| Maybe Brady Campaign Should Switch To Decaf |
| Friday, February 05, 2010 |
| The hand-wringers at the Brady Campaign must have figured out what the rest of us have known for quite some time. Having been rendered all but entirely irrelevant, at least for the time being, the group is resorting to weird publicity stunts, in a vain attempt to again be taken seriously by its former not-so-secret admirers in the national anti-gun news media.
Last month, the group gave President Obama an “F” for “failed leadership” on gun control, accusing him of “squandering” the opportunity to push for tighter gun control laws. Now it’s attacking Starbucks for allowing people to carry firearms in its stores as provided for by state law. Get this doozie: “It’s everyone’s right to sit in a restaurant or coffee shop with their families without intimidation or fear of guns,” the Brady Campaign says, in its modern rendition of FDR’s famous “freedom from fear” quote. Not surprisingly, while the Brady Campaign easily fabricates a “right” to feel free from fear, it angrily scoffs at the right to self-protection by encouraging its minions to sign a petition demanding that Starbucks establish a gun policy more restrictive than state law. “I demand that Starbucks stand up for the safety of its customers and prohibit guns in your [sic] retail establishments,” the petition reads. A call to Starbucks has confirmed what was pretty obvious on its face. The company is in the business to sell coffee, not jump in the middle of a Brady-generated squabble that state law has already resolved in favor of the right to carry firearms, in certain circumstances. Starbucks also isn’t in business to help Brady get its name in the paper. The Brady Campaign’s resorting to this kind of silliness is understandable. It was once the most influential anti-gun group in town, able to claim some of the “credit” for the temporary imposition of the federal handgun waiting period between 1994 and 1998 and the federal “assault weapon” ban between 1994 and 2004. But in recent years it has experienced the longest losing streak in gun control history. The waiting period has expired in favor of the instant check system. The 1994 gun ban has expired. The number of Right-to-Carry states has continued to rise. The list goes on, at the federal, state and local level. And the group’s core arguments about the Second Amendment were rejected entirely by the Supreme Court in the Heller case. President Obama even signed bills into law which included provisions allowing the carrying of firearms in national parks according to state law, and protecting the sale of surplus military ammunition components to the private sector. And today, the media’s gun control darling is not the Brady Campaign’s leader, former Fort Wayne, Indiana mayor Paul Helmke, who spends his time blogging about gun control on the Huffington Post website, where members on the fringe gather to rant about mainstream America. Today, the leader of the gun control movement is billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who spends his time (and money) as mayor of America’s most influential city. Gun owners who like coffee ought to drop Starbucks a line and respectfully encourage the company to stay above the fray into which anti-gun activists are trying to drag them. Click here to do so. As for the Brady Campaign, let’s hope things continue at the present rate. If they do, before too long we’ll have to explain who the group was, before it was forced to close its doors for lack of interest. |
Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
The Brady Bunch losers verses Starbucks!
February 5, 2010Put a Stake Through the Heart of the Anti-gun ObamaCare Bill!
February 4, 2010
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://gunowners.org
What a difference a day makes!
Before the January 19th election of Republican Scott Brown as United States Senator from Massachusetts, we were being told that ObamaCare would be crammed down our throats whether we liked it or not and that any effort to defeat this monstrosity was hopeless.
After Brown’s election in socialistic Massachusetts sent shock waves through the liberal Democratic establishment, too many pro-gunners had assumed that we had won — and that we could just stop fighting and go home.
But a football team doesn’t leave the field and go home at half time, even if it has a healthy lead.
And Nancy Pelosi hasn’t given up her efforts to socialize America’s health care system and bring your private medical matters under strict government control. Fox News is reporting today that congressional leaders are working on a compromise.
Pelosi herself has said that, if the “gate” to ObamaCare is locked, she will climb over the fence — or pole-vault over the wall — or parachute to a liberal socialist victory.
