FORMER SEN. HOWARD BAKER ONE OF A KIND

Former Sen. Howard Baker

Howard Baker, a Tennessee Republican who was first elected to the Senate in 1966 and served as its leader from 1981 to 1985 has died. He was 88. It may be just another passing politician to many but to those who know politics, it was the last of the great negotiators from a Congress that has evolved into a bunch of incompetent do-nothing deadbeats. Their only concern is to get reelected, the country be damned. Baker got regularly elected over four decades because he worked for the people of Tennessee and the American public, not for himself. President Obama called him the "Great Conciliator" because he could walk across the aisle and make a deal. Others of the same ilk who come to mind are Lyndon Johnson and Everett Dirksen. But can you name one person in Congress today who would put his or her country before their job? I think not.

163 DEMOCRATS FIND BALLS ON GUN CONTROL

Almost, but not all of the Democrat House caucus signed a letter to Speaker John Boehner demanding that he move to pass gun control legislation. That leaves 36 gutless Dems that should be voted out of office in November. The Blaze confirms the failure of this issue in the past but thinks in 2014's midterm election the tide could turn and the democratic base could come out strong for gun control. President Obama has charged gun control advocates to become as well organized as the National Rifle Assn., which, through its official big mouth wacky Wayne LaPierre, spews lies and propaganda on a regular basis. Obama's 2013 bill to strengthen background checks failed in a Democrat controlled Senate. But as Richard Martinez, father of Santa Barbara shooting victim Christopher Michaels-Martinez said, "Not one more."

PUBLIC FED UP AS GUN NUTS GET NUTTIER

Typical NRA gun nut

Salon has done an excellent job of documenting the craziness of the National Rifle Assn. maniacs led by wacky Wayne LaPierre. From one Virginia man strapping on his holster and shooting himself in the penis to gun nuts carrying assault rifles into the baby section of a Target store. In my estimation, the latter shows a complete lack of concern for the young lives lost in Sandy Hook gun violence and elsewhere. Salon's piece, "9 Signs America's Gun Obsession is Getting Worse," should be a huge awakening to those apathetics out there who seem to have accepted gun violence as ordinary. It's not. Examples of Salon's nine points include "States with the laxest gun laws have the most violence," "Americans aren't standing for this," including large retail chains like Starbucks, Chipotle, Chili's and finally, The NRA is facing opposition and losing. I recommend you go to the link above and read all nine.

10 EXAMPLES HOW THE NRA PROMOTES GUN VIOLENCE

Wacky Wayne LaPierre

When you have Congress by the balls you can do pretty much anything and get away with it. Precisely what wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn., has done with his conglomeration of gun nuts. They sneer at the gun deaths of these children and adults with the justification that what is important is protecting their right to own a gun and take it anywhere they want to. Not to save innocent lives. The Guardian newspaper, a United Kingdom based publication, has been covering the gun violence in the U.S. for years with authority, and rightfully so with the excellent guns laws they have in the U.K. That is the reason why they have .25 gun deaths per 100,000 population compared to the U.S. at 10.2. They have compiled a list of 10 reasons how the National Rifle Assn. has weakened America's gun control. Here are a few:

-Concealed carry reciprocity: The NRA wants their gun nuts to be able to carry their concealed weapons into all states, even if they bought their gun in Arizona, which requires only a warm body.

-Guns in schools: The NRA would like to pass laws to make guns  legal to carry guns on college campuses, elementary and secondary schools, state mental hospitals and bars.

-Revoking licenses from corrupt gun dealers: Sounds common sense, right. Not. The NRA wants to make it virtually impossible to revoke licenses from corrupt dealers.

Someday, sooner rather than later, a fed-up public is going to turn on these gun nuts and take away all their guns which means the responsible gun owners will lose their firearms as well. Tough.

THE CHILDREN GUN VIOLENCE REPORTS KEEP COMING

Everytown and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has compiled some publically available figures for unintentional gun deaths that are recent, from 15 December 2012 to 14 December 2013. There were 100 boys and girls ages 14 and under who were killed accidentally by guns. Like those left on the dining room table around a two-year-old while dad takes a telephone call. He shot himself in the chest and died. And a four year old girl shot by her six-year-old brother with a gun left a gun under a jacket on a living room chair while the step-mother was outside. he died. The report says, American children are 16-times more likely to be killed in unintentional shootings than their peers in other high-income countries. Tragically, it was found that 70% of these deaths could have been prevented if precautions had been taken by the gun owners to secure their weapons. Pathetic! Read the full report here.

 

MORE STUPID TEA PARTY REMARKS FROM BOBBY JINDAL POST

Typical Tea Party redneck

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on the Tea Party site, “I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States, where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.” He added, "..there is a "silent war" on religious liberty being fought in the U.S." Following are some of the laughable and half-witted comments to his post:

David Anderson: “JINDAL IS RIGHT. WE'VE HAD ENOUGH AND NEED TO TAKE OVER OUR COUNTRY NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES. I'M IN ARE YOU?”

