Snowflakes in Hell

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

This kind of crap freaks me the hell out.

UPDATE: Wretchard notices too.  In the past it’s always been our country or our traditions that’s inspired us to song.  This was to be a nation of laws, not of men.  I can’t imagine any politician on the American scene inspiring me to song, and the fact that Barack Obama is having this effect on people is nearly enough to make me pray for his defeat.

UPDATE: Jim Lindgren says:

My first thought was that neither Obama nor his staff is responsible for this video, nor would Obama recommend such devotional singing. My second thought was that – as creepy and inappropriate as this singing is – it’s not as bad as what Obama is actually proposing: forcing all children, starting at the age of 11, to give 50 hours a year of child labor working in their communities at the direction of the federal government. When Obama himself crosses the line, it’s not surprising that some of his supporters do as well.

Here here.

One thing I want to do for the Allentown show this weekend is make our table look attractive, to entice people to come over and talk with us.  The typical literature isn’t very interesting or eye catching, especially when you’re in a room with wall-to-wall guns.

In the mail is a digital picture frame, which I will use on the table to play video.  I’m planning on running the NRA Katrina video on that, with some literature placed near it.  In the other corner of the table, I’m going to borrow a Shuttle PC from my friend Jason, along with an LCD touch screen.  My idea was to put up NRA’s O-Match application up full screen and let people use it.  I figured kids especially may be drawn in, giving us an opportunity to talk to the parents.  Can you say “Barack Obama is a free speech stifling, gun banning weasel?  I knew you could.”  This should be something different, and we’ll see how this experiment goes.  I might lose my faith in humanity if I discover that cats and humans have more in common than I once thought, but if I get some more people at my table, and on my e-mail list, I’ll be happy.

The Lehigh County District Attorney is resisting attempts by Allentown to pass local gun ordinances similar to Phialdelphia’s.  If people want to know why we defend preemption tooth and nail, this is why.  Before long you have a patchwork of laws that no one can reasonably comply with:

Any officer who makes an arrest under the ordinance could face obstruction of justice charges, Martin said in an interview Monday.

”The issue is clear,” Martin said. ”When it comes to gun-control legislation, any city ordinance is preempted by state law and that makes any Allentown law unenforceable.”

James Martin deserves the support of gun owners for being willing to stand by the law and our state’s constitution.

I would like you to explain why it took the death of four police officers before you thought it might be a good idea to review the practices of the Pennsylvania Parole Board?  The other officers that were killed weren’t murdered by Boy Scouts.  This has been a systemic problem, and it’s outrageous that only after Philadelphia has buried four officers you now feel the need to actually start looking at the problem.

Sincerely,

A Very Angry Sebastian

Robb beat me to another one.  This one is from The Bulletin:

Here’s a quick lesson in the law. If you’re a convicted felon, as Giddings was (and a very dangerous one at that), you can never legally buy a gun again. Never. That means that the weapon he used to kill Officer McDonald was obtained illegally. So no matter how tough you make it to buy a gun in Philadelphia, hardened criminals like Giddings will still obtain them illegally.

At least the media is starting to perhaps, finally, pull back the curtain to see what’s really behind it.

At least someone is willing to tell the Obama Campaign where to stick it:

“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.”

And I thought the Clintons were dirty.  Hillary would be a godsend compared to this guy.

The City of Philadelphia lost another gun lawsuit in Commonwealth Court yesterday.  This was the lawsuit by the city against the Pennsylvania Legislature in Harrisburg for failing to pass sufficiently strict gun laws, and for disallowing the City fo pass its own gun laws:

The state Commonwealth Court struck down a lawsuit filed last year by City Council members Darrell Clarke and Donna Reed Miller against the state General Assembly for not passing enabling legislation to allow a package of gun-control laws to be enforced in the city.

The court rejected Council’s argument that the state’s Uniform Firearms Act does not preempt local control over guns.

“While we understand the terrible problems gun violence poses for the city and sympathize with its efforts to use police powers to create a safe environment for its citizens, these practical considerations do not alter the clear pre-emption imposed by the legislature, nor our Supreme Court’s validation of the legislature’s power to act,” the ruling said.

