Gun rights activists on the defense. Now is the time to strike

The National Assn. for Gun Rights says, “…the gun control lobbyists have their tentacles wrapped around scores of Congressional offices right now.”  It’s about time since President Obama has decided to soft-pedal the issue, even after a strong statement in favor after the Tucson, AZ, massacre by Jared Loughner.  Dudley Brown, exec. dir. of NAGR, is petitioning to stop Magazine Ban Bill H.R. 308, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D, N.Y., that would ban gun magazines of more than 10 rounds, retroactively.

 It completely escapes me how the gun nuts can rationalize that infringing on their rights with this kind of regulation is more important than taking away the ability from mental cases like Loughner to commit mass killings.  Gun rights advocates are the epitome of the “Me” generation, but it looks like cracks are occurring in the NRA armor.  Brown says that many House Republicans with “pro-gun” credentials are talking a deal on H.R. 308. 

 In this editorial that appears in AmmoLand Shooting Sports News, the author anguishes over prominent Republicans like U.S. Sen. Richard Luger and former V.P. Dick Cheney, as well as Homeland Security Chairman Peter King who believe more gun control is needed.  I am not a Cheney fan but here is a man who was immovable on the direction of the Iraq war, a professed gun enthusiast, who believes the lax gun issue is out of hand.

And here’s the best part, Dudley Brown’s sources tell him that once the bill passes the House and goes to the Senate, Amendments will be added like mandatory waiting periods, closing of gun-show loophole, new assault weapons ban and a national concealed carry standard.  How could anyone argue with these regulations other than a bunch of gun bubbas who constantly bemoan over the fact that we are trying to take away all of their gun rights.  Not so, just some. 

Read my earlier articles on challenging the 2^nd Amendment here and here.

The epitome of no gun control

Joshua Seto, 27, from Chandler, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix, apparently lost control of his girlfriend’s pink handgun as he shoved it into the waistband of his pants.  The gun fired a bullet into Seto’s penis, and then meandered through his left thigh.  His girlfriend, Cara Christopher, reported “a lot of blood,” as she talked to the 911 operator.  Her comment after looking at the wound was that it was “pretty bad.”

Since it wasn’t Seto’s gun, the next question is why it was in his possession?  If Seto is a gun owner, and he took the education course on the safe handling of firearms, the man is simply a dope.  Chandler police commented that you should always use a holster for the weapon, not your waistband.  If Seto is a gun owner and didn’t take the education course, it is yet another example of the reckless way firearms are available and unregulated in Arizona.

This kind of irresponsible handling of a handgun is why gun control advocates are screaming that more regulation is necessary.  The owner, Cara Christopher, has responsibility in this also.  Why did she give up the gun, particularly if Seto was not an owner and familiar with firearms?  Was the gun registered at all? 

From Arizona State Sen. Lori Klein pointing a handgun at a reporter in the State Senate building, to some guy shooting his privates at the super market, these are the continuing examples of why Arizona is the butt of jokes that makes them the laughing stock of the country.

I would give anything to hear Wayne LaPierre, exec. vice president of the National Rifle Assoc., explain this.  He might say, “Guns don’t hurt people, people hurt people.”  Pathetic.

If GWB caused the current economic problems, Obama still must fix them

Pres. Barack Obama

President Barack Obama inherited a $1.2 trillion budget deficit.  George W. Bush inherited a $300 billion budget surplus.  In the former President’s two terms, well-known economist Nouriel Roubini, a New York University professor, lists five components that tanked the fiscal condition of the U.S.

•  A cut in taxes
• GWB spent $2 trillion on Iraq and Afghan wars
• Discretionary spending was doubled
• Addition of entitlements like Medicare drug benefit
• The bailing out of banks and financial institutions

Roubini said, “We destroyed our fiscal sustainability before President Obama came to power.”  He added, “We’re lucky that this Great Recession is not turning into another Great Depression.”  Roubini also talks of more recession in the next year or two.  The professor is distinguished for his warning in 2005 that the housing bubble would cause an economic crisis, which it did.

