Turns out a lot of Americans don’t like being lectured to, and I’m not really sympathetic to Morgan’s whining. While deporting him was never going to be a serious policy proposal, it’s interesting the response to the petition. The article is even out of date; it says there are 45,000 signatures. As of right now, it’s pushing 75,000.
Category: Anti-Gun Folks
Don’t Forget Your Mayors
Bloomberg’s band of criminal mayors have all signed a letter to the President asking him to ban semi-automatic firearms.
You know what this means, right? It’s time to add your local MAIG mayors to your letter-writing list. Only, instead of making the generic pleas to not support gun control, ride their butts about why they sent letters to the White House calling on Obama to ban your firearms.
Remember, most of the mayors don’t know that Bloomberg is signing their names to letters to Washington & in newspaper advertisements. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t expressly approve it, their signature appears on the letter. Hold them accountable.
Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due
Larry Pratt, head of GOA, does a pretty bang-up job of handling Piers Morgan:
I think every time you get discouraged, or think this struggle is too difficult, or too time consuming, just watch yourself some Piers Morgan. He’ll fire you right back up.
UPDATE: Dave Weigel on Twitter: “Piers Morgan is doing Mike Bloomberg a favor by becoming the new most insufferable gun control advocate.”
Yeah, really.
National Conversation on Guns Piers Morgan Style
Apparently means they get to lie and we just have to shut our mouths and let our betters enlighten us:
Don’t get angry. Get even! Everyone can joint the fight.
Tom Ridge Back to His Old Gun Banning Ways
I remember one of my first votes cast in a gubernatorial election was a vote for Mike Fisher is the GOP Primary because I was angry at Tom Ridge for supporting an Assault Weapons Ban as a Congressman. He backed away from that when he decided he wanted to be governor, but now we see he was never really any friend.
Live Blogging the White House Press Conference
The White House has announced that Obama will inform the American people about his policy process for more gun control today in a press conference. Considering the way the announcement is worded, I expect that not only will he back specific demands in legislation for the next Congress, but he will pick which parts of Bloomberg’s plans to implement that don’t require any Congressional input.
I will live blog the press conference when it starts, so look to this post for updates.
LIVE UPDATES:
While we wait on the White House (presumably they are running late since their own feed is just showing a blue screen), we do know that Joe Biden has been assigned the role of White House lead for the gun control efforts.
Okay, we’re watching the major networks get ready to do their openings, and some blonde flip her hair.
Obama: He says we don’t know why Newtown happened, but we know that Americans are killed by guns. It’s not just about mass killings, but we need more gun control. He’s happy to see nameless high profile people change longstanding positions on guns.
The fact that whatever he’s going to propose won’t likely stop violence doesn’t mean we shouldn’t restrict guns anyway.
Biden has a January deadline, and he’s going to take immediate action. Obama says he won’t wait at all, not wait on people to study the policies he’s going to enact.
He tapped Biden because he was a sponsor of the semi-auto ban. He says that a majority of Americans support gun control like gun bans, magazine bans, and ending private sales.
He calls on Congress to act quickly. He blames Congress for not appointing his ATF choices.
Obama says that he “is betting” that gun owners would be the first to say that we should ban semi-auto rifles. (Hint: Make clear to your Congressman that he is betting wrong.)
Obama is now talking about every person shot since Friday.
He focuses on using every power, so that’s likely to mean damn near every one of Bloomberg’s plan, but he hasn’t mentioned it specifically. Time will officially tell if that’s the blueprint he uses, but he’s making clear that he won’t allow time for debate over the proposals.
Obama says that we are obligated to help him pass his agenda. We aren’t courageous if we don’t agree with his plan.
Obama is taking questions before turning it over to Biden. The first question is actually asking him if he has betrayed voters by his actions in fiscal cliff negotiations.
After several minutes, Obama is still on the defense about his position on taxes and spending.
Wow. Second question is also on fiscal cliff & his actions in negotiations.