Don Holmes III: “DAMNED RIGHT I'M IN! I HAVE BEEN READY FOR A LONG TIME! I KEEP MY WEAPONS BESIDE MY BED! THE OATH I TOOK IN 1964 IS STILL VALID AND WILL NEVER EXPIRE!
SEMPER FI TILL I DIE!!!!”

David Dixon: “yep Civil War II, the retaking of America. What a Grand idea.”

Jerry Ross: “southern conservatives would make a large STANDING ARMY!”

Bob Howe: “same with us Arizonans. We'll fight and take our own Army. Americans Unite!!!”

Peter Gundrum: “A complete genocide is necessary for the future of America.”

The definition of genocide from Dictionary.com is: "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group." 

ARE STUPID PARENTS TO BLAME FOR MINNESOTA BOY'S PREMEDITATED GUN VIOLENCE?

John David LaDue

I don't want to be too judgmental but if a recent account of a Minnesota teen's plans to bomb a school and shoot students is correctly reported, either his parents are oblivious about what's going on around them or they are just plain stupid. John David LaDue says he came from a good home and was never bullied. The piece describes LaDue with an "obsessively detailed plot" starting with killing his family. He was arrested in April when a female witness saw the 17-year-old at a storage locker where he kept his bomb making equipment. In his home LaDue had numerous guns and ammunition, but his mother said she had no idea what he was plotting. Her son countered that "he plotted right under her nose. He made no effort to hide anything. He told police they'd find three live bombs in a box on the floor next to his bed." Duh. These parents are just plain lucky they weren't co-conspirators in another school massacre.

LOUISIANA GOV. BOBBY JINDAL TALKS REVOLUTION

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal is the Governor of a state that ranks at the top of the list for poverty levels. Louisiana is only topped by Mississippi and the District of Columbia. Yet Jindal on Fox News republished by, who else, the Tea Party, said, “I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States, where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.” Further, this fruitcake says there is a "silent war" on religious liberty being fought in the U.S. I wasn't aware any recent restrictions had been placed on this right and, if anything, it is the religious right that is trying to take over and run the country. It's the typical Tea Party cry of "no more government" but when Louisiana needs help, where do they look? The federal government, of course. Jindal needs to clean up his own backyard before trying to save the country.

BRADY CAMPAIGN SAYS NINE CHILDREN DIE EACH DAY IN U.S. OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS

PolitiFact checked Brady's figures with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database and found that from 2007 to 2011--latest data available-14,258 children died of gunshot wounds. That makes it 7.81 deaths per day, close enough to Brady's figures. The fact that it is even one per day is too much. These incidents include accidental shootings by adults, kids who find unsecured guns, gang violence, suicide and planned mass shootings. Brady acknowledged their error citing a volunteer incorrectly using the number nine for deaths. Eight is correct and they said the nine represents children unintentionally shot daily who survive, which is in addition to the eight who die. Any way you look at this the outcome is pathetic.

GUN MANUFACTURERS SHOULD THANK WAYNE LAPIERRE FOR THEIR PROFITS

Gun manufacturers

The naïve, supposed 5-million membership of the National Rifle Assn. think wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA, works on their behalf in the gun rights movement. He doesn't. He works for the gun manufacturers and it is obvious from recent profits his work has been extremely successful. Here's a report from the Guardian on the profits of two leaders in this industry: Smith & Wesson Holdings, up 150.1% in the last five years, and Sturm Ruger, up 370.6% in the same period. These profits also carry over into the retail side of the gun business: Dick’s Sporting Goods and Cabela’s, up 168.7% and 423.1% in the same five years, respectively. Now I am in full support of the U.S. capitalistic system but these profits--produced on the bloody deaths of hundreds of innocent children and adults--are abhorrent. You would think the American public would agree but they are still in their unconscionable apathetic mood while the deaths continue.

JUSTICE ANTHONY M. KENNEDY COULD DECIDE GUN CONTROL FATE

Adam Winkler...Gunfight

SCOTUS has refused to hear several gun control cases brought by the National Rifle Assn. that would allow broader open and concealed carry. Although D.C. v. Heller only clarified possession in the home, carrying a firearm outside the home is still up for grabs. The Courts have ruled against straw buyers--those purchasing guns for a third party--so what's left is background checks and open and concealed carry outside the home. Congress will probably eventually rule on the background check issue; only an idiot cannot see the benefits of making sure who is buying guns. But SCOTUS must address the 2nd Amendment issue of whether a citizen can lawfully carry a gun outside his or her home for protection.

The key vote could come from Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy; he joined the liberals in the straw buyer vote. Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor who wrote Gunfight: The Battle Over the Rights to Bear Arms in America, thinks Kennedy is "willing to read gun control laws broadly." Winkler also thinks Kennedy "...insisted that the opinion establishing the individual gun ownership right, District of Columbia v. Heller, contain language that it was not calling into question reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. The door is obviously open and Kennedy could be our man.

