Loser Pays

Now there's a good idea for legal reform and healthcare reform.

Electing a Governor by Process of Elimination

Lovers of liberty in Tennessee can go ahead and eliminate Bill Gibbons from the governor's race. Apparently, Mr. Gibbons does not trust all you rednecks with your pistolas. AC Kleinheider asks whether you can win the GOP primary while talking smack against "guns in bars." If Mr. Gibbons doesn't trust me, why should I trust him? I've been allowed to carry a gun into McDonald's for many years, why shouldn't I be able to go into an Applebees? Because the demon alcohol might get "the better of [me]"? Mr. Gibbons, that is foolish talk and is no different from any other argument for gun control. How many times have we heard, as an argument against shall-issue permits, that having a gun "might get the better" of someone and they would therefore lose control and kill someone in a fit of rage? This is more of the same old tired rhetoric, repackaged to add the alcohol argument.

I haven't decided who I will vote for, but these guys are making it easier to decide the ones who do not have a chance.

The Tennessean Implies Arrest Equals Conviction

As part of The Tennessean's continued war on handgun permit holders, it is now implying that if a person is arrested for a crime, he should be treated like he is convicted of a crime for purposes of obtaining a handgun permit. They went to great lengths to find a thug who had pled down his crimes and appeared to be a thug (and maybe he is). They want to act like there are all kinds of loopholes being exploited.

In this country, people are still innocent until proven guilty, at least unless the person is someone that the left wants to villify. If the state's evidence was strong that this guy was a felon, they would have prosecuted him and won. It wasn't, so they didn't. Of course, if the gun permit were out of the equation, The Tennessean would likely be complaining that he was treated too harshly based on the accusations against him, was a victim of racial profiling or was somehow otherwise victimized by an unfair system.

They also bring up an instance where the state was not notified to revoke a permit when its holder was put in jail for years. It apparently never occurred to them that the court may have well decided that it was a pointless exercise, considering the criminal would be unable to carry his weapon while in prison and that his permit would expire long before he was eligible for parole. It doesn't matter, as they would rather throw the baby out with the bathwater because of a few screwups which are largely irrelevant because the person who is bent on using firearms in a criminal fashion will not be deterred by the lack of a handgun permit in any event.

Budget Shortfall? Get Yourself a Speed Camera!

RightCoast: European style speed cameras coming to Delmarva? Yes, they can!! Money quote:

Budget shortfall's in the county seemed to have prompted a enthusiastic "Yes" from Sheriff Mike Lewis last month when Delegate Cain asked if he'd be interested from getting some "help" from the state on getting speed cameras installed in residential and school zones.

CARS Program Allows Government Access to Users' Computers

Glen Beck exposes the government's terms of service which allow the goverment to access ALL of the files on the user's computer. Big brother, anyone?

Alexandar Not a Conservative

AC Kleinheider says Lamar Alexandar is not a conservative and never was. I would say that is about right. He has historically been more of a conservative-leaning moderate. I think the problem that most people are having with Lamar is that he seems to be basing his votes on what will work to get him the most power in the Senate. I don't think his votes have anything to do with conservatism, but have everything to do with what he thinks will ingratiate him with the Senate's leadership and with King Barry's administration. It's much worse than just not being a conservative - it's about not being principled at all.

AARP Boycott

Instapundit reports on an informal AARP boycott where people are apparently spontaneously chucking their AARP memberships due to the AARP's position on Obamacare.

Opposing Obama? You must be in a "hate group".

I think that is the fair implication of this story. Then, there is this gem - a clear, out of context slap at someone who was LAWFULLY carrying a weapon in New Hampshire: "And in New Hampshire, another man stood across the street from a Presidential town hall with his gun on full display." They want the reader to think this guy was doing something illegal and putting King Barry in danger, when the fact is that anyone who wants to carry a gun "on full display" in New Hampshire is free to do so, no permit required. It's fear-mongering and nothing less.

The meme is on, people. If you protest, prepare to be marginalized by these people. I have a sense that this might very well backfire them on ways they never imagined.

MoveOn Working on Letter Campaign re Health Care

MoveOn.org is soliciting its members to write letters to local newspapers. I think this speaks for itself. They have a list of talking points, so don't be surprised when you read this in your local paper. Keep in mind when you read these letters that these are generated by a national campaign that is being orchestrated by a special interest group that is bent on expanding the size of government. The gist of them follows, as re-drafted by me:

• Create a false sense of urgency so that Congress railroads this bill through. They say, every day, X people in X state lose their health care coverage and that, without reform, everyone's premiums will increase. Sure, people lose coverage every day, but they also obtain coverage every day. There is a certain amount of turnover in every market.
• They want writers to encourage Congress to create a public option (so we will be on the irrevocable path to socialized medicine and will be forced to accept rationed care like the Canadians and others with similar systems).
• They want writers to say that we should create a public option to "spur competition." Only the mental defects at MoveOn could think that you spur competition by killing private companies.

