And another sad one
Another clip from the Obama town hall:
Two things here are really disturbing. First, this poor woman actually expects Obama to just magically produce a home for her. Second, watch the clip again, and look at the woman in white at the end of the clip who stands up and mouths “I love you, Barack!” with the raptured look on her face. Cult of personality, anyone?
This is getting creepy, folks.
The face of the new America
I try hard, folks, not to get too upset at things politcal. But seeing idiots like this brings tears to my eyes:
I can’t decide if these folks think Obie is Monty Hall, or Eva Peron. But either way, it’s just sad. How much self respect can you have begging for scraps from the President on national television? Julio, here’s a hint…the reason you have been at McDonalds for four years is that you are dumb as a box of hammers. And now, thanks to the power of the Internet, everyone knows it.
Five dangerous things
From Chris at the Archangel, I found the link to “Five Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do”.
I’m the proud Dad of a 4 year old girl. I decided about four years ago that God put me on this earth to make sure that she grows up happy and healthy. But I am proud to say that she gets bumps and brusies, and gets to do lots of dangerous things.
The times, they are a changin’
Armed Schoolteacher reports a neutral, even fair report on a pro-CCW poll in Illinois, of all places.
Concealed carry permits in NC are at an all time high. You simply can’t get on the range without a wait, sometimes up to an hour.
The dynamic duo report fantastic success getting NRA sign-ups in PA, over 600.
And Ride Fast reports signing up 442 new NRA members, almost double the usual average, in..wait for it…California. San Francisco, for goodness sake.
The worm is turning, folks. The battle isn’t won, yet, but we are getting close to a tipping point.
Kids and guns
Jeff at Alphecca links up to a series of articles by Howard Nemerov examining some of the internals of the claim that firearm ownership puts children at risk. I’ve blogged about this before, but Howard does a better job.
Operation Mag Drop
Tom Gresham, of Guntalk fame has announced Operation Magazine Drop. The premise is simple…take your old gun magazines, and leave them in places where there are piles of magazines waiting to be read. Doctor’s offices, hair dressers, and barber shops come to mind.
Remember…the goal is to make gun ownership unremarkable. That is to say, owning a gun should be no more odd then owning a pair of sneakers. Exposing more people to the gun culture is part of that effort.
One issue voters
The Breda was called stupid on her blog for being a one issue voter. Two thoughts on that:
First, if you are going to attack someone on their own blog…grow a pair and at least use an alias. “Anonymous” just makes you look like a twit.
Second, I am also a one issue voter. I am a one issue voter because I believe that a candidate’s stand on the second amendment tells me all I need to know about them as a leader. I know a lot about the gun rights debate. If a candidate comes down against gun rights, it tells me two things about them:
- They are willing to trade away my civil rights for some amorphous benefit.
- They are willing to make policy decisions without doing the basic research on the issue.
That’s all I need to know, folks.
Arguing gun rights…a primer for antis
I’ve been seeing a pattern recently:
- Someone on the internet spouts off about how we need more gun control.
- Folks from the gun rights community show up in comments and point out that the argument is ill conceived.
- A bunch of statistics, generally provided by the Brady Bunch, are quoted in defense of gun control.
- The gun rights community refutes the assertions, points out how the statistics are doctored.
- The original poster tries to argue from authority to shut down the comments, as in “I’m a lawyer, so I know better than you.” Alternatively, they may appeal to emotion and try to
- The original poster descends into name calling.
- The original poster goes sad panda, reasoned discourse breaks out, and the poster turns off comments, usually with a parting shot.
Roberta X, Rustmeister, and Joe Huffman have all had to go through this pattern. In an effort to help the anti rights folks form better arguments, I offer the following tips.
First, understand that we have already looked at the data you are planning to cite. No, not the press release from the Bradys, or the Google search…we’ve read the studies. We’ve examined the methodologies used. We’ve studied the CDC data, and the FBI data. We know it pretty well. When you pull out a stat, we probably know what study it came from. If you are planning to cite statistics, it would be a wise thing to read not just the Brady press release, but to look at the underlying data.
Second (and this is the uncomfortable part) is that the data simply doesn’t support any of your assertions. Gun owners are law abiding, and guns are used safely and responsibly. As Tam points out, children are generally not at terrible risk from gun accidents. As I point out, more children die from rare diseases than from gun accidents. You would save many more lives by banning swimming pools and automobiles than firearms. We aren’t going to let you carry on under false assumptions. We will try to educate you.
Third, understand that we are passionate about keeping our civil rights. We are no more ready to give up our right to own firearms than you are ready to give up your right to vote. A lie left unchallenged becomes the truth…so expect a lot of challenges.
Fourth, I don’t care if you are a lawyer. You should have learned about logical fallacies in law school. Attacking the people arguing against you personally rather than refuting their arguments makes you look like an ass. Defending yourself by saying “Well, that’s my opinion” makes you look like an ignorant ass.
Finally, taking your ball and going home is just sad. You are arguing that you know better than I do… and that you want to take away my civil rights. That’s a pretty serious thing. If you can’t stand the criticism from the people you want to disarm, than perhaps you should’t threaten them in the first place.
Thanks, Sen. Nelson!
I’m trying to get out the door from my hotel room. I put on Fox News. Megyn Kelly is interviewing Sen. Ben Nelson from Nebraska about the “stimulus” package. Megyn asks (paraphrasing): “Senator…your vote here is critical. The Democrats can’t pass the bill without you. $900 billion is a big number…what are you going to do?”
“Well, I think we need to get it closer to $800 billion….”
You beast, you! Wow! $800 billion. What a brave, brave reformer you are.
Updated: I knew it was billions…it was just early in the morning.
Groupthink
A few bloggers have commented on the Brady campaign’s recent attempt to get Kristen Gillibrand to abandon gun owners.
From Paul “Sad Panda” Helmke:
“She’s saying she realizes that she represents a statewide constituency,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “One way she could prove she has evolved is to push this issue.”
I didn’t realize there was an official, statewide feeling that gun rights were not respected in New York. That might be news to a few New Yorkers.
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