GUN CONTROL'S NEXT FIGHT: CARRYING FIREARMS OUTSIDE HOME

True, background checks should be the primary goal for now and it looks like there is a surge in gun control support with maximum spending for those in Congress favoring the issue in November. Both Bloomberg and Gabby Giffords groups are investing heavily to offset the lies and propaganda of the National Rifle Assn. But the NRA lost in February when the Supreme Court refused to hear its cases on the right of gun owners to carry firearms outside their homes for self-defense. Another case originating in New Jersey seeking the same kind of decision was also dismissed by SCOTUS. The irony is John Drake can carry his Glock, Model 30, .45-caliber handgun in public in 38 states across the country. The District of Columbia 2008 decision upheld the individual's right to possess a gun for protection in the home. But it is widely believed that this was not meant to give the approval for the carrying of firearms outside the home.

NRA BEGETS CLIVEN BUNDY BEGETS JARED AND AMANDA MILLER BEGETS MORE VIOLENCE

Salon has made it perfectly clear how the U.S. Government mucked up the Cliven Bundy standoff by sticking their tails between their legs and simply retreating like cowards. Rick Perlstein said, "What should be judged a watershed in American history instead became a story about one man’s racist rants." He goes on to talk about how Bundy inspired Jared and Amanda Miller's killings in Nevada and then two more shootings in California. Perlstein concludes, as do most gun control advocates, that gun deaths have become a lifestyle in America, tragically, an accepted one. Apathy over the loss of your favorite college football team is one thing. Apathy over your neighbor's child's death from a gunshot wound is something else entirely.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO NEEDS TO CLEAN UP HIS ACT BEFORE COMPLAINING ABOUT WHITEHOUSE

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona has one of the biggest mouths in law enforcement, if not the whole country. He constantly feeds the media for publicity and seems to relish getting his picture on TV or in print. He is a six-time elected Sheriff which either speaks to his competency or the incompetency of the voters of Arizona. Based on the following, I would go with the latter. After accused of racial profiling, Judge had to appoint a court monitor to keep him honest. A Dept. of Justice investigation was eventually closed after two years. Federal Judge ruled in 2008 and again in 2010 jail conditions violated constitutional rights of prisoners. The list goes on. And, of course, there is Arpaio's absurd pursuit of Obama's birth certificate conspiracy using a bunch of laughable volunteers to do his dirty work. But Arizonans keep electing him. Go figure.

TIME TO REPEAL OR AMEND 2ND AMENDMENT

The NRA's 2nd Amendment

That headline is guaranteed to get the attention of gun nuts all over the world. In the past comments have been so vicious and often life-threatening that I decided this go around with my blog not to allow them. But I know what you will say so consider yourself said but not really heard. I am not alone on this; much better minds than I have come to the same conclusion. Bill Maher said the NRA stands for "Nuts, Racists and Assholes," Very appropriate considering some past comments mentioned above. The blog,  Gun Control Now speaks to the constant argument by gun rights radicals that the 2nd makes gun control illegal. It says "The 2^nd amendment was predicated upon the maintenance of state militias—something that has become irrelevant in the face of our federal armed services—and is not something that should have allowed individuals to claim the right to own weapons."

Further, Chief Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger—a Republican—talking about the 2nd Amendment said...

“…one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I’ve ever seen in my life time. The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies—the militias—would be maintained for the defense of the state. The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires.”

From another point of view Jerry Large of the Seattle Times says...

“I don’t believe the Second Amendment was ever intended to support the kind of gun craziness we contend with today, but since it’s always used to ward off any common-sense gun reforms, maybe we ought to just fix the Constitution and be done with it.”

But he admits this kind of talk just makes some Americans "...embrace their guns even more tightly..."

WHO CARES WHAT DICK CHENEY, ESPECIALLY HIS DAUGHTER, SAYS

Dick Cheney to the American public

First of all, here's the man who orchestrated the U.S. into the Iraq War on an outright lie, touting the weapons of mass destruction. And second, he later tried to convince the American public that Saddam Hussein was in on planning the 9/11 attacks. The man lies when the truth is better and he has the gall to criticize Obama's handling of the current crisis in Iraq. But writing the op-ed with his daughter is laughable; what the hell does she know about foreign policy? There is something inherent about being in political office...whether you are qualified or not. Paul Waldman on CNN says 4,500 Americans died in Iraq, and between 100,000 and 400,000 Iraqis died with the U.S spending at least $800 billion. And I won't even get into the Halliburton scandal. George W. Bush may have been the worst President but Dick Cheney was certainly the biggest conniving shyster to ever serve in the U.S. government.

NRA LIES USING "AMERICA'S POLICE" ENDORSEMENT FALSELY

Following is what wacky Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. con artists said in an ad

Lies and more lies

supposedly depicting the opinions of America's law enforcement on gun control: "Seventy-one percent of police say that Obama’s gun ban will have zero effect on violent crime. Eighty percent of police say that more background checks will have no effect." WRONG says the Washington Post Fact Checkers. To begin with, it isn't even confirmed that all the voters were police officers and the survey got only 2,500 views out of 765,000 local and state law enforcement officers, not including federal officers. The small amount of responses was not even representative and the NRA knew that. The pollsters, San Francisco based Police One, said they had no control over how the NRA used their data and distanced themselves from what the organization said.

