Rasmussen Reports Ron Tied for Third in NH

And Faux News won't include him in tonight's debate why again...?

We know this is immoral. I'm wondering if it's legal...

Britney's Got a Gun?

The News of the World can reveal that K-Fed, 29, panicked on Thursday night after realising the fallen pop princess kept the handgun—a Beretta 92FS—in the master bedroom where she was holding the kids, Jayden James, one, and Sean Preston, two.

But wait a minute: didn't Britney sign HCI's "Open Letter to the NRA"? Isn't she "on the list"?

Perhaps it's just you and me who aren't emotionally stable enough to be trusted with a gun?

We're the Only Ones Practically Joking Enough

Police believe that a practical joke led to the shooting of a 23-year-old Ste. Genevieve police officer Tuesday.

The rookie officer allegedly faked a break-in around 9:45 p.m. at his brother-in-law's home in Festus, said Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis.

"He didn't tell the family he was coming and decided to sneak in the back door," Lewis said. "The resident asked him to call out who he was, and he didn't, and he shot him."

Ha ha. Good one!

I'm certainly glad jokers like this are "The Only Ones" who have the mature judgment to go among us armed.

Misery Loves Company?

In the past few months, a number of families whose children were killed or injured in the massacre have begun to come forward and speak out for gun law reform.

Look, I'm sorry your loved ones are dead. But Virgina Tech was a "No Guns" zone, and proposals to change that so the peaceable can defend themselves, were publicly ridiculed by their spokesman. And we saw how efficient the same law enforcement you demand disarm us was at preventing death there: 31 of the 33 fatalities occurred after the police had responded to the initial shooting report.

And it's not like we don't have yet more confirmation that GUNS DEPLOYED BY MORAL INDIVIDUALS SAVE LIVES!!!

Your grief is no claim on my rights. How dare you demand my rights, and my ability to protect my loved ones, be forfeited? How dare you demand those of us with the willingness and ability to emerge as victors be reduced to mere powerless mourners? How dare you demand, under armed force of law, that we suffer the rest of our lives trying to suppress and deny the horrible guilt of knowing we abdicated a sacred responsibility?

More Guns Less Crime

Six years after new rules made it much easier to get a license to carry concealed weapons, the number of Michiganders legally packing heat has increased more than six-fold.

But dire predictions about increased violence and bloodshed have largely gone unfulfilled, according to law enforcement officials and, to the extent they can be measured, crime statistics.

Who could have imagined?

And I just love this character Kenneth Levin:

In a letter to the Free Press in July 2001, he referred to the "inevitable first victim of road or workplace rage as a result of this law."

Last month, Levin said he suspected "it probably hasn't turned out as bad as I thought. I don't think I was wrong, but my worst fears weren't realized."

You were clearly wrong, dead wrong, demonstrably wrong, couldn't have been more wrong, out there bare-ass naked in the town square* wrong, but you don't "think" you were wrong? That's OK, Kenneth. Just squeeze your eyes shut real tight, put your hands over your ears and chant "LALALALA!" real loud and maybe the truth will go away.

How do you spell "zealot"?

[* Stolen shamelessly from Stieger]

On Blocking Paul

In “Paul Campaign: Make Lemons Out of Lemonade,” David Codrea of The War on Guns protests Fox News’ decision to refuse to invite Paul to its New Hampshire GOP debate taking place tomorrow night.

Many thanks to Nicholas Stix for his insights. And he's not even a Paul supporter.

45Superman also has something to say. I do hope he's a regular stop for you, as his is one of the more principled voices out there.

NH GOP Nixes Fox

“While we understand that FOX News continues to move forward it is with regret, the New Hampshire Republican Party hereby withdraws as a partner in this forum.”

Good for them. That was the proper thing to do.

It'd be nice to see the rest of the candidates show courage of leadership and refuse to participate in an unfair forum.

If you have a moment, please leave these folks a comment thanking them for taking this principled stand.

[Thanks to all who sent me this info]

What Would You Ask the GOP Presidential Candidates?

FOX News wants to know what you would ask the Republican presidential candidates when they debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Thursday, Jan 10.

Please e-mail your question to debate@foxnews.com. Include your name, town, state and contact number for verification.

Please keep your question sharp, brief and to the point. And let us know which candidate you'd like us to ask.

Here's my question, and no, I didn't give them my contact info because the intent of this is just to send a protest:


Feel free to use the email link to send your own.

CeaseFire PA Director's Watch: 01/06/08

Well, it's Sunday morning. They're probably all in church. You know, those places that host "gun buybacks," where the ministers advise their flocks to "snuff out" people with different ideologies...

This Day in History: January 6

The Battle of Jersey was a battle during the American War of Independence and was technically the last battle fought in the British Islands (coming after the Battle of Culloden in 1745). It was the last attempt by France to invade Jersey militarily.

"Your Comment is Awaiting Moderation"

After posting this, I posted this in Fox News site comments:

Note the number and the time.

This is where it's currently at:

And it's not because I left a link: first of all, it's their system that makes it active, plus others have left links in their posts (for instance, see Comment #18). And I didn't violate any standards by using bad words, insults...

I think it's safe to say they don't care for what I'm proposing. It's not in their interests.

Think about that for a moment, and ask yourself if this seems like the actions of honest and ethical journalists whose interests are to bring unbiased information to the electorate, you know, as in "We report, you decide."

UPDATE: It's finally made it--looks like my comment poster Bob in Sea Tac was right, and it was a matter of them being overwhelmed.

Paul Campaign: Make Lemons Out of Lemonade

We talked about this in passing here.

Now it looks like Ron Paul will be allowed to participate in the ABC debates.

