Tweet Of The Day

The tweet of the day comes from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) who just nails Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) over his attempted "I am Spartacus" moment yesterday.

For those who may have missed it, Booker ostensibly released an email from Judge Brett Kavanaugh that was marked "committee confidential" in what he wanted to be a gotcha moment. When he released it Booker said he would be violating Senate rules by doing so. What he failed to say and what we later found out is that the email was no longer classified committee confidential and Booker knew it. Oh, and by the way, the email showed Kavanaugh arguing against racial profiling post 9-11.

On this day in 71B.C. the Thracian gladiator Spartacus was put to death by Marcus Licinius Crassus for disclosing confidential scrolls. When informed days later that in fact the Roman Senate had already publicly released the scrolls, Crassus replied “Oh, ok, my bad”.

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 7, 2018

Quote Of The Day From Ben Stein

I like Ben Stein. I don't think any actor could have done his deadpan teacher in Ferris Buehler's Day Off any better. Sometimes his politics are a bit too country club Republican for my tastes but I can live with that. That said, I found his take on a couple of the Democrats questioning Judge Brett Kavanaugh absolutely spot on.

In an article for The American Spectator entitled, "What Mazie Doesn’t Know", he wrote on Mazie Hirono and Kamala Harris:

Anyway, Judah Friedman and I drove around in his car, a gleaming Mazda 6, and listened to the torture of Judge Kavanaugh by some asinine nitwit named Mazie Hirono, a Senator from Hawaii. God help us. Book her, Danno. Somehow, she attacked Mr. Kavanaugh so violently she made me want to vomit. My guess is that she’s so INCREDIBLY stupid that she thought he was suddenly going to throw his hands in the air and say, “Senator, you nailed me. I was a concentration camp guard at Belsen. I surrender.”

Thirty minutes later, a true nitwit, our California Senator, Kamala Harris, started doing her Tom Cruise imitation trying to make Kavanaugh “confess” to having said the words “Mueller” and “investigation” to some unknown someone last year. She obviously thought she was just a spectacular courtroom bully. In fact, she was a pitiful little weasel.

And meanwhile, every few minutes some psycho in the audience gets up and starts cursing at Kavanaugh and the GOP. It’s really sad. What a bunch of losers the leftists and their pals in the audience are. They’re not going to get anything on Kavanaugh. There’s nothing to get. He’s a mega genius jurist who will make a superb High Court justice.

Stein is right. Kavanaugh will make a superb Supreme Court Justice and the Democrats on the committee know they can't do a damn thing to stop him. I do like his characterization of Willie Brown's ex-girlfriend as "a pitiful little weasel." 

Panen Et Circenses

After the first day of the confirmation hearings on Brett Kavanaugh to be on the Supreme Court, I imagine this might be how the conversation around the Kavanaugh's dinner table goes.



Dad (Brett):  Well girls, you got to attend daddy's confirmation hearing this morning. What did you think?

Liza:  I hated it. There were all those rude people jumping up and down hollering.

Dad:  Those were just the Democrats on the committee play acting for the TV cameras.

Liza:  No, I mean those people in the back of the room.

Dad:  Honey, they were sad, sad people who think my being on the Supreme Court is the end of the world.

Liza: But Dad, you've been a judge for years and the world hasn't ended.

Margaret:  I think they are just losers!

Mom (Ashley):  Honey, you know we don't speak about people that way. If we thought about people like that do you think your Dad and I would volunteer to feed the homeless at the soup kitchen?

Margaret:  Noooo. But who let them in?

Dad:  Everyone in the audience had a ticket which they got from the Senators on the Judiciary Committee.

Margaret:  Didn't the Senators know they were going to act up?

Dad:  Of course they did, sweetie. They wanted them to act up so it would play on TV news.

Liza:  What about that bald guy with glasses who charged at you with his hand out?

Dad:  I found out he was Mr. Guttenberg. He wanted a photo op.

Liza:  The guy who did the Bible?

Dad:  No, Liza. This Mr. Guttenberg lost his daughter when that deranged boy went on the killing spree down in that Florida high school. He blames the gun and not the people who ignored the boy's threats and cries for help. People like the FBI and the school system.

Liza:  That's crazy.

Dad:  I agree that it seems crazy. However, you have to understand that sometimes when people lose a child they have a hard time dealing with their grief. Some people channel that grief and put it towards a solution so it never happens again and some like Mr. Guttenberg just want to blame an object.

