lifetime.  We don’t need another federal judge who will use his radical “personal beliefs” to reshape our society.

ACTION:  Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to OPPOSE the nomination of Judge Louis Butler as U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin.  Butler was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, and could now be voted on by the full Senate at any time.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

Please OPPOSE the nomination of Louis Butler as U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin.

When Louis Butler first ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court — the voters rejected him by a 2-1 margin.  When he was appointed to that court by Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and then stood for retention by the voters, they again rejected him. This was the first time a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was rejected by the voters in more than 40 years.

More importantly, Louis Butler opposes the rights of gun owners.  In State v. Fischer, Judge Butler expressly ignored the right to bear arms provision in the Wisconsin Constitution.  And after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Heller case upholding Second Amendment gun rights in 2008, Louis Butler spoke at an Obama for President fundraiser and specifically mentioned “gun control” as an issue that potential Obama appointees would impact.

“Gun control,” Butler said, “may ultimately be decided, and the new appointees can tip the very balance of the court.  [The] background, personal beliefs and policy decisions of the justices selected will influence how they will vote on the difficult cases before them.”

Again, I urge you to OPPOSE this nomination.  Gun Owners of America will be scoring this nomination and will let me know how you vote on this radical judge.

Sincerely,

Marine Corps Christmas: Poetry in motion

December 8, 2009

Tradition. That spells it out. My good friend and internet buddy Texas Fred found an update of something that has been said many times before. Something that a Marine writes.

Yes, Army Infantrymen write the same sorts of things too.

But ? Well, the Marines have this one cornered. Plus, I am admittedly somewhat prejudiced. I am, after all? A Marine Corps Brat!

To be sure; this could have been written by any young Soldier, Sailor, or Airman. But? A Marine did it!
Enjoy!

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “It’s really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”

“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”

“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

Stolen from TexasFred!

Day of infamy December Seventh

December 7, 2009

Today is the anniversary of the “Day of Infamy.” I’m no big fan of Roosevelt, and what he did to this nation. But, he did in fact lead this country through it’s darkest time since the War of Northern Aggression.

The attack on Pearl Harbor began what so far has been the greatest conflagration in mankind’s known history, and spawned what has become known as America’s Greatest generation.

I would ask that all people take a minute of silence, and remember these people that gave so much so that you and I can live in a free world.

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble…

December 6, 2009

The impostor in chief, narcissist extraordinaire, seems to be having a falling out with his leftest support machine.

Listen about it here.

So, after tossing so many of his close admirers under the bus perhaps he is getting tossed?

Bloomberg And Lautenberg : What a pair of losers

December 5, 2009

The treasonous master minions of the fight against liberty and freedom are back at it.

Two Against Two: Bloomberg And Lautenberg
Pair Up To Violate The Second And Fourteenth Amendments
Friday, December 04, 2009
Is your name the same as, or similar to, that of someone on the FBI’s “terrorist watchlist?”  Or, have you been erroneously placed on the watchlist?  You can’t find out because the FBI won’t say exactly why people get watchlisted, won’t say who has been watchlisted, and therefore doesn’t offer watchlisted people the chance to clear their names immediately.  In fact, small children, federal air marshals, military personnel who have fought terrorists overseas, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, members of Congress, and many other good Americans have even been stopped from boarding commercial aircraft for this reason.  The government has reported that there were 700,000 names in the watchlist as of April 2007, and the ACLU estimates that the number has since risen to 1.3 million.

Obviously, these people are not all terrorists.  However, politicians who hate the Second Amendment know that some of the good Americans who are erroneously on the list, or who get incorrectly flagged by the list, are gun owners.  And, because the FBI won’t reveal its watchlisting criteria, those politicians think that more gun owners can be placed on the list over time, by like-minded bureaucrats making arbitrary determinations about who ought to have guns.

