They seem to be pulling out all the stops on Kagan (PDF). If I were a guy like, say, Lindsey Graham, who had an endorsement in 2008 and an A-rating, I’d be nervous about the level of opposition coming out of NRA. Especially when the Democrat running that last ran against him also had an A-rating.
Year: 2010
We’re Not Nearly as Organized
Sadly, I don’t think the right will ever be able to truly beat the left at the political organization game. We’re people who tend to like being left alone. I someone tries to tell us what to do, there are a good number of us who will do the opposite just to spite them. The rest would simply ignore them. And because the left is much better at getting on board with group efforts, the members of Journolist honestly believed they could organize to control the media narrative in an effort to help Barack Obama during the presidential campaign.
Read the link if you want to be horrified at the number of outlets getting in on the effort to bury stories that could hurt Obama and an effort to publicly call any critic of Obama’s a racist.
But, here’s another notable comment from the list by Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent:
It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.
I thought political violence was only a tool of the right. (Obviously I mean this rhetorically.)
Progress in Nordyke
The panel the case has been remanded to has asked for supplemental briefs speaking to the standard of review that ought to be used. Eugene Volokh also speaks of standards of reviews, addressing the SNBI crowd:
The trouble is that “shall not be infringed†doesn’t resolve much until we figure out what it means to “infringe†a right. […]
And I think as a general matter this is probably the right interpretation of the constitutional provisions. But in any event, it seems unlikely that courts will take an absolutist view towards the right to bear arms, to the point that any regulation of any possession of any arms in any place will be seen as an “infringement.â€
Now this having been said, I’m happy to argue against restrictions that really are infringements; I discuss some in this article. But it’s not enough just to say “shall not be infringed,†especially when we’re in an area — such as government control over government property — where some degree of government restrictions have long been accepted in many areas.
The trick is to get the Courts to carve out a broad right. While I have some minor and specific disagreements with Professor Volokh in his paper Implementing the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, it provides the best context I’ve seen to date for thinking about the issue. It’ll be very interesting to see what the 9th Circuit has to say about this.
Had By His Student
At Least One Blogger on Terror Watch List
According to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, and the Brady Campaign, Chris from AK is no longer part of the American Family.
Is That a Cliff?
You know we’re heading for the ledge with the accelerator pushed to the floor when noted free market economists are telling us we need to be more like Germany.
How Many FFLs Are There?
ATF is publishing the whole list now. It would seem to exclude type 03 (C&R) FFLs. But the number is a bit north of 60,000. Josh Sugarmann is in there.
Jim Geraghty looks at GOP Fundraising
There’s some good, but he notes that in some of our key races, they are coming up short. Let me highlight the PA candidates:
Mike Kelly looks like he has the skills to be a strong challenger inPennsylvania’s 3rd District. It’s not a terribly expensive district, but a10-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage for incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper is ominous.
In the neighboring 4th District, Jason Altmire is on everybody’s list of vulnerable Democrats to watch, but GOP challenger Keith Rofkus has to make up a 7-to-1 cash-on-hand disadvantage.
In Pennsylvania’s 8th District, I have little doubt that Mike Fitzpatrickwill give incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy a tough challenge, but he’s still looking at a 3-to-1 cash-on-hand disadvantage.
And in the 10th District, Tom Marino has only about $11,000 on hand, going up against Chris Carney, another incumbent who looks beatable under the right circumstances.
I don’t think money is going to be as important in this election, since the Democrats are doing a bang up job of destroying their brand among likely voters without the GOP having to spend a dime. But the role of money in elections still can’t be discounted. If Altmire holds on to his seat, I won’t be that disaffected, since Altmire has stood up to Pelosi and the White House and voted like a true Blue Dog.
Murphy, on the other hand, might wear the Blue Dog label, but he is no blue dog. But he is an excellent fundraiser, much of it coming from outside the district. Fitz has an uphill battle, since he not only has to overcome Murphy’s cash advantage, but has to overcome a Democratic registration edge in his district. This is a critical election for the 8th District, since if we can’t remove Murphy now, he’ll be dug in like a tick, and will be impossible to remove with the advantage of incumbency.
Post McDonald Gun Boom
I believe it will happen. DC only has half a million people, and options for getting a legal gun are still pretty thin. Chicago and the surrounding communities that once banned guns are closer to 4 million, and gun shops, while not present in the city, are still accessible. Chicagoans who want a legal gun have more options now than DC residents do.
Public Range Good Practices
Tam has some good advice on public ranges, where you’ll, generally speaking, encounter the worst gun handling. I’ve been to public ranges in a few states. Southwestern Virginia was the scariest, in terms of safety, though I’ve had people muzzle me at some of the PA ranges too. Thankfully, the really dangerous types seem to be pretty rare.
But it was the Pennsylvania Public Ranges System where I first encountered a mall ninja in the wild — all black outfit, what looks to be body armor but probably isn’t, black ranger hat, thigh holster, wrap around sunglasses, and tactical shotgun — obviously a skilled and valuable member of Food Court Team Six. It was after that I joined a club, so I can’t say for sure whether this species is becoming a more common sight at public ranges.