"Fair and Balanced" and "conservative" Faux News will not allow him to appear, even though he finished in Iowa far ahead of Sean Hannity darling Rudy Giuliani, who is invited, and is polling far ahead of Fred Thompson, also an invitee, in New Hampshire.

You shouldn't need to be a Paul supporter to be outraged by this manipulation of the electorate by corporate media special interests. There are two things his supporters are encouraging us to do:

Leave a comment for the Faux propagandists at their "You Decide '08" page, and visit the "Protest Fox" webpage and learn how to send an email or two.

These are both good actions, and I will do them this weekend, but it's also time for some real creative and outside the box thinking from the Paul campaign team--immediate action. If negotiations are unsuccessful at getting their candidate in at the last minute, they should do three things--they should be starting on them now:

1. Use a portion of that $20M they've raised to buy a 1-minute ad for Ron to be aired immediately before the debate--if not on Fox, then on their competitor CNN. The content of the ad should be to call attention to his exclusion, to provide an overview of his message, and to direct viewers to #2,

2. Have Ron live on the Internet at the same time as the debate, answering all questions posed to the candidates on the Fox program. This could actually work to his advantage, as there'd be no distractions from other candidates, no questions intentionally leaving him out, and no misrepresentations of his positions or statements by the other candidates. It could also draw a significant portion of the audience away from Fox.

3. Publicize the hell out of this. Issue press releases to get it into the news. Use the unprecedented Internet network Paul supporters have established.

I have no real hopes that this will be done as I have no real influence with the Paul campaign. But I think if he did this, the wave of publicity and curiosity and potential for getting his message out could be tremendous. But if they're going to do it, they need to do it NOW, because the debate is tomorrow.

If you agree, contact the Paul campaign and tell them so. If they want to make this happen, nobody's going to go to bed tonight.

CeaseFire PA Director's Watch: 01/05/08

Well, it's Saturday. They're probably sleeping in.

NRA-ILA Responds on Sullivan

All of us who wrote got the same letter (thanks to everyone who forwarded theirs), and Armed and Safe presents it and pretty well sums everything up, so I won't duplicate that here.

It's what I expected when I said they didn't want to give an unequivocal "yes" or "no" answer. Their world is too labyrinthine for directness, and they're counting on being a force of influence on pending legislation. As such, they'll do nothing to alienate or jeopardize access, which, for lobbyists, is everything.

And this way, if and when "Maximum Mike" is confirmed, they will not have been among his assailants, providing additional capital.

If nothing else, it's masterful political judo, turning this to their advantage. And here's the other thing: While the rest of us are making noise, they're in there quietly behind the scenes working on legislation that should provide relief for some of the more egregious determinations of dealer noncompliance, such as abbreviations on forms...

And while the rest of us want nothing less than elimination of BATFU, well, really, if that's going to happen, how? Who's leading the effort, how much support and resources do they have, how many sponsors in the legislature...? Truth is, no one has assembled that army, let alone taken the first step to make it happen.

So, what, have I given up? Can I now expect comments about selling out, or asking who got to me?

No, not at all to the first, probably to the second. I'm just laying out the way things are--if we refuse to see them because they piss us off, well, nobody ever won anything through self-imposed blindness. And those of you who decry the NRA's position without anticipating and understanding the rationale for defending it will not be well served.

This Day in History: January 5

During the chilly late afternoon of January 5, 1781, Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson stood helpless at his vantage point in Manchester as he watched warehouses and workshops in Richmond burn. Traitorous General Benedict Arnold, who hadn’t received a satisfactory response to his demand for the surrender of the one-year-old capital of Virginia, was torching the town.

It helps to recall the traitor Arnold when the other side trots out some former military man to use as a prop, as if that should trump reason. Bravery is admirable, but it does not excuse bad motives.

Batman vs The Riddler

When the man with the bat tried to attack the driver, investigators said, the second driver pulled out a gun and shot the first driver twice...

The shooter – whose identity has also not been released – had a license to carry a concealed weapon and investigators said he acted in self-defense and will not immediately face charges.

You know, "riddled with bullets..."?

Ahh, forget it.

Still, riddle me this, Caped Anti-Gun Crusaders: Would you prefer if the man being attacked had been unarmed and bludgeoned to death?

[Via Tony G]

If I Were a Carpenter...

...I'd be hammering back at Carpentersville.

Tony G shows us there's no shortage of little wooden heads supporting the destruction of guns.

World of Paulcraft

Apparently, sometime around 8:30 PM EST on Tuesday, a throng of Alliance members took to the streets of Ironforge in a surprisingly well-orchestrated in-game demonstration designed to drum up support for (very real life) Republican dark horse presidential candidate and Internet darling Ron Paul.

Pretty cool, but he'll need to get out of the virtual world and into the real one. it is encouraging that he's doing double-digits in a state where agricultural subsidies and cheap migrant labor are factors favoring Huckabee and McCain. I don't know what to make of Rudy's poor showing, since he blew Iowa off, but Paul getting more than three times Giuliani's support at least shows us Big City Republicans and the Heartland aren't much of a match.

What's clear is, the networks keeping Ron Paul from the televised debates are abusing the public facilities they rely on for their private profits to advance their special interest political agenda. After Iowa, how do you keep Paul out and leave Giuliani in? Especially now that their own quoted "double digit" criteria has been met in the only "real" poll taken to date. These damned elitist "Authorized Journalist" gatekeepers are supposed to report stories, not engineer their outcomes.

[Via Thirdpower]

Marko...

Polo?

Fighting for Liberty identifies the "Only One" from yesterday's post.

Spiffmo

Regular WarOnGuns readers will remember Tomato 7.

Ben has pulled up stakes and reincarnated his blog as Spiffmo.

Check it out.