Snowflakes in Hell

Bill Clinton isn’t blaming the Republicans for deregulating banks.  I think Clinton is right on this one.  Also, if you’re looking for a great outline of the current credit crisis, head over to Marginal Revolution.

Joe tells us that the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence is, for the most part, politically dead.  Seems they had a little cash flow problem.  Maybe they need to give Paulson a call.

From Bruce, who liked Palin’s performance last night:

Now, let’s get to work.

I’ll be doing a little door-to-door campaigning with the McCain people in Exeter on Saturday morning. Shoot me an e-mail if you wanna join us. Also, I was at the Stratham office earlier today. They’ve got some of them honkin’ big McCain/Palin yard signs (think sheet of plywood) if
you want one.

This definitely isn’t the election for complacency.  Just running down the ways Obama can screw us, without executing a head on attack, is rather frightning.  And that’s just assuming we’re not looking at another attempt at a new assault weapons ban, which I can promise you will be worse than the last one.

Downrange TV has their coverage of our weekend at Blackwater with Todd Jarrett.

Second Amendment supporters need to get in touch with Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin, because he’s standing up for us in fighting Allentown’s violation of statewide preemption:

Martin reiterated his pledge to seek non-enforcement of the law, saying if someone is arrested, he will seek to intervene on the person’s behalf to get the case dismissed. “I certainly have the authority, based on the duties of the district attorney established by the state,” Martin said. “I control the keys to the courthouse.”

Martin also said that he is considering joining the National Rifle Association in its fight to get a similar law in Philadelphia tossed, as well as pursuing his own challenge of Allentown’s law.

“I will be proactive,” he declared.

If you want to contact the District Attorney to thank him for taking this stand, you can find his contact information here.  It’s good to see an elected official in this area standing up for the law.

I had to watch it on time delay because the club had our first Indoor Silhouette match of the year last night.  Joe Biden delivered a stellar debate performance by Joe Biden standards, meaning he didn’t say anything stupid, outlandish, or at any point insert his foot into his mouth.  He deserves a round of applause for that, and for putting up with the myriad of botox injections he looks like he received before his performance.  That shit is painful.

But Joe Biden has been running for President for twenty years, and despite his experience at being on the national stage, Sarah Palin kept up with him pretty much every step of the way.  Expectations of her set by the media were so low, I would actually be willing to argue she was the winner of the debate just by virtue of the fact that she showed the public she can play with the big boys.  Say what you will, she’s deserves to be on that stage, and she’s every bit as qualified as Barack Obama.

The Mackerel standard is just too inflationary.

This has to be a pretty awful thing for the Brady Campaign to read:

A new study finds no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun-related homicides or suicides.

The University of Michigan and University of Maryland study also shows that tighter regulation of gun shows does not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths.

That makes sense, since most of the people at gun shows are people like us.  Speaking of gun shows, I have the machine built with Ubuntu 8.04 that will run our touchscreen version of O-Match at the Allentown Gun Show this weekend.  It’s unfortunate, but the O-Match application phones back to the mother ship in order to download the questions.  I’m guessing NRA set it up this way so that if Obama said anything else stupid, it could be added to the mix.  Hopefully they have a standalone shockwave version that could run on my machine without a network connection. If not, I’ll have to figure out how to tether the machine through a cell phone connection, and hope they have cell phone reception in the hall.

Back to the original topic, I’ve been convinced that the reason the gun control people target gun shows, is because it’s one of our cheif organization and outreach tools.  They have to know that very few crime guns are traced to shows.  They can read the statistics as well as we can.

Bitter thinks more hook and bullet writers who are trying to break into blogging need to be reading other blogs, and participating in the community as a whole:

If you click through, it’s to a NewsMax article about Obama trying to get NRA ads booted off the air. Petzal is not clear if he’s questioning the existence of the threatening letters, the accuracy of NRA, or NewsMax. I was a little perturbed by this when I left a comment outlining numerous sources that link the letters and responses.

But then I realized that I was actually a little short because of a slightly related beef with the outdoor media and the blogosphere. I applaud these forms of dead tree media for encouraging their writers to blog. However, I’m not sure that they really understand what a community the blogosphere is, and how that community makes the blogosphere as great as it is, especially in the gun world.

