Ok. The Cure For Gun Violence: What Do You Have?

Over the past couple of days, I've watched our president call out gun owners and 2nd Amendment advocates for getting in the way of "sensible" gun laws, notwithstanding the fact that the sorts of laws he talks about and the sort that are commonly mooted usually would have had NO effect on the ability of shooters to procure guns for their purpose. I have run across a plethora of others, online and elsewhere, who have called us out as a society on how hideously we treat our citizens, the mentally healthy and otherwise, and how well other countries treat their own, suggesting that this sort of thing doesn't happen elsewhere, neatly forgetting the horrible massacre in Norway and the recent killings in Australia. I have also noticed the sense of smug superiority and condescension from the "we have to do something" crowd toward anyone who points out the complications.

Walk me through this. There is the "too many guns" argument. We have some 300 to 350 million guns presently within the bounds of the United States, and we have a 2nd Amendment that (however you want to parse it) has been interpreted to allow for private ownership. The courts have struck down gun controls in Washington, DC, Chicago and the like, and have placed strictures on the sorts of actions the states, cities, and the federal government can take to "solve" this problem. Far too many people are willing to call out responsible gun owners and other people of reasonable character who, generally, disagree with them about gun control and, probably, everything else, suggesting that if they just get out of the way, the problem can be solved. But consider: in a country of over 300 million people, where there are more than enough guns to outfit every man, woman, and child, actual statistics on violent acts like Sandy Hook, Umpqua and the like reflect a vanishingly small likelihood of occurrence. And yet they continue to happen every so often to the same sorts of reactions.

Then there's the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument. Part of the issue is that violent people who want to kill people will find a way, guns or no guns, like Timothy McVeigh and, quite likely, the recent Charleston shooter. But for the most part, shooters have been mentally disturbed and seeking to take out their aggressions and their failures on others. And in the face of that sort of problem, we have fallen amazingly short of any reasonable response. A significant part of the difficulty is that we chose, in the 1960s, to de-institutionalize the mentally ill and offer them pills and panaceas instead of concerted care. As far back as 1984, the New York Times was noting that part of the price of de-institutionalization was a ramping up of state resources to take care of the mentally ill through out patient clinics and the like. And to be blunt, this did not happen. For example, the Virginia Tech shooter was repeatedly brought to the attention of authorities for being mentally ill, and yet legally got guns and managed his attack with frightening ease. (One of the loopholes in how he acquired guns was closed through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System - NICS.) But nevertheless, the problem of the mentally ill going untreated and getting their hands on weapons persists.

So, with these two issues in juxtaposition, I ask you this: what do you propose? Do you actually have an idea of how to solve this problem, or will you simply slander everyone who disagrees with you and your more comprehensive view of government by slyly suggesting that they are perfectly fine with seeing periodic gun violence as the price of gun ownership? I will admire to see honest responses.

Kill the Iran Deal

The Democrats do not want to have a definitive up and down vote on the Iran Agreement for a number of reasons in my estimation, but primarily because they don't mind the president owning it but they don't want the party (or their re-election chances) to be hoist upon that particular petard. Every recent poll that I have seen suggests that the American people do not like this agreement, and the more they know about it, the worse they think of it. It would not just be tragic to let the Democrats filibuster the issue to dispose of it; it would be nothing short of irresponsible...if not criminal.

Senator Reid set precedent by moving to remove presidential appointments and lower judges from the strictures of the filibuster. While those are important enough offices under normal circumstances, perhaps, to merit such an exception, I would assert that NOTHING is more important to the long term health and survivability of this nation that the ability to consider, evaluate, decide, and vote on foreign policy. I am still incensed that this "agreement" is not being held to the standard of a treaty (requiring 2/3rds majority to pass, as opposed to 1/3 minority to sustain a veto), but that is a conversation for another day.

