Good commentary from Jeanine Pirro especially considering she has an antigun record almost as bad as Bloomberg himself.
Schumer’s soundbite
Chuck Schumer wants to attach an amendment to a cybersecurity bill prohibiting the sale of magazines holding 10+ rounds:
“… Schumer defended the Brady law and assault weapons ban on the floor Thursday evening, perhaps in preparation for the coming fight with Republicans and gun rights activists …”
This is nothing more than a PR stunt. There aren’t the votes to pass it in the Senate, not that it will even come up:
“… Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Senate’s schedule is too packed to even have a debate on gun control. Asked if the Senate might debate the issue next year, Reid said: “Nice try.” …”
Yep. Nice try Chuck.
Still nothing
The antis and their leftist media allies have been screaming for the past week for more gun control. What it got them? Still nothing. Both Romney and Obama are avoiding the issue:
“… On Wednesday the two candidates finally elaborated on the issue, and offered divergent opinions. In an interview with Brian Williams, Romney suggested that no new gun legislation is needed, and made a confusing statement about suspect James Holmes obtaining weapons illegally (later his campaign acknowledged that Holmes bought guns legally, and said he was referring to the bombs in Holmes’s apartment). On Wednesday evening while speaking before the National Urban League convention, Obama said he supports greater gun control. It was his most in-depth discussion of the issue as president, yet Obama was vague on what exactly he plans to do …”
Not true. Both candidates positions are perfectly clear: they want nothing to do with gun control. They know the issue is a stinker with the American public and they know that associating with antigun advocates hurts them politically. The antis simply refuse to accept that.
Nothing
Nothing.
That is what the antigunners are going to get out of the massacre in Colorado. The usual suspects, Mayor Bloomberg, Carolyn McCarthy and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, are doing their blood dance, encouraged by leftist media outlets who are unwilling to accept their declining relevance in shaping public opinion in the 21st century.
“Gun control advocates sputter at their own impotence.”
Yep. And they cannot understand why.
Neither of the presidential candidates wants to talk gun control. Congress isn’t interested, except for Frank “The Walking Dead” Lautenberg. The antis have nothing left except lame PR stunts destined to fail.
Romney speaks on guns, not 2A
Mitt Romney is attacking Obama on guns, but not on 2nd Amendment issues:
“Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney lashed out Tuesday at President Obama for a lack of “transparency’’ in invoking executive privilege to withhold Operation Fast and Furious documents. In a release headlined “Transparent Hypocrisy: Obama’s Fast and Furious Broken Promises,’’ Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said: “President Obama’s pledge to be transparent has turned out to be just another broken promise.’’ … “If we want to talk about transparency, the real issue is why has this president used his presidential power and executive privilege to keep the information about the Fast and Furious program from being explained to the American people?’’ Romney said …”
Fast and Furious is a big scandal and a legitimate topic of discussion for the candidates. While Romney’s record on the 2A is poor, he could have at least mentioned in passing the concern that many in the mainstream have that the operation was set up as a backdoor way of promoting gun control.
Schimel’s press conference
Michelle Schimel and Jose Peralta are going to have a press conference this afternoon. They are hoping to get some political mileage out of the recent bunch of shootings as a way to push microstamping. That’s not likely to happen for no other reason than the state legislature is in recess and is not going to come back just to deal with her pet issue.
Meanwhile, Mayor Mike is busy bashing the NYCLU for opposing the over the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy which the courts don’t like:
“… “Let’s be clear: the NYCLU’s priority is not protecting our safety. It is protecting their ideology,” he said. “And in that regard, they are no better than the NRA. “One group views the Second Amendment in absolutist terms; the other group views the Fourth Amendment in absolutist terms. Both groups, I think, are dangerously wrong on the Constitution,” he added. “The right to bear arms and the right to privacy do not trump the right of citizens to walk down their own street, or walk down their own hallway, without getting blown away.” …”
There’s that damn Constitution getting in the way again.
Of course, these people have been pretty quiet about the NYPD officers running illegal gun smuggling operation and the drug addict who stole guns to pay off his pusher. That’s not part of the antigun narrative.
Romney-Rice?
The latest rumormongering has Mitt Romney picking Condoleezza Rice as his VP. I would not go so far as Juan Williams in saying it would be a game-changer, but I do think she’d be a good choice. Plus, she’s pro-gun as this transcript from an 2005 appearance on Larry King Live shows:
KING: We have a Second Amendment. People can own guns. By the way, what do you think about gun control?
RICE: The way I come out of my own personal experience, in which in Birmingham, Alabama, my father and his friends defended our community in 1962 and 1963 against White Knight Riders by going to the head of the community, the head of the cul-de-sac, and sitting there, armed. And so I’m very concerned about any abridgement of the Second Amendment.
I’ll tell you that I know that if Bull Connor had had lists of — of registered weapons, I don’t think my father and his friends would have been sitting at the head of the community, defending the community.
KING: So you would not change the Second Amendment? You would not…
RICE: I also don’t think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution. The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment.
KING: But doesn’t having the guns, while it’s protection, also leads to people killing people?
RICE: Well, obviously, the sources of violence are many, and we need to — to get at the source of the violence. Obviously, I’m very much in favor of things like background checks, and you know, controlling it at gun shows. And there are lots of things we can do.
But we have to be very careful when we start abridging rights that our Founding Fathers thought very important. On this one, I think that they understood that there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Alabama, when in fact, the police weren’t going to protect you.
KING: Did you see him take the gun?
RICE: Oh, absolutely. Every — every night he and his — he and his friends kind of organized a little brigade.
KING: How old were you?
RICE: I was 8. Eight years old.
KING: You remember that?
RICE: I remember it very, very well.
Gangster values
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s latest idea makes his gun control proposals look smart:
“… We’ve got two gangbangers, one standing next to a kid. Get away from that kid. Take your stuff away to the alley. Don’t touch the children of the city of Chicago. Don’t get near them. And it is about values. As I said then, Scott, who raised you? How were you raised? And I don’t buy this case where people say they don’t have values. They do have values. They have the wrong values. Don’t come near the kids — don’t touch them …”
Yeah, this is going to work. How long before Mayor Mike tries this approach?
Good news in CD-25
Some good news in the new CD-25: challenger Maggie Brooks has outraised incumbent Congresswoman Louise Slughter. The latest Cook Political Report says the new district leans Democrat, but if Brooks is raking in the cash it’s a good sign the race will be competitive.
Slaughter is extremely antigun, being one of the lucky few to get some modest campaign contributions from the Brady Campaign over the years. She’s older than dirt and could do a walk-on roll on the Walking Dead as herself. Brooks would be a big improvement.
Acknowledging the obvious
From Roll Call:
“… By now, Republican laments that presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney is not the most inspiring figure to ever run for president are well-known … at a June 30 fundraiser in Wheeling, W.Va., Speaker John Boehner offered a surprisingly frank assessment of the dynamic that surprised some in the audience. Aside from Romney’s “friends, relatives and fellow Mormons,” Boehner said, most people will be motivated to vote for him in opposition to Obama …”
It’s good that he admitted this because Romney’s campaign is not exactly setting the country on fire. Gun owners certainly are not that enthused about him.
NRA should follow suit and acknowledge Romney is probably the better of the two choices and not try and portray him as something he’s not, like they did with John McCain back in ’08.