The NRA and the gun culture in general are constantly attacking data used by the gun control activists. Here is a clear example of how information has been twisted to fit the needs of wacky Wayne and his gang of gun nuts. This article is a must-read.

TEA PARTY TRIES TO OUT-DUMB HILLARY CLINTON

Tea Party numb-nuts caught Hillary Clinton in a bit of a compromising position in the making of a
complex statement on gun control. Now, to begin with, have you ever read one of the Tea Party site posts chocked full of typos and grammatical errors, along with their regular tirade of misinformation? I do because it always makes such good copy,
 like this one. Hillary said, "We cannot let a minority of people – and it’s, that’s what it is, it is a minority of people – hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people." If TPers can't see the deeper meaning in this statement then they are denser than I thought. What Clinton is saying is what she has said all along on gun control; a small group of the radical gun culture is terrorizing the public and Congress and we can't allow this to happen. Which is dead on. Understand now?

YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS EVERYWHERE...IN THE WORLD

In the July 2014 Consumer Reports there is an article, "Your secrets aren't safe." As a former privacy

NOT

advocate and junk mail data broker I can confirm that ten-fold. The speed at which your personal data moves around the world is faster than space travel. You wonder why it is all over the world? Foreign countries, particularly Europe, need it to sell their goods to Americans. And the biggest reason, U.S. junk mailers store your private information in countries like Costa Rica and India with those facilities all manned by people from that location. Scott McNealy, former founder and CEO of Sun Microsystems, a Silicon Valley darling of technology companies, said in 1999, "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." I thought he was crazy then, as did many other privacy advocates, but it turns out that even 15 years ago he was dead right. Can you imagine how bad the situation must be by now?

NEXT PRESIDENT SUPPORTS GUN CONTROL

Hillary Clinton looks to be on her way to the presidency in 2016, that is if she decides to run. That would be a good thing for a lot of reasons but especially because she seems to be a staunch supporter 

Hillary Clinton

of gun control and isn't afraid to say it. In a Time magazine interview she said gun control opponents hold views that "terrorizes" a majority of the American public. Could she mean the National Rifle Assn. in her definition of "gun control opponents?" Clinton continued, “We cannot let a minority of people, and that’s what it is, it is a minority of people, hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people.” She is another who cannot understand how this Congress could not pass universal background checks and thinks the NRA's opposition to this legislation could backfire, "...alienating moderate gun owners." Clinton also endorsed a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, making it a neat gun control package for the future.

OPENING SOON: GUN RANGE WITH ITS OWN CEMETERY-A PARODY

The first part of June I almost laughed myself to death when I read the headline, "Opening soon: Gun

range with a bar." It's in Oklahoma City and will serve both alcohol and fully automatic machine guns. The name is Wilshire Gun and will have 24 firing lanes but the alcohol will actually be served in a different section. So I came up with the idea of opening up a shooting range connected to a cemetery, not because someone might get killed at the gun range, although many have including one man shooting himself, but because of the direct connection between guns and death. Those interred in this cemetery would only be victims of gun deaths. The gun nuts would have to pass the cemetery on the way in to the shooting range. On second thought, it wouldn't even phase these pathetic souls.

GUNS ESPECIALLY THE BIG ONES ENHANCE MASS SHOOTINGS

AR-15 KILLER

Last April a teenager injured 21 high school classmates and a security guard with two kitchen knives. Pittsburgh area rampage which proves, as University of California criminologist Franklin Zimring says, that the weapon matters. Especially if it's a large caliber gun. He found "that people shot by larger caliber guns -- which carry bigger and more destructive bullets -- were more likely to die than those shot by smaller caliber guns." Although overall crime rates in America aren't that much higher than comparable cities--a fact we are repeatedly reminded of by gun nuts--we still have higher rates of homicide. And the reason for that is that criminals are armed with guns that kill. And these guns are as easy to get as ice cream at the corner store.
There were no fatalities in this

RUSH LIMBAUGH STUPIDITY

Rush Limbaugh at his best

I hate to keep using that word "stupid" but it is the best definition I can find for some conservatives who seem to dwell in the doldrums of lunacy. Rush Limbaugh heads the list. In his latest tirade he asks if DREAM kids are so great, why can't they make it in their own country? Now only a moron would ask that question when it is obvious kids from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras don't have the same opportunities in their countries as they would in the United States. The question that should be asked is why are these kids flowing across the border and what are we going to do about them? President Obama has already said they cannot stay legally but they are children and something humane must be done. But parents from these foreign countries have learned that the U.S. is a benevolent country and the problem is likely to get worse.

MORE TEA PARTY STUPIDITY

Today's Tea Bagger

This is the continuation of an earlier post where two Facebook people complained of my referring to Tea Party followers as stupid. As Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does," and TPers are an amazing example of this. Here are some more comments from Tea Party greats...

“People now don’t die from prostate cancer, breast cancer and some of the other things.”  – Chris Collins, New York GOP State Rep.

