Help Heller Holler Harder

Oleg Volk is trying;



I am trying to help Dick Heller with raising funds for more legal mischief in DC.


I may be a good idea to assist Heller in piling on, as you are able.  The more the anti rights bigots, cowards, liars and charlatans in Washington have to contend with, the better.  They are getting desperate now, seeing their Big Chance slipping away after so many generations of careful plotting and planning to spoil this great experiment that is America.  The more these kinds of straight-up contests (the Heller kind) are made public, the more the forces of evil lose their control, and they know it.  They are afraid, and they will do some very stupid things as a result.


See; right here– This is why the beast hates the internet and lusts for control of it.

Quote of the day—Exodus

Meredith strikes me as the kind of person who reads dystopian novels as though they were instruction manuals.

I mean… that’s some serious “keep you up at night scary” reprogramming she’s advocating.

Exodus
January 28, 2011
Comment to Quote of the day—Meredith.
[Yup.

I think it is because they don’t have any sense of history or they believe the big lie that “if only the right people were in charge”. They just don’t understand that, in the most simplistic terms, all power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely and that every class is unfit to govern.—Joe]

The Smart People Should be Running Everything

That’s the assertion of all leftists (communists, socialists, Fascists, Nazis, the KKK, Progressives, or whatever it is they prefer to be called this week).  Here’s one of the super duper smart people (Chuck Schumer) discussing the horrible things (naturally) that will ensue if the socialists don’t get their way, and the Three Branches of Government that all have to get along.  Rather than imbed the video, I link to Schumer’s comment here, to show that Reasoned DiscourseTM has broken out on YouTube (at the time of the this post, comments are turned off there).


To summarize the ultrasmart senator’s comments; our creditors want us to go farther in debt, and the three branches of government are the House, Senate, and the President.  Oh; and we have to “…pay the debt ceiling…”  Well it’s good to know that the smart people are in charge of ordering us around.  I’d hate to be pushed around by a fool.


This, says I, is why we can’t allow the smart people the power to make our decisions for us.  Don’t tell anyone (it may be too uncomfortable for some of the sensitive types) but some people are so stupid that they actually believe they’re smarter than most everyone else.  What is it that’s said of those who have such problems– that they’re usually the last to know?


I suppose New Yorkers like Schumer because he brings them lots of booty.  Or they think he does.

Banning books

It makes as much sense as banning imported guns.

We really need to get rid of the “sporting purpose” language in our laws in regards to firearms. I would think the Heller decision would make that relatively easy.

‘Our Progressive Health Care Bill is Better Than Theirs’

Maybe you thought the newly elected Republicans would move to get government’s meddling, grubby hands out of the health care industry.


Think again, suckers.


How many times must we be treated to silver hairspray dude trying to act as though he genuinely believes what he’s saying?  That guy didn’t make it two and a half minutes without an edit, and he was reading from a prompter.  This is our leadership?  It’s an insult.


The least they could do is get these phonies a few more acting lessons, so when they’re bullshitting us to death, at least they’d do a good job of it.  I really wonder who it is they think will find that video appealing.  I think that guy came right off the set of the Lawrence Welk Show.


If you’re figuring on politics to help reverse this encroaching socialism, you’d better be working more locally, because the national-level Republicans are up to the same old Progressive tricks.

Quote of the day—Thomas Paine

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.

Thomas Paine
[The individual that values his the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment must also protect the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment or everyone will discover the liberty secured by the 13th Amendment has been lost as well.

See also the nearly identical concept expressed by Alan Dershowitz.—Joe]

Compromise with THIS

I keep falling into the same mindset as many other people and perhaps even more so than most. When someone asks a question I take it at face value and try to answer the question. Then, if necessary, I attempt to explain the answer to them. In many cases this is completely the wrong approach. In the case of a confrontation with an anti-gun person if you are answering their questions you are losing.

Today Say Uncle hinted pretty strongly at the proper approach to suggestions magazine capacity should be restricted but I think that thought should be amplified.

