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Thursday, April 18. 2013

A Lame Duck President (with 24-hour/day armed protection)

Gun and Bible-clinging redneck New Yorker that I am, even I did not really object to the background check law in itself. Seemed harmless enough, but also seemed pointless to me because the bad guys never get background checks. Even Sen. Feinstein acknowledged it would do nothing for gun violence.


My issue was beyond the symbolic issue, it was the incrementalism. Federal registration for the good citizens. That's where people like Morning Joe don't get it: Morning Joe Host Shames Senators Who Killed Gun Reform: ‘We’re The 90 Percent And We’re Going To Win’


No you will not "win", and definitely not as long as politicians and celebs and rich folks get their own personal protection from armed guards. Peons like me do not have those perqs or the money to hire them.


Here's another interesting piece: Exploiting Families Of Sandy Hook Victims Backfires. Indeed an embarassing and disgusting display. Boob bait, but the bubbas weren't biting.


But here's the key piece. From Tim Stanley's Barack Obama can't pass gun control despite 90 per cent support. Truly, he is a lame-duck president:




    Barack Obama is a lame-duck president. Nobody listens to what he says anymore, nobody is interested in winning his approval and nobody much cares if he thinks they have “let the country down”. This is typical for a second-term president who has lost all their leverage because they’re no longer running for office and everybody is patiently waiting for the day when he quits the White House. But Obama's difficult personality has doubled the size of the challenge. Gloating in victory, adolescent in defeat – the Prez doesn’t make it easy to work with him. Why should conservative senators give him a legislative victory after he has spent four years painting them as knuckle-dragging rednecks who hate women and the poor?

    Whatever your position on gun control, yesterday’s events are a damning indictment of Obama’s presidency – a flash of style, lots of soaring rhetoric and, when the votes are actually counted, little show for any of it. America has four more years of this lame-duck president telling them that it has let him down. If only he could tear up the Constitution and rule by diktat he might save himself a little disappointment. Alas, American democracy is a stickler for rules.Barack Obama can't pass gun control despite 90 per cent support. Truly, he is a lame-duck president.


Photo is, once again, our dear friend Marianne's home protection Taurus Judge. No elderly woman with a disabled husband should be without one in her knitting basket, whether in town or country.




Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays at 20:04 | Comments (27) | Trackback (1)

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I don't know about that 90% number that everyone is quoting. Gallup found that only 4% of the public thought gun control was an important issue—96% did not. So where do they get the 90% of the public that demand more background checks?

The president doesn't care about the bill, he knew it wouldn't pass. He's just trying to get proof that "Republicans don't care about our children" to use as ammunition to get back the House. The ugly temper tantrum was a mistake, as was using the Newtown families as props. I think he is a truly tragic figure. He expected so much, and nothing works. Everything he's tried turns out badly. Could be something wrong with the ideology.
#1 The Elephant's Child (Link) on 2013-04-18 20:38 (Reply)
The 90% number appears to come from this press release from Bloomberg's group. Since the full polling report has not been released, don't know what question was asked, sample size and other nitpicky details.

BTW, why didn't this come up after the Sikh temple shooting? Victims not telegenic enough or was electoral factors occur?
#1.1 walt moffett on 2013-04-18 21:07 (Reply)
I expect it was made up to be echoed by all the useful idiots. I would never trust Bloomie's numbers.
#1.2 Sam L. on 2013-04-18 21:43 (Reply)
kudos on the choice of the Judge for home defense
#2 Alex G on 2013-04-18 20:48 (Reply)
He's a duck all right. A very queer duck. A black and white, very red Lenin-tail. Now, don't go gettin' all politically correct on me; that used to be a very good phrase before the Word Police got hot on the trail. Didn't call him a gay duck. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
#3 tennesseered on 2013-04-18 21:40 (Reply)
I'm curious if all the people pissed off about the Senate vote on gun control are going to start calling for background checks for pressure cooker purchases?
#4 Bulldog on 2013-04-18 21:43 (Reply)
If the newly proposed gun control measures are anything like the original federal income tax, they will grow and grow and grow...until the 2nd Amendment is no longer recognizable. Look at how the Commerce Clause of the Constitution has been stretched far beyond its original meaning. And once a federal policy or program fails, what is the usual response of our politicians to that? Start over again? Eliminate the program? Nope. It's to pass more laws, more rules, and more regulations to make sure that the original program WORKS. If it doesn't, it's obviously because there are not enough rules, enough regulations, enough laws to ensure its success. For politicians who want to make sure YOU know how important THEY are, there are never enough rules to satisfy them.
#5 Agent Cooper on 2013-04-18 23:03 (Reply)
the .410 is not the best choice for home defense by any means. No. 4 Buck at the least.
#6 wirraway on 2013-04-19 00:07 (Reply)
Re the Judge and the .410, you're right, if stopping power is the only consideration, a tactical nuclear weapon would be far better.
#6.1 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 02:50 (Reply)
Marianne was a very smart lady and made a great choice in a Home Defense gun. Sure a 12/16/20 ga. shotgun is more powerful, but it is also harder to shoot, more recoil, and a bit difficult to conceal or carry handily. Plus, it is a revolver so about as reliable as you can get.

