Snowflakes in Hell

Chris King, my local state representative who was just defeated by a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic year, apparently has just closed up his office.

The door to the district office of state Rep. Chris King, D-142, on Wood Lane in Middletown was locked late Thursday morning. Calls to the office received a message referring calls to the Middletown office of state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, at 215-945-2800.

House offices are required to transition on November 30th according to state law.  Most state reps will keep their offices open to serve constituents as close to that date as possible.  Says Frank Farry, who defeated King on November 4th:

“We’re diligently working to get our office open as soon as possible,” Farry said. “I’ve already spent several days in Harrisburg trying to get the necessary approvals. I’m disappointed Rep. King chose to close his office within a few days of the election instead of remaining open until the Nov. 30 deadline. He committed to me [that] we would have a transition between our two offices, but that obviously is not going to occur.”

I hope no one needs any constituent services in the next few weeks.

Cam Edwards reminds us that it’s the birthday of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis:

Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis Brandeis, 1928

We’re going to be seeing a lot of that over the next four years.

Scott Bach opines on New Jersey’s A2116, .50 caliber firearms ban:

Many hunting and historical firearms fall into this category, so A2116 would ironically ban Revolutionary and Civil War flintlocks and muskets that won the very freedom that the legislation seeks to take away, not to mention popular hunting rifles. It could also ban a truly evil scourge of society that shoots 100+ caliber projectiles: marshmallow guns.

Read the whole thing.

Apparently some GOP governors are getting pissy because they think Palin is stealing the spotlight which, of course, rightly belongs to them!  OK GOP governors, it’s time to put on your big boy pants, and stop stomping around in a hissy fit.  If you want media attention, because you want to run for President or something, then run against her in the primary.  It’s how the system is supposed to work.

How the hell are we ever going to defeat Progressives when we have this whiny bunch as the ones who are supposed to show us the way?  God help us.

Turns out Bill Ayers is pretty familiar with Obama after all.  You know, I’ve been saying that I don’t think people have to worry about Obama shipping anyone off to concentration camps in cattle cars.  I still stand by that, because I think Obama is hiring and appointing solid progressives, within our legal traditions, not murderers.  But you know, it’s kind of hard to be credible when one of your “family friends” actually has, you know, advocated putting Americans into cattle cars and shipping them off to concentration camps.  I can’t blame people for going off the deep end if Obama is the one pushing them.

When formerly red countries have a better tax structure than Western European ones.

Somehow I managed to shoot 33/40 tonight on indoor pistol silhouette. Basically the only thing I changed was to swap out the Millet red dot scope on my Mk.III with a BSA red dot scope that I bought from SayUncle. I don’t know if it’s because it’s heavier, or just better quality optics, or I was just lucky tonight. We’ll see after next week.

I continue to struggle with my Kimber Govt. Model 82. I can shoot into the mid 30s with Bitter’s CZ 452 on a good night, but I have a hard time breaking the 30 point mark with the Kimber. It’s an 11lb rifle, and while it does tend to mute minor muscle movements, when I try to hold steady with it I’m swaying like a skyscraper in a hurricane. I think part of it is that the shooting position that’s comfortable with the CZ has an entirely different natural point of aim with a heavier rifle. It’s probably boils down to needing to practice with the Kimber more, and the CZ less. But I have to admit I love Bitter’s CZ 452. I think by this point I’ve probably shot 100x more rounds through it than she has.

Of course, just because it’s bold, doesn’t mean it’s not stupid.   It takes a certain kind of person to advertise to the world, in big bold letters, that you’re a total idiot.  We can look forward to more of this over the next four years.

Apparently it starts pretty young.  I for one am glad urban dwelling progressives are so tolerant of diversity.  Kudos to this girl’s teacher for making a lesson out of this.

Want to work for the Obama Administration?  Here’s one of a long list of personal things they want to know about each of their employees:

Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun?  If so, provide complete ownership and registration information.  Has the registration ever lapsed?  Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.

I guess they don’t know that in 99% of the country there is no registration of firearms.  Unless, of course, they only intend to hire people from Chicago.  Either way, if I had an employer put this before me as a condition of employment, I’d be out the door so fast I’d leave a vapor trail behind me.  The New York Times has more.

UPDATE: You know, it says a lot about people who would subject themselves to this kind of rubber glove treatment.  How are we expected to build a competent government when this is what it takes to vet someone?  Who would do this except to wield power?  Who does not have some skeletons in their closets, or family secrets they don’t wish revealed.  Who has not said too much?  Either we’re going to have to develop a sense of perspective as a society, or we’re doomed only to have Barack Obamas, Hillary Clintons and Rahm Emanuels in the cooridors of power.

