2010 – Page 183 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Dave Hardy on Unity

I’m not generally one to make calls for unity, probably because I think some degree of debate and disagreement within the community is healthy and understandable. But I have to agree with Dave Hardy on this one:

There are three ways to reach Second Amendment incorporation, at least two of which have present and powerful advocates. I can only say that I’m in correspondence with both, and they really wish there could be an end to to conflict. Bottom line: if the three routes to incorporation each got two votes, it’s still a 6-3 and a win, the other side is left to ponder that “almost” only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, and the winner who favors one route or another has some votes (for the first time in my lifetime) on which to build. They’re going into the fight of their lives, no OUR lives, and don’t need the distractions. We can all engage in internecine battles after oral argument, or better yet, the decision. For now they need to concentrate.

Hardy is, of course, speaking about the conflict brought about by this, whichÂ is one of the reasons I felt it was a poor course of action; that it would promote a conflict at a time when we did not need one. That’s spilled into the blogosphere a bit with statements said here, here, here,Â and here.Â However, I agree with Dave, there’s no bad way to win this, the important thing is that we win.

Bizarre Political Moments

Tonight, Arlen Specter said he would endorse a constitutional amendment limiting corporate spending. Not corporate spending on campaigns. Just corporate spending.

I don’t know where to begin.

Bob Barker Lending His Support to HSUS in PA

Bob Barker is donating a million dollars to an animal rights group to fight for a pigeon shooting ban in Pennsylvania, and suggesting he’s going to join protestors outside of Philadelphia Gun Club. I have not been very supportive of Philadelphia Gun Club on this issue, and I consider to believe they are a liability on this issue, but nor am I a fan of the proposed ban HSUS is floating in Pennsylvania, largely because it will also ban many of the methods used in the training of hunting dogs, as well as other completely legitimate sporting activities in the Commonwealth.

The politics of this issue is difficult, because as the ban currently is must be opposed. But I have other, ancillary concerns with it as well. If a ban comes before the legislature, we have a number of local politicians who will likely part from NRA on this issue, even though on other issues they would be otherwise good. I don’t want them to get in the habit of having to go against NRA, especially when I know doing that isn’t likely to hurt them much considering the suburban makeup of the local gun community (most of whom don’t do pigeon shooting, or even hunting dog training for that matter). The only hope is to keep this bottled up in committee so they don’t have to vote on it. Philadelphia Gun Club is making it more likely there’s going to be a vote.

For the record, Pennsylvania is not the only state that still has pigeon shoots. The animal rights folks are lying in order to embarrass us on that count. But Philadelphia Gun Club is the only club in a suburban area doing them. While I understand the club has been around for a long time, and has been doing live pigeon shoots nearly as long, I think they are doing the shooting sports and hunters a grave disservice by continuing to hold live pigeon shoots in an area where it’s not possible to be discrete about it, and where the surrounding culture is not going to be supportive of the practice.

Radnor Township Considering Lost & Stolen

PAFOA thread on the topic here. Looks like several people are already on top of it. I do offer a bit of cautionary warning about open carrying to the public meeting, but that aside, this thread is only a day old, and it’s great to see people organizing against it in such a short amount of time. There’s a simple message I would suggest folks try to deliver to Radnor Township Supervisors:

Lost and Stolen ordinances have been passed across the state, but there has not been a single criminal prosecution under any of them.
It is the opinion of the Attorney General of Pennsylvania that these ordinances are unlawful under state law.
These laws have not been shown to be effective at reducing crime or reducing straw purchasing. These ordinances are being promoted by gun control proponents with a hidden agenda.

That’s essentially what I would focus on when confronting the Township Supervisors. Keep ancillary issues like open carry out of the equation, and not give the media any reason to focus on them, or to try to sell the pro-gun presence there as “intimidation”. The goal is to convince them that activists on the other side are playing them as fools, and that they would be inserting themselves into a contentious social issue for no good reason. Township level politicians aren’t used to controversy, and don’t typically seek it out. Give them controversy, plant doubt, and they will fold.

