The headline reads SF Leads Nation With Toughest Gun Control Law. It’s not true, Washington D.C. and Chicago are tougher with near complete bans on handguns and severe restrictions on long guns. But that’s not my main point. The headline could just as accurately be SF Bigots Implement Repressive Law Against a Minority but that might make the bigots feel bad about themselves.
Category Archives: Politics
Quote of the day–Martha Stout
A person without conscience, even a smart one, tends to be a short sighted and naive individual who eventually expires of boredom, financial ruin, or a bullet.
Martha Stout
The Sociopath Next Door
[At first I was rather depressed by the book. In the U.S. one in 25 people has no conscience. They can do anything they want and not feel the least bit of guilt. Fear of getting caught and punished yes, but that just means they work a little hard and smarter to get away with whatever they want to do. Torturing animals, torturing humans, lying, cheating, backstabbing, murder, rape, whatever relieves their boredom. Those that follow the rules are stupid and naive. All part of the mindset of the sociopath. And it is the sociopath that is the dictator, the corrupt politician, the serial killer, and one of the reasons the average person needs to own a gun. As I got near the end of the book I heard about what serious deficits they have in their emotional lives and how their lives frequently end. This gave me hope. Hope that perhaps justice is more sure than it sometimes appears to be.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Oscar Wilde
Democracy is a bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people.
Oscar Wilde
[My original source claimed it was Wilde but I can’t confirm it. But in any case–this is part of the reason why we have a republic rather than a democracy. But these days one could make the case there isn’t all that much difference between the two.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Jeff Knox
I can’t endorse the bill because it is wasteful and supports an unconstitutional program, but I won’t oppose it because it contains provisions that I consider critically important — things I’ve been writing about for years — correcting the injustices of permanently denying Second Amendment rights, without recourse, to tens of thousands of people. Maybe I’m missing something and maybe I’m wrong, but at this point, I think our energy can be expended in much more productive ways — making sure Tiahrt passes comes to mind.
Jeff Knox
Hard Corps Report
May – June 2007
Volume 4, Issue 3
[Jeff captures my take on it quite well. I wish I had got around to reading it before I posted my own opinion of the Tiahrt amendment.–Joe]
A look into our future
From Canada, Turning Legal Gun Owners Into SOCIAL LEPERS:
Citing concern over the “sinister uses” of guns, University of Toronto officials are closing down their 88-year-old shooting range. No word yet on the fate of the university’s chemistry labs.
More than just one more example of political correctness run amok (which of course it is), I take this gesture as academic ideologues’ invitation to government to follow suit and ban gun sport and gun collecting nationally. Alas, I think the initiative might find broad public support. To many liberal Canadians nowadays, tolerating gun use in any capacity is akin to complicity in Bambi’s mother’s murder, fatalism regarding school massacres and genuflection to American imperialism.
And from the same article it looks like I have a new book to read:
In a recently-published book discussed on these pages last Thursday, Mistakes Were Made:Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson argue that many social and cultural problems spring from humans’ inability to admit when they’re wrong. How right they are. And as further evidence to those adduced in their book, I would cite: the blinkered ideologues who punish responsible gun users for the sins of criminals; police who automatically privilege the idle or fabricated concerns of disaffected women over men’s property and civil rights; and governments who continue to throw good money after bad in perpetuating an institution that fails utterly to deter gun crime, but succeeds magnificently in stigmatizing an identifiable minority of law-abiding citizens as criminals in waiting.
Our future as gun owners doesn’t have to be same as that of Canadian gun owners. Right now we essentially have the bigots at a standstill. We need to keep pushed them and change the attitudes in this country. We have to have the right mindset and turn the anti-gun bigots into the social lepers.
Quote of the day–Will Rogers
It’s a good thing we don’t get all the government we pay for.
Will Rogers
Quote of the day–Plato
Access to power must be confined to those who are not in love with it.
Plato
[This concept, more fully expressed in the U.S. Constitution, has been around for a very long time. It’s sad this fundamental truth is ignored by the majority of people.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Alan Korwin
Popularity isn’t the basis for war. The struggle for human freedom is. War is ugly by design, and instigated by tyrants, oppressors, fascists, religious fanatics bent on world domination, and other enemies of freedom.
Alan Korwin
April 2, 2007
Genocidal Peace Supporters
Republican Machinegun Shoot/Fundraiser
Now here are some people who know how to have fun.
Tired of the usual chicken dinners, the Manchester Republican Committee is planning to arm supporters next month with Uzis, M-16 rifles and other automatic weapons for a day of target practice at a Pelham firing range.
“The thought just struck me one day: a machine gun shoot. What the heck?” said Jerry Thibodeau, the committee chairman.