My suggestion and hope is that Republican Senators reverse course here and take their responsibility to advise and consent as seriously as this agreement deserves, and (at the very least) exempt foreign policy questions such as this from the filibuster. The Democrats will scream, but again, what is more important than foreign policy...particularly if you get it WRONG?

My suggestion? The GOP should kill the filibuster on foreign policy agreements. Make the Democrats vote up or down on the merits and then make them own their votes, like they had to with Obamacare. This is too important to let Senator Reid yank it off of the table with a filibuster, and I believe that the threat of doing this, through back channels (if necessary) might be enough to back him off. I sincerely hope that the majority will at least think this over. As I note, this is simply too important in the long run, both for the region and for our credibility abroad.

100 Things You Can Say To Irritate A Democrat

Liberals are insanely easy to anger or confuse these days. Simple questions asking for clarification about ideology can escalate into screamfests.  But if you have ear plugs or a nasty sense of humor, you can use these to piss off your liberal friends. But don’t expect any invitations to parties. (Note: This was written as a direct response to 100 Things You Can Say To Irritate A Republican. So don't whine about the set up; it was intentional, and they started it.)

1. A Socialist wrote the Pledge of Allegiance as a statement of nationalism and patriotism.
2. Jesus healed the sick and helped the poor, for free. He didn’t ask for government programs, grants, or handouts to do the job.

3. Alger Hiss was guilty as hell.
4. Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden were communist dupes.

5. The South lost the Civil War; now, it is the engine that drives the American economy.
6. The Founding Fathers were products of the Enlightenment; modern labels don’t apply.
7. Fascism is a product of socialism. Nazis were National Socialists and Mussolini was a Communist.
8. Nancy Pelosi is a fool. But I repeat myself.
9. Liberals have aerodynamic skulls to deflect opposing thought.
10. Obama took a bad economy and made it demonstrably worse.
11. Obama has no limits for his abortion policy. None.
12. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency. Not the Democrats.
13. Ronald Reagan supported the concept of Peace Through Strength.
14. Global warming is real; anthropogenic global warming is highly debatable.
15. Democrats love illegal immigrants, particularly at election time. In between, they need gardeners and nannies, too.

16. If the military is a government-run institution (and it is), why do Democrats hate it so much and wish to defund it?
17. Islamic terrorism exists, the Palestinians are an invented people, and the Democrats are pro surrender.
18. Paying taxes is the price of belonging to a society. Patriotism doesn’t enter into it.
19. Democrats: Believing that you can spend, then borrow, kite checks, then print money, and it doesn’t matter.
20. The Democratic Party was the party of Southern institutionalized racism for 100 years.
21. The Presidents’ full name is Barack Hussein Obama and he was born in the United States of America. A fact he has spent a lifetime apologizing for.
22. George W. Bush held hands with the King of Saudi Arabia. And Barack Obama bowed to him.
23. President Obama saved General Motors for the United Auto Workers, and screwed every other debt holder to greater and lesser degrees. His administration also hosed non union workers out of their full pensions.
24. Hate is not a Christian virtue. Neither is liberal sanctimony.
25. Jesus promised to bring fire and a sword.
26. Democrats spend more of other people’s money.
27. Camp outs in public squares are for spoiled hippies or Boy Scouts.
28. Public schools indoctrinate children with values the government and its acolytes espouse.
29. The Constitution is the law, not the current whim of the Court.
30. Sharia law doesn’t exist in America. Yet. Give Democrats some time to be all “inclusive.”
31. The President is NOT a Muslim. Neither is he much of a Christian.
32. People are people, unless they are liberal…in which case they are tools.
33. MSNBC isn’t real news, it’s just the propaganda arm of the Progressive, looney left.
34. The Federal Reserve was a Republican idea. Which the Democrats promptly screwed up under FDR.
35. Women are equal citizens who deserve equal rights. And they may now vote because Republicans in the 1910-1915 era made it happen.

