Politicians Lie—It’s What They Do

Quote of the Day

So I was proud to be the most pro-gun pro-Second Amendment president you’ve ever had in the White House. I think that’s been acknowledged. And, with your support in 2024, I will be your loyal friend and fearless champion once again as the 47th president of the United States.

Donald Trump
April 14, 2023
Trump to NRA: I’ll Be ‘Your Loyal Friend, Fearless Champion’

Really? So let’s talk about bump stocks for about 30 seconds.

How do you know if a politician is lying? That’s right. His lips are moving.

I will give him credit for some great judges. But he is not loyal.

Delusions are Often Functional

Quote of the Day

That’s something that people who support gun control measures need to understand: The war is lost. There is no conceivable way for things to change for the better within the next 20 to 30 years, short of a national divorce. There is no way to change hearts and minds of Republicans or the courts. There is no way to change who is in office in most states. There is no way to replace who sits on the courts quickly or change conservative disdain for stare decisis.

Brynn Tannehill
April 10, 2023
The Grim Truth: The War on Guns Is Lost

It is nice of him to admit this. Now if they would just just surrender and stop fighting a lot of money, time, and lives could be saved.

It is also revealing that he believes this is grim news and that somehow stare decisis was involved in declaring many of the existing gun laws are unconstitutional. I suppose that makes it easier to believe he and his ilk are not the baddies here. Delusions are often functional.

A Conflict of Visions

Quote of the Day

When a potential enemy starts to counsel you on the tools you should use to oppose him, he does this to his advantage and your detriment. And if he convinces you to disarm yourself, you have enslaved yourself and handed him the key to your chains.

Weapons of war belong *only* in the hands of the citizens of republic, who are themselves the government — and the government may employ what weapons its citizens gives to them, and only for as long as that government remains obedient to the citizens, not the other way around.

Don Kilmer
Tweeted on April 9, 2023

You could say that progressives have a different view of things than Mr. Kilmer, the U.S. Constitution, and I do. As Thomas Sowell says, we have A Conflict of Visions.

Is He Stupid, Insane, and/or Evil?

Quote of the Day

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Well, if that’s the case, why don’t we just replace all our fire extinguishers with flamethrowers?

David Hogg @davidhogg111
Tweeted on April 8, 2023

This doesn’t really deserve an answer but I’ll supply one anyway. Guns extinguish bad guys better than flamethrowers extinguish house fires.

This is like someone, I hate to admit I’m related to, who once asked, “How can we call this a free country when health care is not free?”

I supposed he could be trolling, but I’m not convinced he is that smart. I’m going with stupid, insane, and/or evil.

Washington State Criminals Ban Firearms in Common Use

Quote of the Day

One or more lawsuits challenging this legislation will almost certainly be filed within days, if not hours, of Gov. Jay Inslee’s signing. Ultimately, we expect this law to be nullified by the courts as a violation of the Second Amendment and Washington State’s constitution. In the meantime, of course, Evergreen State gun owners will continue to be treated like second-class citizens by the self-righteous zealots behind the ban, while the criminal element will remain undeterred and unencumbered.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
April 9, 2023
CCRKBA: ‘WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE PUTS POLITICS OVER CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS’

These criminals view the State and Federal constitutional guarantees of certain rights and SCOTUS decisions as bugs, not features.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

Quote of the day—Just another sarcastic bastard (@runsamuck2)

You don’t *need* a tiny penis to purchase an AR-15, but it works out well for Republicans.

Just another sarcastic bastard (@runsamuck2)
Tweeted on January 19, 2023
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

Perhaps it is a good thing I don’t identify as an Republican.

But, I think the correct observation to take from this is that @runsamuck2 hasn’t made it past the childish insult stage of intellectual development.—Joe]

Save Yourself

Quote of the Day

It’s more obvious than ever that no one is coming to save you. No candidate, no party, no movement. You need to save yourself.

Jon Gabriel
April 8, 2023
Hecklers at Trump’s arraignment have a lesson for us all

Via Ed Driscoll.

I want my own underground bunker in Idaho.

Lying is What They Do

Quote of the Day

It is a dark day for our democracy when state legislatures expel members for speaking out against gun violence instead of focusing on sensible action to end a preventable epidemic killing our children in school and on the streets.

Kris Brown
President of Brady
April 7, 2023
BRADY STATEMENT ON EXPULSION OF TENNESSEE HOUSE LAWMAKERS OVER GUN REFORM PROTEST

This is a blatant lie. They were not expelled for their protected speech. They were expelled for disrupting legislative business:

The trio of Democratic lawmakers chanted back and forth from the chamber floor with gun-control supporters packed in the gallery.

Jones had brought a megaphone onto the House floor and led chants of “no justice, no peace.”

