Another One Bites The Dust

Colorado Senator Evie "You Don't Need a Gun to Prevent Rape" Hudak is submitting her resignation.

Apparently after seeing two of her partners in (facilitating) crime recalled, she decided to bail so the Demonrats Democrats could appoint a replacement rather than lose their majority in the state legislature.

That's okay.  They see the handwriting on the wall.  Before, they never took recalls seriously.  Now, they fear a recall.  Because they've seen recalls work.

Now if we can only get more recalls going, augmented with a few select impeachments, prosecutions, convictions, and appropriate sentences . . .

Couldn't Have Said It Better

As the tenth anniversary of September 11 came and went, I felt more anger and disgust than anything else. Between Dear Leader stumping for yet another excuse to waste our money while accomplishing nothing, and the mandated-helplessness crowd bleating about FEEEEWINGS, I pretty much gave up on writing anything that didn't violate my language-quality policy.

Anyway, I couldn't have said it any better than Tam, LawDog, MattG, and of course Larry Correia.  Go read.

Oh, This Would NEVER Be Abused

By our Benevolent Overlords:

How The New "Protecting Children" Bill Puts You At Risk

HR1981 forces ISPs to retain customer names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and dynamic IP addresses for eighteen months. The information would be available to police and attorneys upon request. Even civil litigants would be able to access this data.

As ZDNet's Violet Blue states:

"This has nothing to do with porn. In case you’re like the Reps that passed this nightmare and you’ve forgotten: pornography is legal in the United States.


"It is pedophilia that is illegal. But for the sake of harnessing hysteria to get a bill passed, clearly these particular Republicans find it convenient to conflate “pornographers” as pedophiles. Last time I checked in on the matter, pedophiles did not operate within the laws surrounding adult pornography."

Gee, kinda like criminals do not operate withing the laws surrounding guns.

Just as with guns, there are plenty of ways to track down pedophiles without keeping 18 months' worth of highly confidential data on every single internet user in the country.  As a professional network engineer, I've worked on many investigations ranging from employees behaving badly to kidnappings and serial killers.  Not one of those investigations was impeded by lack of this legislation, or would have been advanced by its presence.

HR1981 (1984 would have been a more appropriate bill number) happens to be sponsored by a Republican ostensibly against Teh Ebil Pr0n, but it could just as easily been crafted by Democrats against Tea Party Terrorists.  One can't help but wonder whether there's some wink-wink-nudge-nudge going on across the aisle with this one.

As with criminals vs. law-abiding gun owners, the percentage of pedophiles vs. legitimate internet users is microscopic.  There is absolutely no justification to collect information on 272.1 million internet users to track down an estimated 10,000 sleazeballs.  Just like registering everyone's guns will have no effect at all on violent criminals, but will surely facilitate abuse of the law-abiding.

"Tone Down The Political Rhetoric"

You first.

The Chicago Way

I was born and raised in Chicago (don't hold that against me), so I'm all too familiar with Chicago's unique form of politics. President Dear Leader Obama is doing everything in his power to take that sordid corruption to the national level.

If any further proof was needed, we have his appointment of Bill Daley as his new Chief of Staff. Bill Daley as in brother of Richard M. Daley, King Richard the Second, corrupt mayor of Chicago since 1989. As in son of Richard J. Daley, King Richard the First, 21-year mayor of Chicago and undisputed boss of the city's far-reaching Democratic Machine.

But don't take it from me . . .

And Now A Few Words From Joseph Stalin

"I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how."

We're not quite there yet. VOTE!!

Timely Reminder

A friend forwarded this to me. While I couldn't find documentation of the story's veracity, its message stands on its own merits:

"Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way that you can quickly understand them. This quote came from the Czech Republic. Someone over there has it figured out. It was translated into English from an article in the Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon on 04.28.2010.

"'The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president.'"

'Nuff said.

Why Bother?

The midterm elections are tomorrow, and I'm hearing a significant number of people say they're so disgusted with the whole mess that they aren't going to vote at all. While those folks may think they're making some kind of statement by staying home, I don't think it's a very constructive one.

Two years ago, Dear Leader was elected by a scant 52%-48% majority. Less than a third of registered Republicans bothered to show up. I'm not saying McCain was a great alternative by any means, but I doubt he could have effed things up as badly as the Demonrat Democrat dictatorship that resulted.

Like it or not, we still have (more or less) free elections in this country. Friends who have become US citizens after escaping truly horrific repressive regimes are incredulous that so many Americans ignore their voting rights.

Just as with the right to effective self-defense, incrementalism works both ways. This country didn't get in the toilet overnight, and it won't get out overnight. Job One is to do everything we can to break the current force monopoly in Congress. After that, we need to hold the replacements accountable, and vote them out if or when they fail.