36. Women control their own bodies. And should put on their big girl chones and look out for their own birth control and reproductive health.
37. Abortion is a relevant medical procedure, except when destroying a fetus that is viable outside the womb. Then it is murder.
38. Democrats do not understand spell-check.
39. It’s “pundit”, not “pundint”. True. It’s also correct grammar to put the comma and the period inside of the quotation marks.
40. Social Security was never solvent. We simply had more people paying into it than were drawing out. There has never been a “trust fund” except as an accounting line in a budget; we spent the cash as it came in. And the Supreme Court ruled years ago that whether we paid in for a lifetime or not, we have no intrinsic “right” to benefits. Look it up.
41. Anything that someone else will either have to provide or pay for is NOT a right.
42. Roe v. Wade was a bipartisan ruling. So was the preponderance of Gore v. State of Florida.
43. Democrats think everyone is above average, neatly misunderstanding what averages are.
44. The donkey is absolutely the correct mascot for Democrats as it is stubborn, intractable, incapable of understanding reasoned argument, and forgets how often it is wrong day to day.
45. Barack Obama ordered the killing of Osama Bin Laden. And he let Valerie Jarrett call it off twice for him.

46. Waterboarding IS torture. And the intelligence we got from it enabled Obama to give the kill order to take out Osama Bin Laden. Intelligence is never free.
47. 9/11 happened on George W. Bush’s watch, after eight years of Democratic dithering about whether Al Qaeda was a threat or Osama Bin Laden a palpable threat.
48. Republicans invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein. Iraq has contracts with other nations for the oil, which it owns. And we paid the price of American used bases and local improvements.
49. Separation of church and state is in the Constitution, it’s called the First Amendment. And the Second Amendment allows for private ownership of guns.
50. Muslims are protected by the Constitution, just as much as Christians. And just as little.
51. Barack Obama is the first African-American President, get over it. So? And JFK was the first Catholic, FDR the first cripple, and Abe Lincoln the first with Marfan’s Syndrome.
52. The Oval Office is NOT a “whites only” office. Neither is it an Affirmative Action cincture.
53. America is a nation of immigrants; but most of our ancestors had to wait in line and emigrate through Ellis Island…not cross the border in the back of a Subaru.
54. The white race isn’t disappearing, it’s evolving. And so, we hope, is every other race.
55. Dumb is a Democratic party platform statement.
56. Evolution is real; and so are relative disparities between men and women, and people one race or sect to another.
57. The Earth is 4.54 billion years old, not 6,000. Congratulations. You were listening in class that day.
58. The Founding Fathers did not free the slaves. But they did put a mechanism in place to begin the process of ending it by forbidding slave importation at a date certain. They did not envision the cotton gin.

