Apparently pumping your own gas, which is unlawful in New Jersey, can be used as a reason to stop someone and search them. Sadly for this guy, when they searched him, they found a loaded gun.
Category: Politics
Arizona Paper to Sheriff: Do Your Damn Job
At this point, most people are tired of extreme partisans trying to blame the Arizona shootings on talk radio, dissenting opinions, and politicians they don’t like. Why are they tired of it? Because it’s all utter BS at this point. This was a highly disturbed man, and some reports from neighbors who have talked to his parents, they just never noticed he had issues. Which is odd since apparently his father was a stay-at-home dad for decades and the shooter lived at home.
One of the worst offenders in this case is the Pima County Sheriff. And the local press is taking notice:
The world’s eyes, once again, focused on Arizona for the worst of reasons. And Dupnik stood before the cameras interpreting the shootings as politically motivated, despite an increasing weight of evidence depicting the shooting suspect, Jared Loughner, as a mentally ill young man who rambled incoherently about pervasive bad grammar and other apolitical obsessions. Even Dupnik has observed that Loughner had made death threats against others and that they had been investigated by police.
Still, Dupnik used the opportunities to blame Arizona’s lax, new gun laws and, again, the angry “rhetoric” of talk radio. The shootings were spurred, he suggested, by “the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia of how government operates.”
Dupnik took up his cause again on Monday. And, in response, we have to say at last . . . enough. Enough attacks, sheriff. Enough vitriol. It is well past time for the sheriff of Pima County to get a grip on his emotions and remember his duty. …
Dupnik needs to recall that he is elected to be a lawman. With each additional comment, the Democratic sheriff of Pima County is revealing his agenda as partisan, and, as such, every bit as recklessly antagonistic as the talk-show hosts and politicians he chooses to decry. (Emphasis added.)
Pot, Kettle, I think you two know each other.
Passing of a Notable Pennsylvanian
Dick Winters, who’s E Company’s exploits were made famous in the book and HBO miniseries “Band of Brother’s” has died. He was born in Ephrata and lived in Hershey, not too far from where my dad lives now. Maj. Winters always seemed uncomfortable with people calling him a hero. That’s true of most real heros.
Carrie McCarthy Set to Exploit Tragedy
“My staff is working on looking at the different legislation fixes that we might be able to do and we might be able to introduce as early as tomorrow,†McCarthy told POLITICO in a Sunday afternoon phone interview.
And while Carrie McCarthy is busy making sure the Second Amendment gets shredded, fellow Democrat and Philadelphia Congressman Bob Brady is busy making sure the First gets sent to the slaughterhouse too:
Pennsylvania Rep. Robert Brady, a Democrat from Philadelphia, told CNN that he also plans to take legislative action. He will introduce a bill that would make it a crime for anyone to use language or symbols that could be seen as threatening or violent against a federal official, including a member of Congress.
Our political leadership is hopelessly vacuous. We have to keep giving them the boot until they get the message. The sad and unfortunate thing is, Bob Brady could strangle a puppy and his people will keep sending him back. The same would seem to be true for people like McCarthy and Quigley in Illinois.
I don’t understand city people. I really don’t. Are you really willing to keep re-electing these morons no matter what they say or do?
Obamacare Repeal Bill
Instapundit is covering it, but it passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. It’ll be interesting to see how this fares in the Senate. Obviously Reid is going to protect the President’s agenda, but he might not be able to stop a vote. We’ll see.
UPDATE: It occurs to me this happened with the Assault Weapons Ban too. The House voted to repeal it, but the Senate, which was controlled by Bob Dole, at the time, never took it up. It’s worth pointing out that Dole lost his Presidential bid.
Body in a Dump
My first thought on this issue was agreement with Tam, and a chuckle over her characterization of the issue of the former DoD guy found dead in a landfill. But now it seems like some are saying this may not be a homicide after all:
William Fleisher, an ex-cop who co-founded Philadelphia’s murder-solving Vidocq Society, said that the discovery of eyewitnesses and surveillance video of a disoriented Wheeler before he died suggests that the 66-year-old man had suffered a head or brain injury.
