Archive for the ‘Men’s Issues’ Category

“SB-2099” e-mail a hoax

June 1, 2009

From Rocky Mountain Gun Owners:

“SB-2099” e-mail a hoax, but illustrates why you should be a member of a trusted pro-gun group

You may have received an e-mail about a bill in the U.S. Senate known as “SB-2099”.

There are a great number of indicators in this e-mail that prove the sender is not to be trusted.

“This bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it is voted into law.”  Baloney.  I don’t trust the scumbuckets in Washington, D.C. either.  But a bill can’t become law without “public knowledge” or without a vote.

If this were possible, is there any doubt the anti-gun liberals would use it to immediately enact their gun control fantasies?  The only thing stopping them is… well, frankly, you, and your outrage.

Another thing that tells you this isn’t accurate is that the US Senate doesn’t legislation as “SB 2099” or “SB-2099”.  It would be “S. 2099”.

The third glaring indication that it isn’t real is that when you do a search of “S. 2099” or even “2099” from the US Senate website, it returns nothing.

I’m a former US Senate employee (Sen. Bill Armstrong’s staff), and still have a lot of contacts on the Hill.  So I’ve got a good handle on federal legislation — we track federal legislation here:

http://www.nationalgunrights.org/billwatch.shtml

As you can see, no “2099” exists in the current Congress.

The one thing they did get right is that 2099 was, at one time, a bill in the U.S. Senate… in 2000.  And yes, it was a gun control disaster.  It didn’t get anywhere, but 9 years later its not still alive.

However, this illustrates why we exist: There’s a lot of misinformation out there — especially on the internet — and gun owners need someone they trust take the time to decipher it.  They want to know what’s happening without being scammed, so they become members of groups they trust.

If you are sent this e-mail, forward our above reply, with a note from you to the sender and all the recipients:

“I asked a gun lobbyist I trust about the legislation you referenced, “SB-2099”.  And, as you can see from this 15-year veteran of the wars to save our freedoms, the referenced legislation isn’t as advertised.

There are plenty of real threats to our right to keep and bear arms.  Let’s put our energy into fighting them, not ghosts.

That’s why I’m a member of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners: I trust them to know what’s happening and alert me when my help is needed.

If you live in Colorado, you need to be a member.  There is no other group in Colorado who truly defends our rights without compromise.

Click here to join RMGO

Click here if you’d like to receive more information about RMGO in the mail

Click here to read more about RMGO

If you don’t live in Colorado, you can always join the National Association for Gun Rights, which is led by the same staff.

Click here to join NAGR

This is a great way to turn a wild goose chase into an actual positive for freedom.

Sotomayor for the Supreme Court

May 27, 2009

I’ve been holding off a bit with regards to the nomination of Judge Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. As noted in a previous entry I favored Ken Salazar for the position. Nevertheless, I feel that a few things need to be addressed with her selection.

Certainly everything that noted barrister David Kopel in his short assessment, found HERE should be looked over closely. As should the many concerns and comments there as well as over at my good friend TexasFreds.

In various places around the Internet I saw references to “reverse racism.” That, in and of itself is “bass ackwards” to quote an old Marine that I knew when I was growing up. Racism is racism. End of discussion. Same thing with sexism. Ms Sotomayor appears, at least from her history as reported too widely to cite, to have more than a bit of racist and sexist in her. I’d hoped that we as a nation had grown beyond all that sort of thing. Yet, in the last election cycle we were inundated with being told that it was not about race at all, but “change.” Then no sooner than the ballots were counted all that could be heard was how the United States had elected it’s first “Black President.” So much for a nation outgrowing it’s past like an adolescent outgrowing poor social skills. Not to mention that the man is half white, and half Arab… I suppose some things never do really change.

Also, having read the quotations from the Kopel piece I have to seriously wonder about the woman’s grasp of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Yes, I read her bio, and what came immediately into my mind were the words of a Professor Emeritus said to me many years ago. I shall repeat them here; “Never, young man, confuse education with intelligence.”

I shall leave me readers with that tiny bit of wisdom that I was blessed to be able to learn in years gone by.