Nutter is not surrendering on this issue, however:

“People have to make a decision as to what side of this issue they’re going to be on. You’re either going to stand up for the citizens of Philadelphia or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or you’re going to stand up for criminals.”

How about standing up for the Constitution Mr. Mayor?  You know, the one that you took an oath to uphold?  No one is standing up for the criminals here, least of all me.  But Let me tell you, Mayor Nutter has some stones here, to talk about supporting criminals when his City criminal justice system is letting people like this roam the streets.  Until we can have an open honest conversation about how to deal with that problem, the City politicians are continuing to pretend to be addressing the problem.

UPDATE: Looks like Uncle beat me to it.  Now he’ll start telling me I don’t read his blog again :)

Going into the debates, I was wondering whether Obama would be on his best game.  I’m seen him give fantastic speeches from the telepromter, but off the cuff he’s always seemed to be at somehwat of a disability.  I didn’t see any of that tonight.  Both candidates did very well, I thought.  I didn’t think there was a clear winner.  Obama seems to have tacked a good bit close to the center than he was during the primary, for instance he’s now supporting missile defense, when before he was against it.  But Obama came off well, and I didn’t think McCain came off as a slouch either.  One thing I did notice watching CNNs coverage is that independents seem to track closer to Republicans most of the time, in their reaction.

I have to wonder whether Obama’s move to the middle is pissing off a lot of his base.  I mean, I didn’t get the impression Obama was any hippy flower wearing peacenik when it comes to foreign policy.  He is definitely a man of the left, but he plays the role of a moderate very well.

URGENT: I got a response back already.  Do not use their e-mailers, as they send attachments along that do contain Obama’s legal threat, along with all the material from FactCheck.org and various other sources.  They do send your content, but you don’t want the baggage that goes along with it.

The Democratic National Committee is now taking up a petition to get NRA’s ads off the air.  I have filled in my information so you don’t have to:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please stop broadcasting the misleading and phony NRA attack ad against Barack Obama on your stations.

Time and again, Barack Obama has defended the right to bear arms created by the Constitution. However, this shameful ad misrepresents Barack’s position on illegal guns and tries to scare voters with incorrect information about his stance on the issue.

This NRA ad is a lie, and is not fit for public broadcast.

The public airwaves are no place for this kind of hateful and misleading trash. I hope you will stop broadcasting this deceptive ad on your station and prevent the level of discourse to be lowered by the lies it presents.

Please take this ad off the air at once.

Will the blue dogs in the party condemn this action?  Or will they stand by and take it from Obama?  If they want gun owner support, this isn’t how to go about it.  I will say that at least the DNC didn’t threaten their broadcast licenses.  Since they allow editing, I have taken their form and translated it to this:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please do not give into intimidation and threats from the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign to cease running NRA’s ads.  As an independent voter, a gun owner, sport shooter, and an NRA member, I find it offensive that the Democratic Party has chosen to attempt to silence my views.  Please keep running the ads by the National Rifle Association.  They speak for me, and many other gun owners who will not be voting for Barack Obama this coming November.

Thank You,

Sebastian
Langhorne, PA

That should be a nice middle finger extended to the Democratic National Committee.  Unfortunately, they ask for a donation after you submit, and “Piss Off” is not among the options.

Gus the talking groundhog was creepy enough, but now apparently the Pennsylvania lottery is promoting one of thier new games with giant walking phalli.

The AFL-CIO is taking NRA to task for trying to divide good working coal miners from Barack Obama.  One wonders what AFL-CIO’s position is on Joe Biden talking out of both sides of his mouth about clean coal.  When the chips are down, do the United Mine Workers really believe Obama will stand with them over the environmental lobby?  If they do, I have a bank in New York to sell them.

On the way in from work, spotting on people’s lawns in the Fort Washington/Blue Bell area of Montgomery County, PA:

• 1 Obama Sign
• 5 McCain Signs
• 1 Allyson Schwartz Sign (Democrat Incumbent Congresscritter)
• 3 Kate Harper signs (Repub. State Rep)

Based on signage, things are looking good for McCain at least in some parts of the Philadelphia suburbs.  Based on signage in general, I think McCain has the edge, and that’s a good sign of where the passion is, even if it’s not scientific.