I would agree.  Read the whole thing.

I got excited when I read this headline.  But then I realized they were talking about real snowflakes.  The article goes on to detail Biden’s pathological lying.  I still can’t believe that Obama picked this guy.  He’s lucky the media is in the tank for him.

From Clayton Cramer, describing the fact that the Senate bailout plan contains an excise tax exemption for wooden arrows:

I suppose that we can more cheaply train our kids to become a nation of bowmen this way, so as to overthrow this corrupt and foolish government in a carbon-neutral way.

Clearly the nations economic health would have been imperiled if it wasn’t for this much needed stimulus for the wood industry.

Following on the footsteps of Philadelphia, Allentown City Council passed legislation requiring residents or report stolen firearms to police within a certain period of time or face prosecution.  Preemption is a bedrock principle for maintaining our rights in any meaningful form.  This is a regulation on the possession of firearms, and is thus the exclusive domain of the state Legislature.  It is clearly unconstitutional under Pennsylvania law.  Unfortunately, someone will have to get cited before there can be a challenge.  Allentown isn’t the only one:

Pawlowski met in Reading earlier this month with seven other mayors — including Easton’s Sal Panto Jr. and Bethlehem’s John Callahan — to announce that they were introducing the legislation, which they consider to be least in conflict with current state laws.

Least in conflict?  So they admit it is in conflict then?  Good, then it’s illegal.  You can see how if cracks in the foundation of preemption are allowed to form, pretty soon the whole structure weakens and comes tumbling down.  There is a slippery slope here, and if we allow this stuff to stand, pretty soon you wouldn’t be able to transport a firearm through the Commonwealth without running a very serious risk of arrest and prosecution.

Because it’s no longer bias.  As Glenn Reynolds pointed out yesterday, the media is in the tank for Obama:

I promised some thoughts on what to do about the news media’s outright campaigning for Obama. (And that’s what it is. Media bias used to mean that they would slow-walk stories that reflected badly on their candidate; now they just flat out ignore them, or even try to shoot them down. They’re not just in the tank, they’re functioning as arms of the campaign, and Obama’s strategy shows that he knows that and is relying on it.)

Just this morning I had to turn off the radio, because the local propaganda mouthpiece of the Obama Campaign ran coverage which started out with an Alaskan commenting that she is not to be underestimated, and then following up with the various ways people think she’s not qualified, including polls showing that only 25% of voters think she’s qualified.  Even though she’s, you know, about as qualified as Obama is.  Prof. Reynolds talks about solutions:

There’s a vast underserved population out there, for news, entertainment, movies, etc., and if people start serving it, the current “mainstream” media won’t be so mainstream anymore. So if you’re unhappy with current offerings, put your money where your mouth is.

And if you’re one of the people with creative interests, start making alternative stuff. Not just news and punditry, but entertainment, documentaries, etc. If An American Carol does well this weekend, it’ll make it a lot easier for the next film of its type to be made. If Evan Coyne Maloney’s documentary work does well, it’ll encourage a lot more of that kind of work.

Think of it like cultivating a garden: Starve the weeds, feed the flowers. Like gardening, it’s work. But like gardening, if you do the work you’ll see results.

I agree.  Make sure you get out to see An American Carol this weekend.  Even though we’re booked solid this weekend with election volunteer stuff, Bitter and I are going to make time.  We need it to do well.  That sends a powerful signal to the market.

This morning Glenn linked to a piece showing that the Boston Globe is still spreading lies about Sarah Palin that have been repeatedly debunked.  This is the worst I’ve ever seen a media.  We honestly don’t have a functioning Republic as long as these people continue to peddle their shameless propaganda as legitimate journalism.  Perhaps this will be the election where the voting public realizes the emperor has no clothes.  I certainly hope so.

Get yourself a Sarah-Cudda Bow today.  Don’t forget to watch the debate tonight.

Kim Stolfer just sent out an e-mail alert to inform Pennsylvania gun owners of the importance of the race between Monica Douglass and David Levdansky:

Levdansky tells constituents that he “believes that our Constitution grants me the right to bear arms” and yet his voting record and statements throughout his career show a disdain for individual liberty.  For example, at a Game and Fish Committee hearing in 1986 in Clarion, PA, Levdansky said:

“insofar as the constitutional question of the right to keep and bear arms is concerned, I think that that argument is rather hollow and shallow . . . At best, I think that the right to bear arms argument is nothing more than rightwing, ideological rhetoric and ought to be dismissed as such”.