59. The Revolution was NOT fought over slavery. And neither was the Civil War.
60. Paul Revere warned the Americans, NOT the British. Really?
61. Federal law and state law exist mutually, each acting upon its own sphere of influence. It’s called Federalism. Remember that term from high school government classes?
62. The Civil War was primarily about trade and the northern control over markets and shipping. It was only tangentially about slavery.
63. Corporations are owned by people who invest in them to make money. Tell the truth. Liberals invest in companies, too. Like the Kennedys, the Kerrys, the you name its.
64. Getting out of a recession requires consumer spending, and it works better and faster if the consumers work in the private sector because government jobs can only spend money; they cannot produce MORE money. And company profits produce more hiring and more spending.
65. Ed Shultz is out of his goddamned mind.
66. Democrats: Haven’t had a new idea since 1932.
67. Democrats think the government should pay for your schooling, your health, your entertainment, your job, and your burial. And they would prefer it if you shut up the rest of the time.
68. Some Republicans might need Viagra, but most Democrats need Aricept.
69. MSNBC is owned by crazy people who have allowed the Democratic Party to use it as a house organ.
70. Democrats want to give jobs to illegal immigrants and keep deserving minorities in our inner cities out of work.
71. Democrats didn’t want to be identified with Red China and the Red Army, so they invented the Red State/Blue State thing through the media and assigned themselves “blue” to avoid the obvious comparison.
72. Individuals of all kinds built this country; labor unions had a part; so did industrialists who supplied the jobs.
73. Democrats couldn’t even get all of the Democrats to go along with most of the silly shit they did during the Obama Administration.
74. Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian. Really? And this is news…how?
75. When Democrats see black, they see a voting block…and they punish any African American who dares to disagree with the prevailing ideology.
76. Robert Byrd was a Klansman; Joseph Kennedy liked the Nazis.
77. Democrats care for children only as political pawns for the teacher’s unions.
78. Democrats are ideologues, which is the political equivalent of religion. They are not hypocritical; they believe, even if evidence doesn’t exist or actively contradicts their position.
79. The Democratic Left boycotts anything that upsets their ideological sandcastles or ruffles their politically correct feathers.
80. I think, therefore I cannot be a Democrat.
81. Democrats who oppose gay marriage were driven from the party for opposing the prevailing theology.
82. Churches should stay out of politics, or be taxed. Tell it to Black Southern Baptist churches; they will have a different opinion.
83. People are too poor NOT to vote Republican.
84. Democrats use bumper sticker slogans as a substitute for thinking.
85. Democrats hate education that has any choice to it outside of their ideology or their teachers unions.
86. The Democratic position on lust is that we need more of it, on envy is that we should take away what others have, on sloth is that we should give people a living whether they work or not, and pride on believing that their whims or beliefs constitute truth.
87. Socialism and fascism both arose from the political left.
88. The current corporate tax rate is the highest in the industrial world; higher even than in Socialist Western Europe.
89. Democrats: Anti-family, anti reason, and anti-people. On the other hand, they are real good with snail darters, so there’s that.

90. Democrats: Robbing the American taxpayer since 1966.
91. Democrats have their own terrorists; ask about the Unabomber, the Weather Underground, the Animal Liberation Front, and Earth First.

92. Democrats love outsourcing, too.
93. The Democratic answer to the oil spill was to watch it get bigger.
94. Democrats think it’s reasonable to take money from Peter to employ Paul; Republicans think Peter should keep his money, build his business, and employ Paul to help them both make MORE money.

95. Voter ID laws are intended to stop the Dead Vote in Democratic strongholds like Illinois and Pennsylvania.
96. Democrats would let your house burn down if it sat on a wetland.
97. Democrats want to control your access to health insurance. Republicans seek actual improvements in health care.

98. Democrats claim that corporations are evil, which explains why the economy continues to be in the toilet. What it doesn't explain is why Democrats nevertheless invest their lucre with corporations through their unions or pension plans.
99. Democrats think the end of ANY pregnancy is up to the mother – up to and including the last trimester.
100. Democrats are ideologues and wouldn’t recognize the truth if they tripped over it or it bit them on the ass.

Bottom line? If you want to anger a liberal, question their ideology and ask for proof. Any proof.

Crisis Puts White House in Disarray - WSJ.com

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Ok, explain this one to me: we avoid putting pressure on our enemy in Iran when their people take to the streets in protest, but we throw our longtime ally, Mubarek, under the bus? What the hell?

I get that he needs to go. I get that democracy has a chance to flourish. Ok. But after getting all Jimmy Carter and sanctimonious with the Egyptians, how can we possibly believe we will have any more influence in the transition of power?

Courtesy's Sad Substitute | Postmodern Times by Eric Felten - WSJ.com

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What it says is that people are eager for a little basic thoughtfulness and some manners, but don't know how to get it other than using force of some kind.

Arizona shootings: Will Barack Obama stand up to the Left’s shameful exploitation of a national tragedy? – Telegraph Blogs

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Shameful is the right word for it. Based on no evidence, NONE, the left is going after Palin and the Tea Partiers for something that is neither their responsibility nor in their control. Crazies operate according to their own inner voices, and Loughner, apparently, had a scary internal monologue.

Glenn Reynolds: The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel - WSJ.com

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Exactly. But that's not how the liberals see it.