When someone suggests the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms should be restricted the response should be a look of extreme incredulity and informing them that they should not act on that impulse. Such acts are illegal. People acting on them can and should be arrested and sent to prison. The same goes for politicians.

This is no different than someone proposing the right to freedom of association should be limited to those groups that pass a sporting purpose test and be restricted to ten people or less. After all you only need five people for a basketball team and ten people can make a baseball team. If you want to associate in groups larger than if can only mean you want to form an angry mob and riot. You don’t need to associate in larger groups than ten, right?

Now that the cards are on the table tell me we can find common ground and compromise on something “reasonable” for both sides.

Some of those same people are also advocating the repeal of the Second Amendment. I find this just as abhorrent as I would a suggestion of repealing the 13th Amendment. We fought a civil war over that issue and I would expect no less over the attempted repeal of the Second Amendment.

My position is that people advocating such actions apparently can’t handle freedom and should therefore seek the security of some place that allows them only that which they really need. Can’t we set up a charity to subsidize one-way tickets to North Korea for them? That is a compromise I could agree with.

Quote of the day—Marion Hammer

Every time you try to give people back their Second Amendment rights people go ballistic because you’re infringing on their turf. But they’re the ones infringing on the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

Marion Hammer
January 15, 2011
NRA’s lobbyist in Florida
From Florida’s solution to violence: MORE GUNS!!
[In the present context the people who “go ballistic” are a police chief and a prosecutor.

One should always be suspicious when government attempts to expand it’s powers. And one should be uncompromising when they desire to expand their powers at the expense of a specific enumerated right guaranteed by the Constitution.

If government officials complain when illegally obtained power is returned to the people to whom it belongs they should be given all the respect given to someone who complains when the stolen property they possessed is returned to it’s rightful owner.—Joe]

Rules are for other people

I am firmly of the opinion there are far too many laws, regulations, and rules in this country. I suspect the world would be a better place if about 99% of them did not exist. I wouldn’t even be surprise if 50% of them could go away and no one would even notice they were gone. That said, I still obey nearly all of them I am aware of. I pay all my taxes. I try to stay within the speed limit and store my explosives as per the advice the ATF gives me.

I can’t tell you how many times Barb and I have grumbled to each other that we must be stupid for following the rules or for not trying to scam the system in some way. She sees so many people in her work at the hospital who get free medical care at taxpayer expense. Many are drug (I include alcohol an tobacco as drugs) addicts or just find ways to get on disability when they actually could be productive members of society. Many of them demand to stay longer in the hospital and be taken care of. They refuse to get out of bed or to do the exercises that would help them become strong enough to walk on their own. They even show up drunk and unable to stand well enough to do their therapy without hurting themselves or their therapist. Your, and my, tax dollars are paying for all of this. And of course they all are firm believers in a government that takes care of them. They are lefties.

They should either follow the letter and the spirit of the rules that give them a free ride or they should be removed from the welfare system.

It turns out it’s not just the “little people” that ignore the rules and get away with abusing the system. A case in point is Arianna Huffington:

Huffington refused to turn off her Blackberry just before takeoff from Washington D.C. on a flight bound for New York City.  Huffington continued to use the phone during and after take-off which greatly antagonized a nearby fellow passenger.   Huffington kept the phone on throughout the flight even though the passenger, Ellis Bellodof, repeatedly asked her to turn it off.  Eventually, the two “caused a disturbance” so loud that security was called immediately after the plane landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, and both Huffington and Belledof were escorted off the plane for questioning.  Both were released without charges.

Now, I think the rule against using your cell phone on the plane is pretty stupid. To the best of my knowledge there is no evidence cell phone usage interferes with the planes electronics. And all of the recent airplane travel I have been on required that I not just put my phone into “Airplane mode” but actually turn the phone off. The only valid reason for that final rule is to make enforcement by the flight attendants a little bit easier. It’s far easier to see that a phone is off (it isn’t being used) than to verify the phone is in “Airplane mode”.

