;)
The Commentariat -- Dec. 31, 2014
Internal links, graphic removed.
Jackie Calmes & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday expressed 'full confidence' in Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 3 Republican leader in the House, as he sought to quell a racially charged controversy shaking the party after Mr. Scalise confirmed that he had addressed a white supremacist group a dozen years ago.... At nearly the same time, Mr. Scalise released a statement disavowing the group of white supremacists he spoke to in 2002, when he was a state representative.... The spokesman for Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, [earlier in the day] wrote on Twitter that Mr. Boehner's 'silence on Scalise' was 'another example of his consistent failure to stand up to extreme GOP elements.'" ...
... Ed O'Keefe & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Some Republicans praised Boehner for his actions, expressing their eagerness to start the new Congress in a position of strength to fully exploit their gains in the midterm elections. But others worried about the potential political fallout...." ...
... Jeff Singer of Daily Kos: "There's a good reason why Boehner would want Scalise to stick around, warts and all. As Politico's Jake Sherman notes, Boehner has his own leadership election a week from now. While he is favored to stay on as speaker, conservative activists are making noise about unseating him. RedState's Erick Erickson is claiming that anti-Boehner forces in the House have close to the number of votes they need to deny him another term, or at least embarrass the speaker by sending him to a second ballot. Even if Erickson is bluffing, Boehner won't want to take any chances, especially after his surprisingly close call in the 2013 speakership race." ...
... Alex Pappas of the Daily Caller: "Though ousting Boehner is seen as a long shot endeavor, the hope of the [ultra-conservative] anti-Boehner bloc is for enough Republicans to deny Boehner a majority of the vote, which would cause him to drop out of the race." ...
... Brian Beutler: "There's a problem with southern Republican politics if an up-and-coming star stumbles heedless into a white supremacist convention in the course of his constituent outreach, and then doesn't notice the mistake for more than a decade." Beutler also reminds us why Scalise is in a top leadership position: "... by beating [then-Majority Leader Eric] Cantor [(R.Va.), Tea Partier David] Brat shook up the leadership hierarchy in the House, and spooked the remaining leaders into welcoming one of those hardliners into their ranks as a token. That token was Steve Scalise." ...
... Charles Pierce: "... the Republican party — and the Movement conservatism that is its only life force -- once again faces the same choice it has faced since that day in 1964, when Strom Thurmond blew the trumpet and led his supporters out of the bondage of the party of equal rights. It can look at Steve Scalise and see that its success is that of the Political Party Of Dorian Grey. Steve Scalise is the public face. But, up in the corner of the attic, there's a portrait of the rotting, decomposing corpse of Strom Thurmond, the decay deepening with every election won by the tactics he so completely pioneered." ...
... Tail Wags Dog. CW: John Boehner, dear friends, has made his choice. He's going with Strom. Never has a "leader" been so afeard of his followers. ...
... Yay! Hannity Has My Back. Cliven Bundy's former BFF Sean Hannity, told Breitbart News that John Boehner should "step aside for the good of the country and the conservative movement." Hannity prefers to see the House speakership go to the fellow to the right -- way to the right -- here. Via Mediaite. ...
... Up Jumped the Devil in a White Nightgown. Brett Logiurato of Fusion: "Duke was rather flabbergasted by the new focus on Scalise. He said he has hosted both Democratic and Republican legislators at everything from conferences to his children's birthday parties. He said he has met with Democratic legislators at least 50 times in his political life. And he delivered a warning to both Republicans and Democrats: Treat Scalise fairly, and don't try to make political hay out of the situation. Or he said he would be inclined to release a list of names of all the politicians -- both Republicans and Democrats -- with whom he has ties." Via Mediaite. ...
... Here's a new & different narrative. Betsy Woodruff of Slate: "Kenny Knight is a longtime associate of David Duke..., said on Tuesday that it's 'totally incorrect' to say Scalise spoke at that convention.... According to Knight, the EURO conference was slated to start in the early afternoon," but he rented the room beginning earlier in the day & arranged for Scalise, a parish firefighter & a Red Cross rep to address the Jefferson Heights Civic Association, which "was largely comprised of elderly people who lived in his and Scalise's neighborhood.... Though that event was in the conference's hospitality room, it wasn't at all related to the EURO event, he said." ...