He has never repudiated his statement and this, along with other statements and his voting record, reveal his true agenda.  Representative David Levdansky has become the poster child for Cease Fire Pennsylvania, the most outspoken anti-gun group in Pennsylvania—and the spokesman for the anti-gun Philadelphia Legislative Caucus.  His position on these issues cannot and should not be trusted.  Gunowners and hunters have been deceived long enough!

Levdansky has been an anti-gun leader in the Pennsylvania House, and everyone in Pennsylvania has a vested interest in ousting him.  Monica Douglass needs money and volunteers to get her message out so we can secure our gun rights in Pennsylvania.

The reason we work hard to defeat guys like Levdansky is because if the anti-gun legislators see their leadership getting their electoral heads lopped off, the next one in line might feel a little unsure about sticking their necks out on behalf of CeaseFire PA.  This is how we become formidable.

This looks pretty clearly to be a violation of preemption:

On Thursday, October 2, at 10:00am, Peter Georgiades, a Second Amendment rights attorney, will be challenging the legality of a recently enacted provision in the Pittsburgh zoning code.  This provision restricts “gun-related businesses” from being established within city limits, even if the lot is zoned for commercial use.  This provision only applies to businesses that are in any way involved with the “sale” of firearms.  This is another blatant attack on the firearm industry and Pennsylvania’s law-abiding citizens.

If you live in the Pittsburgh area, this will probably be pretty interesting to attend.

This isn’t illegaly, but it’s pretty shady, and hypocritical.  Why?

Lawmakers’ frequent use of campaign donations to pay relatives emerged as an issue in the 2006 election campaigns, when the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal gave Democrats fodder to criticize Republicans such as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Rep. John T. Doolittle of California for putting their wives on their campaign and PAC payrolls for fundraising work.

Pelosi says, “Democrats are committed to reforming the way Washington does business.”  Yeah, when pigs wearing lipstick fly!

Hat Tip to OrangeneckInNY

Michael Bane makes some great observations and offers suggestiosn on saving the shooting sports.  I noticed a very good comment that made a very frightening observation:

The next generation is not oriented to shooting or hunting. They spend more time on their computers then outside. In my club of 250 members there are NO children. There is dam little shooting allowed in school programs. SCTP IMO is growing because it is held AWAY from school. If you tried to have indoor ranges for rifle or pistol (as did exist several decades ago) it would fall flat on its face.

My club is composed of 240 guys, 10 women, average age is 50. Not to mention there are almost no minorities. That is another area which is not confronted honestly. You do not see representative percentages of non-whites in the shooting sports. America in not to long, will have to deal with a majority non-white population. All the demographics point in the wrong direction.

What troubles me, is my observations of club demographics is similar.  This might surprise you, but the solution is to get more women into the shooting sports.  I think women are far more likely than men to get their kids into shooting, and keep them in shooting.  I’ve seen a lot of dads bring their kids to the range and do a good job of passing the tradition along.  I’ve also seen dads that are doing their best to make sure their kid absolutely grows up to hate shooting.  I’ve never seen a woman at a range with kids in tow not doing a good job with the kids.  They are far better teachers than men are.

UPDATE: Overall there’s excellent commentary on that post.  I can only read a little bit at a time because Michael’s color scheme is very harsh on the eyes.  I can still see the text lines burnt into my retina for a minute or so after taking a break.

I don’t wish to paint all Democrats as gun hating losers, because there are a lot of good ones out there.  Like Jason Altmire and Dan Boren, for example.  So I have decided on declaring an Axis of Evil to exist within the Democratic Party, composed of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.  Henceforth known as the Obama/Biden/Pelosi Democrats.  These are the people who make nightmares for gun owners.  We have to fight these Democrats, and in doing that, we’re really going to need our friends in the Democratic party.