Margaret:  Dad, what I don't understand is why the Democrat Senators were acting up and also why they wanted those crazy people to yell at you?

Dad:  You've started to read about the Romans in your history class, haven't you?

Margaret:  Yeah.

Dad:  The Roman emperors used to put on pageants called circuses where they had lions and gladiators and Christians. It wasn't pretty. They'd set the lions on the Christians and the gladiators were trained to kill one another. It got pretty gory.

Liza/Margaret (simultaneously):  Ewwww.

Dad:  I agree. These Roman emperors thought these circuses would entertain "the people". In exchange, so long as they were entertained and also got fed the emperor stayed in power. It is called bread and circuses. Politicians nowadays don't actually set lions on Christians but they do promise them everything but the moon and hold hearings like my confirmation hearing. They do it to placate their supporters who they think are stupid enough to believe it.

Margaret:  Nobody's that stupid!

Dad:  Unfortunately, honey there are some people that are.

Liza:  Do you have to go back tomorrow?

Dad:  Yes and then two more days after that.

Liza:  Yuck.

Mom:  I agree, yuck, and now with that I'm changing the subject (mumbling - even though Cory Booker and Kamala Harris need a good west Texas horse whipping)

Liza/Margaret:  Mom!

Dad:  Yes, dear.

Kimberly? Who Is Kimberly?

I just received this text from a number listed as being in Charlotte, North Carolina. Obviously, I'm not Kimberly nor is that the name of anyone in our extended family. Hmm.

The next question I had was who is David Wilson Brown and where is he running for Congress. I consider myself politically aware on both local, state, and national politics but the name just didn't ring a bell.

Shame on me! Brown is the Democrat nominee for the NC 10th Congressional District which I just happen to live in. He is opposing Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) who is currently the Chief Deputy Majority Whip.

So I go to his website to check out his position on the issues. It is what one would expect.

School vouchers, against.

"Women's Health", pro-abortion and free contraceptives.

Jobs, ignoring the fact that we are at almost full employment, he calls for a new WPA/CCC (Works Progress Administration/Civil Conservation Corps). Shades of FDR and the New D

Taxes, it is our patriotic duty.

Religious freedom, for except when it goes against his sacred cows.

OK but what about gun rights? When a politician refers to "gun safety", you know they mean gun control. It sure as hell isn't about the Four Rules or training.

The Second Amendment provides the right to bear arms, but some are quick to dismiss the “well-regulated” part. We need common sense gun regulation that enforces current law and adds further safeguards to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Recent polls show 94% of Americans are in favor of background checks for all gun purchases. This needs to happen immediately. The gun show loophole must be closed. We need to encourage responsible gun ownership that comes with safety training. There must be a way that responsible gun owners can continue to own and use their weapons while still maintaining reasonable control on the dissemination of firearms to those who should not have them.

Given Brown has raised $40,00 +/- versus McHenry's $2.7 million and has a mere $3,550 cash on hand, his only chance is to have a great grass roots network. As that text indicates, I think that is kind of doubtful. However, when an anti-gunner is figuratively shooting himself in the foot, you don't correct him.

Ben Franklin Was Correct

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin, January 1775

This is a lesson that the Attorneys General from 20 states and the District of Columbia and US District Court Judge Robert Lasnik don't seem to understand. Today Judge Lasnik extended his temporary restraining order preventing Defense Distributed, the Second Amendment Foundation, and Conn Williamson from distributing the 3-D printing and CNC files. The original order was due to expire tomorrow but now will go until the case is settled.

The fact that these files are and have been freely available from other sources on the Internet seems to have been ignored. The website CodeIsFreeSpeech is still up and running and has all of these files.

Judge Lasnik somewhat acknowledged that this is a First Amendment case.

Lasnik said the states have submitted sufficient evidence that they are likely to suffer “irreparable harm” if the blueprints are published. The judge also said Defense Distributed’s First Amendment concerns were “dwarfed” by the states’ safety considerations.

Dwarfed? Really? The so-called safety considerations put forth totally ignore the facts surrounding the 3-D printing of the Liberator pistol. What this case is really about is the gun control lobby and their political allies realizing that 3-D printing along with low-cost CNC machines is the death knell for gun control and they don't like it.

Stephen Gutowski at the Free Beacon has more on his ruling:

Lasnik said in his ruling he "presumes that the private defendants have a First Amendment right to disseminate the CAD files." However, he viewed the restrictions on the right to be acceptable.

"That right is currently abridged, but it has not been abrogated," Lasnik wrote in his ruling.

