Some probably notice that some candidates have an NRA grade “AQ” which basically means that their grade is based on solely on their answers to a questionnaire. This might be really surprising to a lot of you, but politicians have been known to lie to curry favor with voters. I know, hard to believe. More than a few see their grades drop once they get in office and actually start voting on our issues. Bitter thinks Mark Warner’s A grade is undeserved because he’s never really been callenged on the gun issue in Virginia. If Mark Warner really believes that NRA is a threat to America, I think even an AQ is too good for him.
Category: Politics
Signs Of the Times
Our work at the Forks of the Delaware Gun Show in Allentown was very worthwhile. On Thursday, Bitter drove out to just shy of Harrisburg to rendezvous at an undesclosed secret location with one of the McCain campaign staffers. We were given 500 McCain-Palin lawn signs, and managed to hand every single one of them out. I was doing almost nothing but slipping the vinyl signs onto the metal bracket all day long. There were times when people were grabbing them so fast I had a line waiting for me to put more together. It was madness. We signed up several dozen new volunteers, some came from as far as Ohio, who need help just as much as Pennsylvania does. We were happy to sign them up, and pass their name on to the folks in Ohio.
About noon Saturday I started to hear people getting signs saying, “We can’t get these in New Jersey.” and “We looked all over but nobody in New York has them.” I didn’t mind handing over a sign here and a sign there to someone from New Jersey or New York, but we can’t really have Long Island and North Jersey being peppered with McCain-Palin signs that said “Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of Pennsylvania” on the bottom. We started rationing signs to the out-of-staters. Had a few people argue, “What does it matter what state it goes to?” who I’m guessing don’t understand how the Electoral College works. The next day we had to restrict them to Pennsylvania residents only. By the middle of Sunday, we were out of signs. I hated having to tell out of staters no. If they are enthusiastic about the ticket you don’t want to throw a wet blanket on them, but the fact is a sign going to New York or New Jersey is a waste of a limited resource. Those states are solid Blue, and we have a chance to turn Pennsylvania red this election. I was happy most people were understanding about the need to keep the signs in-state.
A few people and their stories are surely a sign of the times, with electoral politics just getting outright nasty. I had dozens folks come up to us looking for a sign because the one they had put out was either stolen, destroyed or defaced. I guess Obama supporters motto is “If you can’t win fair, win through theft, vandalism and tresspassing. It’s the Chicago Way!” Our suggestion was to put vaseline on the parts of the sign that people would have to grab to pull it out of the ground. One woman came in with a thick New York accent, asking if she had wandered into a McCain party, screeching loudly, “McCain is a drain on the brain.” Once this woman realized she was at an antique gun show, rather than just an antique show, she decided to make a rather loud and obnoxious exit, yelling at me that “Sarah Palin owght to go back to Alaska on a dawg sled, pulling the sled becawse she’s a dawg,” followed by various other epitaphs. The woman looked like Amy Winehouse hit by a truck, so has obviously not heard about glass houses and stones. As much as gun owners can be frustrating at times, on the whole our people have better manners.
But before we get two congratulatory, there are at least three people in the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York) who do not yet realize that it’s not socially acceptable to say “There’s no way I’m voting for that n****r!” in a public place, to people who you don’t know, especially referring to a United States Senator. Not that it’s really acceptable in private either, but you’d expect even the ignorant would realize by now we don’t live in that world anymore, and it’s shameful we ever did. Once someone starts down that road, you stop talking to them, and move them along. This isn’t someone who’s help you want. There are plenty of reasons not to vote for Obama, but race isn’t one of them.
Catching Bad Guys
In the media, we here mostly about the stupid, illegal or incorrect things police do. We don’t often hear about the positive. Congrats to Officer Wagonsux (ha!).
Ed Rendell Does Something Right
You won’t often see NRA touting something Ed Rendell does, but he signed HB 1845 into law today. State park carry in Pennsylvania is now law, among other things. Previously in Pennsylvania DCNR regulations prohibited guns in parks, much like they prohibit alcohol. If you were caught with a concealed firearm in a state park, they could write you a citation and eject you from the park. Now the only off limits places in Pennsylvania are court houses, and possibly schools (schools are a legal gray area).