And -a .410 at short range, with shot or slug? Pretty powerful stuff...
#6.1.1 Ron Snyder on 2013-04-19 06:39 (Reply)
What you want is powerful stuff; even at close range. 12 gauge with some 00 has some serious stopping power--even for stopping cars. I admit that for a woman it might be a bit hard to handle, but they can be trained to deal with it. If you've got the weapon, you've got to learn to use it. Otherwise, it might just be worthless. I am not sold on using handguns with shotgun ammo. Seems it would have a very wide spread.

Guns are just tools and you need the right tool for any job.

He who controls the guns controls the world.

PS: re the Boston terrorists and this mornings events:

"Kill them all and the Lord will know his own."

On second thought, maybe they should take the second guy alive for intel, but it will never happen.
#6.1.1.1 tennesseered on 2013-04-19 08:29 (Reply)
A .410 pellet of any weight (birdshot to slug) of course hits just as hard, penetrates as deep, through the same range, as a 'similar brass' (powder charge) same-mass pellet from a 12 gauge. The difference to the target --in matched shells of .410 versus 12 gauge --is only in the amount of shot, thus density of spread at given range, and so forth.

The full (say field load of #4) .410 will do the same thing to the center mass of an intruder as a partial miss of a field load of #4 from a 12 gauge.

So, if an elderly woman can get ahold of the long gun in time, and get that long barrel whipped around before an intruder takes two long steps and grabs the barrel, then the 12 is better.
#6.1.1.2 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 10:06 (Reply)
Nothing wrong with a .410. it will kill you very dead. Just for my druthers I want a 12 gauge, and 3" shells of 00 buck. If I can't have one, please pass the .410. Birdshot is fine.

You are correct. For some folks the 12 gauge is too much. It is a tool. Just get the right tool and the tool that you can use to do the J-O-B job. A lot of life is about having the right tool for the job at hand.
#6.1.1.2.1 tennesseered on 2013-04-19 13:32 (Reply)
I'm embarrassed to say that I can't remember Marianne's exact age, late seventies, early eighties is the best I can do at the moment.

Smart woman, smart choice for her situation.

Marianne spent her life doing the J-O-B. No matter what it was. She's gone now, judgments of her choices mere pissing in the wind.
#6.1.1.2.1.1 XRay on 2013-04-19 22:07 (Reply)
Sorry Ray, I was not trying to disparage Marianne, and I am certainly not pissing into the wind. Too old to do that now; I've had enough experience with urine backsplash in my younger years to wet myself now. I was merely expounding on my particular preference. Use the right tool for the job--if the Taurus was the right tool for Marianne, so be it. I certainly would not make a judgement about someone that I did not know, and their choice of weaponry; especially of a woman held in such high esteem.

I merely said that for close support I prefer a 12 gauge. If a 12 gauge is not at hand, please pass me whatever you've got. It is better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it, whatever caliber. Sometimes you have to use a dime instead of a screwdriver. Whatever will work. Improvise.

Selah.
#6.1.1.2.1.1.1 tennesseered on 2013-04-20 08:12 (Reply)
1:33 a.m. CST, Fox just reported, the firefight in Watertown is connected to the marathon bombers. One policeman killed, one suspect in custody, 2nd suspect is the other bomber is the 'word on the street' among the huge command of police surrounding a building in Watertown --actually a 20 block perimeter.

This live drama went to commercial a little while ago --an ad ran for the new Robert Redford hagiograph on cop-killer Bill Ayers and gang.

I could hardly believe what i was seeing.

Anyhoo, i write this in part to Walt Moffett's query re the Sikh temple --that there's fashion in the air, and Ayers pal Obama could be counted on to be pleased with any resurrection of Ayers.