Pelosi’s only viable strategy is to get a reluctant House to pass the Senate’s bribe-laden, Medicare-cutting, gun-banning bill — but do so in conjunction with a “fix-it” bill which would pass the House at the same time under quickie “reconciliation” procedures.
We still have plenty of parliamentary tricks up our sleeves to try to block this. But the easiest way to bury ObamaCare once and for all is to get just one House member to switch his vote — from supporting ObamaCare last fall to opposing it now.
The President’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, is boasting that they are one vote away from passing it in the House. So if we can switch one vote, we can take the “undead” ObamaCare bill and drive a stake through its heart, cut its head off at a midnight crossroads, shoot it with a silver bullet, put garlic around its neck, and bury it in a lead casket with a crucifix on the top. And, given the damage which ObamaCare would do to America, this is hardly too much overkill.
ACTION: So, we are asking you to write your congressman again. Tell him you want a commitment to oppose the corrupt bribe-laden Senate ObamaCare bill — and to oppose any effort to fix it up.
You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Representative.
—– Pre-written letter —–
Dear Representative:
Nancy Pelosi hasn’t given up her efforts to socialize America’s health care system and bring me and private medical matters under strict government control. She has said that, if the gate to ObamaCare is locked, she will climb over the fence — or pole-vault over the wall — or parachute to a liberal socialist victory.
Pelosi’s only viable strategy is to get the House to pass the Senate’s bribe-laden, Medicare-cutting, gun-banning bill — but do so in conjunction with a “‘”fix-it” bill which would pass the House at the same time.
The Senate would then kill the “fix-it” bill under the arcane “Byrd rule” — but gullible House members would claim that wasn’t their fault.
It is time to bury ObamaCare once and for all. This legislation will allow the ATF to troll a health/gun database in order to take away firearms from tens of millions of Americans. Not only that, the federal bill is jam-packed with billions of dollars of bribes paid to buy the votes of unscrupulous senators and will impose a host of new taxes on me and my family.
So please make the following commitments:
* To vote against the bribe-laden, gun banning Senate ObamaCare bill under any circumstances; and,
* To publicly declare that the corrupt monstrosity is too sleazy to be cleaned up by any fix-it bill.
If you believe the American people are angry now, wait until Nancy Pelosi shoves this down our throats.
Please take this abomination off the table now — once and for all. And, please let me hear from you that you will not vote for ObamaCare.
Sincerely,
David Olofson Still Needs Your Help
David Olofson continues to rot in jail because his AR-15 malfunctioned and the government pulled the wool over the jury’s eyes to get a conviction. David’s wife and three children have had to struggle on without him. GOA members have generously pitched in with monthly or one-time contributions to enable GOA to make the Olofson’s car and mortgage payments. The economy is rough and some regular supporters have had to cut off their contributions. If you could step up to the plate with $10 or $20 a month, or make a one-time contribution to the Olofson Relief Fund, please go to: http://gunowners.org/olofson.htm
Obama Surrendering Internet to Foreign Powers
February 4, 2010By golly! Didn’t Al Gore invent it?
Now for the bad news: In an effort to show the world how inclusive, sharing, cooperative, and international America can be, the Obama administration set off on a plan to surrender control and key management of the Internet by the U.S. Department of Commerce and its agents.
Tenth Amendment Wyoming
February 3, 2010“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
I recently attended a meeting in Sheridan that addressed the growing movement for strengthening the Tenth Amendment in Wyoming. Indeed, this should be boilerplate for any politician at local and state level in each and every state.
The Federal government has abused the states ever since the War of Northern Aggression and, simply put, it needs to be reigned in. From abuse of the “commerce Clause” to Second Amendment issues to drug laws the Federal Government is, and has been as out of control as a drunk teenager. Anytime that anything within the Bill of Rights is weakened,the entire body of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution is weakened.
All to often though our so-called leadership does a roll over and licks the boots of the Federal lairds.
See video Here
We need laws passed, not toothless resolutions.
Stupid is as stupid does Roundup: Man made climate change..?