All this said, Barack Obama needs to start being a President.  Agreed, he has many accomplishments we can be thankful for, the most important of which is Health Care Reform.  You can see a list of 90 of his efforts since entering office here.  But the President must change the course of a spiraling-down economy, and that would be best served by standing up to a Republican House and holding his ground on issues he truly believes in.  Let the public decide who is wrong.

Things are not going well for Obama.  His approval rating now is the lowest of his presidency.  Many voters are tired of speeches that promise; they want results.  Some Democrats are even distancing themselves from him.  A rare positive sign is that Blacks are encouraged by his jobs plan, but some economists say it isn’t enough. 

But the one thread running through all this is a GOP battalion that is committed to making President Obama fail.  One major impetus behind this is the fanatical group, the Tea Party, which is loathed by most Americans but has some supernatural hold over Republican conservatives.  Bungling presidential candidates like Bachmann and Perry cater to these pathetic people who seem bent on bringing down the U.S.

All’s well that ends well, and the real hope of this progressive is that 2012 will see radical changes in Washington, maybe even the throwing out of some old hands on the left, but still with significant moves away from the right.

Procter & Gamble top former executive spreads bigotry

Lou Pritchett was VP Sales and Customer Development for soap giant, Procter & Gamble, and it was during his recent retirement that he wrote the ultra-conservative, extremist “You scare me” letter to President Obama.  It was confirmed by Snopes.com, if you have confidence in their judgment.  It was also panned by bloggers, which I will cover later.  It is notable that Pritchett sent the letter to the New York Times but it was neither acknowledged nor published.

Here are some of his comments with my retorts:

·       You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.  (NJ) Only an idiot could say this after the last 20 months.

·       You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no Visible signs of support.  (NJ) Like most of us peons did, working our way through.  And what “upscale lifestyle?”

·       You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.  (NJ) This borders on prejudice and an anomaly in that you are obviously a right wing fanatic.

·       You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.  (NJ) Not a bad idea to consider social Democracy that could spread the wealth in America.

·       You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest  standard of Living in the world.  (NJ) Poverty in the U.S. has hit a new high climbing to 15.1 percent or 46.2 million people.  A top economist, Nouriel Roubini, places the blame fully at the feet of George W. Bush.

·       You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.  ("Another Hitler in the making," bigoted comment by person sending email.)  (NJ) This one is tough to figure out; apparently you were struck dumb during the totalitarian governing of Geo. W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

There’s much more you can read on the above link to Snopes.com.

This man scares the hell out of me.  Let’s start with the fact that he is a Tea Party Patriot, which explains a lot of his confusion.  You can hear his rantings on the Fox News Mangrum Report where he says employers should stop hiring, and that it is perfectly OK to move U.S. jobs overseas.  So much for the American dream.

A blog by the name of Wall Street Jackass pokes fun at Pritchett’s letter.  Its comments are much more tolerant than mine but nevertheless interesting.  By the way, he has a Southern drawl, which could account for some of his statements.  I can say this having grown up in the South and more recently writing about some of its age-old issues.

What scares me even more than Pritchett is the fact that a friend of ours mass circulated this email to a number of people, many of which are probably Tea Party members.  It is this sort of thoughtless bigotry that has this country tearing itself apart.  If it isn’t stopped we may follow in the footsteps of the fall of the Roman Empire.  Peace!

ARIZONA POLITICS: Is stealth “candidate” Olivia Cortez really running for Russell Pearce’s Arizona State Senate seat?

AZ State Sen. Russell Pearce

I’ve heard of stealth bombers, stealth helicopters, even a stealth attraction.  But it took Phoenix New Times columnist Stephen Lemons to come up with Olivia Cortes as a stealth candidate.  Stealth means secretive, clandestine, and that is just what Cortes has been; not answering her phone or a knock at the front door.  Not defining her candidacy or what she actually stands for.  In the absence of any statement, one might think she stands for…Russell Pearce.

Lemons confirmed himself that petition circulators are telling signers that getting Cortes in the race will help to split the vote in favor of Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce.  The Phoenix New Times writer actually went to the Mesa, AZ, library and was asked to sign the petition to place Cortes’ name on the ballot.  That’s when he affirmed what the petitioners were saying.  You can read more about his conversation with the petition company here.