... Nonetheless, Knight told the Washington Post, "Now, at the time, I was a prominent person in state politics. I was on the radio, I was doing campaigns. Steve knew who I was, but I don't think he held it against me. He knew I lived by his street and that I was active in our community." And according to David Duke, "I think Scalise would talk to Kenny because he recognized how popular I was in his own district. He knew that knowing what I was doing and saying wouldn't be the worst thing politically. Kenny would keep Scalise up to date on my issues." CW: If these guys are telling the truth, Scalise is either a flat-our liar himself, or -- to put him the best light -- he was using his association with these reprehensible men to advance his own political career. This is the person in whom John Boehner has "full confidence."
Ross Barkan of the New York Observer: (Link here.) "The balcony threat. The time spent in the bar bathroom. The guilty plea. House Speaker John Boehner, who reportedly pressured Congressman Michael Grimm to announce his resignation early this morning, said he still appreciated what Mr. Grimm, a fellow Republican, brought to the table in his brief, chaotic tenure as Staten Island's representative in Washington. 'Rep. Grimm made the honorable decision to step down from his seat in Congress,' Mr. Boehner said in a statement today. 'I know it was made with the best interests of his constituents and the institution in mind, and I appreciate his years of service in the House.'" CW: If only David Duke had showed more support for Grimm, Mikey might not have had to resign. ...
... The Continued Excellence of the Grand Old Party. Ross Barkan: "Congressman Michael Grimm's resignation is set to clear the way for a controversial Staten Island District Attorney to run for office with the Republican establishment's support, GOP sources say. Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island district attorney who most recently failed to secure an indictment in the Eric Garner case, is lining up support behind-the-scenes for a bid to replace Mr. Grimm. And Mr. Donovan, well-liked by the borough's Republican machine, is a front-runner to win the backing of the Staten Island Republican Party in a special election that will likely be held sometime next year, sources say." ...
... Patrick McGeehan & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times name some others who may run for Grimm's seat.
Luckily Republicans Still Have the Same Great Ideas They've Had for Decades. John Harwood of the New York Times runs down a number of ways various liberals & conservatives propose to reduce income inequality. "... the most popular conservative idea for boosting incomes is overhauling corporate taxation." You got that right: cutting corporate taxes is the GOP's plan for reducing income & wealth inequality. Thirty years after trickle-down economics theory proved as disastrous as its critics predicted, Republicans are still trying to sell the policy as a great equalizer. (That's partly what Paul Ryan's "dynamic scoring" is about -- pretending that cutting taxes on the rich will boost the economy so much that tax revenues will actually increase.)
New York Times Editors: "Many members of the New York Police Department are furious at Mayor Bill de Blasio and, by extension, the city that elected him. They have expressed this anger with a solidarity tantrum, repeatedly turning their backs to show their collective contempt. But now they seem to have taken their bitterness to a new and dangerous level -- by walking off the job.... This action is repugnant and inexcusable. It amounts to a public act of extortion by the police.... The Police Department ... needs to police itself. Rank-and-file officers deserve a department they can be proud of, not the insular, defiant, toxically politicized constituency that [Police Benevolent Association president Patrick] Lynch seems to want to lead." ...
... Joan Walsh of Salon: For the NYPD, & for a lot of white New Yorkers, 2014 is the 1970s all over again. "O'Reilly, Hannity and a defiant NYPD are fighting battles of 50 years ago. The chaos [of the 70s] ended but the backlash endures." ...
... If you want to see what's wrong with the NYPD, watch this video Haley S. linked in today's comments. You can watch the first 30 seconds or so to get a flavor of the gag, which is cute, then cursor to 2:25 min. in if you don't have time to watch the whole thing:
... P.S. Cops white, performer black. Pure coincidence. ...
... TMZ: "TMZ has learned NYPD has opened an investigation into the incident. What's unclear is why Alexander chose to pull this stunt four days after two NYPD officers were assassinated. Not a bright move." ...
... CW: Really? Two officers were murdered days before, & that's a justification for police brutality? I'll admit I probably wouldn't pull this around law enforcement officers on the chance I might interfere with their duties. But the video suggests these cops were doing what my husband always said NYPD cops did best: "Standing around talking about their girlfriends."
Burgess Everett of Politico: "President Barack Obama will not renominate controversial Georgia judicial nominee Michael Boggs to the federal bench in 2015, according to the state's two Republican senators. Boggs drew widespread opposition from Senate Democrats, including Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, for his record as a Georgia state legislator on gay marriage, abortion and the Confederate flag." The GOP senators still support Boggs. Of course.