February 1, 2010Real scientist know that man cannot, and has not caused global climate change. From the global cooling chicken little scare tactics of the seventies to today’s supposed man made global warming these are, and always have been nothing but money making schemes. Is there climate change? Sure, and there always has been, it’s called seasons. Have there been global climate shifts in the past? Of course, and they are pretty well documented by real scientist’s. The various ice ages and so on. Did primitive mankind cause those? But no, the alarmist’s are still pushing to make a buck. Either through increased research funding grants, or through sales of so-called carbon credits.
Hey? All of you faux scientist’s and speculators? What kind of cheese would you like to go along with your whine? Read about it HERE!
Election Preview
January 31, 2010“Turn out the lights, the party’s over” Has the fat lady sang her song? I myself think it’s a bit early to be saying that. Not to mention that between now and “Judgment Day 2010” an awful lot of damage can be done by the neo-communist that are running things at present. Also despite the current thrills being enjoyed by the election of Scott Brown, he is a Massachusetts conservative, as exemplified by his voting record. That puts him somewhere to the left of RINO John McCain…
From the ‘Non Compos Mentis’ File
“You know, I was trying to think about who [Barack Obama] was tonight, and it’s interesting: He is post-racial by all appearances. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.” –MSNBC host Chris “thrill up my leg” Matthews, with a slobbering sycophantic (and genuinely racist) analysis of the SOTU
Election Preview: Democrats
Democrats have experienced a nearly unprecedented reversal of fortune lately, and the bad news just keeps on coming. Arkansas Representative Marion Berry became the sixth Democrat to announce his retirement, and his district is expected to go Republican in November. He told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he urged the White House not to repeat the mistakes of 1994, when congressional Democrats were defeated resoundingly at the polls. He said Obama fired back, “Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was, you’ve got me.”
The arrogance necessary to make that kind of comment suggests that Obama has been tapping the keg of his own Kool-Aid. Given the disastrous results of his efforts on behalf of gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, and on behalf of Ted Kennedy’s senatorial heir apparent in deep-blue Massachusetts, he’s vastly overestimating his marquee value. His much-vaunted health care plan is all but dead, and now House and Senate Democrat leaders will be lucky to keep more members from retiring early. So maybe the “big difference” Obama was referring to is the loss of even more than 54 seats in the House.
Even Vice President Joe Biden’s son Beau has seen the writing on the wall. He announced this week that he would not run for the Senate seat vacated when his father became VP. Beau, who is Delaware’s Attorney General, indicated that he’s just too busy with a controversial child abuse case to focus on a statewide race. Yeah, right. If the Democrats in Massachusetts can’t keep the “Kennedy Senate seat” that they held for half a century, what chance does the vice president’s son have in Delaware? Republican candidate Mike Castle, a popular congressman and former governor, raised almost $2 million in campaign cash and has run virtually unopposed while Biden was still making up his mind about whether to run.
Election Preview: Republicans
The political landscape indeed favors Republicans, which also means tight races at the primary level. The contest for Florida’s Senate seat has turned into a statistical dead heat between Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. The moderate Crist’s comfortable lead has faded away in recent weeks, as he continues to take heat for Florida’s economic difficulties. The state has double-digit unemployment and was the hardest hit by the housing collapse. Crist’s popularity is dropping and Rubio, a solid conservative, is now closing the gap in the polls and in the cash department. Both candidates are comfortably ahead of Democrat Kendrick Meek.
In Arizona, erstwhile presidential candidate John McCain is facing a challenge for his Senate seat. Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth announced his candidacy, claiming he was motivated to take on McCain because the latter was an “enabler” of Obama’s fiscal policies. McCain certainly is not as conservative as he or the Leftmedia fancy. To name but a few examples, he co-sponsored the McCain-Feingold campaign finance debacle that the Supreme Court partly struck down last week; the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy Patient’s Bill of Rights imposing a new set of onerous mandates on the insurance industry; the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship cap-and-trade bill; and the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty and Open Borders Act legalizing dozens of millions of illegal aliens. And that’s not to mention his opposition to the Bush tax cuts; his vicious attacks and vendettas against South Carolina Christians in the 2000 presidential primary, as well as the Swift Boat Veterans and Club for Growth; and his vote (one of six Republicans) against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Of course, Hayworth’s voting record in Congress is nothing worth bragging about, either. He voted for the hefty farm and highway spending bills and also had a penchant for earmarks before he was ousted in 2006. Barry Goldwater, call your office.