“So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex. We want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch.”  – Rush Limbaugh

“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down.”  -Todd Akin, former U.S. Rep., Missouri

“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”  – Richard Mourdock, Indiana GOP U.S. Senate candidate.

There are more to come and thanks to Americans Against the Tea Party site for the quotes.

 

 

 

LAS VEGAS SHOOTERS REVERED CLIVEN BUNDY AND VIOLENCE

Cliven Bundy protesters

Jerad and Amanda Miller supported Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher that for years refused to pay federal grazing fees for his cattle and attracted the bowels of the militia-minded misfits to help him protect his ranch. Jered likened Bundy's situation to another Waco and vowed he would do something on Facebook. The Millers were actually asked to leave the ranch because they were felons. Jered on Facebook said he liked the NRA, the 2nd Amendment, The Patriot Party, Rand and Ron Paul, Freedom Works and many more in the radical conservative movement. His wife on Facebook liked the videos, "Shooting Cops," "Citizens Can Shoot Police," and "When Is It Okay To Shoot a Cop." The kind of family you'd like to move in next door to you. Not sure what the profile of those that came to Bundy's ranch to protest but the picture attach
ed might give you an idea.

ONE YOUNG PROGRESSIVE MAKES NRA PAY

NRA Blood Money

At least we know there are progressives out there that are fighting the National Rifle Assn. and its underhanded tactics. Brown University student Sam Bell dug up enough dirt on the NRA that the organization was charged with the state of Rhode Island's second-largest campaign finance violation. The group of gun nuts paid $63,000, actually a drop in the bucket for the organization. It was a classic investigation by Bell of following the money which the NRA illegally channeled from one its PACS to another PAC. This 24-year-old grad student took it upon himself to nose into politics and ferret out conservative wrong-doing. I wonder how many Sam Bells there are around the country? If progressives are going to turn the tide in 2014 and 2016, we'd better find them wherever they are.

WHAT IS CONSERVATISM?

John Kenneth Galbraith

Conservatives think they have the answer to save this country and are pushing a political philosophy that progressives, even some of their own, believe will bring it down. It isn't that the right wants to really "bring down" the U.S., they just want to bring it to the level where the monied-few control the commerce of America, making the rich richer. And I don't mean just the millionaires and billionaires, there are those that feel just secure and are well off that share this philosophy. John Kenneth Galbraith said: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." If you don't know who Galbraith is there is no use explaining. And I must admit, most conservatives I know do not seem overly concerned over the plight of the needy in most categories.

YOUR HOME IS NOT SAFE UNDER CURRENT GUN CONTROL LAWS

So says the Washington Post Editorial Board, one of the leading U.S. newspapers. This piece starts out with the simple but oft-repeated phrase, “THIS SHOULDN’T happen in Troutdale. You don’t expect something like that to happen in your hometown.” This reaction after a 15-year-old high school student killed a fellow 14-year-old student and then shot himself. The Post says don't expect anything from this Congress which refuses to even consider gun control legislation. But just take a look back...from an elementary school where 20 6-year-olds were massacred with an assault rifle to the Washington Navy Yard where a gunman killed 12 with a sawed-off shotgun, and the same thing happens in hundreds of other  venues around the country. The Editorial Board comments, “We’re the only developed country on earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week..." President Obama has spoken forcefully. Now we need action!

GUN NUTS TURN TO BROOMSTICKS WITHOUT THEIR GUNS

The Department of Justice "Operation Choke Point" has been kept a secret but has come to light recently and has the gun nuts scared as hell. One such gun lover commented that if Choke Point worked, all that they would have left to defend themselves with was a "very powerful broomstick." The operation is so named for its ability to choke off financial services to targeted industries like gun manufacturers. A frustrated Obama administration is desperately trying to save lives from gun violence and, due to a yellow-bellied Congress, has had to resort to desperate moves. And that is what makes this sort of thing so egregious, a gutless Congress and an apathetic public that won't stand their ground.

GUN CONTROL TAKES OVER BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Chipotle gun nuts

They came, they marched, they made their point. It is time we see the well balanced people of the gun control movement out there in force for reasonable gun laws rather than the gun nuts who sling their assault weapons over their shoulders shuffling their way into a Target or Chipotle to protest and prove their masculinity. If ever there were a couple of losers, it's the two in the attached photo. Now to me this pair looks like what I call gun nuts; more guns than brains. But there were 1,000 gun control demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge, including almost 100 from Newtown, Connecticut, the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage. Lots of moms against gun violence were there who look very intelligent compared to the Chipotle double-digit IQs. The momentum is obviously there this time for gun control.

TEA PARTY SITE PROVES IT'S TIME TO TAKE THEIR GUNS

I try my best not to call attention to a Tea Party site, if not based on the lack of accuracy, it is because of the numerous grammatical mistakes, but this one takes the cake. New York has put out a counter-terrorism bulletin because of the radical 2nd Amendment gang that is apparently saying they will do anything to keep the feds or NY state law enforcement from taking their weapons. These are the very people they should require to turn in all their firearms. The picture included with the TP post says it all; it's an assault rifle featured as if every American family needs one of these. Well, they don't, and it is this bunch of gun nuts that should be relieved of all their guns. The Tea Party obviously supports rebellion and I'm beginning to think that includes violence.

