Mixed Messages

This is pretty friggin funny.  The anti-freedom crowd can’t seem to get their messaging together.  Delaware recently passed a low allowing for handgun hunting.   Apparently Freedom States Alliance says handguns are way too powerful for hunting, while HSUS argues that they aren’t powerful enough.  Perhaps it might occur to some people that both groups are full of crap.

On Speaking Up

Dr. Helen has an excellent post on speaking out.  I have to admit that I’ve been guilty of not speaking up enough myself.  It’s not so much that I’m ashamed of my beliefs, but in polite environments, like work, for instance, you just kind of tend to try to get along, and a lot of people on the left these days take themselves way too seriously.  I tend to be respectful of other people’s views, so it makes it difficult to have discussions with people who are more, shall we say, passionate.  But I think Dr. Helen is on to something, if we’re going to restore some degree of dignity to ourselves, and to the debate in general.

This is No Way to Run A Republic

These people aren’t stupid, this is pretty clearly media produced ignorance:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm1KOBMg1Y8[/youtube]

On topics the media actually covered, people have knowledge, but the media just ensured the people have no idea what they just voted for.  We can’t have a functioning system with a media that doesn’t do its job.

Financial Crisis? What Financial Crisis?

Paul Helmke would like to think it was their message, rather than the financial crisis, which delivered the election to Obama.  SayUncle points out that it’s hooey.  What killed us this election was exceptionally bad Republican turnout.  We did a lot of hard get out the vote work in my district, which paid off.  My county only bled 3000 or so votes from 2004.  Pennsylvania is a difficult state for gun rights activists.  Many of our gun owners are also union members, and can’t always be counted on to vote like gun owners.  When economic times get rough, they run for the big “D”.  It’s worthwhile to point out that McCain was ahead in Pennsylvania before the financial crisis hit.  I recall conversations with a few gun owners after the crisis that went, “Well, I have a choice between my guns and putting food on the table.  I just don’t think we can afford another 8 years of failed economic policy.”  Of course, if you have your guns, you can always put food on the table, but it’s hard to convince people worried about jobs and mortgages to vote their gun rights.  People tend to vote their pocketbooks before all.

Sportsmen voted along the same lines for McCain that they did for Bush, but fewer of them turned out.  I think there were a lot more of those guys than my interactions with gun owners was indicative of.  A lot of unhappy gun owners voted with their butts, in that they spent election day sitting on it.  I can’t blame the Brady Campaign for trying to ride Obama’s coattails.  Maybe it’ll help their fundraising.  We’ll see how the next two years goes for them, but my prediction is that things will not go as well for them as they wish, nor as bad for them as we would like.  It’s going to be rough, either way.