Honestly, I was sick of the NRA a long time ago.  But, the last year has taken my hatred of them to a whole new level.  Why such a small minority holds such a large sway on our politicians is ridiculous.  And to try to disguise their idiocy under the banner of "freedom" doesn't wash with me.  Admit it -- you love guns, you feel inadequate without them, you are afraid of people different than you and you couldn't really give a shit about the other parts of the Bill of Rights.

Political Song of the Day: Glorified G by Pearl Jam

Glorified G by Pearl Jam

Got a gun, fact i got two
That's ok man, cuz i love god
Glorified version of a pellet gun
Feels so manly, when armed
Glorified version of a pellet gun ...
Don't think, dumb is strength
Never shot at a living thing
Glorified version of a pellet gun
Feels so manly, when armed
Glorified version of a pellet gun ...
Always keep it loaded ...
Kindred to be an american...
Life comes...i can feel your heart...
Life comes...i can feel your heart through your neck...
Like some...i can steal your heart from your neck...
Glorified...glorified...

Political Song of the Day -- Melt the Guns by XTC

Programmes of violence,
As entertainment,
Brings the disease into your room.
We know the germ,
Which is man-made in metal,
Is really a key to your own tomb.

Prevention is better than cure,
Bad apples affecting the pure,
You'll gather your senses I'm sure
Then agree to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them.

Children will want them,
Mothers supply them,
As long as your killers are heroes.
And all the media
Will fiddle while Rome burns,
Acting like modern-time Neros.

Prevention is better than cure,
Bad apples affecting the pure,
You'll gather your senses I'm sure
Then agree to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them.

I'm speaking to the Justice League of America.
The U S of A,
Hey you,
Yes you in particular!
When it comes to the judgement day and you're standing at the gates with your weaponry,
You dead go down on one knee,
Clasp your hands in prayer and start quoting me,
'Cos we say...
Our father we've managed to contain the epidemic in one place, now,
Let's hope they shoot themselves instead of others,
Help to civilize the race now.
We've trapped the cause of the plague,
In the land of the free and the home of the brave.
If we listen quietly we can hear them shooting from grave to grave.
You ought to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them. 

Freedom

To co-opt a phrase from The Princess Bride:  Freedom ... "I don't think that word means what you think it means."

People need to stop using the word "freedom" to justify a political agenda. Using the word to justify one (right to bear arms) while forgetting another (freedom of religion) is disingenuous at best, heartless and calculating at worst.

There are people who are virtuous and helpful:

Conn. shooting: Principal died lunging at gunman

And then there are Christian blowhards:

Mike Huckabee: Newtown Shooting No Surprise, We've 'Systematically Removed God' From Schools

AFA: God Did Not Protect Connecticut Shooting Victims Because Prayer Banned In Schools

"There is in every village a torch: The schoolteacher. And an extinguisher: The priest" -- Victor Hugo

And don't tell me this is a time for praying. It doesn't bring those children back. Praying is one of the most selfish acts there is. It makes YOU feel good while doing absolutely nothing for anyone else.

We all got it coming ...

The Schofield Kid -- [after killing a man for the first time] "It don’t seem real… how he ain’t gonna never breathe again, ever… how he’s dead. And the other one too. All on account of pulling a trigger."

Will Munny -- "It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have."

The Schofield Kid -- "Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming."

Will Munny -- "We all got it coming, kid."

I'd have to say that, in general, the response to this last weekend's shootings in Tucson by politicians of both sides and the public has been the appropriate response - contemplation, sympathy, and calls for more tempered dialogue. Of course, you knew you could count on Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck to take it to new levels of narcissism and have their own little pity party. But, I knew it was just a matter of time before you'd have a few people go completely off the reservation. That's what's so entertaining about the far Right, especially my own state's far Right. Faced with a stupid and unfortunate event that calls for solemnity, they will double-down. In their book, their is no inappropriate response. If you are catching heat because inflamed rhetoric might have even remotely and indirectly influenced someone, then ratchet up the rhetoric and ratchet up the stupid:

AZ State Rep. Jack Harper, (Repub.) -- "When everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody is going to be a victim. The socialists of today are only one gun confiscation away from being the communists of tomorrow."

And if a situation calls for people to review our gun laws, then, of course, the response should be to ... promptly go out and buy more guns: Sales in Glock Pistols Up After Arizona Shootings

It's straight out of the Karl Rove playbook. Make a negative into a positive. I'd like to say I was surprised, but I'm not.

I read the news today, oh boy ...