Profiles in Valor: 10th Special Forces (ABN)

May 24, 2009

Based out of Colorado Springs the Tenth Special Forces Group displays Valor and courage. It is said that Navy Seals leave craters but that when it comes the the Special Forces, you never knew they were there. Well, that is not always the case. Read on …

On 10 September 2007, a team of three Army Green Berets led by Capt. Matthew A. Chaney, along with nine Iraqi police, began an assault from two helicopters near Samarra, Iraq. The team was targeting Abu Obaeideah, a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq in the area. The field designated for landing was covered with water, so the helicopters had to land closer to the insurgents’ safe house, where they came under heavy enemy fire.

Practically blinded by dust from the second helicopter, the Iraqis were all but taken out of the fight from the start, so Chaney, Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Lindsay and Staff Sgt. Jarion Halbisengibbs led a charge against the building where the hostile fire was originating. Halbisengibbs threw in a fragmentation grenade, killing two, and the soldiers rushed in. Lindsay was hit in the throat by an AK-47 round, and Chaney took a hit to the pelvis. Then both were thrown from the doorway by a grenade blast. Lindsay, who couldn’t raise his rifle, fired at the enemy with his pistol. Chaney couldn’t feel his legs, but he kept firing, killing a jihadi. Halbisengibbs “continued to clear the structure in complete darkness as his night vision goggles and personal radio were all destroyed by enemy gunfire at point blank range,” the official narrative read. He was shot in the thumb and knocked down by a grenade blast but continued fighting, killing another terrorist. As he moved back to the courtyard to protect his wounded comrades, Halbisengibbs was shot through the abdomen but managed to kill another jihadi on his way to the ground. He then directed the Iraqi police to finish the fight. Obaeideah was killed, along with 12 other insurgents, six by Halbisengibbs.

All three Green Berets have recovered from their injuries. Chaney and Lindsay were each awarded the Silver Star; Halbisengibbs received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second highest combat medal.

Be “Bear Aware”

May 24, 2009

While this will apply mostly to Colorado the information is both timely and appropriate all across America, if not the world. Keeping yourself, family, and loved ones safe starts with you, it is your responsibility, not the governments. They all act “after the fact,” and you “the people” voted in measures that have resulted in little or no fear of humans by dangerous wildlife species.

BE ‘BEAR AWARE’ WHEN CAMPING


WESTCLIFFE, Colo. – Memorial Day Weekend marks the traditional start to the camping season, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife reminds campers to be “bear aware” when enjoying the outdoors.  Campers should keep their campsites clean to avoid attracting bears, or other wildlife.

Bears go into campgrounds because food is often available around tents, camp trailers, and dumpsters.  The potential for conflicts increases when food brings bears and humans come into close contact.

“Bears are built to eat and their sense of smell is incredible,” explained Justin Krall, a district wildlife manager in the Westcliffe area. “They can smell food from miles away and they’ll travel to find it.”

In a natural setting, bears would just as soon avoid people, but bears that learn to associate humans with food begin to lose their natural fear of people.  “Food Conditioned” bears are the most dangerous kind.  They usually end up being euthanized.

“It is unfortunate, but bears get into trouble because humans leave food around,” Krall said.

“Bears are not naturally aggressive toward humans, they are actually very shy creatures,” Krall said. “However, bears are on a mission to find food. Campers need to take precautions to avoid problems for you and your family, but also for the campers who use the site after you.  Do not leave food or garbage behind.  Always pack out your trash.”

Here are a few tips for campers in bear country:
*   Keep a clean site and clean up thoroughly after every meal;
*   After grilling, allow the fire to continue until food scraps and grease are burned completely off the grill.
*   Do not eat in your tent or keep food in your tent;
*   Do not leave pet food outside for a long period of time.  Any uneaten pet food should also be stored in a secure container.
*   Store unused food and garbage in secure containers out of the reach of bears and away from your sleeping area;
*   If you see a bear in a campground, report it to the local DOW office as soon as possible.
*   If you come in close contact with a bear, talk to it firmly and make yourself look as large as possible. Back away slowly, but do not run.
*   Teach children and others who might be unfamiliar with bears about bear safety.

For additional information on how the public can do their part to keep Colorado’s bears wild please visit the Division of Wildlife’s Living With Wildlife web page at http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/LivingWithWildlife/ and click on the “Living with Bears in Colorado” link.