Peter brings up a very good example of how Republicans can win:

First of all: You are Republicans, you are supposed to be the party of smaller Government, lower taxes, and smaller budgets. When you run on those principles, you win. When you don’t, you lose. If you want an example, I can provide 2. Paul Ryan, who is fairly hard Right, won big in areas of his district that went hard for Obama, and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who is another strong Conservative, who has won in Milwaukee County in landslides, the same year they voted heavily for Democrat Jim Doyle for Governor.

There are a lot of examples of conservatives who ran clear, articulate campaigns that managed to win in this overwhelmingly Democratic year.  The problem Republicans too often have, and a big problem McCain had, is being unable to translate conservative values into people’s lives.  You can try to explain the Laffer Curve to people, but half won’t understand, and the other half won’t care.  But you can get people to relate to having more money to provide for their families, and keeping more money on Main Street, rather than in Washington.  Great politicians know how ordinary people think, and can translate their values into showing how it will positively effect their lives and their communities.  One reason I think libertarians have been so stunningly unsuccessful is because we’re a lot more interested in philosophy, economic theory, liberty, and other abstract concepts, when most people are interested in improving their lives.  We have to learn to speak about our issues on that level, or people will never vote for them.

I agree with Bucks Right, this should have been done a year ago.  My guess is McCain would have thrown a temper tantrum, though.

Add John Patrick Williams, former Congressman from Montana, to the list of Democrats who are pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes:

The bad news? Groups such as the NRA have been hoodwinking you about that very issue — wastefully spending your hard-earned dues money on politics, and useless protesting by having people like Charlton Heston give that phony “pry it from my cold dead fingers” speech. A case in point is the recently publicized rush by some gun owners to “stock up” on assault weapons before they are banned by the NRA’s latest boogey man, Barack Obama.

The urge to blame President-elect Obama is a transparent example of how utterly partisan the gun groups and far too many of their adherents have become.

Pat, you might want to ask Barack Obama why renewing the assault weapons ban is still part of his platform before you start accusing NRA members of being paranoid of the boogey man.  We’re going to remember all these Democrats who falsely assured us that Obama is a man of the Second Amendment when 2010 rolls around.

Two stories today which affect the continuing narrative of lead in bullets being a real problem.  Lake City brags of producting 600,000 rounds of green ammunition for the military.  600,000 is a fraction of their daily production.  It’s made from a bismuth alloy.  The only problem with bismuth is that it’s only about twice as abundant as gold, and is only mined as an ancillary to other ores.  In other words, you can’t scale bismuth production to the levels needed to replace lead at any reasonable cost.  With its scarcity, prices would quickly go through the roof.  The devil is in the details, and if we’re attacked along this route, it’ll be tough to speak to the public about the problems of using other metals.  You can bet our opponents will be saying there are substitutes for lead — much like a helicopter can be a substitute for an automobile.

The other is a new study out of Jackson that suggest grizzly bears are being posioned by lead.

JACKSON - Preliminary results of a study by a University of Montana graduate student suggest that lead bullets may be poisoning grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Tom Rogers sampled blood from 13 grizzlies during hunting season and found nearly half had elevated levels of lead, possibly because the bears had eaten lead bullet fragments in big-game carcasses left behind by hunters.

Here’s a question.  How is the Yellowstone Ecosystem being poisoned by hunters when hunting isn’t allowed within the Yellowstone Ecosystem, and guns aren’t allowed either?

UPDATE: Some folks have corrected that the Ecosystem is a vast area that ecompasses more than just the National Park.  Either way, here’s an idea — aren’t bears busy gaining a lot of fat for hibernation during hunting season?   Wouldn’t that tend to drive the levels of a lot of ecological contaminants higher, including lead?

Source here.

Apparently City Council is once again headed to court to try to prove the Pennsylvania Constitutional actually says:

The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall be questioned by Philadelphia City Council.

Rather than what it actually says.  One thing from the article:

The NRA is challenging all five ordinances, although attorneys focused on the proposed assault-weapons ban in court Tuesday.

“Most of my clients have machine guns,” Shields said. “They are absolutely lawful.”

Police already have the authority to seize weapons if they are being used unlawfully, he said.

Way to go doing Josh Sugarmann’s legwork in helping confuse the public that the assault weapons issue has anything to do with machine guns.  Your clients may have them, and they may be legal, but that’s not what’s at issue here.

Rahm Emmanuel talks about the plan for Universal Service.

There are certainly aspects of this which are decidedly fascist. I mean this kind of fascist, not this kind of fascist.  We have seen this before:

“CCCers… wore World War I uniforms; were transported around the country by troop trains; answered to army sergeants; march[ed] in formation… went to bed in army tents listening to taps; woke to reveille.”