Justice Alito Was Right: Well duh?
January 31, 2010Epic fail obama really stepped into it at the SOTU. Once again attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people…
Despite claims made by the president, last week’s Supreme Court opinion on campaign finance specifically excludes foreign nationals and foreign-owned corporations from its ruling.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling last week on the campaign finance that is still being discussed all over the country. In fact, it was even mentioned by President Obama at Wednesday night’s State of the Union address. The high court invalidated its own 20-year-old ruling — which had upheld a one hundred-year-old statute on group political contributions — and it also invalidated a portion of the McCain-Feingold Campaign finance law.
The 20-year-old ruling had forbidden any political spending by groups such as corporations, labor unions, and advocacy organizations (like the NRA and Planned Parenthood, for example). Ruling that all persons, individually and in groups, have the same unfettered free speech rights, the court blasted Congress for suppression of that speech. In effect, the court asked, “What part of ‘Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech’ does Congress not understand?” Thus, all groups of two or more persons are free to spend their own money on any political campaigns and to mention the names of the candidates in their materials.
PUEBLO ‘EAGLE DAYS’ FEB 6-7
January 31, 2010PUEBLO, Colo. – The 2010 Pueblo “Eagle Days Festival” is slated for Feb. 6-7 at Lake Pueblo State Park and Wildlife Area. Activities include live bird demonstrations, bird watching classes, wildlife viewing stations, and performances by the United States Air Force Academy falcons and the Koshare Indian Dancers.
“Eagle Day is a great opportunity for the whole family to get out of the house and enjoy nature,” said John Koshak of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “There will be outdoor activities and demonstrations, as well as indoor exhibits and seminars.”
Indoor events take place Saturday at the State Parks Headquarters Building. Wildlife viewing tours and viewing stations complete with spotting scopes will be set up on the north side of the reservoir.
There are more eagles around Lake Pueblo in the winter than any other time of the year. The eagles concentrate along the open waters of the Arkansas River Valley because snow and ice has covered the lakes and reservoirs to the north.
This year, due to the growing popularity of Eagle Days, a second day of outdoor activities has been added on Sun., Feb. 7, including a guided wildlife viewing tour on the Pueblo State Wildlife Area. Koshak said participants for Sunday’s tour should meet at the entrance to the north side of the Pueblo State Wildlife Area at 9 a.m. (The State Wildlife Area north entrance is located off Nichols Road in Pueblo West.) Koshak advises to dress appropriately for the weather; and to bring binoculars, spotting scopes, and cameras.
At 11 a.m. on Sun., staff from the Greenway Nature Center and Raptor Center will host a “bird walk” along the Arkansas River followed by an “Open House” with live bird viewing from noon until 3 p.m.
Pueblo Eagle Days co-sponsors are the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society, Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo Zoo, Greenway Nature Center of Pueblo, the Pueblo Raptor Center, Black Hills Energy, the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, Coyote’s Coffee Den, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
THE POPULARITY OF EAGLES
Eagles rank number one on the list of animals that Americans say they want to see in the wild, and Colorado in the winter offers prime viewing opportunities for both bald eagles and golden eagles.
The bald eagle – so named because of its white head – lives only in North America, and it is the second largest bird of prey of the continent. Only the California condor is larger.
Up to 1,200 bald eagles spend the winter in Colorado. They are attracted by relatively mild winters. Bald eagles tend to stay near open water where they can find fish, which is why they gather near large reservoirs along the Arkansas River drainage in the winter. The bald eagle prefers to nest in large trees near water with little human activity.