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

H.R. 2324 more of the same old same old

May 8, 2009

The usual haters of freedom and liberty are back at it despite what the impostor in chief says about interfering with the rights of the people. Using the same tired old arguments and the same tired old lies the anti-liberty crowd is back to finding a cure for a problem that doesn’t exist.

On May 6, at a press conference with Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign, U.S. Representatives Michael Castle (R-Del.) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) introduced H.R. 2324–the “Gun Show Loophole Closing Act.” Masquerading as reform, H.R. 2324 would impose severe bureaucratic restrictions aimed at shutting down gun shows.

The bill is essentially a re-introduction of the failed H.R. 96, introduced in the 110th Congress. Despite changes from the Lautenberg juvenile justice amendment of 1999, on which the measure is based, H.R. 2324 fails to address gun owners’ most significant concerns. In several areas it is even more restrictive than past attempts to regulate gun shows. H.R. 2324 would create gun owner registration, massive new government red tape, and allow harassment of gun show organizers, vendors and attendees. The bill also ignores a glaring problem–multiple government studies prove gun shows are not a source of “crime guns.”

Anti-gun Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced a companion bill (S. 843) in the U.S. Senate in late April.

Please be sure to contact your U.S. Representative and urge him or her to strongly oppose H.R. 2324; and please be sure to contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to strongly oppose S. 843! You can call your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, and your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121.

SOURCE

Apparently, they haven’t heard the news…

WASHINGTON — Amid a wave of publicity about drug-related gun violence along the Mexican border and police killings in U.S. cities, an increasing number of Americans oppose new government efforts to regulate guns.

Recent nonpartisan polls show shrinking support for new gun-control measures and strong public sentiment for enforcing existing laws instead. So strong is the shift in public opinion that a proposed assault-weapons ban — once backed by 3 in 4 Americans — now rates barely 1 in 2.

Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, told reporters Tuesday that “every bit of data is showing us that Americans are getting more conservative about gun control.”

A CNN poll conducted in April found that 39 percent of Americans wanted stricter gun-control laws, down from 50 percent in 2000.

Forty-six percent said the gun laws should stay as they are, while 15 percent said they should be loosened — up from 9 percent in 2000.

When asked to identify the best way to reduce gun violence, 61 percent of Americans said stronger enforcement of existing laws, while 27 percent opted for stronger laws, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll, also conducted in April.

Even an assault-weapons ban is not the political “sure thing” it once was. An April 23-26 poll by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found that support for curbing the sale of assault weapons and semiautomatic rifles has dropped from 75 percent in 1991 to 53 percent today.

Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the latest polls confirm what his gun-rights group has been saying all along.

“We have adequate gun laws on the books to address every situation,” he said.

The shifting public mood on gun issues is one reason the Democratic administration is not trying to reinstate the assault-weapons ban that Congress let expire in 2004.

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama believes that “we can make a significant dent in gun violence . . . through enforcement of the existing laws.”

Elected officials in California and Pennsylvania have responded to the killings of four police officers in Oakland, Calif., and three in Pittsburgh by calling for restoration of the decade-long ban.

Gun-control advocates have also pushed to revive the ban as a way to stem the flow of firearms illegally smuggled from the United States into Mexico.

But despite support for limits from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, Congress seems unlikely to act.

Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, called diminished public support for gun-control measures “a good thing.”

He said the recent poll findings will help lawmakers “resist pressure from this administration to pass more gun-control legislation.”

SOURCE

Ken Salazar: Stupid is as stupid does redux

May 7, 2009

Ken Salazar is a nice guy. That said he is a near total incompetent in the realm of public service in mine, and the opinions of many others. It is beyond me why on earth he was selected by the impostor in chief for the position that he currently holds. His only true claim to fame in public service is the Great Outdoors Colorado Amendment, and that, by all accounts was suggested to him, no initiative  there. Some point to his service as State Attorney General with pride. What I saw was mysandry, and later siding with Ex Governor Roy Romer in pardoning a woman that put an axe through her sleeping husbands head. That woman should still be in prison, just like every man that has murdered his wife and been convicted has. I am perhaps being too harsh on him, after all, he had the good sense to oppose listing grass rats that infest the state as “endangered” after all. Perhaps my biggest problem with him is what I see as a lack of courage in refusing to go on air with people like Gunny Bob, or even soft ball pitchers Caplis and Silverman.