We can expect the usual hysterics from the anti-freedom crowd, which of course adds to the fun. They’re actually talking about firing sub guns and assault rifles at the fund raiser, but the term “machine gun” sounds more interesting I guess. For myself, I’d like to fire a nice M2 at some old trucks and a few of Joe’s boomers. Ma Duce is big, well-made, heavy, powerful, and loud as hell. What’s not to like?
I find it encouraging that politicians on both sides of the turd feel the need to appeal to American gun owners. We’ll see whose appeals are honest (or should I say the least disingenuous).
Quote of the day–Charles Edward Montague
War hath no fury like a non-combatant.
Charles Edward Montague
[Sounds like Cindy whats-her-name and most of the Democratic party doesn’t it?–Joe]
Quote of the day–Elbert Hubbard
The only foes that threaten America are the enemies at home; and these are ignorance, superstition, and incompetence.
Elbert Hubbard
June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915
[Add in “malice” and that statement is as true now as it was then. One only need look at what political left is currently trying to do in regards to the war.–Joe]
Like It Or Not, You’re A Conservative
It’s been said before: We tend to live our lives as conservatives, regardless of our political affiliations. I’ve heard R. Limbaugh say it several times. We don’t take our paycheck, decide we’re living on “more than we need” and give half of it away each payday. We don’t confront our neighbors, telling them they must cut back on their consumption or we’re going to do something really bad to them. You don’t believe that you, personally, have far too much freedom, then demand that someone take your freedom away from you. Chances are you don’t feel you have the right to steal from someone on the basis that he has more than you.
Not exactly. But we do often advocate such coercion against our fellow countrymen on a regular basis, through government.
If we define an American “conservative” as one who embraces the principles upon which this country was founded (Liberty, property rights, minimum to non interference by government)(and I do) then it is a fact that most people live as conservatives in their personal lives. Its just that some of us are screaming hypocrites, like this Texas politician who fought against self-defense rights and ended up shooting a thief (the thief was, after all, merely practicing his own form of “Economic Justice” as the term is used by the Left).
Thanks to M. Malkin and K. du Toit.
Quote of the day–Eric Hoffer
What greater reassurance can the weak have than that they are like anyone else?
Eric Hoffer
(1902-83), U.S. philosopher.
The Passionate State of Mind, (1955).
[Perhaps reassurance isn’t what is in the best interest of weak, the strong, or those in between. But then those who reassure the weak are unlikely to have the best interests of anyone but themselves in mind anyway.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Alan Korwin
The AP’s apparent love, and frequent use of the word “czar,” is an affront to the entire American public.
A czar is a merciless dictator, not subject to the will of the people, operating ruthlessly in pre-Communist Russia.
The suggestion by the AP and their hopelessly anti-freedom unthinking lapdog followers in the lamestream media, that the U.S. has a drug “czar,” and education “czar,” a fiscal policy “czar,” and numerous other czars has gotten the public and officials to accept the word, without realizing just how brainwashed they have become.
Even if some twisted politician somewhere was the first to apply the word in some unknown circumstance, a proper reporter would say, in effect, “Although politician X called the new bureaucrat a ‘czar,’ the salaried government worker is actually only a mere employee, subject to reprimand, dismissal and the rule of law.”
Alan Korwin
May 18, 2007
Czars Overrunning America
[I recall a time when they were called “public servants“. It perplexes me that somehow they became Czar’s. Was there a servant rebellion that someone forgot to tell me about?–Joe]
Enabler of death and evil
My previous post, Quote of the Day–The Gun Guys, about anti-gun bigots demanding people use emotion to win arguments and their agenda in legislatures, deserves more attention. His email was inspired by Despite Large Majorities, Democrats Are Chicken on Gun Control by Drew Westen.
Weston claims people are at their most basic and inescapable level not logical. I’ll grant that he is not but nearly everything he says just does not compute with me. I associate him and his viewpoints with death and evil. I associate great emotion with the great evils of the world. Every genocide, the burning of “witches”, the war against us by Islamic extremists, racism, domestic abuse–the list is almost endless. Strong emotions and the exclusion of facts and logic have played a huge role in the killings of millions of innocent people. To endorse emotion as a means of “finding your moral compass” as Weston apparently endorses is flat out wrong.
Reading this article was about as pleasant as shoveling fresh cow manure out of a unventilated barn on a hot day (I’ve actually done this–it’s not for people with weak stomachs). Weston has the gall to claim facts are unimportant. Emotion is what is important and he claims this as a fact. There is no hypocrisy in his world view is there?
I was going to just ignore Weston’s factual errors in regards to gun laws but I can’t. Weston’s tries to convince us with facts and logic that facts and logic aren’t important. But he is so careless with facts that even if we were to overlook his hypocritical argument we just can’t trust him. Each time he erroneously states a “fact” it’s like he just broke out another window on his airplane. His argument is so drafty that no reasonable person could tolerate the ride even if his plane could get off the ground.