With Obama looking like he’s getting a boost from the economic crisis, we have to work harder than ever.  I know people like me get on this bandwagon every election, but this one really is the most important election we’ve faced in my life time.  Obama makes Bill Clinton look like a saint on guns, and an unapologetic capitalist.  Most of us remember how bad the Clinton years were for gun owners.  Heller won’t save us if Obama fills the numerous vacancies on the federal courts with people who will interpret it away to essential meaninglessness.

What the Pelosi/Obama/Biden Democrats are hoping for this election is that they can find a winning formula, without having to dump their gun control constituencies outright.  I can promise you the Brady Campaign is frustrated they are being stuffed in steerage for the entire election, but the Democrats are not abandoning gun control.  If they win this November, it will tell them they don’t have to actually support the Second Amendment to win.  It will tell them that all they have to do is pull the wool over those bitter, gun clingers eyes enough that they won’t check to hard to see what’s really behind the curtain.  It will make them think NRA is a paper tiger if they can’t defeat the most anti-gun presidential candidate in American history.  None of these things will be good for us.  They will, in fact, be disastrous.  The sour economy is going to mean the federal coffers have less money in them to pay for Obama’s programs.  Can you think of something Obama could focus his energies on that wouldn’t cost a lot of money?  I sure as hell can, and is scares the hell out of me.

Please, if you do nothing else this election, contact your NRA-EVC and volunteer just a few hours of your time.  Even if it’s just placing yard signs, doing a precinct walk, helping out with a phone bank.  Bloggers are definitely stepping up this year.  For those of us volunteering, we need all the help we can get, even if it’s just an hour.  It makes a big difference when the voting time starts.

From Gay Patriot:

Go Sarah!  I think most Americans understand that politicians are eminently unqualified to stand in moral judgement of, well, anyone.

Tom Manion, who has an NRA endorsement this election, running against incumbent Patrick Murphy has a pretty good hard hitting ad running against Murphy.  More like this, please.

Bitter notices the Greens are going after Palin hard.  There’s also a problem of the moderator of Thursday’s VP debates being in the tank for Obama.

Look at this steaming pile of merda equi (I have to thank Xlrq for that one):

At the same time, the gun issue is losing its potency. Sure, the National Rifle Association is running television ads implying that Obama wants to take away hunting guns, but that attack is weakened by the recent success of the gun lobby at the Supreme Court. In June, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees a private right to bear arms—a decision Obama promptly embraced. Such a backdrop makes the scare tactics less likely to stick.

That’s good news for conservation because the emphasis on the gun issue creates lousy politics for hunters and anglers. In 2004, Field and Stream columnist George Reiger pointed out that the gun lobby’s almost exclusive focus on the Second Amendment meant that hunters could “end up with a closet full of guns with no place but a shooting range to use them.”

Did Andrew Rotherham write this, or did Ray Schoenke?  If it’s losing its potency, why is the Obama campaign threatning to shut down broadcasters who run NRA ads opposing his candidacy, and exposing his horrible record on guns?  If this is true, it shouldn’t be any problem.  The gun issue has lost its potency right?

Obama can thank God for a lousy economy, because he was fast on his way to losing the election because of his stance on guns.  He may yet still lose.

First, Obama is shown as being up seven points in Pennsylvania.  The problem with this state is you have a lot of Democrats.  Now, these are conservative, Catholic Democrats, but they view the Democrats as sticking up for the little guy.  They are willing to vote against Democrats because of guns, abortion or any number of issues, but if the economy is in the crapper, they run home to mama.  That’s the problem we face now.

On top of that, we have Bruce Springsteen doing a free concert to drive voter registration in Philadelphia.  Philly voter registration is progressing apace from what I’ve heard.  That could end up being nearly a million votes in the bank for Obama.  That’s a hell of a lot of votes the O-man can count on heading into November.  Sixty percent of all newly registered voters are voting Democrat.  This is one area The Republicans can’t compete with the Democrats on.

And I still can’t get many volunteers willing to do anything to help avert disaster.  We’re in for some very dark days ahead of us if the Obama/Pelosi Democrats are allowed to dominate our government.  There’s no reason this has to come to pass.

UPDATE: Quinnipiac poll shows Obama up 15 points.  Well, it was fun being a battleground state.  Someone FedEX me some hope, because I’m losing it rapidly.