Lasnik's wording appears to run counter to the First Amendment's explicit protection against "abridging the freedom of speech."

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances," the First Amendment reads.

Lasnik said being forbidden from publishing gun designs on the internet didn't mean Wilson's free speech rights had been abrogated because Wilson was free to share the designs by other means—such as by mail or other forms of publishing.

"Regulation under the AECA means that the files cannot be uploaded to the internet, but they can be emailed, mailed, securely transmitted, or otherwise published within the United States," Lasnik wrote. "The Court finds that the irreparable burdens on the private defendants' First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the States are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo through the pendency of this litigation."

Cody Wilson actually says he is elated by the decision and plans to take it to the next level. He also referred to it as "clownish" and an "intentional insult".

“The order is a manifest injustice and literally admits to being an abridgment of the freedom of speech,”

I think it is time to see if the 9th Circuit believes more in freedom of speech or in being gun prohibitionists.

ACLU Finally Stepping Up In NY And California

The state branches of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York and California appear to be stepping up to oppose measures aimed at the gun culture.

First, in California. The ACLU is joining with groups like the Firearms Policy Coalition to oppose AB 1968 which mandates a lifetime ban on firearm ownership by anyone who has been involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility more than once in one year.

In a letter to Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) who is the author of the bill, they said:

“This bill stigmatizes people with a history of mental health issues, and perpetuates the harmful and false stereotype that such people are inherently violent and dangerous."

As AWR Hawkins notes in an article in Breitbart, the bill's approach is essentially the same as that was used to deny Social Security recipients that needed help managing their monies. That is, it didn't differentiate between non-violent and violent behavior and lumped them all together.

Duke University psychiatrist and behavior health professor Jeffrey Swanson had an op-ed in the Washington Post at the time criticizing this lumping together. He said then, "“the vast majority of mentally ill individuals pose no threat to themselves nor to others. Yet the ban stigmatized a broad swath of the mentally ill by treating them as a threat.

Now on to New York where the ACLU filed an amicus brief supporting the NRA in their lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY). To me, this is the more important of the two because the ACLU's defense of the NRA rightly points out the danger of using the administrative state against any organization that is out of favor at the time with a politician.

Reason.com describes the efforts of the Cuomo administration to deny the NRA the ability to obtain banking and insurance coverages.

A timeline prepared by the NRA suggests the intimidation campaign began last fall. The anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety met with New York officials in September 2017; a month later the Department of Financial Services began an investigation that started with a company called Lockton, which administered the NRA-branded personal liability insurance program known as Carry Guard. Despite a 20-year relationship, Lockton responded by abruptly ditching the NRA as a customer in February; so did Chubb and Lloyd's.

Emboldened by this initial success, Maria Vullo, head of the state's Department of Financial Services, sent a pair of ominous letters to all banks, financial institutions, and insurers licensed to do business in New York. Vullo warned companies to sever ties with pro-Second Amendment groups that "promote guns and lead to senseless violence" and instead heed "the voices of the passionate, courageous, and articulate young people" calling for more restrictions on firearms. All companies receiving the letter, she advised, should "review any relationships they have with the NRA or similar gun promotion organizations, and to take prompt actions to managing these risks and promote public health and safety."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo underlined the regulatory threat in a tweet the next day: "The NRA is an extremist organization. I urge companies in New York State to revisit any ties they have to the NRA and consider their reputations, and responsibility to the public.'"

As a result of those not-very-veiled threats, the NRA says, multiple banks withdrew bids to provide basic depository services. The NRA is also worried about being able to continue producing its NRA TV channel, with hosts including Dana Loesch and Cam Edwards, unless it can obtain normal media liability insurance.

David Cole, the ACLU Legal Director, explained in a blog post why they filed their amicus brief even though they still cling to a collective right view of the Second Amendment.

In the ACLU’s view, targeting a nonprofit advocacy group and seeking to deny it financial services because it promotes a lawful activity (the use of guns) violates the First Amendment. Because we believe the governor’s actions, as alleged, threaten the First Amendment rights of all advocacy organizations, the ACLU on Friday filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the NRA’s right to have its day in court.

His blog post points out that while it may be the NRA that is targeted today, it could be a liberal group that is being targeted tomorrow for "disapproved speech" and that violates the First Amendment.