One such politician is Michael Bloomberg, whose hobbies include being mayor of New York City and raising intellectually deficient complaints about gun laws.  Never one to concern himself with the facts when there is a chance to get his name in the paper, Bloomberg recently claimed that the recent murders on Ft. Hood would have been prevented if the FBI hadn’t been required to erase NICS-approved gun purchase records after 24 hours.

Mischaracterizing events related to the Ft. Hood murders for political reasons shows disrespect to the lives that were lost there and is crass to the extreme.  That said, the reason that the FBI didn’t know about the Ft. Hood suspect’s gun purchase is not that his NICS record was erased after 24 hours.  Rather, it’s that he wasn’t on the watchlist in the first place, as NICS checks the list and alerts the FBI if a listed person tries to buy a gun.

Another such politician is Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), author of legislation Bloomberg supports (S. 1317, H.R. 2159 in the House), which would allow the Attorney General to stop watchlisted people from buying guns through NICS.  It would also prevent those people from contesting their rejections in a full and open hearing in court. Obviously, that scheme would violate not only the Second Amendment, but also the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against deprivation of liberty without due process of law.

This week Lautenberg introduced a separate bill (S. 2820), calling for NICS firearm transaction records to be retained for 10 years on a person suspected of being a member of a terrorist organization. That, however, is a smokescreen for another provision in the same bill, to retain NICS records of approved firearm transfers for 180 days for other gun buyers.

While Lautenberg introduced S. 2820 in the wake of Ft. Hood (with terrorism fresh on Americans’ minds), gun control supporters have wanted NICS records retained for longer than 24 hours since NICS’ inception.  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the Lautenberg bill, argued in favor of a 180-day retention back in 2001.  After all, the Brady Act, as passed by Congress, required that NICS “destroy” the records of approved firearm purchases.

Along with the Lautenberg bills described above, gun control supporters are concurrently campaigning for a law to force all private gun sales to be run through NICS.  Connecting the dots is a simple task. The goal shared by gun control supporters and by government entities for whom no amount of knowledge about American citizens is too much, is to incrementally increase the amount of information the government possesses on gun owners who, through no fault of their own, end up on a secret government list.

Please call your U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose S. 1317 and S. 2820.  You can call your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121.

SOURCE

RMGO Newsletter

December 5, 2009

CSU to ban self defense, Denver CCW Class Dec. 14th and Ft. Collins Jan. 11

Colorado State has been rattling it’s empty saber scabbard for years about a “No Firearms Policy”, but this week the (bad) idea reached a fevered pitch.

After the CSU Faculty Council (read: Liberal, freedom-hating professors) recommended to CSU President Tony Frank to ban firearms on campus, the student government quickly stood on the side of freedom and asked Frank to leave the policy as it is (i.e. permit holders, including students, can carry).

Then, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, himself first elected as sheriff solely due to the concealed carry issue (the previous RINO sheriff had refused to issue permits), publicly told CSU that his office (which controls the only jail in the county) would not enforce any ban on permit holders, wouldn’t participate in detaining any valid permit holders, and his jail would not hold them.  He also added that he didn’t think CSU had the legal authority to enforce a ban that is contrary to state law.

And, despite a barrage of letters and calls from State Legislators, citizens and CSU Alumni, the CSU Board of Governors today recommended to President Frank (who makes the final decision) to ban all firearms on campus.

Understand that there are a few different issues here:

1. Banning faculty and students, via employment contracts and student code of conduct contracts, is an end-run around the state policy, and may or may not be legal.

2. Banning all firearms on campus, even with a permit, is a much longer step.  And clearly, this is not legal, as Colorado law doesn’t allow that, and even a liberal judge (the Meyers decision in 2004) ruled that Denver couldn’t make it’s own concealed carry rules, despite being a “home rule” city.  How, then, could a taxpayer-funded public university?

Colorado University’s Board of Regents voted many years ago to make their campuses “gun free”, but CU’s Regents are constitutionally created, and elected.  CSU has nothing of the sort.  So unelected bureaucrats are making policy in direct and flagrant opposition to Colorado law.

Did the Colorado legislature, in 2003’s SB24, intend to have permit holders walk on campus armed?