Despite thinking the rule is stupid I just frown a little bit and I turn off my phone when first asked to so. But this upper crust lefty, Arianna Huffington, does not obey this rule. That pisses me off. The airlines should either get rid of the rule (preferred) or refuse her service on their planes.

But what I think the bigger lesson here is that there are a lot of people on the left who make rules for “other people” yet don’t follow the rules that are supposed to apply to them. Case in point, legislators that advocate for restrictions on firearms. The Second Amendment is a “rule” they refuse to acknowledge. At the Federal level the enumerated powers of the constitution is ignored. Do you remember what Nancy Pelosi said when asked where the constitution gave the Federal government the power to implement the takeover of health care? She said, “Are you serious?” That pisses me off.

They are rule makers. If they don’t obey the rules how can they expect others to obey them except at the point of a gun? Is that why they want to remove guns from the public? Because the only reason they will obey the rules that supposedly apply to them is at the point of a gun?

Legislators, of any political persuasion, that ignore the highest rule of the land should either change the rules, leave the service of this country, or be removed from service—preferably in chains.

First and Second Amendment should be off the table

As you may know Pima Country Sheriff Clarence Dupnik claims Rush Limbaugh bears some responsibility for the shooting in Tucson this weekend:



The kind of rhetoric that flows from people like Rush Limbaugh, in my judgment he is irresponsible, uses partial information, sometimes wrong information,” Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said today. “[Limbaugh] attacks people, angers them against government, angers them against elected officials and that kind of behavior in my opinion is not without consequences.”


Limbaugh today railed against the media and Dupnik for trying to draw a link between the heated political climate and the shooting rampage, calling the sheriff a “fool.” But Dupnik stood by his assertions.


Others claim the sheriff bears the responsibility for not providing proper security for the Congresswoman:



If he would have done his job, maybe this doesn’t happen,” Republican state Rep. Jack Harper said in an interview Monday. “Sheriff Dupnik did not provide for the security of a U.S. congresswoman.


Here is what one of my “shooting buddies” said to Sheriff Dupnik:



From: Joe Durnbaugh
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 4:39 PM
Subject: Sheriff Dupnik


Here is the email I sent to the Pima County Sheriff yesterday (hope I don’t get on some watch list):
 
Dear Sheriff Dupnik,
I am a retired law enforcement officer, and I cannot understand how your public comments, as a law enforcement professional, contribute anything to civil discourse. If anything, your vitriolic and partisan comments do nothing but aggravate the political polarity in this country. You, sir, are an embarrassment to law enforcement. You should learn to shut your pie hole and keep your idiotic opinions to yourself. Please, do the residents of your county a favor and retire at the earliest opportunity!
 
Joe Durnbaugh


All the data is not in yet but it looks as if politics were essentially unrelated to the shooting. The political left appears to have jumped the gun (or Planck Time) and assigned blame prior to having facts supporting their preconceived notions.


I’ll have to think on this some more but it may be this shooting incident will bring into the spotlight a much more difficult question to answer than issues related to the First and Second Amendment. The issue is mental health. The simple answer is a mental health test for gun ownership.


But if someone isn’t mentally competent to possess a firearm are they any more competent to possess a can of gasoline and a book of matches? Here, here, and here are some attempts and successes at using gasoline for mass murders.


Or how about sharp objects? The Sharon Tate murders or Lizzie Borden probably will continue to have as much or more notoriety that the assassination attempt of Representative Giffords.


Attacks on the Bill of Rights should stay off the table but there may be some opportunity for “violence prevention” if a national discussion ensues over mental health.


Clayton Cramer brought this very topic up in April of 2009. Perhaps a discussion on the topic will find a way to reduce the risks without restricting our rights.

Gun cartoon of the day



The more accurate answer to the question is, “Respect for fundamental rights.” But that’s a topic the liberals want to repress.