I had a whole bunch of ideas on how to express my feelings and thoughts on yesterday's senseless shooting in Tucson of Arizona Congressmen Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge, a 9 year old girl and many others. Then I watched Keith Olbermann's Special Comment. I could not have said it better ... and I won't try:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NRA

Arizonans are morons

"Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins." -- Ayn Rand

... well some of them anyway. Like those of the Republican persuasion in our state government. In one week they have managed to do the following:

Starting later this summer, U.S. citizens 21 and older can begin carrying a concealed firearm without a permit in Arizona.

...It eliminates the requirement for a concealed-carry weapons permit ...

"I believe strongly in the individual rights and responsibilities of a free society, and as governor I have pledged a solemn and important oath to protect and defend the Constitution," Brewer (AZ Governor) said in a news release. "I believe this legislation not only protects the Second Amendment rights of Arizona citizens, but restores those rights as well."

... Arizona joins Vermont and Alaska in not requiring such permits.

"If you want to carry concealed, and you have no criminal history, you are a good guy, you can do it," bill sponsor Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, has said of his bill. "It's a freedom that poses no threat to the public."

Governor Brewer is a piece of work but Pearce is a skidmark on the underpants of society. He really has no redeeming qualities. Check out his Wikipedia page in the Personal Life section. It lists him as Mormon (big shocker considering his backward views on marriage, immigration, minorities, etc.) but additionally says, "He is also a douche". Too funny. Obviously, most of his followers are too stupid to check up on the accuracy of the data on his page. I would suggest that it IS accurate.

More from the article on concealed guns:

... Brewer last week did sign a separate law that exempts guns made and kept in Arizona from federal regulation, including background checks.

... For those who do choose to get a permit, the education requirements do change under the new law. Classes are no longer required to be a set number of hours or include any hands-on use of the weapon. Those who don't get a permit would not be required to get any training or education.

Retired Mesa police officer Dan Furbee runs a business teaching permit and other gun safety classes. He said if most people choose not to get a permit, it will put several hundred Arizona firearms instructors out of business.

"It's going to hurt," he said.

But he said what really concerns him is that the new law will allow people who have had no education about Arizona's laws and no training on the shooting range to carry a concealed gun. The eight-hour class currently required to get a permit includes information on state law and gun safety, as well as requires students to be able to hit a target 14 out of 20 times...

"I fully agree that we have a right to keep and bear arms," Furbee said. "But if you are not responsible enough to take a class and learn the laws, you are worse than part of the problem."

He said it's not uncommon for students to walk into his classroom and pull a new gun out of a box with no idea how to hold it and no understanding of the laws surrounding it.

"If you are going to carry a concealed weapon, you should have some kind of training and show that you are at least competent to know how the gun works and be able to hit a target," he said. "You owe the people around you a measure of responsibility."

Basically, anybody that buys an Arizona made gun can do so without a background check and can carry it concealed without any previous training or proof of competency. Unbelievable. Republicans here say they are for business but these laws are already scaring away tourists and being responded to negatively by businesses, expecially restaurants and bars.

And if I hear one more person try to tell me this is about freedom, I'm going to punch them in the ear. Freedom has a cost, and it is responsibility. These laws provide no burden of responsibility and endanger those who have no interest whatsoever in carrying guns. This is not anarchy. People have rights to do things (drive, vote, work, etc.) but with limits based on age, competency, safety, etc. The NRA would have no restrictions whatsoever except the judgement of "good guys", as Pearce puts it.

Republicans are not content with loosening gun laws. They are voting Monday on a law that "would require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce "an alien registration document," such as a green card" or be fined. I won't talk too much on this one since it hasn't officially been signed into law yet. But, there is every indication that the senate will pass it and Brewer will sign it. There is already big time racially profiling being done in our county by cowboy Joe Arpaio. This new law will basically give free rein to police to shake down any Latino they want. Scary days.

An already backwards state is becoming more so. There is so much to love about Arizona, but the vision of its leaders is not one of the things.

"People are bringing shotguns to UFO sightings in Fife, Alabama. I asked a guy, "Why do you bring a gun to a UFO sighting?" Guy said, "Way-ul, we didn' wanna be ab-duc-ted." If I lived in Fife, Alabama, I would be on my hands and knees every night praying for abduction." -- Bill Hicks

Gun Culture

Here's my problem with the American gun culture: It goes beyond defending a constitutional right.

