Quote of the Day

From Countertop:

There are lots of reasons for the Republican’s defeat. Some real (they lost their way, they renegged on term limit pledges, Schiavo, runaway earmarks) Some false (Iraq) but one thing which really did drive them to lose, and I have no doubt, is the shit thats peddled on Fox News. If you don’t listen to anything else I ever write, just remember this – Fox News (or at least their prime time “political debate” programs) are about the least intellectual thing on TV. I can’t think of a worst example of folks without a clue of how D.C. works or whats actually going on around here actually fooling people into paying attention to their contrived talking points.

Interesting theory, but I’m curious as to how exactly this has hurt the Republicans? I agree completely with his statement here, but don’t quite make the connection to electoral failure. My first choice for where to lay blame would be evangelical voters who think as long as a guy loves Jesus, he’s OK by them.

Victimized Twice Law Appears in Maryland

Because one-gun-a-month apparently didn’t do much for Baltimore’s stratospheric violent crime rate, the City is going back to the Legislature for more:

Dixon also wants to require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 72 hours of discovering their disappearance or face misdemeanor criminal charges. The idea is to allow prosecutors to punish people who are careless with their weapons or knowingly loan them out for nefarious purposes.

“All too often we trace guns used in horrible crimes back to owners who claim their guns were stolen,” Dixon said.

Let me paraphrase this, so you know what they really mean:

Dixon also wants to require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 72 hours of discovering their disappearance or face misdemeanor criminal charges. The idea is to allow prosecutors to punish people who are careless with their weapons own a gun or knowingly loan them out because the only reason for owning them is for nefarious purposes.

“All too often we trace guns used in horrible crimes back to owners who claim their guns were stolen,” Dixon said, “Pretty clearly anyone who claims their gun was stolen is a liar and should go to jail.”

Yeah, that’s I think a bit closer to what they would say behind your back. Ignorance of the law is no defense for this “crime”. It will result in perfectly law abiding people ending up in jail, which is exactly the point.

UPDATE: David Codrea makes the point:

And, of course, you can’t compel a criminal–you know, the folks causing all the problems– to report his gun lost or stolen, because that would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self -incrimination.

True.  War on Guns has been pointing out that angle for a while, and I was remiss not to mention that here.

Change Won!

The great thing about the Democratic Primary, no matter who wins, change won.  Both Hillary and Obama are now touting themselves as the candidates of change.   I’m just wondering how long it takes for people to take a serious look and realize that both candidates are peddling the same socialist gift basket the Democrats have been trying to push on us since the 1960s.

Go McCain!?!?

John McCain sucks, which is why when I found myself rather happy that he won New Hampshire, rather than Mr. Satan Hair, I soon had to ask myself what this country is coming to, that I’m now happy a man I said I’d never vote for is poised to make a come back. But yeah, I’ll get on the McCain Train if the alternative is Romney or Mr. Jesus Preacher.

You can stick a fork in Fred folks. I say that because New Hampshire voters should have been receptive to his ideas, and it’s not like he ignored the state like Rudy did. Countertop isn’t feeling it for Fred either anymore:

Its sad. I’ve tried hard, I wasted money, I’ve reached out to folks at all levels of his campaign (from Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to former hill staffers, law partners, neighbors, etc) and I’ve been unable to get past any “initial enthusiasm.”

Its a scam. As if he signed all these people up and assumed they would work with no direction.

We are electing a leader, if he wants it, Thompson needs to lead

It’s a legitimate criticism. I like Thompson’s philosophy on government, a lot, but it won’t make a whit of difference if he can’t get his act together. My fear at this point is the non-evangelical faction of the Republican Party fractures on multiple candidates, and hands the nomination to Huckabee, who has evangelicals locked up.

I think the more libertarian leaning factions of the Republican coalition need to start thinking about getting behind a single candidate, otherwise we might hand the nomination to Huckleberry.

Gun Bills Passed In New Jersey

The gun bills passed in New Jersey, unfortunately.  But ANJRPC and NRA worked very hard to make them less awful then they were in the original version.  That’s probably the best that can be hoped for in New Jersey.   I’m hearing Corzine signed it.

Senator Crapo’s Hold

Senator Crapo explains the hold he’s put on the Sullivan confirmation:

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Acting Director Sullivan to inform him of multiple concerns that I have had in recent years with BATFE treatment of small firearms dealers. Mr. Sullivan conveyed his belief that BATFE is fair and impartial in its treatment of these businesses, and only revokes federal firearms licenses when it has no other options. I am not satisfied with Mr. Sullivan’s response.

I’m not pleased either.  The question is, will he look into this for real or keep pretending there’s no problem?  I have no doubt this is what his underlings are telling him, but pretty clearly he’s not too interested in digging deeper.  Sullivan remains in charge of the ATF even with his confirmation on hold, so I don’t know how much incentive he’s going to have to kowtow.