Republicans defended their actions as necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings through protest would be tolerated.

“I want to make sure everybody knows this has nothing to do about the protest outside the House chamber or the protests outside the Capitol,” Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on Wednesday, ahead of the vote.

“This is about these three members’ actions on the House floor, how they shut us down, and how they led protests from the House chamber to those [people] in the balcony,” he continued.

But, I understand the Brady President lying. It’s what they do. It is part of their culture. And it is the only hope they have of furthering their evil agenda.

Killing Cancer with Sound

Quote of the Day

Noninvasive sound technology developed at the University of Michigan breaks down liver tumors in rats, kills cancer cells, and spurs the immune system to prevent further spread—an advance that could lead to improved cancer outcomes in humans.

The microsecond long pulses from UM’s transducer generate microbubbles within the targeted tissues—bubbles that rapidly expand and collapse. These violent but extremely localized mechanical stresses kill cancer cells and break up the tumor’s structure.

University of Michigan
April 19, 2022
Noninvasive Sound Technology Breaks Down Tumors, Kills Cancer Cells, and Spurs the Immune System

My father and most of my grandmother Huffman’s siblings died of cancer. I have a heightened interest in cures for cancer.

Far Closer to Snakes Than to Gods

Quote of the Day

In ten years the Soviet Union went from being a perpetual world dominating superpower to literal non-existence and is now becoming a forgotten chapter of world history. More of a kitschy joke than a cautionary tale.

But Ayn Rand was right. This was no laughing matter. Millions of people were trapped for decades, in countries where human life was nothing, less than nothing—and they knew it. They lived in constant terror from morning to night and at night they were waiting for the doorbell to ring. In countries where there were no law or any rights of any kind, where basic necessities like food and housing were a constant struggle for everyone and they were absolutely forbidden to leave.

Did they all life happily ever after when the Soviet Union dissolved? Of course not. Utopias don’t exist, but progress does. And so do victories by good over evil. They happen all the time, both personally and politically.

The foes of liberty are many and they are powerful. But they are not particularly impressive. They will do everything within their ability to convince others that their might is eternal. That battle against them is pointless and doomed to fail. This is just another one of their many lies. It is said that they will never give up.

Yet does wanting power over others mean they will necessarily get it and get it easily? Does the fact that they supposedly will never give up somehow imply that their opponents should? Or does it imply the opposite. Evil people surrender all the time. At a certain point the costs, in every sense of the term, simply become too high.

They are not all knowing. Far from it. They are often not even particularly bright. They are not all powerful. They are men and women, far closer to snakes than they are to gods. They can, will, and have been defeated many, many, times. It is possible that those of us who fight for the dignity of mankind will lose our fight. It is not possible that we must lose our fight. That is the white pill.

Michael Malice
December 2022

The last three paragraphs resonated with me in regard to the opponents to the right to keep and bear arms. The lies, the evil, the individuals who are not particularly bright, the seeking of power over others, the belief in their power (nukes and F15s), and yet they are far closer to snakes than to gods.

I highly recommend this book.

When You Can Buy Machine Guns From Vending Machines

Quote of the Day

I think we’ll see real freedom when we can buy suppressors, Glocks, ammo, and MGs from vending machines without background checks, ID, or paperwork.

Paul Linkins @linkins_paul
Tweeted on April 1, 2023

Or, as Greg Hamilton is claimed to have said, when you can buy a blister pack of six Glock’s at Costco.

AI Support for Gun Ownership

Quote of the Day

The right to bear arms is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Responsible gun ownership can provide individuals with the means to protect themselves and their families.

Bing Chatbot
April 3, 2023

This was in response to, “Please write a one or two sentence sound bite in support of gun ownership.”

This is probably better than I could have done.

This is the best image Bing Create gave me with the input being the two sentence sound bite above:

image

This is best it came up with use the input of, “An image of a woman and a child with the context of ‘The right to bear arms is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Responsible gun ownership can provide individuals with the means to protect themselves and their families.'”

image

Bing Chatbot is significantly ahead of Bing Create.

Quote of the day—Luke @Luk3Taylor_

is it a small dick thing?

only country on the planet with this issue…kinda weird.

Luke @Luk3Taylor_
Tweeted on December 29, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

He was referring to school shootings. So, he is also ignorant and/or lying about the reality of school shootings.—Joe]

Mental Health of Liberal Girls

Quote of the Day

I believe that Greg Lukianoff was exactly right in the diagnosis he shared with me in 2014. Many young people had suddenly—around 2013—embraced three great untruths:

They came to believe that they were fragile and would be harmed by books, speakers, and words, which they learned were forms of violence (Great Untruth #1).

They came to believe that their emotions—especially their anxieties—were reliable guides to reality (Great Untruth #2).