Most everyone agrees that free speech is a good thing, right? But to show people how good a right that was, would you encourage people to purchase porn? Would you create an organization that celebrates the viewing and purchasing of porn? Would you hold big meetings every year with lots of famous "patriotic" speakers and advertise it as a "freedom" rally? Would you give millions of dollars to politicians to assure yourself the continued right to purchase and view particularly sadistic versions of porn? No, of course you wouldn't. But that's what the NRA does. It's gun porn. And semi-automatic weapons are their kiddie porn. Just like you can't seriously defend someone's right to have kiddie porn, you can't defend the right to have a completely useless and dangerous weapon. Get it through your heads, people. Our gun culture in America is not about a constitutional freedom any more. It's about trying to legitimize our gun fetishism under the cloak of patriotism. You'll wrap yourself in the flag to make yourself feel better about liking to shoot things ... or defenseless kids:

HOUSTON - A 7-year-old boy who was allegedly shot in the head by a couple who thought he and three other people were trespassing on their property died Saturday ...

... The boy, his 5-year-old sister, their father and a family friend were off-roading near a residential area about 40 miles northeast of Houston when they were shot after stopping so the children could go to the bathroom.

Authorities said the couple fired after they mistakenly thought the group was trespassing on their property.

Bishop said the area includes a dirt road, trees and overgrown brush and that it wasn't uncommon for people to go off-roading there. The Houston Chronicle reported that a sign in front of the suspects' home reads: "Trespassers will be shot. Survivers will be reshot!! Smile I will."

Liberty County Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor said Sheila Muhs fired a 12-gauge shotgun once, then handed it to her husband, who also fired once.

DeFoor said Sheila Muhs then called 911 and told the dispatcher: "They're out here tearing up the levee, so I shot them."

DeFoor said the levee belonged to the subdivision and was not private property.

Bishop said there was no indication the unarmed victims did anything threatening toward the Muhs ...

Obviously these are not middle-of-the-road gun owners, but they are not as far on the fringe as gun-rights activists would have you believe. It's the glorification of gun ownership and that gives people like this the free reign to be how they are. I won't even go into the second part of this ... the question of property rights over human life. That's a topic for another day.

Bringing out the best in people ... or not

If you want to get a taste of the people that were voting for McCain:

Obama supporters won't get communion, priest says
Nov. 13, 2008 Associated Press
A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."

The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote ...

Church sign: Obama election 'is sin against the Lord'
CNN's Rick Sanchez reported on a church marquee that reads "America we have a Muslim president. This is a sin against the Lord." Mark Holick is pastor of The Spirit One Christian Center in Wichita, Kansas where the sign is being displayed.

Holick told KSNW, "The main point of the marquee is to cause the Christians to understand he is not a Christian, Again, they will call me and they will tell me that he's not a Muslim because he is a Christian. That's not the point. The point is he's not a Christian."

No ... the point is -- you are a moron. These two supposed Christian leaders are sinners against rational thought and common sense. If this is what Christians are, I'm sure Obama wouldn't want to be considered among them.

Gun sales soar; fear of limits is blamed -- Buyers worry Obama will seek stricter rules
by Sean Holstege - Nov. 18 The Arizona Republic
The National Rifle Association labels President-elect Barack Obama a radical, a tag that gun-control advocates call a smear.

But Valley gun owners aren't waiting until January to find out who's right or how Obama will honor his campaign pledge of "common sense" gun control.

Gun-store owners in the Phoenix area say they saw sharp increases in gun and ammunition sales just before and after the presidential election.

The FBI reported that, during election week, instant background checks in the U.S., an indicator of firearms sales, shot up 49 percent over the same week in 2007. This was during the most severe economic crunch in decades ...

"It started the Friday before the election," said Jeff Serdy, who owns AJI Sporting Goods in Apache Junction. "Then, the day after the election, it was more than Y2K and more than September 11, 2001."

These people are almost too stupid for words. The NRA and gun sellers, to their credit, realize how stupid their supporters are. It fits right in with Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine -- fear driving commerce. About the only gun law changes under the last Democrat were an assault weapons ban and a waiting period to buy guns ... two things that a normal gun owner should not have a problem with. But the way people on the Right are spinning Obama's election, you would think Lenin himself had just got elected.

got a gun, fact i got two
that's ok man, cuz i love god
glorified version of a pellet gun
feels so manly, when armed ...
don't think, dumb is strength ...

Glorified G by Pearl Jam

N.H. Republican fundraiser to feature machine guns

"I don't have to be careful, I've got a gun." -- Homer Simpson

"The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun." -- Richard Buckminster Fuller

From Reuters:

BOSTON (Reuters) - A planned Republican fundraiser in New Hampshire aims to promote gun ownership in America by letting supporters fire powerful military-style weapons -- from Uzi submachine guns to M-16 rifles.