And that apparent disorientation, Fleisher speculated, could have caused Wheeler to voluntarily crawl into a trash Dumpster – either seeking shelter, as happens sometimes among the homeless, or perhaps looking for his reportedly lost papers.
“He may have crawled into the Dumpster looking for his briefcase, or simply to get warm,” said Fleisher, who runs a Center City investigations firm, Keystone Intelligence Network.
Fleisher also agreed with increasing speculation that Wheeler – who was filmed Dec. 29, two days before his body was found, in a downtown office with no overcoat and holding a shoe – was the victim of a traumatic event such as a mugging, or a stroke.
Apparently homeless people sometimes shelter in dumpsters to keep warm, as sad as that is. So this kind of thing is not apparently unheard of. Still, my first thought of a body showing up in a landfill that doesn’t have a bottle of hooch clutched in its hands would generally be murder.
Even if this was a mugging, the mugger, in this case, could be charged with murder if his disorientation was caused by a blow to the head. You could make a pretty good police/legal drama with a story like this.
Textualism vs. Intent
Capitol Ideas is reporting on the latest publicity stunt by Rep. Metcalfe, to deal with the illegal immigration issue, namely re-examining the 14th Amendment, which says:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
There’s been a lot of talk in originalist circles about whether this was even intended to apply to people who are citizens of another country who have a child in the United States. I suppose to whether you adhere to the school of originalism that says the intent of the founders is important, or whether it’s better to pay attention to what they actually wrote. What they actually wrote seems to mean to me that if you’re born here, you’re a citizen. I suppose it would hinge on “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
But regardless, while I appreciate Metcalfe’s leadership on Second Amendment rights, I find his demagogic promotion of populist issues (populist federal issues, I would note) like illegal immigration, tiresome.
We’re Like California!
How many states have sitting governors with talent agents? Well, add Pennsylvania to that short list.
Arnold had an acting career long before he entered politics, and since he can’t exactly pull a Reagan and run for higher office, it’s safe to assume he will resume that career now that his time is up. One would expect he would maintain a professional agent throughout his gubernatorial sidetrack.
But our governor is known for getting upset at the NFL for canceling a game in unsafe blizzard conditions. Public safety officials and local leaders who would have to deal with all of the traffic accidents be damned!* Oh, and before that his face was plastered across the national tv screens when he said Janet Napolitano was perfect for a cabinet position because she was a spinster. He’s like Joe Biden with a little less stupidity and a lot more Philly asshole. And now, while in office, he’s secured an agent from William Morris.
Continue reading “We’re Like California!”
Opening a New Congress
There are a lot of symbolic moves going on in the halls of Congress these last couple of days. Yesterday, it came in the form of a vote on the Speaker of the House. Nineteen Dems voted against Pelosi, and one decided to go take a walk during the vote. It would have been even more, except the woman still controls Democratic committee assignments and may be out for blood of anyone who opposes her. Fortunately, some of our favorite Blue Dogs were among those voting against her – Pennsylvania’s Jason Altmire and Tim Holden, along with Oklahoma’s Dan Boren. (Other pro-gun Democrats I think worth mentioning are North Carolina’s Heath Shuler and Mike Ross of Arkansas.)
Today, the Democratic Caucus leaders tried to oppose the reading of the Constitution as an opener to the Congressional session. Some of the best reactions to this have come from other people, so I’ll gratuitously steal from them:
@ExJon: “Why do we think liberals hate the Constitution? Their reaction to its public reading is like a vampire facing holy water.”
@JimGeraghty: “Way to go, House Democrats. Your first act of 2011 is to strenuously object to reading aloud the founding document of the nation.”
@ExJon: “I hope C-SPAN has microphones near Pelosi while the Constitution is read. ‘I’m melting! MELLL-TING!'”
Victory for Free Speech in Pennsylvania
The State Police have agreed to stop issuing fines for disorderly conduct for people who swear. Most of them appear to have been issued for people cursing at officers.