As the only professional pro-gun lobbyist to endure the 9-year battle for “Shall Issue” concealed carry in Colorado, RMGO Executive Director Dudley Brown made it clear that this issue was addressed, routinely.

“This issue was addressed routinely, and though the NRA tried many times to include campus-carry bans, the legislature rejected it,” said Brown, a gun lobbyist for the last 16 years.  “The final bill, passed in 2003, explicitly allowed permit holders to carry on campus, but apparently some bureaucrats believe their students should be defenseless.”

“Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, and every gun free zone sends one message: it’s a Criminal Safezone, where citizens are defenseless,” Brown said.  “We’ll fight this ban in court, as it is clear that liberal academia isn’t going to stand for freedom.”

RMGO pushed CSU to recognize the right to carry in 2001, and has been on the leading edge of the issue ever since.


Concealed Carry Class to be held in Denver (Englewood, actually) on Dec. 14th, and Ft. Collins on Jan. 11th

Click on the registration link below to get signed up for these classes, but hurry; space is limited, and they fill up fast.

Class Date Location Registration
December 14th, 2009 Englewood Inverness Hotel Register Here
January 11th, 2010 Fort Collins LaQuinta Inn Register Here

Click here for a full description of these classes.

E-mail us at RMGO.org

Profiles of Valor: Col. Van Barfoot

December 5, 2009

Yet another example of an HOA gone power mad…

This is not the usual profile of valor. This is the story of a highly decorated 90-year-old World War II and Vietnam vet fighting his homeowner’s association to keep his flagpole. Col. Van Barfoot has been awarded more than 20 medals, including three Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Medal of Honor, and is thought to be the most decorated living combat veteran.

Barfoot recently placed a flagpole and U.S. flag outside his home near Richmond, Virginia. The homeowner’s association guidelines don’t expressly forbid flagpoles but say they must be “aesthetically appropriate.” Apparently, that means only short poles on porches. The association issued a statement saying, “This is not about the American flag. This is about a flagpole… We are a neighborhood of patriotic Americans, many of whom have served our country in the military as Col. Barfoot has done…” They might try serving it again by dropping this outrageous request.

Barfoot’s story is also quite a contrast with that of our current commander in chief, who, while at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, refused to be photographed with the F-22 that he fought so hard to cancel.

SOURCE

Health Care Hoops: more on obamacare

December 5, 2009

I found this while snooping around Patriot Post (see blog roll) and thought that is was just too good to not post! Enjoy!

NO MORE UNANIOMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS: obamacare

December 5, 2009

Contact your Senators now if you haven’t already!

Anti-gun ObamaCare at a Crossroads:
Passage or defeat will depend on whether Senate Republicans pursue a smart or stupid strategy

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
703-321-8585
www.gunowners.org

Friday, December 4, 2009

The spectacle on the Senate floor — in connection with the anti-gun ObamaCare bill — is disgusting.  The Senate is debating socialized health care right now, and some Republicans may be ready to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

This alert is long, but it is necessarily so.  Here’s the situation as it stands right now on the Senate floor:

* Harry Reid is pushing a $3 trillion bill with over $500 billion in new deficits.  But he is trying to conceal the deficits with accounting fraud on a scale which would put anyone else in prison for the rest of his life.

* Reid’s bill would restructure the American economy in a way that has not been seen at any time during our lifetimes — but is being shoved down the throats of the American people before they can even comprehend the magnitude of the problem.

* Harry Reid took six weeks to write his legislation behind closed doors, but is trying to force the Senate to pass the bill in no time at all.  FYI, the Constitution envisions an important role for the U.S. Senate in crafting legislation, but nowhere mentions Reid’s “secret” meetings to coerce and bribe senators.

“Okay, okay” you say.  The fact that Harry Reid comes across as a lying politician is not news.  But there is another problem: Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has adopted a losing strategy that will, unfortunately, help speed up the passage of Harry Reid’s anti-gun health care bill.