Drivers Lash Out at Speed Cameras

Montgomery County (MD) drivers are lashing out at the speed cameras that have become so pervasive there. People grow tired of stuff like this. If speed limits were set at the 85th percentile instead of arbitrarily set at artificially low levels, the negative reaction would likely be limited to folks like me who think these things are just an un-American intrusion into our lives. These cameras open the door to building a system where the government can track every move of its citizens. If you don't find that concerning, I suggest you seek help though reading some of the works that fully explain what types of dangers this could engender.

Speed Cameras Aren't Slowing Drivers

As I suspected, most drivers who regularly drive an area simply slow down in the area where the camera is and then speed back up to normal speed. Info on a new independent study which comes to this conclusion is here.

Guns are Good

Phil Valentine weighs in on the carnage that Tennesseans have suffered at the hands of handgun permit holders after the passage of the restaurant carry bill. Money quote:

We really ought to make some of those [signs] up for the banks. I bet if we put some "No Firearms," or better yet, "No Bank Robbers" signs on the door, those criminals would just go back to their cars and go home.

I would submit to you that restaurants that post these silly signs are in more danger of getting robbed or seeing some kind of violence. Let's use some common sense for just a moment. If you posted a "No Firearms" sign in your front yard, do you think you'd be more likely or less likely to be robbed?

Ramsey Coming Up Short in Local "Poll"

Kleinheider has the results. Well, first, it is an online poll, so it is unscientific. Second, it should come as no surprise that a liberal paper is mostly read by people who do not like Ron Ramsey. I can't say that I am on the Ramsey bandwagon, but so far I see no compelling reason to support one of the other candidates over him.

Park Carry in Tennessee

SayUncle lays it out the status of the law. In short, there is a problem when it it is so easy to break it unintentionally. Most of us did not get a handgun permit just so we could spend a lot of time studying the law to make sure we don't inadvertently break it.

Government Porkulus to Benefit Exide

It looks like Exide Battery has latched on to the government teat. It is getting a share of $2 billion of our money to build batteries that the government wants for its new Government Motors automobiles. That's money for you to buy cupcakes!

Jonesborough Bans Guns in Parks

While today may seem like "Pick on Jonesborough Day" it is not without good reason. Last night, they joined the rest of the scared little bunny rabbits and banned law-abiding citizens with handgun carry permits from carrying their protection into parks. As one commenter says: "CRIMINALS DON’T CARE WHAT LAWS YOU PASS!!!!! . . . .I’m glad it was unanimous, that makes it easier to know who NOT to vote for in the next election."

APA discovers that people enjoy sin

The American Psychological Association has made the groundbreaking discovery that people like to sin and do not like to stop sinning. They also don't like to be told that they are sinning, so I'm sure the loons will attack me for even calling homosexuality a sin or implying the existence of God.

Despite the protestations of some, neither the APA nor anyone else has definitively proven that homosexuality is an immutable characteristic like race or gender. If it were an immutable characteristic, no one could change and the fact is, many have changed. Homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and whether you agree with me regarding its sinful nature, it remains a lifestyle choice.

Note that this is the same organization that, until 1973, included homosexuality in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). What has changed? Perhaps it has something to do with the organized effort on the part of homosexuals that began about that time in an effort to "normalize" and "mainstream" their behavior.

This recent pronouncement is little more than an attempt to try and build support for ENDA and federal hate crimes legislation because it fits their agenda. These bills are government power-grabs that will be used to squelch unpopular positions and unpopular speech. I really don't care what people do in their bedroom, but let's stop with the suggestion that the activity does not constitute a choice on the part of the participants.

UPDATE: This article implies that the committee that made the decision consisted of people who were openly gay or were gay activists. I'm. Just. Shocked.

Worried about the Looney Left?

Blue Collar Republican is. It is good to see that someone is "striking a nerve." Meanwhile, Lamar Alexander is rightfully called out on the same site. First, he slapped us in the face with his vote on guns in national parks. Second, he slapped us in the face with his support of Sotomayor. And now, he continues to vote for unconstitutional spending. We need to get Lamar out of office. He does not represent the values of Tennesseans very well.

Jonesborough's Red Light Scam

Jonesborough, Tennessee continues to rack in the bucks off the backs of unsuspecting drivers, while claiming that the red light cameras "reduce accidents." Really, how is that? How many T-bone accidents that red light cameras are supposed to prevent ever happened at any of those interesections in Jonesborough? Very few is my guess.

CNN Anchor Slap Down

Lang Wiseman posts a great video of a car dealer that is offering AK-47's with the purchase of a pickup truck. The CNN anchor that interviews him does everything she can to try to marginalize him and he takes her to school rather nicely and professionally.

Why doesn't anyone offer a free gun around here?

Cupcakes anyone?

Several days have passed and I still have not heard any MSM coverage of King Barry's cupcake remark. "That's money for you to buy cupcakes." Gee, thanks. Maybe that will become my new slogan.