Linoge points us to an excellent discussion of the resistance continuum. We still have many, many ways to work within the ballot box before the cartridge box is our only recourse. We have an absolute obligation to exhaust every single one of those ways first. Sitting out elections is not the way to do so.

The world is run by the people who show up. VOTE!

The Divine Right Of Kings

So Dear Leader is planning to "advance his agenda" over the heads and behind the backs of Congress, and rule by fiat through executive orders and regulations?

Can you think of any better reason to impeach the bastard?

Feminists, Victim Advocates, and Victims

I've had a rant fulminating in the back of my mind for a while now, and some things that happened yesterday finally brought it to a head.

I was at a grassroots activism conference sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association. I was one of only three women in attendance, and the only one who did not come along with a husband. I was the only woman there who had never been anti-gun.

As Alan Gottlieb was describing the value of letting the public know about the true diversity of gun owners, one man raised his hand and said that since (in his opinion) most gun owners are white male rednecks, why shouldn't grassroots groups focus on that demographic? According to this man, "experts" agree that women don't really want to protect themselves, they want "John Wayne" to come to their rescue.

At that statement, everyone in the room who knew anything at all about me looked in my direction.

Yes, the eye roll was everything they expected.

When I told my Significant Other* about that statement, he scoffed that anyone who would say such a thing had to be a man who wanted women helpless so he could be the big, strong protector and ride to their rescue.

I agree with his assessment. There are nonetheless many vocal self-proclaimed "feminists" who are truly focused on keeping women disempowered. This article, linked by Joe Huffman, is a perfect example.

Gun control laws are absolutely a feminist issue, but for the exact opposite reason simpering cowards like the author above believe. Gun control laws do absolutely nothing but make the most effective means of self defense difficult or impossible to utilize by innocent people. They do not nor have they ever made any reduction in criminal use of firearms, or any other crime. Just look at Washington DC, Chicago, and (formerly) Great Britain for example after example.

Whenever somebody tries to tell me what to do or how to live my life, I immediately look to their motivations. What do these people stand to gain if I comply with their direction? What do they stand to lose if I don't?

In the article linked above, the recurring theme is "women are victims who must be protected." The sources of this "wisdom" are uniformly women-advocacy and victim-advocacy groups. In other words, organizations who would not exist if not for women and victims incapable of acting on their own behalf.

Nobody can control everything that happens to them in life, but everybody is 100% in control of what they do about it. I was a victim, and I was set up by my family of origin to be a victim. If you give off a "victim vibe," you will attract victimizers. And by playing it their way, abdicating my responsibility to keep myself safe to external authority, I ended up raped when that external authority refused to act on my well-founded fears.

Let me remind you again, this happened in Chicago.

I could have chosen to wallow in self-pity and helplessness after that. Many do, and there's a whole advocacy industry built around them. Many of these organizations, including NOW, claim to be "feminist" while actually promoting the idea that effective personal safety is too icky, patriarchal, or dangerous for women. Their constant mantra is that women must be protected. Seems to me the only ones who need to be protected are those who cannot or will not protect themselves.

Too many women's and victims' groups don't want women and victims to be empowered at all. They really want them to continue to see themselves as helpless. Truly empowered women, and victims who have become survivors, wouldn't need them any more.

Without a steady supply of helpless women and victims, their donations and grants disappear. Their cushy jobs being professional whiners disappear. They lose all their power. They have no reason to exist.

Any effort to disempower anyone comes from those who want that power for themselves.

Women are, for the most part, smaller than men and not as strong. That's simple biology, not politics. My gun, along with my training and the will to use both, puts me on equal ground with any attacker of any size. Gun control as pushed by the "advocates" would deprive me of that, forcing me to rely on the strength of others for personal safety. I know first-hand how that works out.

I don't need any advocates to look out for me. I can look out for myself.

* He's a real HOTR Man, and I love him for it.

SCOTUS WIN!

From Justice Alito's conclusion in the majority opinion:

"The 14th Amendment incorporates the 2nd Amendment right… to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense."

Words to make Naked Emperor Mayor Daley cry.

More On Arizona

So Obama and the Mexican government think Arizona is wrong to pass a law that merely enforces immigration regulations that the Feds won't?

Even the National Park Service knows better.

As an example of the enormity of the problem, this is an area near the Arizona-Mexican border where illegals discard what they brought with them across the border:

Probably the best reason of all for the passage of Constitutional gun carry in Arizona.

Gee, do you suppose one of the reasons Mexico is upset is that maybe they really don't want these paragons of society in their country? They sure don't seem to want them back. But they (and other Latin American governments) sure don't mind the billions of dollars they send to the folks back home.

Drugs and drug components are smuggled in from Mexico by the ton, and the Government thinks making me sign for a lousy box of Sudafed at the pharmacy counter is the answer?

Oh, cry the leftists, they just want jobs! Never mind the methods they so often use to get them.