Most of the bald eagles leave Colorado in late February or March, heading north to nesting grounds in the northern U.S., Canada, and Alaska. A few bald eagles remain year-round.
Adult bald eagles have a wingspan of up to eight feet and may weigh as much as 12 pounds. They have large brown bodies, yellow beaks and white heads and tails. They fly with deep strokes and soar on flattened wings. Because immature bald eagles lack the distinctive white markings, they are frequently confused with golden eagles until they reach the age of maturity.
Golden eagles prefer rugged cliffs with adjacent open fields where they feed on a variety of birds, reptiles, and small mammals. Rabbits and prairie dogs make up a large portion of their diet.
Unlike bald eagles, it is more common to find a golden eagle nest in Colorado. There are between 600 and 900 active golden eagle nest sites. Colorado’s golden eagles tend to migrate to the northwest during the spring and return to the eastern plains in the winter. Some golden eagles remain in southern Colorado year-round.
For more information and a detailed schedule of events and times, please visit the Eagle Days Festival Web site at www.eagleday.org or call John Koshak in Colorado Springs at (719) 227-5221 or the Pueblo DOW office at (719) 561-5300.
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For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.
Gun Laws and Colorado plus Rampart Range
January 31, 2010COLORADO: Pro-Gun Bills Await Action in Denver
Two crucial pieces of legislation are currently waiting to be heard in the Colorado State Legislature. Emergency Powers legislation (SB 51)is currently awaiting action in the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee. This bill would remove the Governor’s ability to “suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation” of firearms during a declared state of emergency. Currently scheduled for a hearing is HB 1094, which guarantee your right to self-defense in the workplace. It is important that you contact the members of the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee and urge them to protect the rights of lawful gun owners during states of emergency by setting a hearing date for Senate Bill 51. Also, please contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee and respectfully urge them to support HB 1094. Contact information for both committees can be found here.
Governor Bill Ritter Pushing Unconstitutional Gun Tax!
On Thursday, January 21, Governor Bill Ritter’s (D) unconstitutional gun tax proposal hit a roadblock when members of the Joint Budget Committee openly stated that they would not support it. Representative Kent Lambert (R-14) and Senator Al White (R-8) objected to imposing the proposed fee on the constitutional rights of Coloradans, likening it to a poll tax.
The proposal would charge gun buyers a $10.50 fee to pay for state-mandated background checks. The Colorado Joint Budget Committee (JBC) typically submits a budget bill with consensus among its members, but it’s unlikely the “gun tax” will win such favor in the JBC. This would strike a major blow to the onerous proposal. The state background checks, conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, were mandated in 1998. At the time, lawmakers assured gun owners that the state would fund these checks because the National Instant Background Check System is free. At this time, the proposal for the state budget bill is still under consideration and has yet to be introduced in the Colorado State Legislature.
Governor Ritter’s proposal is a blatant attack on our Second Amendment rights and NRA-ILA will continue to monitor state budget debates to ensure this proposal doesn’t advance. Please be sure to check your e-mail and www.nraila.org for future updates.
Colorado State University Seeking to Outlaw Concealed Carry on Campus
On Wednesday, January 20, Colorado State University (CSU) formally announced a draft proposal to prohibit firearms on all CSU campuses. Exempt from the ban would be firearms used by law enforcement and military personnel and by the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. This draft policy will be brought up for consideration at the CSU Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday, February 23. A copy of the draft can be found at www.safety.colostate.edu/files/weapons_policy_draft_01_15_10.pdf. It is important that Colorado’s NRA members tell CSU’s President that the policy must uphold Colorado law and allow permit holders to carry concealed handguns for self-defense. Please contact President Tony Frank TODAY by phone at 970-491-6211 or e-mail presofc@colostate.edu and respectfully urge him to comply with Colorado law.
Support Needed to Re-Open Rampart Shooting Range!