HAVE REALITY SHOWS BECOME REALITY?

Slenderman

The country is completely absorbed with television reality shows where dreamers can vicariously be whatever they want to. There's The Amazing Race, The Contender, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, America's Got Talent, Big Brother, The Voice and the list goes on and on. Since the grownups are so engrossed in this kind of television, some kids might assume that it is okay to step away from reality and do something they conjure up from a mixed up mind. Something like stabbing one of your classmates in a fantasy world that still borders on reality.

Just what two 12-year olds did to impress a make-believe online character named Slenderman from a site called Creepypasta Wiki. Now in most cases even a 12-year old can differentiate between this kind of fantasizing but obviously with the recent shootings, and stabbings some parents aren't doing their parenting jobs. 

TEA PARTY STUPIDITY

Two people posting on Facebook have taken offense to my comments degrading the Tea Party calling them some favorite names like fruitcakes, idiots and morons. One such comment read,  "They do seem to be monolithic in their thinking. The other thing they do is rather than debate the merits of issues, they demonize, deride, and dismiss those who disagree with them," based on me calling them fruitcakes for their eternal bitching over President Obama, the borders, the Constitution, a balanced budget and the list goes on. But when they come up with a solution to problems it is usually looney tunes.

So I decided to do regular posts now showing why I use designations like fruitcakes, idiots and morons for Tea Party members based on these very members' comments. Here is why I use these pet names...

“You would be giving off more CO2 if you are riding a bike than driving in a car.”  – Ed Orcutt, Washington GOP State Rep., stating that bicycles pollute the environment more than cars do.

 “I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” – Rick Santorum 

“When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That’s a big thing. That’s a big surgery. You don’t have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that.”  – Mary Sue McClurkin, Alabama GOP State Rep. 

 

Thanks to the Americans against the Tea Party site for these quotes

NRA SAYS STOPPING GUN VIOLENCE "UNETHICAL"

Let me explain that headline. To stop the daily gun violence in the United State that takes over 30,000 lives each year, we need to know something about the people who do it, the weapons they use, and the reasons for their actions. These facts are easily available if the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were allowed to collect and analyze the data that's already there on gun deaths. They cannot. But they did this until pressure from the NRA stopped it cold in the mid-1990s. If the information being suppressed is not so negative to this bunch of gun thugs, why would wacky Wayne LaPierre and his NRA gun nuts want to censor it? The answer is obvious and is just another example of a gutless Congress that should be kicked out on their asses in November.

GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES-ELECTIONS TO WATCH

The Wall Street Cheat Sheet has lined up some races in November that us gun control advocates

Look closely for the bloody dead child

should pay particular attention to. One is Mark Udall (D-Colo) who voted to ban high capacity magazines and so far is in an even race against opponent Rep. Cory Gardner (R). Giffords' group is also backing Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.). Others include Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). Giffords and Kelly's group, Americans for Responsible Solutions is attempting to show that it is possible to be an advocate of gun control and still support the 2nd Amendment.

Progressives must turn out in November if we are going to bring down the National rifle Assn. along with its leader wacky Wayne LaPierre.

MORE GUNS MEAN MORE VIOLENCE PROVEN

U.S. the worst in guns owned to gun violence

Two Harvard professors researched 26 high income countries finding that the high rate of gun ownership correlates with high gun violence. The United States has 88.8 guns per 100 people and in the U.S. an American is 20 times more likely to die of a gunshot wound than in these other developed countries. You have to look at this map and illustration showing the amazing difference in gun deaths across the world. Only Chile is close to the U.S. but look at gun control countries like Canada, Australia, Great Britain and others. But here's the catch. The report also found that just 52% of Americans felt gun control laws should be stricter. Are these people ill-informed, completely apathetic or just plain stupid. I vote for a little of each.

GUN NUTS CREATED BY NATIONAL RIFLE ASSN.

I have called them gun nuts for several years now, defined simply by the fact that they love their guns more than innocent human lives. Their gun rights are more important than those killed in

Wacky Wayne LaPierre

shootings from Columbine to Las Vegas. And they get it from the top, wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA. The Daily Beast says he and the organization have
created a monster in these misguided morons who walk into restaurants and retail chains with assault weapons slung over their shoulders. The group's command is go out and arm yourself and prepare for a war against the gun grabbers. Now this NRA hierarchy knows this will never happen but as long as wacky Wayne keeps them buying guns, the gun manufacturers are happy and LaPierre's pockets continue to be lined.

WHAT SHOULD PRESIDENT OBAMA DO ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE?

President Obama

Barack Obama is the President of the United States, after all. He should be able to put a stop to American gun violence that is one of a kind in developed countries. The Brits wouldn't allow this kind of bloodshed to continue over a period of time like it has in the U.S. Neither would Canada or Australia where gun control is the law. Columbine was in April of 1999; that's fifteen years. And through all this it has been the National Rifle Assn., led by wacky Wayne LaPierre, that keeps blaming it on everything but the real cause. GUNS. And it is a sniveling U.S. Congress, scared to death of the NRA, that refuses to pass the gun laws necessary to quell this violence. All of this perpetrated on the American people so gun manufacturers can sell more guns to more gun nuts. Obama has spoken out again. Will he follow up?