The amicus brief opposes NY's motion to dismiss the NRA's case. Their argument centers on two major points. First, that the court must consider all circumstances to determine whether or not Cuomo and company threatened adverse actions against the NRA's banks and insurers. In essence, it urges the court to look beyond the "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" wording of the press releases and guidance letters and look to the substance of what was being communicated. That is, if you do business with the NRA we will consider it a reputational risk and make it hard for you to do any business in New York State.

The second argument in the amicus brief is that Cuomo and the other defendants misstated the requirements for a First Amendment claim. The ACLU says the requirements to make a First Amendment claim are rather straightforward and the NRA met the standard. However, the defendants (Cuomo and company) have tried to add some "non-existent requirements on to the test." The brief then takes these apart one after another and finds they have no merit. They conclude that the NRA's lawsuit should not be dismissed and that the case should go forward.

While I don't agree with the ACLU on a lot of things and certainly not their incorrect interpretation of the Second Amendment, I do applaud their efforts in both California and New York State. It isn the latter case where I think they've really stepped up in their protection of constitutional rights.

Use Special Session Of NC Senate To Do Something On Gun Rights!

The North Carolina Senate is being forced back for a special session to deal with the wording of some the proposed constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot in November. One of the amendments to be voted on deals with making hunting and fishing constitutional rights under the NC Constitution. That's nice but the reality is that Republicans in the State Senate think such an amendment will placate gun owners despite their sitting on a bill authorizing permitless concealed carry.

The Republican majority still think backing hunting is supporting the Second Amendment and gun rights. That might have been fine when all you had was Gun Culture v. 1.0 but we have moved to Gun Culture v. 2.0 and beyond.

Grass Roots North Carolina recognizes this and they also recognize that this special session is an opportunity for the Republicans to actually do something with regard to gun rights.

GOP SENATORS CAN STILL EARN YOUR VOTE

Thus far, the NC Senate has made 2018 a dud for gun-rights voters, but there is an opportunity for redemption, and just in time for the election… For better or worse, a judge has effectively forced the NC Senate to convene a special session in order to fine-tune the language in some of this November’s proposed amendments.  This is great news for both gun owners and GOP senators. Republicans Have Miscalculated During this year’s regular session, NC Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, Rules Chairman Bill Rabon, and other Senate Republicans have completely ignored gun owners. Had they simply passed HB-746 (permitless concealed carry), they would have lived up to their recurring campaign rhetoric, as well as their party’s platform. Instead, they chose to punt, perhaps to avoid an issue they perceived to be controversial. Unfortunately, that’s not courageous and that’s certainly not leadership. Disregarding pro-gun voters, who are basically the Republican base, is ill advised preceding a mid-term election where majorities are up for grabs, and Republicans need every vote they can scrounge. With that in mind, perhaps it’s fair to say that Senate leaders have miscalculated. The Good News for Senate Republicans By a serendipitous twist, NC senators now have a chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of their base, and just in the nick of time. With a special session convening this coming week, there is no reason GOP leaders can’t give HB-746 a hearing, and make sure it comes to the floor for an up or down vote. This simple action would please the grass roots voter, while ensuring more freedom and a greater level of safety for all North Carolina citizens. Good News for Gun Voters The good news for gun owners is that the NC Senate may actually use this opportunity to show you, the gun-rights voter, that they haven’t forgotten you. They may actually do the right thing, even if it’s only to court your vote in November. No matter the reason, the right thing is still the right thing, and perhaps we should expect Republican senators see it our way this coming week. Please Encourage Senate Leaders Of course, our public servants will need some encouragement if they are to get this done. Below, see how you can easily contact Senate leadership and urge them to grab this opportunity and use it to impress their voting base, while making North Carolina both safer and freer.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