Third question – fiscal cliff agreement questions on whether he has any trust in Republicans anymore.
Fourth question – back to guns, but basically told that presidential commissions are pointless and ineffective. Obama says that he will reach out to “stakeholders” who he will not name, Biden will round up “cabinet members who are interested,” and come up with suggestions for actions that will be featured in the State of the Union.
The reporter asks about the NRA, and Obama says that mothers and fathers who are members of NRA need to do self-reflection and help him out. He claims that “a thoughtful approach” is needed, that responsible gun owners “may carry out their activities” – activities which he is refusing to define.
The final question is from Jake Tapper who says that Obama hasn’t been around on the gun issue even though he campaigned on it the first time. Obama swears he hasn’t been on vacation, but that this is a wake-up call. Obama says that healthcare is relevant to this debate, and that’s why he spent his time on it.
Of the yelled questions while Obama was leaving, the reporters were asking about Benghazi.
And, with that, the White House feed has turned the camera and mics off so we cannot hear what Joe Biden has to say.
I’m trying to see if other news outlets are carrying his statements. So far, every news outlet website I have surfed to has cut out and isn’t covering Biden, either.
Okay, so I’m hoping that C-SPAN recorded the Biden remarks and will include them with their video archive later on. By the time I thought to check their site, they had cut over to a Benghazi report issue. I don’t know if that’s because they didn’t carry Biden or if his remarks were just short with no questions from the press.
Okay, so Biden left the room with Obama based on C-SPAN’s camera angle. I guess he didn’t speak at all.
Bias Much?
Apparently it’s a media story when four anti-gun protesters show up at the White House. You know, we get 6x that many people to show up to my local club’s monthly meeting. Will whatever media outlet conducting that interview note that there were only four protesters?
Betrayed in West Virginia
Senator Joe Manchin calls for an assault weapons ban. Maybe the folks who said to never trust a Democrat who claims to be pro-gun have a point:
Gun rights advocates have always said that an assault weapon bans would lead to further gun controls and eventually a repeal of the Second Amendment, but Manchin and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough both commented that the Second Amendment shouldn’t protect the right to own weapons designed for combat.
How many more will betray us? How many more before gun owners wake up and mobilize? If you live in West Virginia, I’d call his office (855-275-5737). If you don’t, I’d use the contact form. But I’d let him hear form us.
We’re the Hateful Ones?
You know, today I don’t have much room for hating on other people. I don’t think you can be human and stomach the thought of someone evil or deranged enough to look a kindergartner in the eye and pull the trigger, or sink a knife into them. I don’t think you can hear stories of kids stuck in a bathroom saying to a teacher they “don’t want to die, they just want Christmas,” and not be moved.
Yet apparently at least one person posting from a public library in Seattle has room for plenty of hate in my comments, and to wish us “HOLIDAYS in HELL!” This is exactly the kind of thing I was speaking of in my previous post.
Alan Gottlieb & Dan Gross on Piers Morgan
Video here. What’s funny is that he pretty much ignored Dan Gross so he could spend time attempting to savage Alan Gottlieb, which he was not very successful at. I thought Paul Helmke had some issues in terms of the overall strategy for the Brady organization, but I always thought he was a decent spokesman for the group. I feel like every time I hear Dan Gross talk it sound something like this:
“Hi Piers, the Brady Campaign has a simple message for Americans: we are better than this. Gun violence is a serious problem in this country, and the truth is we are better than this. In conclusion, Piers, my organization stands for all Americans who have a heartfelt, honest belief that, when it comes to gun violence we are just better than this.”
I mean, I know no one watches Piers Morgan, but even he thought Alan made for better talking head entertainment for the four Americans who tuned in to watch. I’m not impressed with Gross’s messaging. Surely the formerly leading gun control organization in the United States is better than this. At this point I almost feel like CSGV is more relevant, because at least there’s a market for the crazy juice they are peddling in the far left reaches of the cosmic mouth foam region of the Internets.