Kate Zernicke & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "It may amount to little more than ceremony, but efforts are underway in New York and New Jersey to try to override vetoes by the governors of legislation that sought to curb patronage and political interference at the Port Authority.... While Republicans supported the legislation, they have never supported an override of Mr. Christie, who is known for enforcing strict party discipline."
Washington Post Editors: "Having convincingly made that principled case against capital punishment, it's time for [Gov. Martin] O'Malley [D-Md.] to follow through by commuting the sentences of the four men who remain on Maryland's death row before he leaves office Jan. 21.... Ever since a state court ruled in 2006 that Maryland's procedures for lethal injections were unconstitutional, the state has lacked a valid regulatory scheme to carry out executions. And, having abolished capital punishment last year, it cannot now implement regulations to carry out a punishment that no longer is authorized by law."
Today in American Greed
Heart of Darkness. Marianne Levine of Politico: Former Enron trader and Texas billionaire John Arnold is the dark money go-to guy on efforts to "reform" public pensions; i.e., turn them into decidedly less generous 401(k) plans. "Arnold's critics ... question his fitness to evangelize for pension austerity, given that he made his fortune at a company that in its 2001 collapse wiped out $2 billion of its own employee pension funds and cost public employees whose pension funds invested in Enron an additional $1.5 billion. 'We're talking about a former Enron executive who profited off a bankruptcy that destroyed the retirement savings of millions of hard-working Americans,' says Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers." CW: Unfortunately, Arnold, like the billionaire Koch brothers, et al., will never have a Scrooge moment where he confronts the errors of his ways. By today's standards, "Dickensian" is a term of great expectations that will go unrealized.
Marc Tracy & Tim Rohan of the New York Times: "After taking a sociology exam, Cardale Jones, a quarterback at Ohio State, posted a message on Twitter that echoed across college sports: 'Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.' Two years after publishing that provocative statement, Jones will be the starting quarterback on Thursday against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, the second semifinal game of college football's new playoff system -- and his words have renewed relevance. Never has the sport been so awash in money, a growth industry on campuses that some observers believe increasingly resembles professional football more than higher education."
Slacktivist Nation. Dana Milbank: "I watched the Christmas Day opening of 'The Interview,' to show North Korea that I wasn't afraid of its threats to blow up theaters that screen the parody of Kim Jong Un.... My patriotic gesture was a form of Slacktivism -- a uniquely American form of engagement in which statements are made without any real sacrifice.... This can be traced back to September 2001, when President George W. Bush launched wars without calling for sacrifice from Americans -- other than to spend money." Milbank suggests expanding youth national service. "... most service programs have been frozen or cut in recent years, as Congress refuses President Obama's requests for them."
Today in Gun Violence. NBC News: "A two-year-old child fatally shot his mother at an Idaho Walmart after the toddler reached into the woman's purse and discharged a concealed weapon, police said." A somewhat more detailed Los Angeles Times story, by Lauren Raab, is here. CW: It is heartbreaking to see someone die just for being stupid, but that is what happened here.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd., Gaffe Edition. Chuck Todd explains Sunday Show "journalism" to comedians:
Lewis Black: I have watched you and everybody else where somebody comes on. I don't know how you do it. Because I would be barking at them. Because they sit there and go 'glib glib [blah blah]' and you sit there.
Chuck Todd: We all sit there because we all know the first time we bark is the last time we do the show.... All of a sudden, no one will come on your show.
... CW: That's right. If the host insults guests -- no matter how big a lie the guests tell -- the "journalist"/host lets it pass because s/he wants these lying dirtbags to appear on the show again. By design, then, the Sunday Showz eschew rudimentary journalism. Yes, we knew that. But isn't it nice to hear a Sunday Show star admit that these shows are shams? Via Egberto Willies of Daily Kos.
News Ledes
oston Globe: "The trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of orchestrating the Boston Marathon bombings, will begin January 5 after a federal judge rejected the defense's request to postpone the trial. US District Judge George A. O'Toole also denied the defense's request to move the trial to another district."
CCTV: "At least 35 people are dead, and 43 are injured during a New Year's celebration on the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai. Sina News has reported that masses of crowds in Chen Yi Square on the Bund led to the stampede. The Shanghai government reported that the stampede started at 11:35 pm local time. Authorities are working now to rescue and aid wounded."