Following an accidental shooting last July, the Forest Service closed the very popular and heavily used Rampart Shooting Range on the Pike National Forest. In its nearly 20 year history, Rampart had never before experienced a shooting-related injury or fatality. Rampart is the only free public range in El Paso County and receives 40,000 visitors a year. The Service called the closure a “time-out” in order to assess whether the design of the range was a factor. An investigation determined that the range was not a factor in the accident. Safety experts have said that the accident could have happened at any range. But after it closed Rampart, the Forest Service devised a scheme to keep the range closed permanently.
The Forest Service has listed requirements that must be met before it will reopen Rampart. There is no timetable for meeting these requirements and likely no money to cover costs. The most significant issue is the requirement of full time supervision. Most ranges on federal lands operate without supervision and this requirement could place all such ranges in jeopardy. Rampart Range is in need of improvements which were identified more than two years ago. Such improvements can be addressed and implemented with the range reopened. The Forest Service has said that it could take up to five years before Rampart is reopened, but there is no guarantee that it would reopen Rampart in that timeframe or at any time in the future.
NRA has been working to get Rampart Range reopened since the day it was closed, but we need the help of Colorado hunters and shooters to show the Forest Service and your elected officials that the federal government cannot continue to close public lands to recreational shooting, and certainly not without replacing those areas lost with other areas of the same or great value. Rampart Shooting Range is an important resource for the shooting community along the Front Range. There is no incentive for the Forest Service to reopen Rampart unless the shooting sports community demands it!
Shooting ranges on public lands are few and far between in Colorado. In addition to the closure of Rampart, the Forest Service has closed its lands to recreational shooting near Boulder and on the Pawnee Grasslands, and large acreage closures have occurred west of Sedalia. The Forest Service is not planning for recreational shooting. Closures are imposed without opening new areas and needed improvements to existing areas, including the Rampart Shooting Range, have not been made. Recreational shooting is not being treated by the Forest Service in Colorado as a legitimate and valued recreational activity on forest lands.
Please send an e-mail in support of the immediate reopening of Rampart to:
Tom Tidwell, Chief of the Forest Service, at ttidwell@fs.fed.us, and copy your letter to:
Senator Mark Udall at senator_mark_udall@markudall.senate.gov,
Senator Michael Bennet at http://bennet.senate.gov/contact/,
Congressman Doug Lamborn at CO05ima@mail.house.gov, and
Governor Bill Ritter by clicking here.
Please stress that keeping the range closed is not supportable by the investigative report; that the closure has robbed the shooting community of a valuable resource; and that needed improvements to the range can be planned and implemented without closure.
Epic Fail obama throws a temper tantrum
January 30, 2010The impostor in chief acted like a two year old when he showed up at a GOP retreat. Just what we need in a POTUS right?
WASHINGTON – President Obama dove headfirst into the belly of the GOP beast Friday – and left the not-so-loyal opposition bleeding on a Baltimore ballroom floor.
He skewered Republicans for obstructionist tactics, dubious facts and a lack of civility in opposing his domestic agenda, especially health care reform.
- Health care is for us to decide about not you, or any of your czars!
- Cap and trade is nothing but a money making scheme that will cripple our economy even further.
- Man made climate change is a farce. Call it what it is and get on with business…
- Your closet attempts at gun control will only lead to a full blown revolution. Molan Labe!
- The American people are against illegal immigration as well as any sort of amnesty for those that broke our laws. Figure it out bright boy!
- Taking over private business’s should be done through our quasi free market system, not by politicians.
- We really are in a war on terrorism, and as of late most terrorist’s are muslims. Admit it, and do your job as CIC.
- Americans do not bow to foreign leaders, ever!
- The stealth approach to gun control via the U.N. isn’t so stealthy, read above.
- You hired a pervert to be “safe schools czar?”
- The economy will not be helped by more Keynesian socialism. Stop spending our grandchildren’s heritage.
- Lastly, stop blaming Bush, it’s your agenda now.
No Mister obama, it’s not the Republicans. It is the American People that are against you, your programs, and the thugs that you have working on your team…
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 