Politics – Page 202 – Shall Not Be Questioned

SWAT Raid Quote of the Day

Megan McArdle posted about a SWAT raid, and included video. Go watch. She leaves us with:

I don’t know how anyone can watch that video, and think to themselves, “Yes, this is definitely worth it to rid the world of the scourge of excess pizza consumption and dopey, giggly conversations about cartoons.”Â Short of multiple homicide, I’m having trouble coming up withÂ anything that justifies that kind of police action.Â And you know, I doubt the police could either.Â But they weren’t busy trying to figure out if they were maximizing the welfare of their larger society. They were, in that most terrifying of phrases, just doing their jobs.

And in the end, that is our shame, not theirs.

It actually looks like a fairly professionally executed warrant. Shooting the family dog is often SOP for these kinds of operations. Just better hope they don’t serve the wrong house, or the warrant isn’t based on flimsy evidence.

New Prime Minister

Gorden Brown resigned, and Queen Elizabeth has asked Tory leader David Cameron to form a new government. It will be a coalition government between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, who are not all that unlike our liberal Democrats, only with more a libertarian streak to them:

Sky News’ royal commentator Alastair Bruce said the Queen would have asked the Tory leader the constitutional question “Will you form the new administration?” and the moment he said “yes” he became prime minister of Great Britain.

Mr Bruce added: “And then his wife would have been invited into the room and they would all have had a jolly good chat.”

Mr Cameron is the 14th prime minister the Queen has dealt with.

Sky News’ royal correspondent Sarah Hughes said Mr Cameron’s audience with the Her Majesty lasted some 25 minutes.

The Queen wanted to prepare Mr. Cameron for his first gift from the Obama Administration, which no doubt took some time. Â The operation isÂ parliamentaryÂ systems is quite different from our own.Â Unlike our system, where coalitions are formed in the major political parties, with the hopes and dreams of the coalition members carried by one individual candidate, in a parliamentary system that happens in the government. The previous election in April was inconclusive, and resulted in a “hung parliament” since the Tories, while having gained many seats, did not quite achieve a majority of the seats. This left Gordon Brown the task of attempting to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. He failed, and tendered hisÂ resignationÂ to the Queen, who asked David Cameron to form a new Administration. I would not expect that the Government David Cameron leads is going to be that effective. They will have to address many of the Liberal Democrat issues, and unless they gain a majority, will be subject to having the Liberal Dems bolt the coalition and take down the government. I would think that’s going to make it hard to get anything done, but perhaps they will be able to work together in areas where they do agree. It’ll be interested, at the least, to see what comes out of this.

New Jersey Traffic Stop

Cemetery got pulled over on the way back from a match. In a normal state, this would go something like “Why yes, Officer, I do have firearms in the vehicle. They are locked security in the back, except for the loaded Glock in the glove box.” A few minutes later, you’d probably be on your way. But Cemetery did the right thing for Jersey, which is to shut up. I find his telling of the story hilarious, however:

But when I met up with my friend, I was still Cowboyâ€™d Up cause she likes the clothes, I realized I stunk of sulfur, from shooting black magic.Â Makes me wonder if thatâ€™s what the Officer was smelling.

Iâ€™ll have to remember next I get pulled over after shooting black magic, that if Iâ€™m asked what that funky smell is, Iâ€™ll just say that Iâ€™ve been eating a bunch of chili.Â I think that will end the nosey business might quick.

Sounds like the right tactic to me.

Wilson Becomes Number 33

Max Nacheman, paid representative of MAIG sent by New York City Mayor Bloomberg to screw with your gun rights in Pennsylvania, is at it again, but at least we got one guy up there to complain about it. That’s thirty three towns they’ve passed this crap in now. How long before they start bringing this crap to Harrisburg? Gun owners in Pennsylvania need to wake up. We need more than just one guy showing up when Bloomberg’s paid stooge comes to town.

Roll the Dice!

Dave Hardy points out that Elena Kagan, Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Stevens, doesn’t have much in the way of distinction. I think given this President, a blank slate might be the best we could ask for. We’ll see what comes out in the confirmation hearings, but if we don’t dig up anything damning, I’d say lets roll the dice.

My guess is Obama is picking a nominee without much of a record in an attempt to avoid a nasty confirmation fight leading into the election. The advantage to picking a Justice who has not much of a prior record is there isn’t as much for opponents to attack. The disadvantage is, for Obama, he can’t be as sure she’ll stay solidly liberal. I would suspect she will, and would be surprised if she turned conservative, but let’s not forget that Justice Souter was another such blank slate, and look how that turned out for the GOP.

Still Largely a Philly Issue

CeaseFire PA is happy to have more candidates this year return theirÂ questionnaireÂ than in previous years:

Overall, the large number of General Assembly candidates responding to the questionnaire represents a significant increase over the number who responded to a similar survey from CeaseFirePA in 2008 â€“ yet another indication that increasingly, candidates for elections in Pennsylvania are aware of the growing groundswell by voters for candidates who support more rational policies on gun violence prevention issues.

This could be anÂ indicationÂ the issue is building momentum from the other side. But I noticed their non-endorsement endorsements, at the bottom of their press release, show that this issue is still very much a Philadelphia thing. What should be of concern to us is the issue penetrating into the suburban collar counties that ring Philadelphia. Especially Montgomery County, which is becoming particularly problematic for our issue. Â Also of concern is some penetration into Chester County, some into Delaware and Bucks.

The danger here is, if we lose the suburbs on this issue, we lose the state. The rest of Pennsylvania can outvote Philadelphia, but it can’t outvote Philadelphia if its suburbs vote with the city.