Then he goes and does this…

Gov reacts strongly to Salazar’s wind power comment

CHEYENNE — Depending on where you stand, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s comment this week that wind energy could replace coal-fired power in the United States was either welcome news, or so much hot air.

“The idea that wind energy has the potential to replace most of our coal-burning power today is a very real possibility,” Salazar said, according to The Associated Press. “It is not technology that is pie-in-the sky; it is here and now.”

Here in Wyoming, the nation’s No. 1 coal-producing state, Salazar’s comments drew a mix of responses.

Marion Loomis, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, said it’s important to look carefully at what Salazar actually said.

The key word in the secretary’s comments, Loomis said, was “potential.”

“To say that the potential is there is true,” Loomis said. “Just like it’s true with nuclear or oil shale. It’s another thing to say you’re going to switch from the traditional sources to something that would be impossible.”

That said, Loomis agrees that wind energy will doubtless play a larger role in the nation’s energy generation.

“But it will be difficult to approach anything close to what coal is providing in any realistic foreseeable time frame,” Loomis said. “Coal is going to be around for a long time.”

Gov. Dave Freudenthal put it even more bluntly.

“Ain’t going to happen,” Freudenthal told reporters at an impromptu new conference Wednesday that mostly focused on other topics.

Freudenthal said Salazar’s comments were a “dumb thing to say,” and may provide a teachable moment in which the new interior secretary will learn the wisdom of “not making gratuitous statements.”

Freudenthal added that the importance of coal in the nation’s energy mix is a reality, despite any creative hypotheticals by those in the Beltway.

“That potential (for wind energy to replace coal) is never going to be realized,” said Freudenthal, adding that Salazar’s comment was out of step with other messages from the Obama Administration.

For example, Freudenthal said, the federal economic stimulus package includes millions of dollars to develop technology for clean coal and carbon capture and sequestration.

He also pointed out that the administration has signaled its desire to restart the FutureGen clean coal initiative, a $1 billion project to install cutting-edge carbon capture systems on new coal-fired power plants.

“It’s kind of an interesting comment” by Salazar, Freudenthal said. “But it’s inaccurate; ain’t going to happen.”

Laurie Milford, executive director the Wyoming Outdoor Council, a Lander-based conservation group, had a slightly different take.

Milford praised Salazar for “looking seriously at renewable sources of energy.� But she also accepted that coal is a major part of the nation’s energy future.

“We have to be realistic about that,” Milford said. “It’s an important bridge fuel for decades to come. And yet while we’re still using coal to make energy, we need to be working to make coal less dirty.”

Milford also praised efforts by the state to develop more environmentally friendly coal-based energy, including efforts to perfect underground carbon storage methods, and the General Electric-University of Wyoming partnership to develop coal-to-fuels technology.

“I really think that everything the state of Wyoming is doing to make coal viable in a carbon-constrained economy is important,” Milford added. “We’ve got a long ways to go, but Wyoming is getting quite serious about it and I’m encouraged.”

Salazar, who hails from Colorado, made the comments at a public hearing in Atlantic City, N.J., on how the nation’s offshore areas can be tapped to meet America’s energy needs.

Salazar said ocean winds along the East Coast can generate 1 million megawatts of power, roughly the equivalent of 3,000 medium-sized coal-fired power plants, or nearly five times the number of coal plants now operating in the nation.

One wind power company official estimated it would take hundreds of thousands of windmills to harness that volume of energy. Efforts to develop even small-scale wind projects off the East Coast have met considerable resistance from those who live there.

A spokesman for Salazar said Monday that the secretary does not expect wind power to be fully developed, but was speaking of its total potential if it were, according to the AP.

Wyoming coal mines produced more than 450 million tons of coal in 2007, or nearly 40 percent of the nation’s coal, according to the Wyoming Mining Association.

SOURCE

Misinformation…

May 7, 2009

Misinformation, or deliberately misleading the public with an agenda driven policy? You decide.