The Senate can do little without every senator agreeing to do it — or at least not objecting to its being done.  Hence, you hear about “unanimous consent requests.”  This means that every senator agrees to considering a particular amendment or, at least, to voting on it at a particular time.

The thing about these requests is this:  They almost always make it easier for the bill to pass.

Hence, we are at the point where WE SHOULD STOP ALL UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS TO FURTHER REID’S HEALTH CARE FREIGHT TRAIN.  And a single senator can do this by simply saying:  “I object.”

But instead, Mitch McConnell has already started allowing amendments to be offered which will let the Senate Democrats “clean up” the bill … just enough to get it passed by the Senate.

We need to stop this sort of deal making.  We need to stop these requests which grease the skids for Harry Reid’s freight train.

And, in particular, we don’t want to clean up this diabolical monstrosity.  We want to kill it.

So our message?  Kill the bill.  Kill the bill.  Kill the bill.

AND NO MORE UNANIOMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS TO FACILITATE THAT BILL’S PASSAGE.

We don’t want Mitch McConnell to try to make himself look good by pretending to be a “non-obstructionist.”  We want Senate Republicans to move heaven and earth to protect Americans from Harry Reid’s scheme of bribery, fraud and dirty politics.

ACTION: Contact your two U.S. Senators.  Tell them to object to any further Unanimous Consent agreements to further the ObamaCare freight train.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Senators — the appropriate e-mail will automatically be sent to your Senator, based on whether he is a Republican or Democrat.

—– Pre-written letter for Republican Senators —–

Dear Senator:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to Unanimous Consent agreements which allow for amendments to be offered to ObamaCare — a strategy that will, unfortunately, have the effect of providing Democrats just enough votes to “clean up” this anti-gun bill and get it passed.

We need to stop this sort of request which helps grease the skids for Harry Reid’s freight train.

And, in particular, I don’t want to see this diabolical monstrosity cleaned up in a way that makes the bill just “good enough” to get 60 votes.  This bill would restructure the American economy in a way that has not been seen at any time during our lifetime.  I want to see this bill killed outright.

So my message?  Kill the bill.  Kill the bill.  Kill the bill.  NO MORE UNANIOMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS TO FACILITATE THAT BILL’S PASSAGE.

I don’t want Mitch McConnell to try to make Republicans look good by pretending to be “non-obstructionist.”  I want Senate Republicans to move heaven and earth to protect Americans from Harry Reid’s socialist scheme.

Sincerely,

—– Pre-written letter for Democrat Senators —–

Dear Senator:

The spectacle on the Senate floor — in connection with ObamaCare — is disgusting:

* Harry Reid is pushing a $3 trillion bill with over $500 billion in new deficits.  But he is trying to conceal the deficits with accounting fraud on a scale which would put anyone else in prison for the rest of his life.

* Reid’s bill would restructure the American economy in a way that has not been seen at any time during our lifetimes — but is being shoved down the throats of the American people before they can even comprehend the magnitude of the problem.

* Harry Reid took six weeks to write his legislation behind closed doors, but is trying to force the Senate to pass the bill in no time at all.  FYI, the Constitution envisions an important role for the U.S. Senate in crafting legislation, but nowhere mentions Reid’s “secret” meetings to coerce and bribe senators.

Please oppose this diabolical monstrosity.

Sincerely,

Student leaders urge CSU president to keep concealed-carry policy on campus

December 4, 2009

Seems that the students agree with Senator Brophy on this one. They have no interest in becoming another Columbine via having a Free Fire Zone for a campus.

Student leaders at Colorado State University voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night in favor of a resolution asking school president Tony Frank to continue to allow people with concealed-weapon permits to go armed on campus.

“I feel students have a right to have a measure of self-defense on campus,” said sophomore Cooper Anderson, a student senator representing the College of Agriculture Sciences and a co-author of the resolution.

“It’s a fact that crime doesn’t stop at the university’s doorstep.”

He added the change departs from state law and university policy.

~snip~

Full Story