Quote of the day—Selwyn Duke

Nothing that could reconcile the flat-out Marxist-Leninist Obama was in his college days with the man he supposedly is today.  There’s no one who says, “Yeah, he was a radical guy in his youth, and I just couldn’t believe how he became disenchanted with his old ideas.”  There are no stories about a great epiphany, an overseas trip that opened his eyes, or a personal tragedy that inspired growth.  There’s nothing to explain how a radical Marxist became a reasonable politician.  And if there is such an explanation, it’s the most elusive of missing links.

So could “it” happen here?  And is it really nutty to ask if, just maybe, it already has?

Selwyn Duke
December 28, 2010
The Missing Link in the Evolution of Barack Obama
[Via email from Ry.

Yes. “It” could happen here. It is happening here. Our governments are collapsing. I believe there are going to be a lot of people dying in the next decade or so. And all the while the Federal government will be grabbing more and more power and make the situation worse and worse.

I’m investing in land, explosives, brass, and copper-jacketed lead. What are you investing in?—Joe]

Quote of the day—H. L. Mencken

I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years. I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when the former is dangerous and the latter safe. I believe that the finest qualities of man can flourish only in free air – that progress made under the shadow of the policeman’s club is false progress, and of no permanent value. I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave.

H. L. Mencken
[I find it interesting that liberty was such a novel invention, such a fantastic success, and yet under such an unrelenting attack. It is as if people refuse to believe data. They prefer to believe in their imaginary world of the benevolent mother/nanny government despite all the data to the contrary. I can only conclude that rational thought is but a thin veneer over the true essence of human nature.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Milton Friedman

I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it is possible.

Milton Friedman
[It improves the economy, improves the conditions of the individual, and increases freedom.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Treborleeks

Please lawmakers, take away all my rights. I will be safe, then and only then. Your kind and benevolent actions are the only way I make it through the day. Your laws are always just and your wisdom shines above all others.

Feed me, clothe me, shelter me, amen.

Treborleeks
March 11, 2009
Comment to Gun control now!!!
[Slaves need to be properly cared for. And of course slaves should never be allowed to own firearms. That is the conclusion I keep coming back to when I read and listen to the advocates of gun control and other “liberal” political philosophies.—Joe]

(Mostly) First Shots

I met Rose through Oleg (who met her through Mike and Laurel last Spring) who got her into modeling.  She’d told Oleg she wanted to learn more about shooting, so he got her and me talking.  It took a while, but we got to the range this Monday.  It was cold, with several inches of snow on the ground, but we managed to get in a couple hours of trigger time.


We went through the safety rules, loading and unloading, manipulating the controls on a Ruger Mark II and a Daewoo DP-51 9 mm, stance, grip, sight picture, trigger control, some thoughts on anticipation (flinching), and follow-through.


Rose explained that since she is a boxer, she knows all about flinching and that it would not be a problem.  When you’re looking at getting punched in the face, you learn self control or it’s over quickly.  Good.  Shooting is very much a mental exercise.  I said that flinching is a problem for everyone, even experienced competitive shooters, and that I’ve seen a new shooter hit the ground halfway to a 10 yard target because of anticipation.


Well, her first ten rounds from the 22 auto all hit the 12″ square target, with one right in the center, from about 10 yards.  Pretty good for someone who’d only fired a pistol once, more than ten years ago.  It doesn’t always happen that way.  Usually we don’t even look at the first target, concentrating more on stance, grip and muzzle control.


She was pretty happy afterward, having hit all the 14 ounce vegetable cans with the 9 mm pistol.  We finished up with an UltiMAK equipped M1 30 Carbine, so she got introduced to the laser transmission hologram (this one had an Old Bushnell Holosight that we’d used for many years of testing at UltiMAK). 


Those vegetable cans didn’t stand a chance.


It was a pretty brief run-through, and Rose was visibly shivering from the cold, but she done good.  Though it is good practice in general, one would be well advised to treat her, especially, with respect.