PHONE SENATE LEADERS AND YOUR REPUBLICAN SENATOR: Find phone numbers below. Deliver the following phone message (if there is no answer, please leave a message or call back): Hello, I am a pro-gun voter, and I am calling to express disappointment in this year’s short session, but also enthusiasm over the opportunity we have in this week’s special session. By using this session to pass HB-746, the permitless concealed carry bill,  Senate Republicans have a chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of their voting base, and just in the nick of time. This mid-term election will surely be precarious for Republicans, and with their recent snub of gun voters, I am not terribly excited about pulling the lever for them. I insist that HB-746 be given a hearing and be brought to the floor for a vote. Make this happen or risk an unmotivated voting base in November. Thank you. EMAIL ALL REPUBLICAN SENATORS: Below, find copy/paste email list(s), along with a copy/paste email message you can use, which is provided under ‘Deliver This Message.’ CONTACT INFO Senate Leader Phil Berger: (919) 733-5708 Senator Rules Chair Bill Rabon: (919) 733-5963 Find your GOP senator’s phone number (click on the ‘Senate’ tab, search by county, district, or your voter registration): https://www2.ncleg.net/RnR/Representation NC Senate Republicans copy/paste email *list(s): John.Alexander@ncleg.net; Deanna.Ballard@ncleg.net; Chad.Barefoot@ncleg.net; Dan.Barrett@ncleg.net; Tamara.Barringer@ncleg.net; Phil.Berger@ncleg.net; Dan.Bishop@ncleg.net; Danny.Britt@ncleg.net; Harry.Brown@ncleg.net; Bill.Cook@ncleg.net; Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net; Jim.Davis@ncleg.net; Cathy.Dunn@ncleg.net; Chuck.Edwards@ncleg.net; Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net; Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net; Ralph.Hise@ncleg.net; Rick.Horner@ncleg.net; Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net; Joyce.Krawiec@ncleg.net; Michael.Lee@ncleg.net; Tom.McInnis@ncleg.net; Wesley.Meredith@ncleg.net; Paul.Newton@ncleg.net; Louis.Pate@ncleg.net; Ron.Rabin@ncleg.net; Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net; Shirley.Randleman@ncleg.net; Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.net; Vickie.Sawyer@ncleg.net ; Jeff.Tarte@ncleg.net; Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net; Tommy.Tucker@ncleg.net; Trudy.Wade@ncleg.net; Andy.Wells@ncleg.net *Spam filters or email program limitations may cause the need to send more than one email, to cover the entire list of representatives. If so, the list above is split into three pieces, for your convenience.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: "Motivate Your Base: Pass HB-746 Now"   Dear Senator: After a terribly disappointing short session, I am writing to express both enthusiasm and hopefulness over an opportunity for Senate Republicans to redeem their snub of gun-rights voters. This coming week’s special session presents a golden opportunity for Senate Republicans to live up to their pro-gun campaign language, and to satisfy the pro-Second Amendment principles documented in the Republican Party platform. Basically, pro-gun voters are the base of the Republican Party. That is why it was so surprising to see Senate leadership ignore this critical voting bloc leading up to a mid-term election, one that is sure to be precarious for Republicans. Both polling and history tell us that Republicans will need all the votes they can scrounge in 2018. With majorities on the line, new attention to HB-746 (permitless concealed carry) is the sure path to motivating the base, and I demand that you pursue this during the coming week. Until now, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, Rules Chairman Bill Rabon, and other Republican leaders in the Senate, have let me down. Frankly, I am not excited about voting for increasingly unreliable and complacent Republican candidates, and it’s fair to assume that many other voters are similarly hesitant. A substantive and long-overdue show of support for gun rights, by passing HB-746 during this special session, would go a long way to shrink the chasm GOP senators have opened between themselves and their voting base. More importantly, passing HB-746 would make North Carolina both safer and freer for all of its law-abiding citizens. I insist that you do the right thing during this special session. Do what it takes to give HB-746 a hearing and see that it is brought to the floor for an up or down vote. I will be monitoring your actions on this matter through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina. Respectfully,

Quote On The Gun Culture

I just finished re-reading John Ross' Unintended Consequences for the third or fourth time. I came across this quote about the gun culture that really hit home.

We have a specific culture. Guns and shooting are very important to us, just like living as nomads and hunting buffalo was important to the Indians. We are willing to work hard and have the government confiscate half our money and use it for things we never get any benefit out of, if only we can continue to buy our guns and our ammo and our components, and shoot a lot.

"Our culture is important, and we're willing to pay for it. We have above -average educations, above - average incomes, and almost nonexistent criminal involvement. We pay far more in taxes and receive virtually no subsidy payments. You'd think Washington would be happy, but instead they are doing everything they can to destroy our culture.

"Thomas Fleming" - attorney friend of "Henry Bowman", p. 480

The soliloquy goes on but this is the meat of it. The only amendment that I'd make to his statement is to expand it to include more than just Washington and the Federal government. I'd add in the anti-civil rights billionaires like Bloomberg, Allen, and Gates who are protected by armed guards, the organizations they support with their wealth, and all the state and local politicians that have bought into their scheme to keep honest, hard-working citizens disarmed.

Copies of Unintended Consequences are very expensive on Amazon. While there are unauthorized PDFs of the book to be found on the Internet, I suggest contacting the publisher Accurate Press to see if they still have the paperback version available.