Words of Wisdom
Cam Edwards applies some Charlton Heston to the Joe the Plumber controversy. Remember folks, to the Obamatons, being successful and wanting to keep what you earn is controversial.
Quote of the Day
From Rightwingprof in the comments:
I wrote to ACORN and asked if they could register me in the 12th so I could vote for Bill, but I haven’t heard anything from them.
Bill Russel is the candidate running against John Murtha. Rightwingprof votes in Pennsylvania’s 5th district. I heard from a local activist that ACORN is registering people in Philadelphia and instructing them to leave the party affiliation blank, stating “Don’t worry about that. We’ll take care of that.” I don’t think I even have to give you two guesses to figure out which party they are filling in.
Felons for Obama
What better place to look for political support than our nation’s prisons. First with ACORN, and now this, we’re seeing the worst that big-city machine politics has to offer us. I’m glad to see the campaign distancing themselves from this particular outrage, but this is how city politics is played.
Philadelphia Tries Again
They introduce two new gun bills to City Council. One that closes a non-existent loophole in Pennsylvania Law:
Under legislation proposed by Council members Donna Reed Miller and Darrell L. Clarke, anyone reselling a gun would have have to run the sale through a licensed dealer, who would run a background check on the buyer.
A similar state law already exists, but critics say it is too narrow and has no effect on individuals selling guns to other individuals.
“We’re looking at all the avenues and cracks in the system,” Miller said.
There are no private sales of handguns in Pennsylvania. That is apparently a fact lost on City Council. I don’t know what loophole they think exists, but this is a non-starter and pretty clearly a violation of state preemption.
The other bill introduced yesterday would raise the city penalty for carrying a gun illegally from $300 to $1,900 and would allow police to confiscate a car driven by someone illegally carrying a gun – regardless of ownership of the car.
Careful you don’t leave a pistol in the glove box of your car if you lend it to someone. I oppose this law, because I think Civil Asset Forfeiture is wrong on principle. Doesn’t matter if a gun is involved or not. This is also a violation of state preemption.
Does the rule of law mean nothing to Philadelphia City Council? Sadly I think I know the answer already. How can they expect their residents to respect the law when they themselves refuse to?
Guess Who Doesn’t Win Brady Endorsement?
Congressman Patrick Murphy is not among the Brady list of endorsed candidates. Joe Sestak got one. So did Allyson Schwartz. Of course, the NRA rated him a D-. He’ll win no friends on the gun issue this election. This is what we call a poor political calculation.
There’s a lot to be gained by being pro-gun. A lot of the Tom Manion signs and bumper stickers around Bucks County were put up by my volunteers, or were given out by my volunteers. I have people phone banking for NRA endorsed candidates. We’ve been stuffing envelopes for Tom Manion and John McCain. This could all be working for you Pat, but now it’s working against you. Where are your throngs of volunteers, coordinators, and bloggers from CeaseFire PA or the Brady Campaign? Even if you hadn’t pissed them off too, there’s none to be had, because they aren’t a real grass roots movement.
We don’t ask for much Congressman Murphy, just that you vote consistently with the Second Amendment. But you don’t, so our support goes to your opponent. I am an independent, and a single issue activist. I have no special love for the Republican Party. But I definitely don’t have any love for you when you sign on to ban the guns I shoot with competitively.
Forks of the Delaware
We’ll be working one last gun show this weekend up in Allentown. I had thought that the show two weeks ago would be our last before the election, but this looked like a big show, and our NRA endorsed candidates need the most help in the Northeastern part of Pennsylvania, which this show should draw from. We have a whopping 500 McCain/Palin signs to distribute. That’s a lot of lawns that will be helping drive the perception that McCain support is growing in Pennsylvania.
The show is run by the Forks of the Delaware Historical Arms Society. If anyone wants to come out to this one, it’ll be at the Allentown Fairgrounds. Directions are here. Our table should be right at the entrance.