Dwight of Whipped Cream Difficulties and I are contemplating a conservative/gunner blogger meetup Saturday, March 23, at 6 PM, venue TBD (but not too close to the SXSW madness downtown). Drop me a line at lawrenceperson at gmail dot com if you’re interested in attending.
LinkSwarm for March 14, 2013
March 14th, 2013This week we’ll do it Thursday rather than Friday:
The degrees of broke-ness varies: from completely and utterly broke, like Greece or Italy; to wobbly, like the U.K., France, the U.S., or Japan; to getting poorer like Germany. But all of them are going to have to raise the percentage of gross domestic product they collect in tax — and many of them very significantly.
The U.S. deficit is more than 7% of GDP. The U.K.’s deficit is just as high. There is very little sign that spending cuts to close gaps of that magnitude are on the cards, nor is there any sign that growth will be sufficiently strong to make up the difference — certainly not in countries like the U.K. or Japan.
Huge sums of additional revenue will have to be raised.
Willie Sutton once famously remarked that he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.”
In the same way, governments will look to raise more tax from companies because that’s where the money is.
Or they could, you know, actually cut spending…
Vetting the “Pro-Gun Democrats” Part 2: Kirsten Gillibrand
March 13th, 2013After putting up this look at Max Baucus, I haven’t had a chance to look at other top “pro-gun” Democrats.
Fortunately, S. E. Cupp has already done that for me with this look at New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. When she represented an upstate House district, she earned an “A” rating from the NRA. And after she moved to the Senate?
She was appointed to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat in 2009, following a messy selection process by then-Gov. David Paterson. On the day of her appointment, Mayor Bloomberg publicly criticized her for her staunch opposition to gun control.
Suddenly, the moderate Gillibrand of 2006, who had earned the affection of the ultimate moderate Democrat in Bill Clinton, needed a makeover, and quick, if she was going to make it as a senator, not just an upstate representative.
So a new and improved Gillibrand, one who was more politically palatable to downstate liberal elites, was born, practically overnight.
Within two years, she had impressively turned that “A” rating from the NRA into an “F.” NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam remarked at the time that he couldn’t recall a similar instance in recent history of a politician’s score changing so drastically, so quickly.
When it comes to Democrats at the national level, there are two types: Those who have betrayed gun owner rights already, and those who are going to betray them when enough pressure is applied.
When push comes to shove, there’s no such thing as a pro-gun Democrat.
George P. Bush Running for Land Commissioner
March 12th, 2013“George Prescott Bush filed the official paperwork Tuesday to run for Texas land commissioner next year.”
That would be Jeb Bush’s son, Bush43’s nephew, and Bush41’s grandson, one of the “little brown ones.” The Bush name alone is probably enough to win him the office, but add to that the fact that the Bush family has one of the most powerful money machines in all politics and you have a prohibitive favorite. Jerry Patterson was probably right to think he’d have an easier time defeating a post-Senate-race-meltdown David Dewhurst for Lt. Governor.
Deeper analysis of a continuing Bush dynasty, and of how Democrats and the press react to facing a Bush scion who happens to be Hispanic, will have to wait until (at least) tomorrow.
Quick Impressions from the TPPF Conference Call for 3/11/13
March 11th, 2013Some very quick and exceedingly brief impression of today’s TPPF conference call with Mario Loyola and Arlene Wohlgemuth:
I said brief…
All Rape Ended Forever! Hooray!
March 7th, 2013In one of those astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime social revolutions, we finally have the means to end rape for all time!
Democratic Strategist Zerlina Maxwell has come up with a surefire strategy to eliminate rape: simply “telling men not to rape women.”
Genius! Why hasn’t anyone though of this before? Simply tell men not to commit rape! Why hasn’t anyone thought of this???
Just start adding “Don’t rape women” to the elementary school instructions on how to put on condoms! Problem solved!
Soon America will be every bit as “rape free” as Gun Free Zones are gun free!
Droning On and On
March 6th, 2013Senator Rand Paul has launched an old-fashioned filibuster against Obama’s CIA nominee John Brennan to protest the Obama Administration’s refusal to rule out drone strikes against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.
Under questioning by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Eric Holder admitted that he thought Obama could indeed launch a drone strike against American citizens on American soil.
Funny how far you can stretch unlimited power when the Constitution is a living document.
Hell, even some liberals are appalled.
Here’s the first hour of Rand Paul’s filibuster:
And here’s Cruz getting in on the filibuster action:
This is potentially even a bigger story than it’s being made out to be (and it’s already plenty big). There’s lots of support for Rand and Cruz coming from some unusual quarters. I don’t have time to go into all the ramifications now, but this could be the issue on which finally the vast majority of Americans look at the unchecked growth of federal power under Obama and finally yells “Enough!”
Hugo Chavez Now Deader Than the Fifth International
March 5th, 2013Venezuela’s leftist dictator Hugo Chavez dead of cancer.
All the usual leftists are talking about how “his people” loved him. Well, not the political prisoners or the ones whacked in extrajudicial killings, but, you know, eggs, omelets, death squads. Stuff happens when you’re building a people’s republic.
Which might explain why he was the least popular leader in Latin America. (Though I doubt they do polling in Cuba. Is it too much to ask that Fidel Castro now die of a broken heart?)
But what I want to know is: Now that Hugo Chavez is dead, who will lead the Farm Workers Union?
LinkSwarm for March 5, 2013
March 5th, 2013Had a busy weekend, so here’s a late LinkSwarm: