He was the White House staffer that was screaming at Sharyl Attkisson, and apparently Issa subpoenaed his butt too.
Category: Politics
Harrisburg, PA files for Bankruptcy
Only the second U.S. city to do so. Go Pennsylvania! Sounds like the city lost a lot of its money in a boondoggle. “Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!“
Bob Mensch Found Not Guilty
State Senator Bob Mensch got into some hot water over allegations of brandishing a pistol a while back during a confrontation with an aggressive driver along I-78 in Pennsylvania. He was found guilty, but vowed an appeal. On appeal his conviction was tossed, and he was found not guilty. His whole case seemed to be a “he said, she said,” kind of deal, in which case the uncertainty should break in favor of the defendant.
The Subpoena
Dave Hardy has a link to the details of what was demanded of the Justice Department. I had not realized until listening to Cam & Company last night (or maybe the night before) that this is actually a rare thing, for Congress to issue to a subpoena to an Attorney General. Apparently this hasn’t happened since Watergate.
Holder is a slippery bastard, so I haven’t been skeptical he’s going to get punished for any of this, but in that vein, things seem to be decidedly looking up.
Prepping For 2012
Looks like NRA is really trying to drive the point home on Supreme Court nominees, with Chris Cox writing in the Daily Caller:
Currently, the Second Amendment clings to a 5-4 pro-freedom majority on the Supreme Court. Just one vote is all that stands between the America our Founding Fathers established and a radically different America that Barack Obama and his supporters envision.
This is probably the biggest issue for us in the 2012 elections. If we lose one of the Heller Five, and Obama gets to pick his replacement, all the Alan Guras in the world won’t be able to save the Second Amendment. Even if Heller and McDonald never get formally overturned, we’ve seen from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that intermediate scrutiny can easily be used to conclude that banning commonly used entire categories of firearms is just fine. The same logic could be used to erase the “bear” part of “keep and bear” just as easily.
The 1%
Fudging the Numbers
Looks like Ramsey and Nutter are fudging the murder numbers in Philadelphia to make this year not look like quite the disaster it’s actually been. It’s worth noting that Philadelphia’s response to the same financial crisis everyone else is facing was to cut police and firefighters first and foremost.
It’s Time to Vote Again
I’m pretty sure I started measuring years by Election Day instead of New Year’s Day shortly after college. That said, there are local and county offices up for grabs in Pennsylvania, and today is the deadline to get your registration updated. Remember that it’s not just about first time registrations. If you have moved, or if you want to change your party affiliation, it’s the same process to get yourself up-to-date.
That said, I wondered what kind of crap would turn up if I typed “vote” into Amazon.
- It turns out that books against the electoral college are pretty popular. Might I suggest one from a former professor with whom I regularly butted heads on issues like campaign finance reform, our systems of elections, and just about every other matter of public policy? I’m tempted to pull out some of my books on the subject to refresh myself on the topic since Pennsylvania is looking to re-work the system.
- Vote Democrat chocolate molds are available. Hmm, I wonder how many votes you can buy with chocolate? If it’s a lot, then maybe I could make a version for “Vote Pro-Gun!” It’s probably not as cheap as a mailing for a candidate, but if it’s more effective, then who am I to argue?
- While they are cute, I don’t think you’d have as much luck winning votes with the Vote Republican cuff links.
- A Vote for Murder – Previously the name of a Murder, She Wrote book, now an ATF operation.
- An 11-year-old dated election decor set still priced at over $10 is available for all of you looking to relive the great Bush v. Gore days. Hell, if I were trying to market this, I’d reach out to history & civics teachers for their year 2000 lesson plans. Somewhere around here, I have a signed thank you card from Katherine Harris. I don’t think I’ll ever cease to be amused by it.
- To finish on this theme of corrupting America’s youth with the sins and crime of politics, you can’t possibly skip out on the Hail to the Chimp party video game. If you want to abuse your children with a lesson on how to win the Electoral College, it looks like this game could be used to fit the bill.
I don’t know if there will be a day when I’m not amused by the randomness of what you can find on Amazon or any of the big online retailers. Who knew these things existed?
Meet Some Real Gun Violence Prevention Activists
This is what groups like CSGV and Brady Campaign would look like if they were really about gun violence prevention, rather than being about collecting money from suburbanites who think guns are icky. I don’t think this group, “CeaseFire Philadelphia”, is affiliated with CeaseFire PA. CeaseFire Philadelphia seems to be about actually intervening with troubled young men, to get them to give up a life of violence, using older men from the same neighborhoods, who have since given that life up. According to the article, it seems to work. I think programs like this are a great thing if they work.
CeaseFire PA, on the other hand, have a number of members that live in rough and tumble neighborhoods like Rador and Ardmore, and I think perhaps have seen some of the individuals from CeaseFire Philadelphia, when they drive quickly through those neighborhoods with the doors locked after getting lost on the way back from dinner and a show.
The Eric Holder Defense
The BattleSwarm Blog notes Eric Holder’s latest defense, ““I didn’t lie, I swear, I was just incompetent” It’s kind of sad when those are your choices.