The Manchester Republican Committee is inviting party members and their families to a "Machine Gun Shoot" where, for $25, supporters can spend a day trying out automatic weapons, said organizer Jerry Thibodeau.

"It's a fun day. It's a family day," said Thibodeau of the August 5 event. "It's quite exciting."

Local Democrats say the event is in poor taste amid a spike in violent crime in Manchester and seeks to glorify the use of machine guns for political gain. The right to own guns has come under heightened scrutiny since the April shooting at Virginia Tech where a gunman killed 32 people.

"It is downright offensive," Chris Pappas, the Manchester Democratic party chairman, told the Union Leader newspaper.

Thibodeau said he invited all the Republican candidates in the 2008 presidential race to the event at Pelham Fish and Game Club outside of Manchester, the state's largest city, but he said they declined. He said all shooters would undergo training.

Buying a gun in New Hampshire, whose official motto is "Live Free or Die," is relatively easy.

The state does not require buyers to obtain a handgun license or undergo safety training before buying a handgun, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control lobby group.

Nothing says family fun quite like shooting a machine gun.

It's fairly redundant to even criticize these organizers (or attendees). They are their own worst advocates. They're practically walking billboards for gun control.

And don't tell me it's about liberty. It's about power and politics.

"Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins." -- Ayn Rand

"People are bringing shotguns to UFO sightings in Fife, Alabama. I asked a guy, "Why do you bring a gun to a UFO sighting?" Guy said, "Way-ul, we didn' wanna be ab-duc-ted." If I lived in Fife, Alabama, I would be on my hands and knees every night praying for abduction." -- Bill Hicks

Violence

I was going to write something on today's events at VA Tech, but my words would have paled in comparison with Shawn's at Cheese is Moldy Milk:

Violence

Republican Cartoonish Behavior

Ah, the beauty of the Internet. Everybody thinks that something that they say will only be heard by the people right around them. Luckily for us, not so:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney explains hunting

The former Massachusetts governor has called himself a lifelong hunter, yet his campaign acknowledged that he has been on just two hunting trips _ one when he was 15 and the other just last year.

"I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear," he said. "I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times."

Romney has also supported gun control. When he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1994 he backed the Brady law and a ban on assault-style rifles. As governor, he supported the state's strict gun-control laws and signed into law one of the nation's tougher assault weapons laws.

He joined the National Rifle Association last August as a "Lifetime" member.

And before you right wing nuts get your panties in a bind, yes, I realize that Kerry did something similar a few years back. It's kinda ironic to read that article and see some of the quotes that administration stooges said about Kerry:

"... The NRA ... accusing Kerry of suiting himself up as a sportsman while opposing gun owner rights. Kerry has said he supports hunters and sportsmen's rights to own guns, but gun advocates have assailed him for supporting the ban on assault weapons and for requiring background checks on gun purchases."

"If John Kerry thinks the Second Amendment is about photo ops, he's daffy ..."

A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign called the orchestrated event "another example of John Kerry presenting himself as someone he is not."

"It's a fraud," said Steve Schmidt, the Bush spokesman. "He has fought against the interests of gun owners throughout his 20-year Senate career."

Wow, pretty much all of those things could be said about Romney. But there's pretty much silence from the NRA now. Hmmm. Maybe it's not really about liberty, the Bill of Rights, etc. It's really about political partisanship and money. Hypocrisy, thy name is Romney/NRA/Republicans.

=================================================================

courtesy of monk

I am the walrus, coo-coo cachu. The man who put the "dip" in diplomacy recently decided it was time to lecture a foreign leader, Saudi's King Abdullah on the legality of the US Iraq invasion:

"With all due respect to the King, it's a mistake to characterise the US presence in Iraq as illegal," -- Bolton said the US was in Iraq at the invitation of its government and its presence was further sanctioned by a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Right. We listened to a couple of rich Iraqi expatriates (hardly the Iraqi government) and we lied to the UN about the Iraqi threat in order to get them to sanction the war. Sounds like the Saudi king pretty much has it correctly pegged as an illegitimate war.

John Bolton, you ignorant slut. What a pompous ass. He goes around with an air of righteousness and is consistently proven wrong. Recently, after repeatedly telling Jon Stewart that Stewart was wrong on issues of policy, history, etc., it was quite easy for the Daily Show to prove Bolton wrong. In other words, the man that was the ambassador to the UN, a position of great influence in which one should have a fairly encompassing knowledge of history and foreign policy, was schooled by a comedy show. In an administration full of people without the slightest bit of self-awareness or modesty, Bolton still stands out.