JOHN MCCAIN's TIME HAS PASSED

John McCain

He served the state of Arizona in the U.S. Senate well after being elected based on his Vietnam incarceration. Yes, there was a sympathy vote there which has arisen in many political articles over the years. Regardless, John McCain did good things for Arizona and the country. I had a great deal of respect for him as a GOP moderate and maverick who stood up for what was right, regardless of the party connection. But this is all history now. First there was his run for President against Barack Obama that was noteworthy...until he named Sarah Palin as his Vice President. Sheer stupidity based on choosing someone like Palin and dumber because it made the Republican Party look like a bunch of idiots. And then there were all the flip-flops first on immigration, on climate change, then on Bowe Bergdahl's prisoner exchange. All done for the sake of getting reelected. It's time to move on from John and hopefully in his next reelection we can send Jeff Flake packing.

NEIGHBORS KNEW OF LAS VEGAS COUPLE'S KILLING PLANS

Walmart Las Vegas shooting

What is it the American public can't understand about "I just might go out and do a mass killing?" The dialogue was similar in what the killers Jared and Amanda Miller told their neighbor,
Krisa Koch, before the killings. Their actual words were "the couple had told her they were going to carry out an attack." Koch said, " she thought they were 'crazy,' so she dismissed what they said." And then the woman the pair of murderers was staying with, Kelley Fielder, "She said she saw the pair leave the home early Sunday carrying weapons and ammunition." Good God, what does it take when there are killings like this daily in the newspapers and on television and the radio. Are these people just stupid or is this an extension of the American public's dismissive nature of the shootings taking place throughout the U.S? Either way it's pathetic.

ERIC CANTOR LOSES HOUSE SEAT IN VIRGINIA PRIMARY

Progressives can gloat over the House Majority leader's loss in today's Virginia primary but that's

Eric Cantor

only if that translates into a negative reaction to Tea Party candidates as it did in 2012. Eric Cantor trails his Tea Party backed opponent, David Brat 55% to 44%. Apparently no one saw it coming and hopefully this might be a precursor to the Democrats taking back the House in November. TPers have an inherent ability to really piss off sane voters and one can only dream of a replay of some of the 2012 races. But if Cantor is considered the most conservative in the House, God help us if Brat does win. Everyone says this seat is solidly GOP but time will tell.

LAS VEGAS SHOOTING CONCEALED CARRY CIVILIAN SHOULDN'T HAVE DIED

I've said it before and now it's happened again; a vigilante type carrying a gun in public has died as a

Cici's Pizza Las Vegas shooting

result this time. He shouldn't have but it is this kind of cowboy mentality promoted by the National Rifle Assn. that leads these folks to think they are ready to defend the American public. They aren't. It takes months of training for a police officer to know what to expect in crucial situations like this but I doubt if the armed guy, Joseph Wilcox, had anywhere near that. He didn't anticipate an accomplice and she shot and killed him. In the Gabby Giffords Tucson shooting in 2011, two Arizona gun gauchos tried to come to Giffords' aid and nearly shot each other. In Arizona the only thing necessary to carry a gun around on the streets is to have a pulse. I am firmly against open and concealed carry permits and hope that the Supreme Court will soon make this a thing of the past.

WHERE IS OBAMA? WHERE IS CONGRESS? AS THE CHILDREN KEEP DYING

Reynolds HS evacuation

My wife said this morning with the news that there was another shooing in Oregon with two dead, one a student at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon, just outside Portland, "It's beginning to look like a conspiracy." But who are the conspirators? Maybe the National Rifle Assn. is involved since we have had so many shooting incidents with absolutely no action from lawmakers. On the other hand each mass shooting fires up the gun nuts that much more to protect their right to own a gun. Which means gun manufacturers sell more guns and then shower the NRA with more cash donations to keep its head, wacky Wayne LaPierre happy. I'd hate to think I am right about this and I'm probably not. But this is coming to a crisis level, if it hasn't already, and if something isn't done for reasonable gun control soon, the National Guard will have to escort your kids to school, sit with them all day, and then escort them home.

NRA WANTS TO ARM MENTALLY ILL

I touched on this in an earlier post, “NRA wants to weakenVirginia Gun Violence Prevention Law.” but the mentally ill factor deserves more coverage. Although the Newtown shooting was horrendous due to the number of young children shot and killed, the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, was the worst ever. Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and injured 17 others. He was mentally ill. MSNBC provides some background: the Gun Control Act of 1968, prompted by the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, said once you were banned you stayed banned. After Virginia Tech, Congress passed the NICS Improvements Amendment Act, requiring states to submit mental health records to the national database.