They came to see society as comprised of victims and oppressors—good people and bad people (Great Untruth #3).

Liberals embraced these beliefs more than conservatives. Young liberal women adopted them more than any other group due to their heavier use of social media and their participation in online communities that developed new disempowering ideas. These cognitive distortions then caused them to become more anxious and depressed than other groups. Just as Greg had feared, many universities and progressive institutions embraced these three untruths and implemented programs that performed reverse CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) on young people, in violation of their duty to care for them and educate them.

Jon Haidt
March 9, 2023
Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest: Evidence for Lukianoff’s reverse CBT hypothesis

Interesting stuff. It is worth reading the whole thing. It could also explain why the assertion Liberalism is a Mental Disorder has some truth in it.

The Chart that has Launched a Thousand Takes

Quote of the Day

This is the chart that has launched a thousand takes.

The conclusion seems obvious: Everything the govt touches goes to infinity in price. Everything pure capitalism touches goes to zero.

But there’s another way of looking at this graph that dramatically changes the story.

image

Derek Thompson @DKThomp
Tweeted on March 18, 2023

The details of “the other way of looking at the graph” is at the linked tweet. It is claimed:

It’s not just govt vs. capitalism

It’s also services vs. goods.

But I see Cellphone Services and Food and Beverages out of the claimed groupings. Still, it is an interesting graph.

The Winning Mindset is Destroyed

Quote of the Day

I’ve always been puzzled by how many abandoned and buried cities there are. What happened to entire civilizations?

Now we are watching human population collapse in a number of countries.

Makes me wonder if all human civilizations fail for the same reasons. What would those reasons be?

My guess is that pockets of humans develop belief systems that drive success, but success creates space for diverse opinions, and then the winning mindset is destroyed.

That’s what is happening in America. Traditional American values — with all its flaws — created a strong country. Now we have the luxury of entertaining less productive mindsets that are destroying the foundation.

Maybe that happens to every civilization.

Scott Adams @ScottAdamsSays
Tweeted on March 29, 2023

Interesting hypothesis. I don’t see any obvious flaws. In our particular case, the ever increasing debt spent on unproductive things is a strong datapoint in support of this hypothesis.

Failed their government class?

Quote of the Day

If I was one of the ten thousand people running for Mayor of Denver, my platform would center around signing an executive order to ban guns along with a gun buy-back plan.

There is literally nothing more important.

And in Denver, you’d win on this platform.

saira rao (@sairasameerarao)
Tweeted March 01, 2023

Note that they would do this by executive order. No need of it going through the City Council. Either they need to retake their high school government class or this is another indicator they are delusional.

Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns. Even if the sky is a different color in their universe.

Three Bricks Fall from the Wall

Quote of the Day

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant Attorney General Robert Bonta, and his officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with him, and those duly sworn state peace officers and federal law enforcement officers who gain knowledge of this injunction order or know the existence of this injunction order, ARE HEREBY PRELIMINARILY RESTRAINED AND ENJOINED from implementing or enforcing California Penal Code sections 31910(b)(4)–(6), or from otherwise preventing the retail sale of handguns that do not have a chamber load indicator, a magazine disconnect mechanism, or microstamping capability but that meet the other requirements of the Unsafe Handgun Act.

Cormac J. Carney
United States District Judge
March 20, 2023
Boland v. Bonta (C.D. CA):

See the case history here.

This injunction does not go into effect until April 3, 2023. And California Attorney General Bonta may appeal the decision. And, of course, the actual trial will probably take months or even years to resolve. And even if these three points are litigated successfully the “Roster of Certified Handguns” still has teeth in it which can and will be used against sales of firearms to the oppressed residents of California.

These items are just three bricks falling from a wall of unconstitutional gun laws in California.

_55afa2f4-cd13-4ef6-977f-dff700216147

Compensating with Childish Insults

Quote of the Day

At this point I think he might be an ammosexual. That would make a lot of sense- we all know he’s compensating for something.

InsertCleverIronicNameHere @cleverirony
Tweeted on December 11, 2022

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

Another Monday, another person compensating for their lack of a response to SCOTUS decisions by flinging a childish insult like it was monkey poo.

Judge goes Through the Looking Glass

Quote of the Day

Instead of addressing whether the banned items are “dangerous and unusual,” Bevis changes the criterion to say that “Assault-weapons and high-capacity magazines regulations are not ‘unusual,’” because eight states ban them. Since 42 states don’t, that sounds kind of unusual.

Stephen P. Halbrook
March 14, 2023
Second Amendment Roundup: An Opening Judicial Salvo in Defense of Illinois’ New Rifle Ban

Words mean something. And when judges decide to change the meanings of words we have entered new territory:

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

― Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Prepare and respond appropriately.