New York Times: "The United States transferred five detainees from the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Kazakhstan, the Defense Department announced late Tuesday. It was the last in a flurry of year-end moves as President Obama sought to fulfill his promise to close the American-run prison. The five former detainees -- three Yemenis and two Tunisians -- are 'free men' for all intents and purposes after the transfer, a senior official in the Obama administration said. Officials declined to disclose the security assurances reached between the United States and Kazakhstan or detail how the men would be prevented from returning to battlefields in Afghanistan or Pakistan."
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Reader Comments (16)
The following link appears to be pretty lite stuff that is not usual for RC. Please watch it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6sbCzXQsVoQ
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/us/walmart-shooting-by-2-year-old.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&_r=1
This is hard to believe. What kind of gun is so easy for a 2-year old to fire? Of course the woman bears out the statistic that you're more likely to be shot with your own gun by a family member than by an outsider. When will they ever learn?
I can't help wondering if Chucky T. was making a lame excuse for his reluctance to confront guests. The people who frequent these soporific Sunday shows love to be front and center and I seriously doubt whether a query by a host as to the truth of a matter would matter to them. But good excuse, Chucky, for piss poor performance.
Hugo LaFayette Black, poor boy from Alabama pulled himself up by those old boot straps and managed to serve in the US senate from 1927-1937 and was then on the Supreme court from 1937–1971. While Black was running for the senate seat he joined the Klan––felt he had to have the backing of the Klan in order to win––said he would have done anything to get the votes, to get that senate seat. FDR nominated him for the S.C. with the full knowledge of the past affiliation with the Klan.
The shooting by a two year old boy of his mother is sickening. For the rest of his life he will carry that burden. Goddamn these guns!
I found this sentence from the post regarding the Staten Island congressional vacancy amusing:
"Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island district attorney who most recently failed to secure an indictment in the Eric Garner case, is lining up support behind-the-scenes for a bid to replace Mr. Grimm."
When you "fail" (wink) to get an indictment against a white cop for murdering a black man in some quarters, it's not viewed as a negative. And it wasn't really a failure, if by that we mean unintentional.
College football has never had anything to do with education. 52 years ago I was a teaching assistant at SUNY Buffalo one semester biology course (one semester means it was less than high school content). I got called to the professors office. One of the students was having a problem. He was represented by the football head coach. The professor tells the coach that the course is simple, all the student has to due is read the textbook. The coach says that the student doesn't do well reading (at the State UNIVERSITY). And the coach essentially asks the professor to make sure the student, who happens to play football passes the course. I mean after all the professor's primary responsibility is football.
Then last year at my last position at Rutgers University I had to watch as the administration stole $19 million from academia to fund its primary purpose, football and I am willing to bet that if a faculty member won a Noble prize, they wouldn't use a dime to give them a raise.
I think that sums up America's 'higher' education.
I suppose comedians like Lewis Black have always been able to get away with saying things some journalists and pundits are afraid to mention (think of the fool in King Lear), but Upchuck Todd's simpering acknowledgment of his impotence as an interlocutor and general fecklessness as a journalist is still a pretty stunning admission.
Todd has been presented as a political junkie whose knowledge of the inside baseball of Washington politics would make him an excellent choice to host MTP. But all that knowledge is only useful if you're going to use it to challenge guests who come on purely to lie and spin and tell the tale their way. What good is a political junkie if all you get is political junk?
Another reason for Upchuck's reticence to confront the habitual liars who drag their sorry carcasses up to his desk every week can be found in who is holding his leash.
Luke Mullins, in the Washingtonian, a week or so ago, published a fascinating look at what happened behind the scenes at NBC prior to little Chucky being crowned chief shithead at MTP. Highly recommended.
NBC's new owner, Comcast, looks at MTP and the other news shows as key to their plan to expand their corporate holdings. By ingratiating themselves with Washington poobahs like Eric Cantor and pols who might have a say in their proposed merger with Time Warner, Comcast sees no upside in upsetting DC royalty. To help prop up their corporate bets, they brought in a political fixer, David Cohen, a fixture among Washington insiders, who showed them the ropes and all the right buttons to push. This made NBC staffers nervous, thinking that Comcast's maneuvers "...had less to do with making high-quality TV than with pleasing the institutions journalists are supposed to be out covering."
Then the merger was announced, a massive corporate deal that would require delicate handling to assure congressional approval:
"All Comcast needs, once again, is Washington’s blessing. Which is why Meet the Press, the company’s marquee Beltway property, is not just another show."