Life has sure intruded on the boys from Chicago's art project.
#7 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 02:45 (Reply)
this post was why I was awake all night watching TV.

thanks pal.
#7.1 wirraway on 2013-04-19 10:19 (Reply)
--but you must've been awake already, to have read it. so i'm only an accessory after the fact.
#7.1.1 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 10:37 (Reply)
sir, as liberals, we know that its always someone else's fault.
#7.1.1.1 wirraway on 2013-04-19 10:49 (Reply)
LOL --yes --as with so many things, Uncle Joe Stalin managed to distill and abstract that formula down to the binary elements: "No man, no problem".
#7.1.1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 11:15 (Reply)
Hey, these guys evidently are from Chechnya, and as one network says, this was a "cold, calculating attack, planned for years."

Let's pass an immigration bill right now, huh?

Chuck
#8 dhmosquito on 2013-04-19 09:19 (Reply)
New World Order svengali/Machiavelli/Frank Nitti Tom Donilon was meeting with Putin, carrying a private letter from Obama, in the days around April 15. Hell he may still be there.

Marathon --the great battle where the Persian invasion of Europa was defeated, the race named after the battle because of the Greek runner who ran the 26 miles from the battle to Athens, to announce one word "victory" --and then die of exertion.

Chechnya --in the Caucasus alongside Georgia --which Putin is itching to finish off the government of, to wrap up the Caucasus and its approaches to the Levant. Beyond which is Saudi Arabia, where the world oil prices are set.

The Boston Massacre --where the possible revolutionary war became the probable --and the first KIA of our war for independence was a black freedman, Crispus Attucks, the surname referring to the Atticus, the Attic peninsula, Attucks meaning 'the Athenian'.
#8.1 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 09:42 (Reply)
even I did not really object to the background check law in itself. Seemed harmless enough,

Appearances were deceiving. See http://www.volokh.com/2013/04/15/the-pro-gun-provisions-of-manchin-toomey-are-actually-a-bonanza-of-gun-control/
#9 wolfwalker on 2013-04-19 10:21 (Reply)
After you understand that the medical profession is required to make a confidential report to the govt on any patient who may be potentially a threat to himself or others, you must read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punitive_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union#Sluggish_schizophrenia

--a quote from the section on ''sluggish schizophrenia'':


QUOTE:
A carefully crafted description of sluggish schizophrenia established that psychotic symptoms were non-essential for the diagnosis, but symptoms of psychopathy, hypochondria, depersonalization or anxiety were central to it.[44] Symptoms referred to as part of the "negative axis" included pessimism, poor social adaptation, and conflict with authorities, and were themselves sufficient for a formal diagnosis of "sluggish schizophrenia with scanty symptoms."[44] According to Snezhnevsky, patients with sluggish schizophrenia could present as quasi sane yet manifest minimal but clinically relevant personality changes which could remain unnoticed to the untrained eye.[44] Thereby patients with non-psychotic mental disorders, or even persons who were not mentally sick, could be easily labelled with the diagnosis of sluggish schizophrenia.[44]Along with paranoia, sluggish schizophrenia was the diagnosis most frequently used for the psychiatric incarceration of dissenters.


Ah, yes, the old 'negative axis' --like that 'negative rights' problem with the USA's Constitution.
#9.1 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 11:08 (Reply)
I don't know why anyone would run for a 2nd POTUS term. Seems like the 2nd term completely undoes all the accomplishments of the 1st term and usually ends in scandal or collapse in popularity. I guess the perks or so good it must be worth all the other hassles.
#10 phil g on 2013-04-19 10:45 (Reply)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechens

QUOTE:
Outside Russia, countries with significant Chechen diaspora populations are Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and the Middle East (especially Jordan and Iraq, where they are mainly descendants of people who had to leave Chechnya during the Caucasian War (which led to the annexation of Chechnya by the Russian Empire around 1850) and the 1944 Stalinist deportation in the case of Kazakhstan.

More recently, tens of thousands of Chechen refugees settled in the European Union and elsewhere as the result of the First and Second Chechen Wars, especially in the wave of emigration to the West after 2002.[13]

#11 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 11:23 (Reply)
Sez Fox just now, the object of the manhunt was granted citizenship on Sept 11, 2012.

This is illuminati code, or coincidence, one or the other.
#12 buddy larsen on 2013-04-19 15:35 (Reply)

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