Nothing to see here, move along: “The fact that Obama is essentially replacing — and I’m going to use these terms loosely — but a more liberal judge with what will eventually probably be a liberal judge doesn’t really change things a lot, but if John McCain were the president of the United States today, this court would be changing in extreme ways, wouldn’t it?” –CNN anchor Rick Sanchez

Misdiagnosis: “They’re very comfortable, the core of the Republican Party, with their message of skepticism about government. … Cut taxes, shrink government. … But it doesn’t sell with, with people outside of their base demographic which are white males. There’s something about that message that turns off families, that turns off women, that turns off people who think that caring matters about other — I know that this sounds silly, but caring about other people.” –Newsweek’s Howard Fineman ++ “Can they get past the cacophony of Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich? These are sort of trollish figures. These aren’t the caring people, are they?” –MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in response

Stranger than fiction: “Barack Obama is a truly flabbergasting President. And in a good way — not the way some of his predecessors were. He’s not flabberghastly…. His verbiage is a melting pot that’s always bubbling.” –Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales

From the sycophants: “Let me just say, I thought that in terms of mastery of the issues, we have rarely had a president who is as well briefed and speaks in as articulate a way as this president does.” –CNN political analyst David Gergen

Uh, no: “Everybody, including Republicans, would have to say that his first 100 days have been great.” –CBS News executive producer Rick Kaplan

Reporting the important stuff: “The first couple took full advantage of the cool spring night. After a date night out on Saturday evening, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama decided to take a stroll when their motorcade arrived back at the White House.” –Associated Press writer Christine Simmons

And then we have…

He Was Hoping to Remake the Whole Universe!: “Obama, on 100th Day, Says He Is ‘Remaking’ America” –Bloomberg ++ “President Obama ‘Humbled’ by Limits of Job” –USA Today

We All Have to Make Sacrifices: “First Lady Michelle Obama Steps Out in Lanvin Sneakers and They’re Only $540!” –Daily News (New York)

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: “Woman Steals Ambulance, Tears Up Grass Doing ‘Donuts’ in Millennium Park” –Chicago Sun-Times

News of the Tautological: “Flushing Government Stimulus Cash Down the Toilet?” –Associated Press

News You Can Use: “Airline Seats to Mexico Easy to Come By” –Associated Press

Bottom Stories of the Day: “Two Men Ordered to Stay Away From Britney Spears” –Reuters

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

Batting clean up…

Another misdiagnosis: “The Republican Party is in deep trouble. Americans do want to pay taxes for services. Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less.” –former secretary of state Colin Powell

From the Clintonistas: “It’s their best issue that these tea baggers, they turned everybody off. There were a bunch of, like, 75-year-old cranky white guys mad at everything. It just couldn’t have been a better event for the Democratic Party. I hope they come back and tea bag some more. … I think that the Democrats are going to be smart enough to- when this recession is over and it will be over, to jump back on top of the spending issue like President Clinton did back in the ’90s. … Republicans shouldn’t be worried. They should be in agony. They should be throwing up. Republicans had better get a better policy on prescription drugs and quickly they’re going to need a lot more Prozac.” –CNN analyst James Carville

Europeanness envy: “I really hope that every citizen of the United States would imitate the rest of the world because they’re all for Obama. Every other country adores what happened, in our great country, to have him as president. … I love everything he’s done and everything he’s doing. I think we should give him all-out support for anything he wants to do. We should all help. He’s giving our country back to us.” –singer Tony Bennett

“Under Obama’s reasoning, the judge’s job isn’t to interpret the law: the judge should walk a mile in the appellant’s Birkenstocks.” –Human Events editor Jed Babbin

“It seems the Hog Producers have squealed a bit about their product getting a bad name so, according to the NY Times, it will no longer be called the Swine Flu. Henceforth it will be called Influenza A(H1N1). … I have a better idea for a new name. How about Montezuma’s Revenge?” –political analyst Rich Galen