NBC brought in Deborah Turness, a British news editor at ITV to shake things up. Her ideas for "improving" MTP included a live band, a studio audience, celebrity guests, pre-produced segments, and putting newspapers on Gregory's desk to make it look....shit, I don't know....journalisticky?
In the end though, she and NBC opted for the safe choice. A mousey quisling who will never, as he himself admits, "bark at guests" for fear they might not return.
And that Comcast might be pissed.
2015 is sure to be enlightening.
P.S. Interestingly, one reason given for the Firing of Fuzzy was the dismal 3rd place ratings of MTP. When Upchuck took over, NBC arranged for him to interview the president. The ratings went back to 1st place. The next week, and every week since, it's been back to the cellar. Good job, Chucky! Keep those liars coming.
And speaking of liars...
I see a link, above, that offers the chance to read piece of shit Sean Hannity interviewed on conservative toilet bowl, Breitbart. A meeting of the minds, no doubt. I noted that Hannity is whining about John Boehner needing to step down for "the sake of the country and the conservative movement."
Were he less an inveterate liar, he would have left out the reference to the country. It would be more honest.
Barbarossa,
I read the article but I wish I hadn't.
Christ, these fucking people! What is it, 1845 out there? Oh, yeah, "Guns are part of our culture out here in Idaho, so really, there's nothing we can do, and yeah it sucks that that woman was shot to death in the Wal Mart, but hey, that's the price you pay for FREEEEDOM". Great. And then I read that they just fixed the laws to make it clear that all those people carrying loaded weapons in Idaho, because they maybe think a band of savages, it being 1845 and all, will attack at any minute, have the right to open fire if they feel it necessary.
Are these people insane?
No doubt the NRA will put that mother's picture on their Hall of Fame wall of dead gun worshipers, and as you say, that poor little boy will have to grow up without his momma and when he's old enough, understand that he shot her.
Happy fucking New Year, all you gun fondling assholes. Starting tonight at midnight, the clock will be restarted on a brand new year of unnecessary gun deaths, school shootings, accidental shootings, drunken shootings, idiots walking around CVS waving pistols and semiautomatic rifles in shoppers' faces, and thousands more people dead who should have lived out the year and been able to go home and fix dinner for their kids or watch them swing a bat or read a new book, or enjoy birthday parties.
Fucking hell.
When I was a child, it was extremely common for young families to have guns in the house. Most of the fathers of kids I knew had been in the military, & one way or another, the servicemen brought backs guns from their soldiering days. My mother told me my father had a gun. I never once saw it.
We learned at home, in school, on Saturday morning kiddie TV shows (as I recall), to "never touch a gun." There were no caveats, like "unless crazy Uncle Joe takes you out to target practice." Just don't touch the sucker.
Some kids did get BB-guns when they were about 12 or 14, but it was kind of class thing; it was low-status to have a gun. We were given to understand somehow (through osmosis? A tut-tut? I don't recall) that only rubes had guns.
I wonder what kind of gun safety education kids get in school today. I expect the "never touch a gun" lessons we learned would be verboten in NRA-merica.
Marie
@Akhilleus. The funny thing about Chucky Cheese there is that he wrote a book that was apparently a complete hit job on the one guy who gave him an OTO ratings bump.
So, no, Chuck wouldn't say anything to the guests' faces, but if there was money in it for him, he'd whack them behind their backs to the point that even the President's daughter had heard Chuck's book was crap. I don't think the guy Chuck skewered will be coming back anytime soon to do him another favor.
Marie
My memory is fading, but I do recall when watching the Sunday morning talk shows was a regularly scheduled routine at our house, following reading assorted Sunday papers while enjoying a Blood Mary or two. Perhaps it is all fuzzy what with time that has passed (and maybe the vodka!!), but programs usually were interesting and topical.
After Russert took over MTP it was different. It changed. He changed. From a former WH correspondent who appeared to raise hard queries in the past—to a guy running for class president. Yep, a likable guy. Too likable. Too accommodating. Remember saying to my husband back then...'why always the big grin when he asks a question?" It was as if "golly-gosh-gee I hate to ask this-but-viewers-you-know-want-to-know" in that overly-apologetic tone so as not to offend. Chuck Todd has learned well and is simply following in his footsteps.
Recently reminded about what these shows could be as I watched "Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia" on Netflix. Who can forget the fireworks of sparring with Bill Buckley and Norman Mailer! I can't think of anyone who equals Vidal in bringing wit and intelligence to a political discussion.