Of course, Obama ultimately wants to give them all amnesty and citizenship so they'll vote for him in 2012. There's more than one way to steal an election.

Remember in November, and make sure the Obama administration's agenda for the continued progress of this country down the toilet is as difficult as possible.

Heller Who?

A mother of three receives threats after she helps a shooting victim. Gang members say they will kick in her door and "do things" to her and her children. That would certainly justify considering a firearm for personal defense, but the woman and her family live in Omaha Housing Authority public housing.

OHA has always prohibited legally owned firearms of any kind in their facilities. After the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, OHA debated the ramifications and decided they would continue to ban effective defensive tools for their residents.

But not only do they deny this woman the choice to obtain a firearm, they denied her request for an emergency transfer to a different OHA facility, saying she has to go on a months-long waiting list.

So if the gang members follow through on their threats, will OHA accept responsibility for any injuries or deaths that result?

What do you think?

Off To A Great Start

Many local candidates in Nebraska are running for reelection unopposed, so the pundits were expecting a miniscule turnout. Forty percent of registered voters proved them wrong.

Add the fact that Nebraska has closed primaries, and that's outstanding. Here's hoping the sleeping giant has been awakened, and major political pruning of the disease at all levels of government takes place in November.

Keep up the good work.

ETA: I should know better than to trust the TV news without checking my facts. Not all counties in Nebraska had such stellar results. To be fair, kinda, the more candidates that were running unopposed the lower the voter counts. I still feel the prevalence of unopposed candidates is not a good thing.

The Midterms Start

Tomorrow is the Nebraska primary for the fall midterm elections.

What really disgusts me is how many of the current idiots are running for reelection unopposed. The apathy is so strong that nobody can even be bothered to run against them. Bleah.

Never forget. Never forgive. Vote out every single socialist nanny-stater you can.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

This morning, Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed SF 2379 into law.

The new regulations changing Iowa from may-issue to shall-issue, standardizing the carry permit process throughout the state, and recognizing all other states' carry permits goes into effect January 1, 2011.

THANK YOU, GOVERNOR CULVER. And thank you, Iowa Carry, for all your hard work and dedication.

Final Countdown For Iowa

If Governor Chet Culver doesn't sign SF2379 by this coming Thursday, Iowa has to go back to the drawing board on the most sweeping concealed carry reform they've ever got to pass the state legislature.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE contact his office to urge that he sign.

• Use this link if you live in Iowa.
• Use this link if you live in another state.
• Use this link for his Facebook page.

If you've called or written before, do it again.

We're running out of time.

ETA: Governor Culver has issued a press release saying he will sign the bill. At pretty much the last possible minute, which still concerns me. If After he signs it, we should contact him again to express our thanks.

Helping Iowa Helps Us All

Time is running out for Iowa Governor Chet Culver to sign SF2379. This bill most significantly makes Iowa a shall-issue permit state instead of its current, oft-abused may-issue, standardizes training and qualification, and recognizes all other states' carry permits without any foolishness about whose requirements are "stringent" enough.

Everyone who has a permit to carry and who might ever travel to or through Iowa benefits if Gov. Culver signs this bill. But it's looking like he may very well ignore it, resulting in an automatic "pocket veto" if time runs out without signing.

Gov. Culver is a Democrat, and is under pressure from the hoplophobic Usual Suspects to let this important bill die.

If you live in Iowa, go here to send a pre-written email to Gov. Culver urging him to sign SF2379.

If you don't live in Iowa, go here to send an email of your own.

Time is running out. Help Iowa and yourselves today.

ETA: The deadline is April 29. The Governor's Office phone number is 515-281-5211. He has a Facebook page as well, for those of you who use Facebook. Don't just contact him once, keep flooding his office with support for this bill.

Chicago Wants MORE Gun Control

Because it's so much easier than gang control.

Twelve hours. Seven people. All dead. And at least 18 others were wounded.

Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis called the shootings that tore across the city's South, Southwest and West sides Thursday night and Friday morning unacceptable. Most of the slayings were gang-related, he said.

You remember Superintendent Weis, AKA "K-Fled" who ran away from the gunfire not so long ago, right?

Also remember that Chicago is where rapists who know the right people are immune to investigation, arrest, and prosecution.

H/T to Zendo Deb, TFS Magnum.

Congratulations, Arizona!

Today, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed Constitutional Carry into law. Obtaining a permit for reciprocity is still available as an option for Arizona residents.

None of the states that have no training requirement for their concealed carry permits have any problems. None of the states that allow open carry without a permit have any problems (except for periodic hoplophobic panty-wetters calling overzealous police on armed citizens who are doing absolutely nothing wrong).

Congratulations, Arizona, and thank you, Governor Brewer. Now if Iowa Governor Chet Culver will only sign his carry-reform bill . . .