“President Obama’s strongest talent is not his speechifying, which is frankly a bit of a snoozeroo. In Europe, he left ’em wanting less pretty much every time (headline from Britain’s Daily Telegraph: ‘Barack Obama Really Does Go On A Bit’). That uptilted chin combined with the left-right teleprompter neck swivel you can set your watch by makes him look like an emaciated Mussolini umpiring an endless rally of high lobs on Centre Court at Wimbledon. Each to his own, but I don’t think those who routinely hail him as the greatest orator since Socrates actually sit through many of his speeches.” –columnist Mark Steyn

“Segway’s inventor revealed plans to make a hybrid electric car powered by an engine which uses cow manure for fuel, and then use that engine to light Third World homes. Imagine generators that run on manure. Every time President Obama says he doesn’t want to run private industry a third of the planet could be electrocuted by the power surge.” –comedian Argus Hamilton

Jay Leno had to add hit two bits…

Sixty-nine-year-old Supreme Court Justice David Souter said he’s going to retire next month. Why’s he retiring? I mean, he’s a senior citizen. What’s he going to do? He’s going to sit around the house all day in his robe being judgmental, right? He might as well just stay on the job.

As a replacement for Judge Souter, they say President Obama is looking for a woman, and the rumor is Hillary Clinton is on the short list. Yeah. That’s got to be Bill’s worst nightmare, huh? A woman who can rule on the death penalty.

Well, as you know, Supreme Court judge is a job for life. There’s only one other job in Washington that’s a job for life. That’s on the Joe Biden Clarification and Apology Unit. And that’s 24/7. That’s very hectic.

In fact, just a day after saying he wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places like an aircraft or a subway because of the swine flu, Vice President Biden rode a train from Washington to Delaware. You know what that means? Not even Joe Biden listens to Joe Biden.

SOURCE

Politics, and blindfolds, as in Lady Justice

May 7, 2009

The impostor in chief is about to have the opportunity to not only make history yet again but to put his stamp on generations to come. How so? With at minimum one appointment to the Supreme Court.

Justice is supposed to be blind, not filled with emotion. Not issuing rulings based upon personal desires, but upon law. This is most important when one is a Justice on a Supreme Court, be that of an individual state or the United States Supreme Court. The rulings that are made in those places have an effect all the way down to the individual citizen. They determine how one lives, or dies too as far as that goes.

All too often high courts thwart the intentions of the people that had laws passed in order to achieve their own (the courts) personal agenda. Be that a State Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court. Of note, or example, would be the Colorado Supreme Court trashing the Tabor Amendment, and the U.S. Supreme Court by endorsing ex post facto law that also takes away unalienable rights for less than felony indiscretions. Or mysandry based regulation or law founded within the realm of political correctness.

Part of the duty of those courts is the protection of minority groups, be those racial, political or based upon gender. We have all but put away the arguments based upon racial superiority in America, at least within the legal concept. Racism does still exist in America, as well as everywhere else in the world but we are making headway on that front where as in many other parts of the world it is lip service at best. On the other two fronts we have not really changed much at all. We have simply exchanged one evil for the extreme opposite. That, is where things become incredibly difficult when choosing a Supreme Court Justice.

What follows is from yesterdays Patriot Post about this subject. You read, and decide if someone should be appointed, for life, to a position of near unbridled authority based upon the contents of their crotch, personal penchants, and ability to go with the flow. Or, upon personal integrity, honor, and sense of duty.

“[J]udges, therefore, should be always men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, great patience, calmness, coolness, and attention. Their minds should not be distracted with jarring interests; they should not be dependent upon any man, or body of men.” –Johns Adams

Rule of men: “Now, the process of selecting someone to replace Justice (David) Souter is among my most serious responsibilities as president, so I will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity. I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook; it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation. I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people’s hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes.” –President Barack Obama

From the gun grabbers: “[T]he Supreme Court has ruled in a direction that gives more opportunity for people to have guns. We never denied that right. We don’t want to take their guns away. We want them registered … and we have to rid the debate of the misconceptions that people have about what gun safety means.” –Nancy Pelosi

Non Compos Mentis: “Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro — Cinco de Mayo at the White House.” –Barack Obama (click here for video)

Quite taken with himself: “Everywhere I go, crowds spontaneously assemble. They start to cheer, whether I go to a play on Broadway or I’m going home to Wilmington, Delaware. I walk on the train. People stand up and clap.” –Vice President Joe Biden