This is also is supported by a reporterfrom the Arizona Republic, GaryNelson, who says, “A vote for Olivia Cortes is a vote for Russell Pearce.”  He had the same experience as Stephen Lemons in being asked to sign a petition that he was told would split the vote to help Pearce.  This all substantiates an earlier allegation by Randy Parraz, one of the Pearce recall organizers, who said he had heard the same thing.  Parraz’s comment when hearing the latest was, “She’s busted.”

Russell Pearce says he has nothing to do with Cortes running against him, but even a two-year-old could figure this out.  These are the same bullying tactics Pearce has been using for years and they have finally caught up with him.  Arizona politics continue to provide the nation’s media with the most laughable gang of idiots running a state in the country.

I’ll even bet there are a number of his Republican cronies who are rooting for Lewis and will be happy to see this bigot go.  They won’t be alone.  Amen.

Worst governor’s race features Arizona’s own Jan Brewer

If you Google “List of worsts,” you come up with 647 million hits.  Everything from films to baseball games to sitcoms, even tomatoes.  Tiger Woods tops the list of worst celebrity tippers.  In the 10 worst Presidents, Richard Nixon came in ninth, and George W. Bush didn’t qualify apparently.  On my list of Presidents, GWB would be a solid first.

There’s a list of top worst school massacres, unfortunate in its nature but a sign of the times.  There’s a list of worst airports for delay, which you might want to check before your next flight.  Las Vegas is not on the list of worst housing markets, even though it has led in foreclosures for months.  If your kids go to a public school, there is a list of the worst of those.  There seems to be one for everything.

And now the Transport Union of America has come up with a “Worst Governor Ever”list with notables like Rick Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania, Chris Christie, New Jersey, Rick Snyder, Michigan, John Kasich, Ohio, and the new GOP candidate for President, Rick Perry of Texas.  But guess who takes the honor for “Worst of the Worst Governors?”  Of course, Arizona’s own Jan Brewer.

Most of the reasons for nominating the worst governor were due to legislation they passed and their politics in general.  Jan Brewer can be judged on both of those points but she adds another measure to the pot.  Competence, or a lack of in the case of Brewer.  Jan Brewer is not qualified to be Governor of Arizona, and the only reason she is…her support for State Sen. Russell Pearce’s racist anti-immigration bill, SB-1070.

Already the laughing stock of the country, Arizona politics just keep on rolling.

Read more here.

Hating has turned into a popular participant sport

Compliments Marlith

There is a poll taken that asks the question, “Which celebrity do you hate the most?” and is produced by California-based E-Score Celebrity.  You’d think we had had enough of this kind of crap for a lifetime with a Congress that outwardly hates each other.  As man example, in Arizona the high level of animosity toward Hispanics and just anyone who is different is prevalent all over the state. 

It was in November of 2006 that Michael Richards of “Kramer” Seinfeld fame who went bonkers on the stage of the West Hollywood Laugh Factory club, when an African-American heckler got under his skin.  In a 3 minute tirade, he used the “F” and “N” words repeatedly against the man.  It was so bad that the majority of the audience left, repulsed by the action.  It’s all on video you can see here.

But you’re still wondering about that “Hate” poll;” well, the winner was Casey Anthony, the 25 year-old woman that was tried and acquitted for killing her little girl.  She is currently hiding out and, perhaps, not even aware that she is the “Most Hated” person in the U.S.  Former The Hills reality TV star Spencer Pratt came in second, Nadya Suleman, the unemployed California woman that popped octuplets in 2009 to add to the 6 she already had was third, and O.J. Simpson was fourth.

I decided to Google “Most hated in Arizona,” since that state has such a bad reputation in the “abomination” category, and you’ll never guess what I got.  A FacebookGroup page with the blazing headline, “The Most Hated Women in USA Mrs Jan Brewer The Governor of Arizona.”  Other sites found in the search were, “Arizona, most hated state in the Union” and last but certainly one of the most interesting, “The third most hated Senator John McCain of Arizona.

It’s time to put all this nonsense to rest.

Read more here.