Never Let A Tragedy Go To Waste

Over the weekend a genuine tragedy happened. A gunman went to a meet-and-greet by Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson and open-fire, killing six people and injuring the Congresswoman. This morning, all I seem to hear and read about in the news and on the blogs - even one of my favorite tech blogs - is how Conservatives, Republicans and Tea Party members are somehow responsible. It's very shallow thinking that draws such a conclusion. To them, a Democrat was the target of assassination, so it must be the fault of conservatives.

And John Gruber at Daring Fireball (among other libs) is in a full-on froth-at-the-mouth lather that somehow Sarah Palin is somehow to blame, as well, because of some icons that were used on a website before the last election.

John- you're way off base. Sarah Palin didn't come down from Alaska and pull the trigger, nor did she advocate anything of the sort. Blaming imagery and putting that much importance on such imagery is irresponsible at the least and offensive to designers. You should know better.

There's also mounting evidence that the shooter was a troubled loner who was radically left-wing, accordiing to classmates- not some right-wing nutjob as the kneejerk reaction from the media has indicated.

And speaking of knee-jerk reactions, it only took one day for another Democrat lawmaker to use this tragedy to push for tougher gun laws. And so-called "gun control activists" are definitely on the warpath:

Many said that people with a history of mental instability, like the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, should not be able to buy a gun — and no one should be able to buy stockpiles of ammunition used by the 22-year-old assailant.

First of all, the government has no business keeping tabs on how many guns someone owns. That private property ownership is their own business. But the paragraph above begs the question- "how, exactly, does the government propose to regulate how much ammunition a person can own?" The answer, I fear, is that every time you buy a round of ammunition you'll have to go through some sort of computerized check with a government database that will register all ammunition you buy and cross-check it against some arbitrary number of rounds that some bureaucrat somewhere deems "acceptable."

I find it to be a colossal conflict that the government would then be able to regulate the means for which the Constitution specifically allows for citizens to be able to overthrow a corrupt government if necessary. God forbid a revolution ever does come, but how is a citizenry supposed to protect itself from an abusive government if the government regulates how much ammunition one can own? Ridiculous.

The media also seems to be trying to stress the point that the shooter had, in recent months, made increasingly critical comments about the government. But all indication I've read indicates that the comments made were very deranged in nature, ranging from government mind control to its very authority to exist. The gunman was clearly not making traditional Conservative arguments, but the media seems hell-bent on painting us all with the same brushstroke as this nutball. The conclusion that they seem to be subtly driving at is that any criticism of the government in the wake of this shooting must be investigated and that the writer might just be planning the next assassination of a government official. Again, ridiculous. As a blogger who is frequently is critical of the government, I find this particularly offensive. I would no sooner go on a shooting spree than any other conservative I know of who is deeply distressed by the direction our country is headed. But that's the bush we're boing painted with, it seems.

What's clear to me is that demonization of "partisan rhetoric" seems to be in fashion at the moment, as well. Political rhetoric had nothing to do with this shooting. A deranged loner did.

The bottom line of this whole thing is that this Jared Lee Loughner is just plain crazy. He's crazy in a Columbine High School sorta way. I hate that this happened, but I don't think that reactionary clamping down by the nanny state is going to solve anything. But just watch- just as it did following Columbine, the government is going to try to swoop in and legislate the problem away. It didn't prevent this shooting and it won't prevent the next one.

Loughner legally purchased his weapon – a Glock 19 with an extended magazine – from an Arizona store. The same kind of extended magazine was illegal under the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

After the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, in which a student with a history of psychological problems killed 33 and injured 25 others, lawmakers immediately started looking at gun control reforms both in the state and atthe federal level.

Then-Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine issued an executive order making it harder for people who have been committed to mental health treatment centers to buy a gun.

In 2008 President George W. Bush signed a law expanding the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which registered gun dealers use, to include more comprehensive reporting of mental health records. Under the current law, it is illegal for anyone who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution” to purchase a firearm, according to the FBI’s website.