Tacky: “If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine.” –Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), who fits in just fine with his new party **”Specter’s use of Kemp’s death is not only tasteless but nonsensical. If Republicans killed Kemp by blocking cancer research, how is it that the research they blocked prolonged Specter’s life?” –James Taranto

“That President Obama has made ’empathy’ with certain groups one of his criteria for choosing a Supreme Court nominee is a dangerous sign of how much further the Supreme Court may be pushed away from the rule of law and toward even more arbitrary judicial edicts to advance the agenda of the left and set it in legal concrete, immune from the democratic process. Would you want to go into court to appear before a judge with ’empathy’ for groups A, B and C, if you were a member of groups X, Y or Z? Nothing could be further from the rule of law.” –Hoover Institution economist Thomas Sowell

“Mr. Obama will make Supreme Court history, all right. He will become the first president in American history to make lawlessness an explicit standard for Supreme Court justices. … He has boldly proclaimed that he intends to make sure his nominees to the Supreme Court don’t harbor any crusty fealty to the written Constitution, or the millenniums of Western law that undergird its principles, or to the timeless truths that underlie our Declaration of Independence.” –Judicial Confirmation Network counsel Wendy E. Long

“There is a reason that Lady Justice wears a blindfold. Justice is supposed to be blind to the race, gender, finances, politics — and every other ’empathy’-eliciting — characteristic of those who seek it in good faith.” –columnist Carol Platt Liebau

“It is dangerous in this day and age to use the word ‘fascism’ lightly. Liberals sling around the term ‘fascism’ without regard to its meaning — for the Left, ‘fascism’ applies to everything from religious social perspectives to conservative tax cut prescriptions. But economic fascism has a precise, defined meaning. And Barack Obama’s economic policy fulfills that meaning in every conceivable way.” –radio talk-show host Jerry Doyle

“Liberals do not win elections for Republicans. Conservatives win elections. Whenever conservatives try to placate liberals and show how sensitive and caring and in touch with the feelings and concerns of the other party they are, they lose. But when Republicans stand on principles and demonstrate conviction and give evidence that their ideas work, they win.” –columnist Cal Thomas

“The killer virus for Republicans hasn’t been intolerance inside the party for moderates. What cost Republicans control of the White House and Congress was alleged conservatives behaving too much like Democrats, especially on spending.” –columnist Brendan Miniter

All quotes by former Congressman Jack Kemp (1935-2009)

“As the GOP stumbles around Washington trying to be the party of Herbert Hoover, it’s sad to see so many Republicans drifting so far and so fast from the Reagan model that helped pave the way for the great, non-inflationary economic and jobs expansion of the past 25 years.”

“Democrats are quick to draw parallels with the stock-market crash of 1929. The irony is that it’s mostly the Democrats who want to repeat the mistakes that turned the Crash of ’29 into the Great Depression.”

“The first order of business must be debunking the Democrats’ notion that higher taxes will lead to a more prosperous America.”

“When you tax something you get less of it, and when you reward something you get more of it.”

“Our friends in the other party say the economy is moving forward, and it is. But it is moving like a ship dragging an anchor, the anchor of high taxes, excessive regulation and big government.”

Will the man that refuses to show his real birth certificate choose wisely, or rather based upon political correctness and expediency? Only time will tell.

Profiles of Valor: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Rhyner

May 2, 2009

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Zachary Rhyner of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron was serving in Operation Enduring Freedom when his unit fell under attack on 6 April 2008. Rhyner’s mission included a team of 12 Special Forces Troops who were dropped from helicopters in Shok Valley, Afghanistan, in order to take out an insurgent group. The jihadis gained the high ground, however. During the six-hour battle that followed, Rhyner, despite being injured, fought hard and provided “suppressive fire with his M-4 rifle against enemy fire while fellow teammates were extracted from the line of fire,” according to his award citation. In addition to cover fire, Rhyner coordinated more than 50 aerial attacks on the enemy. His actions helped save the lives of many American and Afghan troops. In December, 10 soldiers received the Silver Star for their heroism in that battle — the largest such number for a single battle since the Vietnam War. Sgt. Rhyner recently received the Air Force Cross, the highest decoration awarded by the service and the first in six years.