Sestak & Specter Cheer Gun Control

Last weekend, Arlen Specter & Joe Sestak took turns embracing various forms of gun control. We captured video of their exchange, and here it what came out of it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAGa8y2LlPI[/youtube]

Joe Sestak was flat out lying about NRA’s endorsement in the race. About a week and a half before they ever debated, NRA had already endorsed Pat Toomey in the US Senate race. Arlen Specter’s grade has taken a tumble since he has voted against us every time since switching parties.

The Unpleasant Reality of Politics

It’s true that money cannot buy votes on election day. But money can buy radio and television ads for a candidate to explain their positions. It can buy yard signs and bumper stickers to raise name recognition. It can buy pizza for volunteers. It can rent the phones needed to do phone banks. It can buy the t-shirts volunteers wear outside of the polling places.

You get the idea. Money is mandatory in politics.

So it’s very disheartening to find out what we thought was a pretty reasonable fundraising surge for one candidate here was actually a personal loan. Unfortunately, Gloria Carlineo, as feisty as she has been on the campaign trail, hasn’t been able to put up very good numbers for her campaign. She has only raised about $5,200.

If she plans to serious take on Patrick Murphy in November, she would have to learn to raise money in a big way. Considering Murphy is one the Democratic Party’s new star fundraisers, and with the huge cost of doing political business in this media market, there’s no room to learn on the job.

This is why Sebastian and I have hoped that some of these Tea Party inspired candidates would consider running for lower offices. It’s not that we wouldn’t like to see them in Congress, it’s just that cutting your teeth in a race so fierce and expensive isn’t likely to end well. I would love to see some of these guys (and gals) on the ballot for state representative in some seats. Hell, there are some Bucks Republicans who I think need to be primaried.

I had a commenter on my blog the other day who admitted he has never been involved in politics before, and that if his favorite Tea Party candidates lose in the primary races this year, he’ll sit out in November. That isn’t a winning strategy. In fact, that guarantees long-term losses. What would be far more productive is for him to help us vote out the biggest tax-and-spend guy in November (Patrick Murphy) regardless of who wins the GOP nomination in May. Then, use the next couple of years to shape some really good candidates for other offices so they can learn how to raise money and build connections on a local and statewide level. That is the way to change things for the long haul.

So if Carlineo doesn’t make it through the primary, I hope she doesn’t drop out of politics. I do realize that the Bucks County GOP leadership have treated her horribly, but giving up isn’t the way to change things. I’ve been to Bucks County GOP events, so I can assure you that we will outlast them. Many of them already have a foot in the grave. It’s just a matter of time, energy, and, yes, money.

Not Backing Metcalfe on This One Either

As a civil libertarian, I have some real issues with what Daryl Metcalfe is trying to bring to Pennsylvania. This sounds great, but the only way to do this kind of thing in a racially neutral way is to have everyone prove immigration status if there’s some reasonable suspicion. Imagine the following traffic stop:

“What the problem then officer? I don’t think I was doing over 100k an hour”

“License, registration and proof of insurance, please.”

“Let me get it oot of the glove box then, eh.”

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask to provide some proof or documentation that you’re in the country legally.”

“OK officer, here’s my Minnesota drivers’ license, registration and proof of insurance.”

“I have reasonable suspicion that you’re an illegal Canadian sir. I’m going to have to ask you step out of the vehicle.”

“But I’m from Minnesota.”

“You sound like a Canadian sir. We’re going to have to sort this out downtown.”

I am by no means in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens, nor against increased border protection, I don’t favor “haven cities,” and definitely not against cracking down on human smuggling. But I do not wish to turn the United States into an “Ihre Unterlagen, bitte.” police state in order to not really fix the problem.

I don’t agree with Dayln Leach on much, but I agree with him on this. It’s disturbing to me that so many lawmakers who recognize importance of the Right to Keep and Bear ArmsÂ as an important individual liberty don’t also recognize the basic right to a presumption of innocence by the government. That’s not just a right for the fair skinned. It’s a right of all people.

Quote of the Day

From Marko, who notes that people are giving Major Caudill a major case of the gay phobia:

Iâ€™m rightly confused, I am.Â If you think that the right to self-defense is a human right, and you donâ€™t like the idea of a gay person exercising it, then it necessarily follows that you donâ€™t think gays should be afforded the whole set of human rights.Â If thatâ€™s the case, then please stay the f[**]^*k off my side.

If you donâ€™t support the same freedoms for everyone, then you donâ€™t support freedom.Â Being in favor of freedom only for yourself and folks mostly like you is no virtue at all.Â It requires no sacrifice, no tolerance, and no brainpower.Â It will also cost you your pet freedoms sooner or later, once you find yourself as a member of the 49% whose cornflakes the other 51% vote themselves the right to pee on.

In the sameÂ veinÂ there’s plenty of people out there who don’t give a whit until it’s their liberty on the line, even though they say they value liberty. I’ve met a few people who areÂ adamiteÂ about both legalizing pot, and socializing the medical profession, all in the name of human rights, of course.

* Note the censorship of the language was mine. Not because I give a s**t about it, but because I understand it trips some people’s web filters who are reading from work, and causes the site to block until the offending word is cleared from the page. I will try in the future to be better about this. It’s also why I have the word p0rn in gun p0rn set with a zero in the categories. BTW, if your work uses those kinds of filters, I have sympathy for you. As an IT professional, I’ve refused on a few instances to censor web pages based on keywords. There are good business reasons not to do so.