However, Loughner did not fall into either of those categories, according to Josh Horwitz, the executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

“I’ve seen no evidence that he falls into those categories. It’s the same thing as this guy at Virginia Tech,” said Horwitz. “We can do a much better job checking people’s mental health background.”

So the assault-weapons ban expiring in 2004 is to blame, as well, it seems. But wait. Didn't the Democrats have control of the House and Senate from 2006 until 2011 and have a Democrat president for two of those year? They had a super-majority and yet never felt the pressing need to renew the weapons ban? So who, then, is to blame here? The ban was important enough that it supposedly would have prevented this attack, but yet it wasn't important enough for the Democrats to pass as soon as they could? Hypocrisy.

And finally- where was the Secret Service?

Alfred W. Evans For President

This was taken from the Waco Tribune Herald, Waco, TX, 18 Nov. 2010


Put me in charge...

Put me in charge of food stamps. I’d get rid of Lone Star Cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho’s, just money for
50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese, and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak
And frozen pizza...get a job.

Put me in charge of Medicaid. We’ll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings.
If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get Tats and piercings...get a job.

Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good
State of repair. Your “home” will be subject to inspections anytime, and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a
Plasma TV or Xbox 360...get a job and your own place.

In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a “government” job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, Whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the “common good.”

Before you write that I’ve violated someone’s rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say this would be “demeaning” and ruin their “self esteem,” consider that it wasn’t that long ago when taking someone else’s money for doing absolutely nothing was Demeaning and lowered self esteem.

If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes we should At least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.


Alfred W. Evans, Gatesville, Texas

Damn straight. I'd love to shake this guy's hand.

Thanks to my Grandma for sending this.

Choose Freedom Over the Nanny State

Citigroup Reaches Deal to Repay Bailout Billions

From the NYTimes:

Citigroup said Monday that it would repay $20 billion in
bailout money that it received from the Treasury Department,
after trying to persuade regulators that it was sound enough
to stand on its own.

Enough already, of this government nanny state! If they have the money to pay back the loan, let them! If they screw up and turn around and go out of business because they run their company stupidly, then let them! That's what happens in a free market economy. Trust me - the world will not end. Another company always slides in to take the place of the fallen.

New York Eagle Scout Suspended From School for 20 Days for Keeping Pocketknife in Car

From FoxNews:

Matthew Whalen, a senior at Lansingburgh Senior High School, says he follows the Boy Scout motto and is always prepared, stocking his car with a sleeping bag, water, a ready-to-eat meal — and the knife, which was given to him by his grandfather, a police chief in a nearby town.

But Lansingburgh High has a zero-tolerance policy, and when school officials discovered that Whalen kept his knife locked in his car, he says, they suspended him for five days — and then tacked on an additional 15 after a hearing.

Cripes. If there's anyone I want carrying a knife, it's Boy Scout, and even more so - an Eagle Scout!

What kills me is that the knife never even left his car. It's not as if he was walking around school with a Bowie knife looking for something to skin. It's not as if he had a sawed-off shotgun in his front seat and got it out at lunch to show his pals.

And that they felt the need to tack on an extra 15 days of suspension is unconscionable. Heads on the school board and in the front office of that school need to roll over this one.

Follow the link above and read the full story. It will make your blood boil. It turns out it was a 2-inch knife, and a police officer who was consulted by the school said that he hadn't broken any laws.

As a former scout myself, Destructo is standing with you in solidarity, brother. And for the record: zero-tolerance policies are bullshit.

Big Brother Knows Best, Dontchaknow

"The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank."

and

"The government notified the bank of its decision on Tuesday, bringing days of negotiations to an end. The amount is higher than bank executives believed the bank needed, the executivesaid. "

The government notified the bank of its decision?!????!!!

So Bank of America has been saying "we're fine, Mr. Obama - really. We can handle this. We can do it."

And the government busts down the door and says "listen, foo, we know what's best for you better than you do. You're gonna take this $33.9 billion and LIKE IT!"

"The government" has got to go. At least in its present form. Any government that is this big and this powerful is too big for its own good.

via the New York Times