Here is a sample of the factual errors:
- The Brady Act restricted the sale of “assault weapons” — Wrong. It was the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act passed in 1994.
- The Brady Act caused 100,000 felons to loose their right to bear arms — Wrong. Convicted felons had that right infringed in 1968 with GCA68.
- Hunters have a right to own firearms — The right to own firearms has nothing to do with hunting.
- The National Rifle Association supports semiautomatics for felons — Wrong.
- The National Rifle Association supports unrestricted access to automatic weapons — Wrong.
- There exists some set of firearms “designed for no other purpose than to take another person’s life” — I suppose it’s possible but I’ve never seen or heard of such a gun.
I will grant Weston has a point in that emotion is a “card” politicians can and do play with great effect regardless of the facts and logic of reality. But this is not the way it should be. Emotions should be used by politicians to gain support for that which is true and logical. The “dispassionate mind”, which Weston apparently despises, should be the beginnings of any endeavor which has the luxury of at least a small amount of time devoted to planning. From the basis of what is true and good one can build up a web of logic and reach conclusions that will resonate and create passion. One should not start and end with conclusions and passion. To do that is to invite error into our thinking and that is why I see Weston and his ilk as enablers of death and evil.
Quote of the day–The Gun Guys
Emotion is what wins arguments, and there is a tremendous amount of emotion among those fighting to reduce gun violence — there always is when someone gets hurt or must go through the tragedies that we experience in this country as a result of gun violence.
…
That is important emotion, and it will do more for the argument for stronger gun laws than any facts or figures ever will.
…
We have to show legislators the human side of this issue, too, and force them to base their own decisions and policies off of that emotion…
The Gun Guys (actually the paid anti-gun, anti-freedom, activist Gonzo)
Email from June 26, 2007
[There you have it. Just what we have been saying for years. The facts don’t really matter. What matters is emotion. They know the facts don’t support their agenda. The number of innocents dead, wounded, raped, and robbed is irrelevant as long as someone feels good about removing the tools of self defense from those victims. And they need to force legislators to base their decisions off of that same sick mindset.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Cam Edwards
If you want to try and impose the Fairness Doctrine, then just admit you’re not a big believer in capitalism and the free marketplace of ideas.
Cam Edwards
June 27, 2007
The Nanny Doctrine
[The advocates for the McCain-Feingold Act should admit the same thing.–Joe]
Academia and other nonsense
Phil has a post up about the recent Supreme Court ruling on using race as a criteria for determining which school a child is to attend. The commies in the Seattle media and schools are going nuts and Phil takes them to task:
Leave the social work to the social workers. Schools are a place where instruction is supposed to happen. The only real lessons that the Seattle School District seem to favor are those of “If you’re not white or Asian you will need the government’s help or you will never succeed” and “If you are white or Asian, you’re only succeeding because of privilege” being taught in all twelve grades.
Disgusting.
This reminds me of when my son James took an honors level sociology class as a freshman in college. The first assignment was to write an essay on how the luck of his birth (white, male, upper middle class) enabled him to get into this “special” class. He wrote that it wasn’t luck. He had worked hard and gotten A’s in every class since the fourth grade. He got a “D” on that assignment. We counseled him he had four options. 1) Drop the class; 2) Suck it up and take the grade even though he knew he was right; 3) Make a big stink about it with her, and if necessary, the administration; 4) Give her what she wanted even when he knew it was flat out wrong. It was his choice to make but we would support whichever route he choose. He choose 4) and got an “A” in the class and to this day we refer to that class as the “socialism class”.
Choosing to give the instructor what she wanted was probably his mother’s influence. I had numerous similar things happen when I was in grade school but usually in science and math classes. I always went with 2) or 3). I always got very high scores on standardized tests and occasionally the results were literally “off the chart” but my grades were only a little above average. Sometimes you pay a price for being right.
Quote of the day–Otto von Bismark
Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable… the art of the next best…
Otto von Bismark
[This is probably more true than I like to acknowledge. It also applies to engineering, as in this quip, “There comes a time to shoot the engineers and ship the product.” As freedom activists we want perfection but that is seldom possible. If we want any action in our favor we probably must accept far less than our ideal. When fighting a restriction on our freedom we are sometimes better off working to make the proposed legislation less onerous than we are to fight a losing battle against a greater infringement. That is achieving what is attainable rather than what should be.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Ambrose Bierce
Peace: In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.
Ambrose Bierce
The Devil’s Dictionary
[I don’t know if it’s wisdom or just cynicism, but as I get older I’m more and more inclined to believe that fighting is the normal state of affairs in the interaction between large groups of people.–Joe]