These must be resisted, because they are bad ideas, that are ill suited to a nation such as ours. We do not need a new “New Deal.” I took some criticism yesterday for pooh poohing the comparison to the Nazis, but I will still stand by it. The people who are proposing this crap because they are misguided, and infatuated by their own ideas and intellect. I don’t believe these people, least of all Emmanuel, is looking to march us off to the ovens, or create a police state. They might be unwittingly laying the groundwork for something much worse, and I think that needs to be pointed out.  But we must be careful in trying to hang the swastika or the fasces on our opponents necks.

I agree with Jonah Goldberg’s proposition that our political opponents share intellectual roots with the fascist ideology, but that they are not evil, they are wrong, and dangerously misguided.  If Obama puts Bill Ayers or Bernadine Dohrn in charge of his service initiatives, then I might change my mind, but for now, all the evidence points to Obama being a solidly naive progressive, within the framework that they’ve existed within in this country for most of the 20th century.  That doesn’t mean our opposition should be any less intense, but we’re not fighting Nazis.

It’s worth remembering that the very people who created the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the National Recovery Administration, also fought a costly and difficult war against the worst horrors that fascist ideology has to offer.  We must fight what is coming, but I think we also need to be wary of strained hyperbole, which not only weaken our arguments in the public eye, but also obscure the sheer horror of what Nazism and Facism actually are.

From Bruce, on the fact that Obama is going to get away with campaign finance shenanigans, because the FEC will be too busy auditing McCain’s publicly financed campaign books:

Ain’t that a sweet kick in the ass? How’s that campaign finance reform horseshit working out for now, John? Would you like some fries with that irony?

From ANJRPC:

On Monday, November 17, the New Jersey Assembly is scheduled to vote on A2116 — legislation banning most firearms over .50 caliber.  Though previously amended in an attempt to address gun owner concerns, the legislation still bans many popular hunting guns, historical firearms, and large bore target firearms, based on alleged public safety concerns.  Ironically, the legislation bans many of the guns that won the very freedoms the bill seeks to destroy, including some Revolutionary War and Civil War guns and their replicas.

A2116 makes the fundamental mistake of banning guns based on the size of the hole in the barrel rather than punishing criminal behavior.  It treats law abiding citizens who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights like potential criminals.

Please immediately email, call, and/or fax your Assembly Members and urge them to oppose A2116!  Their contact information is available here.

While the rest of us are worried that gun control is back, it never really left in New Jersey.  The relentless hammer pounds on in The Garden State.

Kurt Hoffman tells us about a news story in the Chicago Tribune that suggests that the reason we’re buying up assault weapons is because we’re afraid of a black man as commander-in-chief.

I am afraid of Obama, not because he’s black, but because he proposes to ban assault weapons.  They will never give us the courtesy of admitting that our actions might be rational.  Nope.  We’re just f**king nuts, and that’s about all there is to it.  Just those crazy, cousin humping, racist rednecks acting up against.  Tsk tsk.

Megan McArdle thinks not.  I agree.  The chief problem libertarians have is that we don’t get involved much beyond voting.  Social conservatives work hard for the candidates that support them, and they do great get out the vote efforts.  They are also reliable donors.  I agree that the Republicans need to embrace more libertarian ideas, but this notion that we can still have a winning coalition without social conservatives is bunk.

Looks like the woman who open carried to the kids soccer game is going head to head with Bryan Miller.  My advice to her is to be prepared.  Bryan is a ruthless debater, and he will corral you, then go in for the kill if you’re not prepared.  Get your talking points together, and stick to them.  Bryan will try to change the debate to grounds that are more favorable to him.  Play the nice soccer mom who just wants to protect her kids.  Let Bryan’s overly aggressive tendencies work against him in the public eye.

This is the big time.  When you talk to the media you represent all gun owners, and will be judged accordingly.

Thirdpower compares AHSA and Brady on the election.  It’s almost as if they have the same goals or something.  I’m still waiting for AHSA to come out and condemn the HSUS lead ammunition ban proposal.

Just in time for Congress and Obama to ban them!

50,000 signed the petition:

The petition, calling for a total ban on private ownership of guns with barrels shorter than 600 millimeters (23.6 inches), was handed over to Interior Minister Anne Holmlund.

Finnish defense minister Elisabeth Rehn was among those who signed the petition.

Pardon me, but wouldn’t that ban most rifles too?  I own only a handful of rifles that have barrels that long, including my .22LR Kimber target rifle.  It’s good to see we’re not the only country plauged with anti-gun activists that like to tell the public they are banning one thing, when they are really banning another.