Anti-Gun Paper Has Fantastic Success With Subscriber Model

Jacob points out that New York Newsday, a Long Island based paper that is very anti-gun, is having some stellar success with their new online subscriber model. A revenue busting thirty five members have subscribed to the paper so far. Hell, I could probably raise more revenue than that for this blog if I put up a tip jar and begged for donations. Maybe they should have just started a blog.

Summary of the McDonald Reply Briefs

Dave Hardy has an excellent summary of the reply briefs in the McDonald case. Â These are the briefs filed by the Petitioners (McDonald et al. represented by Alan Gura) and the Respondents in Support of the Petitioners (NRA represented by Stephen Poss and Stephen Halbrook), an excerpt:

The Steves (Halbrook and Poss), briefing for NRA, put their main weight on this clause. Chicago’s claims are paradoxical — that infringing a right can contribute to “ordered liberty.” Its idea of ordered liberty is that of a police state, order always triumphs over liberty. It claims falsely that the 14th Amendment is all about equality, not only equality of rights but equality of their infringement. Presumably, Chicago thinks the Black Codes would have been no problem if their oppressions applied to everyone. The framers of the 14th Amendment would beg to disagree.

Go read the whole thing. I haven not yet had time to read any of the briefs yet, and I don’t know when I will given my work schedule, but I am going to try to be present in DC for the McDonald case. Still deciding whether I want to camp outside.

“Yo Paul…”

I admit it, I love following the Brady Campaign on social media outlets. I don’t pick on every little thing they do, but every once in a while, they just beg for it. Today, Paul put up a post on the blog no one reads on the problems of musicians glorifying violence. The only reason I saw it was because it had a mildly witty title that tweeted out with it.

Now, if Paul was truly serious about violence promoted by musicians, his efforts are laughable. He doesn’t call for any action other than watching more Brady-produced propaganda. There’s no threat to raise hell about what this teaches kids. He just asks people to give him more YouTube views. Woo-freakin’-hoo. Way to stand up for the cause there, Paulie.

“Yo Paul, I’m gonna let you finish, but Heston had one of the best rap-violence condemnations of all time.”

So I ask: Who is more effective? Charlton Heston putting his career on the line to pressure Time Warner to drop Ice-T or Paul putting up a blog post that no one reads asking people to watch a video.

It just goes to show that if the Brady Campaign was truly serious about addressing the problem of violence – and how it is embraced so casually in the entertainment world – they would take a serious stand. But considering how Paul runs to Hollywood for his fundraising dollars, I doubt we’ll ever see such a condemnation.

Grassroots on the Gun Issue

I did a post a few days ago about the Facebook presences of a few anti-gun groups providing some good reasoned discourse opportunity. As of now Heeding God’s Call has a whopping 96 Facebook Fans, which is better than 62, which is the number for CeaseFire Pennsylvania.

My friend Dan, who runs PAFOA, decided to start a new media initiative in the middle of January, and made it a goal to get to 1000 fans for PAFOA by the end of the month. Currently that number stands at 1900. He’s since had to revise his goal to reach 2000 by the end of the month. Here’s the PAFOA Facebook page, so if you’re on Facebook, go become a fan and help embarrass the Pennsylvania gun control groups.

Michael Moore Profits from Taxpayers

It doesn’t make a good Michael Moore post unless you can show he’s a hypocrite. Fortunately, Moore gives us plenty of fodder.

Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story – which bashes taxpayer bailouts of big Wall Street companies – was itself the recipient of taxpayer subsidies from the state of Michigan, the Mackinac center reports. Moore previously bashed the film tax credit program, calling it a handout for big Hollywood production companies.

I guess it is only objectionable when taxpayers are forced to subsidize other rich fat cats.

Drinks are on the House

The House Speaker, that is.

It reads like a dream order for a wild frat party: Makerâ€™s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Baileyâ€™s Irish CrÃ¨me, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey â€¦ and Corona beer.

But that single receipt makes up just part of the more than $101,000 taxpayers paid for â€œin-flight servicesâ€ â€“ including food and liquor, for House Speaker Nancy Pelosiâ€™s trips on Air Force jets over the last two years. Thatâ€™s almost $1,000 per week.

I could use a spare bottle of Grey Goose if she’s got a bottle (or even half!) laying around. I just got our sampler of vanilla beans from around the world in, and now the 2 cups of extract I planned to make aren’t going to be nearly enough.