After consideration, the NRA said this is no good for their membership. But you could pass it, if first the words "mentally defective" in the amendment were more narrowly defined, which I am guessing would keep it from identifying many of their members. Second there had to be an easier way for those deemed mentally unbalanced to get their guns back. Meaning some backwoods justice of the peace could say, "Halleluiah, they have been cured." A doctor's order would even be sufficient to get back his or her arsenal. The Gun Control Act of 1968 blown to smithereens. Does anyone else get just how stupid this all sounds?

And doesn't this remind you of the fact that Iowa wants to arm the blind.

 

 

 

 

 

TEA PARTY IS WORRIED WHETHER OBAMA IS SANE?

Now here is the epitome of the pot calling the kettle black except in this case the pot should be called an idiot. In a recent Tea Party post the headline read, "Psychology Expert Worries ‘Erratic’ Obama May Not Be ‘Sane.’" Either the guy is completely incompetent--something an association with TPers might suggest--or it's the usual misinformation we get regularly from Fox News, this time coming from CNN castoff Lou Dobbs.

Here's a typical quote from this organization of fruitcakes:

             “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down.”     -Todd Akin.  

 

The Tea Party is the group that thinks that people don't die of breast and prostate cancer anymore, believes you give off more CO2 riding a bicycle than driving a car, when a physician removes a child from a woman's body he has removed the biggest organ in her body, and there is no one who doesn't have health care in America...the list goes on. It is hard to imagine these individuals functioning in a normal society, and, of course, some of them don't. Hopefully November will be the deciding factor whether or not this bunch of morons survives or expires, preferably the latter. 

 

 

 

 

 





LAS VEGAS JUST THE MOST RECENT GUN VIOLENCE-WHERE'S THE UPROAR?

Why haven't we heard from wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn., during the recent gun violence? There was Santa Barbara, then Seattle, Atlanta, and now Las Vegas. Four incidents of horrific gun massacre in four major cities in less than three weeks. A total of 13 killed and 16 injured. Did I hear, "Guns don't kill, people do?" Or maybe it was some left-overs from the mob in Las Vegas that made them do it. Could LaPierre be trying to decide whether we can call these "shootings." What bothers me most is the fact that the American public remains quiet, as if these kinds of events are now considered acceptable. Hey out there, don't you care that your friends, neighbors and relatives are being slaughtered with one of the 300 million guns on U.S. streets?

Maybe when it's one of your own you will.  

NRA WANTS TO WEAKEN VIRGINIA GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION LAW

The Virginia Center for Public Safety reports the NRA wants to scrap a Virginia database that is state-of-the-art and second to none in the nation. The National Rifle Assn. is calling on its members to help repeal the 1989 law, the Virginia Firearms Transaction Program (VFTP). The VFTP works along with the FBI’s National Instant Background Checks System (NICS) to check the background of those purchasing firearms in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This helps catch those people not eligible to purchase firearms like felons and the mentally ill. And the point is it works much better than NICS. So why would anyone want to get rid of it? Only a bunch of morons that value their stupid gun rights over the lives of innocent people. 

 ThinkProgress details how the Bush administration proposedlegislation requiring states to share mental health history. It was passed by Congress but not until after the NRA watered it down significantly. The final bill set up restoration programs for the mentally ill, in effect to put guns back into their hands. And the definition for "mental defect" was narrowed to make it easier for this person to get his or her gun back. It's the typical NRA gun-running philosophy to keep putting more weapons on the street. Which means gun manufacturers sell more and give more money to the NRA. Pathetic and disgusting but seemingly approved by a lot of the American public, also pathetic and disgusting.

DEMOCRACY ALLIANCE PAVING WAY FOR GUN CONTROL-NRA CRINGES

Wacky Wayne LaPierre in his glory

Let's just look at what this club for gun loving misfits is for and against. The National Rifle Assn. is against universal background checks, lawsuits against the firearm industry, micro stamping and any tampering with the 2nd Amendment. They are for assault rifles, large capacity magazines, concealed and open carry anywhere and Stand Your Ground Law. There's more but these are the ones covered in a recent release from their Institute for Legislative Action. They rail over former NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg putting up $50 million to fight gun control along with George Soros's group divvying up $40 million. Wacky Wayne LaPierre's NRA addicts spent $40 million in 2008, $10 million of that to defeat President Obama. On the Colorado recall alone they spent $350,000. We know the NRA is against anything that would restrict their beloved guns. But what this bunch of gun nuts is finding out is that there are many of us out there that place saving the lives of innocent individuals over their stupid gun rights.

SMART MONEY GOING TO GUN CONTROL SINCE NEWTOWN

Michael Bloomberg

As of the end of April, the dollars with sense have passed the dollars with blood on their hands prompted by the Newtown gun massacre where 26 lives were taken by shooter Adam Lanza, 20 of them children around six years old. And they have apparently done it through grassroots organizations, you might say just the opposite of the gun nuts of the National Rifle Assn. Michael Bloomberg kicked in $50 million, Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly's gun control group around $15 million. Gun control is about $5 million ahead of gun rights so far in the 2014 election cycle. They have trailed by over $31 million in the past. Now there are dour predictions out there for the GOP retaking control of the Senate and no chance of the Left taking back the House. Does this kind of momentum change that equation?