I failed to tell her that she could be doing about as well at two and a half times the distance, with some more coaching and practice.  25 yards is the minimum distance in the pistol bays at the Kenmore Shooting Range, where I took my instructor training.  They teach beginners there too, and do well with it by all accounts.

Quote of the day—Jim G.

The constitution is too long.

It should have started with “Fuck you!” and ended with “Fuck you!” In the middle it should have said, “Provide for the common defense.”

The 1st Amendment should read, “Congress will make no law” and we are done.

Jim G.
December 14, 2010
[I had lunch with Jim. Instead of the usual gun control issues we were talking about the TSA and health care. This wasn’t even the portion of the conversation where the water I was drinking spurted out my nose.

Jim has some strong Libertarian leanings.—Joe]

If You’re Clueless, Take a Poll

The NRSC sent out a mass e-mail this week, linking to a web-site poll they have going.  Seriously, guys; you haven’t been listening all year?


It may just be that poll-taking is a pet peeve of mine, but really; if you came into the field (any field) not knowing what you want do and why you want to do it, why are you there at all?  You ran for office, in this case, and really, really wanted to win.  You spent tons of money and long hours getting elected, and now you don’t know why you’re there?  Whiskey…Tango…Foxtrot?


As usual, the poll questions are multiple choice, and as usual the answers could be easily interpreted in opposite ways, depending on the observer.  Unlike many polls however, there are places to enter comments.


They start with; “What do you think should be the first legislation addressed by the new Congress?”


There are four choices, plus “Other”.


I left them all blank and then entered this comment;



It’s really quite simple; if you understood the American Principles of Liberty, you wouldn’t need to take a poll.  The fact that you’re asking tells me you’re fishing for a position, trying to figure out what it is you should PRETEND to believe.  Crack a history book or two and figure it out, then run on those principles, actually stand for them in practice, and win big.


Then came; “Please rank in order of importance to you personally, the following issues” and there were nine choices, starting with abortion (really?) plus “other”.  I left them all blank, and filled in the next comment box;



Regarding #4; See, there you go again.  I don’t see liberty on the ballot.  Never have.  Hence the problem.  This isn’t rocket science, people.  Defeat the left.  Go for the jugular and drive them and their programs into political extinction.  Get Progressivism out of the Republican Party so we can win more elections, shrink the federal government (I mean real, meaningful contractions, and closure of departments) and “promote the general welfare” BY  PROMOTING LIBERTY.  It doesn’t work any other way.


Do we demand perfection immediately?  Of course not.  1; There is no such thing as perfection, and 2; things take time.  The point is; if you have the Ideals, you naturally trend toward them.  If you don’t have the Ideals, stand aside and make room for someone who does.


But after you submit the poll, you’re taken directly to a donation form.  Chances are, no one’s interested in the poll (it’s a piece of jr. high school crap anyway) so much as they’re interested in the raising of funds.


Here’s another (bonus) message for you Senate Republicans;



I’ll consider sending you money after I see some results.  I’m tired of supporting mushy, confused Republicans who can’t decide what it is they should pretend to stand for.  Been there, done that, and I’m never doing it again.


You know about all those eligible voters who sit out election after election?  Yeah; maybe that’s a clue you’re still not getting, and maybe, just maybe, it’s a sign that there are millions of votes available to someone who will, for once, actually stand for American ideals rather than simply jabbering about them during campaign season and hoping we’re still dumb enough to fall for it.  Time is running out.


Really?  You guys didn’t see the spontaneity and scale of the tea party movement?  You really didn’t understand a bit of it?

Random thought of the day

I wonder if future generations of children will play “TSA Agent” instead of “Doctor”.

Quote of the day—John P. Zenger

No nation ancient or modern ever lost the liberty of freely speaking, writing, or publishing their sentiments, but forthwith lost their liberty in general and became slaves.

John P. Zenger
[Read the article linked to. The context for this quote is not the least bit frivolous. His case established freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and jury nullification in this country. And Zenger died in 1746—30 years before the Declaration of Independence!—Joe]