Quote of the day (decade?)

"When you say "radical right" today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican Party away from the Republican Party, and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye." - Barry Goldwater, Republican, Conservative and presidential candidate, quote 1994

This President and gun control

I got an email this morning from "Mayors for Gun Control" (naturally, I signed up to support them and get emails, right?).  They want to push President Obama to push for more stringent gun control.

Then, there's an article out, too, from Newsweek written after last Tuesday's State of the Union speech saying that the President intentionally didn't mention gun control in the speech because, again, according to the arcticle "...aides say that in the next two weeks the administration will unveil a campaign to get Congress to toughen existing laws."


And to this I have to say "wow".


I cannot imagine a worse time or person to bring up any form of measure for our government and its laws that looks remotely like "gun control".  


If President Obama a) wants to get anything accomplished, legislatively, in the next two years or b) truly wants to get re-elected, I would think he and everyone in the White House would know that he can go nowhere near anything that looks remotely like gun control.


The minute this President even suggests even weak gun control, of any kind, every NRA member, every gun owner, every Conservative and every red-necked white person with a gun is going to say "I told you so!" and go out and buy yet more guns, more ammunition, rail against the government takeover (that isn't coming, by the way, but that won't matter) and then they'll register to vote.  (I recognize that some of them will, in fact, already be registered but plenty aren't, for sure).


Apparently, what they're going to ask for is not strong or stringent at all, either:


But in the next two weeks, the White House will unveil a new gun-control effort in which it will urge Congress to strengthen current laws, which now allow some mentally unstable people, such as alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, to obtain certain assault weapons, in some cases without even a background check.


But nothing--I repeat, nothing--would solidify the Right-wing, Conservative, Tea Party, Libertarian and Christian militia groups more than this one man taking on anything that resembles tougher gun ownership laws.


If the Newsweek report is true, and I suspect it is, somebody in the White House must be smoking or drinking something awfully powerful, to get them to push something like this any time in the next two years, Gabrielle Giffords or no Gabrielle Giffords, Tuscon Arizona shooting or no.


My humble advice to President Obama:  don't give your enemies any political ammunition like this, sir.  It will bring them together as nothing else imaginable could.


It would be a gift to them that would keep on giving, right up to November, 2012.


Link:  http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/27/white-house-to-push-gun-control.html

Utah follows Arizona's lead

First it was Right-wing, looney-bin Arizona, in love with racism and guns.  Now it's Utah's turn:

Utah lawmakers propose M1911 as official state gun

By JOSH LOFTIN, Associated Press – Tue Jan 25, 9:33 pm ET

SALT LAKE CITY – State lawmakers are debating whether to designate a semiautomatic pistol as the official gun of Utah, despite protests from people who believe it's inappropriate because of recent mass shootings.

The bill to make the Browning M1911 the official gun breezed through a committee hearing this week and is scheduled to be debated by the full House as early as Wednesday.

Republican Rep. Carl Wimmer said the state should have the gun as one of its state symbols to honor John Browning, a Utah native who invented it in 1911.

A "state gun"?

I ask you, is this really necessary?

More to the point, don't these legislators have any very real problems and issues that need attention and addressing and not nonsense like this, particularly on the heels of the Arizona slaughter?

Even ignoring the Columbine and Arizona shootings, etc., shouldn't the legislators be doing more of their constituent's real business instead of nonsense like this?

I'd think so, anyway, but "Yee-haw!  Let's git our guns, Clem!"

Ironic aside:  The Gun Violence Prevention Center has a board member named Steve Gunn.

Charles Dickens would have loved that.  It sounds like something he'd have written.

Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110126/ap_on_re_us/us_utah_state_gun

Kudos to the Star on report on militias

The Kansas City Star has an excellent article online today about the new Right wing militias and how they're trying to polish their images. It seems "They conduct blood drives, collect coats for the needy, denounce racism and condemn violence against the government..." but, all the while, also "...it is not difficult to find anti-government paranoia, conspiracy theories and several recent threats of violence, such as the nine Hutaree militia members in Michigan who were charged in March with plotting to attack authorities." It's a good read and an important one to know what's going on both locally and nationwide. What I'd like to know is, can't we all just calm down, not be so emotional and work together, as Americans, like we did in the past? It seems not. Check this beauty out: "The Kansas State Militia draws members from across the state, including the Kansas City area, Garrison said. Like the Missouri Militia, it also puts a heavy emphasis on weapons and gear. Members are required to own a semiautomatic 'battle rifle' with 500 rounds of ammunition, a pistol belt, two canteens and a backpack with four days’ rations for quick response. They also must have at least a 90-day supply of food. It seems we want to put on camoflauge and look for enemies within our midst and hate people of color and/or Muslims, etc., etc., instead or working together on our problems. Again, loosely paraphrasing Rodney King, "can't we all just get along?" Link to original story: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/11/2216133/new-breed-of-militias-puts-on.html