Ohoo Rah Zoomie!

H.R. 2153 The Second amendment restoration act

May 2, 2009

The NRA backs this well intentioned, but flawed act. The fact remains that taking away unalienable rights based upon less than felony behavior without any chance of restoration of the persons rights forever is immoral. This is most especially true when it is an ex post facto application of the law.

All to often the forces of political correctness prevail and mysandry is the order of the day. During my career as a Paramedic I went on so many Domestic Violence calls that it is mind staggering. In ninety percent of the cases there was no visible trauma, and in fact care and transport were refused by the “victim.” Yet, the “offender” was taken to jail and charged with a multitude of various offences.

Most often these people would take the carrot offered by the courts, and plead guilty. Then serve thirty six weeks, three times a week, of so called counseling where they learned that women are incapable of doing any wrong whatsoever. Further, that all men are evil, period. Not to mention the three days that they are required to spend in jail as a “cooling off” period.

Too be honest, women do get arrested for non felony Domestic Violence. The statistics at least at my last perusal reveal that this happens a whopping three percent of the time, and that when that does happen, the male is also taken to jail at least half the time too! He get the treatment noted above while she gets sent to “parenting classes” for twelve sessions, and that is in the very few cases where the charges are not dropped completely. I quit checking those statistics a few years ago because they just never changed more than a point or two over several years time.

Face it, domestic violence is something that should never happen irrespective of who initiates it male or female. However, the cure is worse than the problem. (I’m speaking of non felony situations here, not felony.) In addition to the clear fact that women are using this law as a weapon, along with the police and court system to get revenge for whatever reason without a crime having actually happened.

This new proposed legislation is a step in the correct direction but to be blunt, does not go anywhere near far enough. Read on…

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) has introduced legislation to restore the gun rights of individuals convicted of minor, non-violent crimes.  H.R. 2153, the Second Amendment Restoration Act, ensures states have the discretion to restore individuals’ gun rights after conviction of minor crimes.  The National Rifle Association (NRA) has endorsed the legislation.

“The Second Amendment provides for the right to bear arms and individuals should not forfeit that right due to convictions for minor crimes,” Stupak said.  “I appreciate the support of the NRA as I attempt to clarify that individuals convicted of minor crimes decades ago should not be subject to lifetime bans on gun ownership.”

Federal law prohibits individuals convicted of felonies from owning guns.  Federal law also gives states the discretion to determine which state crimes are treated as felonies.  Due to the way the courts have interpreted some of the most antiquated state laws, some individuals who were convicted of minor misdemeanors at the state level are treated as felons for the purposes of gun ownership, prohibiting them from owning a gun.

The Second Amendment Restoration Act would make it clear that a person with a conviction for a minor, non-violent crime, whose civil rights were never taken away, should not be treated any more harshly than a convicted felon whose rights were restored.  It would also allow states to give individuals limited restoration of rights.  Federal law currently allows for states to restore all or none of an individual’s gun rights but nothing in between.

The issue was brought to Stupak’s attention by a constituent who, now in his mid-50s, was convicted in 1971 of entering a non-occupied building.  He was 18 at the time and the building was a deer camp.  He completed his probation in 1972.  In 2003, he applied to the county gun board to have his right to own a firearm restored.  But because the 1971 crime he was convicted of was a minor, non-violent crime, he is still denied the right to own a handgun under Michigan law and therefore no gun rights can be afforded to him.

“To be absolutely clear, the NRA believes it is both constitutional and appropriate to disarm convicted felons,” NRA Director of Federal Affairs Chuck Cunningham wrote in a letter of support for the bill.  “However, we also believe that no person should lose the right to arms due to convictions for minor, non-violent crimes, especially those that occurred many years in the past.”

“I am a strong supporter of our Second Amendment rights,” Stupak said.  “The vast majority of gun owners are responsible sportsmen and women who like to hunt and shoot for sport.  These activities are essential parts of our economy and our cultural heritage.  I have consistently urged my colleagues to work for effective ways to curtail violent crime in America, but not by simply passing gun laws that unfairly penalize responsible gun owners.”

The NRA’s letter of support is available at: http://www.house.gov/stupak/NRAletterHR2153.pdf.

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