When was the last time I watched a Sunday morning show? Decades ago, actually. Only thing I miss is the eleven a.m. Bloody Mary!
So WHO is actually watching today? The ratings tell of a much reduced audience for these shows. Probably just for John McCain and family, the Beltway choir—or the bloggers and pundits who write about these disasters each Monday. Thanks to CW, Driftglass, and others who suffer through the hours. Especially to Charlie Pierce, for his gobshites update on Mondays. His motto could be: "I watch so that you don't have to."
Happy New Year to one & all! Because 2015 is already promising to be a doozy!
Marie,
Just walk into any of those Wal Marts that offer incredibly realistic looking toy guns for little kids. I don't think "don't touch a gun" is heard very often anymore. Where I live, kids often get their own real guns while still pretty young. The gun/weapon culture is so pervasive here that the toy guns are handed out like candy before kids are 4 years old. I heard last week that a couple of 4 year olds were presented with crossbows for Christmas. Granted, they fire darts (at pretty high velocity), but crossbows? For 4 year olds? Are you fucking kidding me? I think in many instances, handing out weapons, either real or very realistic, to children, is a way of saying "fuck you" to progressives and, of course, Obama. "My kid can shoot my wife, just to stick it to that boy in the White House!"
And even though the gun fondlers claim that kids killing people accidentally almost never happens, according to ohhshoot.blogspot.com/, it happened three times in one week this past November. I guess that qualifies as almost never.
I'm sure there are responsible gun owners who teach gun safety and keep their weapons unloaded and locked up in the house, but there are way too many people like that mom who walk around all day with loaded weapons in easy reach of anyone. Not to mention the fact that, despite gun nut claims to the contrary, guns can go off when dropped. It's interesting to see the howls of anger on websites where this is mentioned even as a possibility. The indignation is palpable. "Guns can NOT go off on their own. Someone is LYING!!" I mean, these people are nuts.
Au contraire, dear weapons loonies, as this site points out, it can, and does happen. I also read (and verified) that guns are the only consumer products made in the US that are NOT regulated by any federal agency for safety. Let me say that again: NOT regulated for SAFETY.
In fact, by law, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is forbidden to regulate or issue recalls for guns that prove to have safety flaws (like firing when dropped). The Consumer Product Safety Act, as amended in 1976, says: " "The Consumer Product Safety Commission shall make no ruling or order that restricts the manufacture or sale of firearms, firearms ammunition, or components of firearms ammunition including black powder or gunpowder for firearms." We regulate lawn darts (seriously!) but not guns. Makes sense to me, how 'bout you?
But to hear the gun nuts tell it, they are regulated up the ying yang. I guess it must be all that bartering with the twitchy guy with "Molon Labe" tattooed on his forehead selling weapons out of his trunk that makes them think some sort of regulation is in effect.
My uncle had a gun when I was a kid. He was in the service during Korea. But like you, I never saw it. I wonder what those guys would think about these yahoos who strut about near playgrounds, waving their weapons about for all to see.
And fear. Because isn't that what this is all about?
MAG,
I think the only way to get through the Sunday morning blowhard extravaganzas these days is with a giant pitcher of Bloody Marys. And for my money, you can hold the tomato juice.
Re; guns are tools for fools and tools are fools for guns. I swore I would never comment about guns again sometime ago because aguing with idiots is a waste of time. Here I go again.
What kind of a fool would carry a handgun, loaded, on ready fire, in a purse? A dead one. Sure I feel sorry for the fool. Same sorrow I feel for the jackass that passes me on the freeway going 110 in a blinding rainstorm and I come across the smoldering wreckage at the next turn. Sorry, you failed common sense one o one.
The auto fool and the gun fool, what's the difference? Class? Anyone?
The auto fool has to register his car once a year, take classes on how to use her car, pass a written test to be licensed to use her car. Obey clearly stated rules and regulations concerning the use of his car and respect other users of cars as well.
The gun fool, none of the above.
I am willing to go out on a limb here and bet the dead gun fool's husband bought her the gun for her safety. That was money well spent.
Here, my little love bunny, a pocket pistol, that thumb switch that toggles up and down from red dot to white dot? Means nothing. Close your eyes and squeeze. Now you're safe.
Fools.
@JJG: not to raise your ire even further, but apparently the sensible expansion of background checks passed by Washington state voters just a month and a half ago is being challenged in Federal court by an assortment of gun lobby groups.
Because nothing says freedom like a dead mom on the floor at Wal Mart.