Paranoia on Parade

First off, let me say I love my guns, and you can take them away from me when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.  I have way more than I need and not nearly as many as I want.  I am the resident gun nut in these parts and I make no apology for that, and often part ways with my liberal brothers and sisters when we get to the Second Amendment.

That said, I am just absolutely dumbfounded by the paranoia that has driven people to stockpile guns and ammo. I have been shaking my head and muttering "what the fuck?" over this one for a year now. No one was talking about banning guns or confiscating guns or anything else. No one was even talking about common-sense gun legislation. They should be. But they aren't, because they are all scared shitless of the NRA. So the conversation we need to be having, about how to preserve rights, strengthen law enforcement by bringing a basic framework of laws that would be uniform across all 50 states and include data-sharing across state lines - which would reduce crime and increase public safety - is not taking place. And people die every day on the streets of American cities because everyone who should be initiating it quakes in fear of the NRA.

Instead, we have a gun lobby that starts wild, unfounded rumors that quickly run riot through a certain segment of society, and a few people got really, really fat off the paranoia. Guns flew out of stores and bullets sold faster than manufacturers could make them. So many civilians were buying so many bullets that law enforcement and the military faced shortages of some critical rounds. People bought ammo for guns they didn't even own, convinced by the hype of the gun lobby, which is a dependant of manufacturers, that when they finally got their dream gun the ammo would be difficult, if not impossible, to get. Think about this: In the middle of a recession, ammo sales kept climbing, even as prices tripled for some popular rounds.

And now the same groups that fanned the flames of paranoia that sparked the stockpiling are fretting and stewing about those very stockpiles.

When Democrats are elected, sales of guns and ammo always go up. Usually the uptick is minor and driven by a desire to lay in a supply for the next couple of deer seasons, hedging ones bets that a new tax might be assessed on ammunition for whatever reason.  As a result, conservation programs, which are funded in part by a federal tax on guns and ammunition, see an uptick in receipts. The spike this time is different, and those programs are awash in cash...and as a hunter and rural land owner who fights like hell to keep north Missouri ridges covered in oak-hickory timber, this makes my soul soar.

But the emergency responder in me who lived through the 90s and the militia movement is scared shitless.  I didn't respond to OKC, we had left Wichita four months before. But a whole bunch of my friends and coworkers did, and I worry about a resurgence of domestic terrorism. I am not alone in this concern.

It was already a political truism that Democrats prompt sales of both guns and ammo. The U.S. government taxes both to support wildlife conservation, and those receipts jumped after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 and after Democrats retook Congress in 2006.

The high sales have alarmed some anti-gun groups. Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center said he worries about a revival of the anti-government militia movement of the Clinton era.

"This is a pattern that is repeating itself, and it is a pattern that has tremendous risk attached to it," Sugarmann said.

But gun-rights groups say the buyers are law-abiding, and responding to legitimate concerns.
"I think it's Katrina. I think it's terrorism. I think it's crime. And I also think that it's people worrying about [whether] they'll be attacked by politicians," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. "They're suspicious, and justifiably so."

But the most recent FBI crime statistics, from 2008, showed that rates of violent crime were the lowest since 1989. The numbers for this year have not been assembled yet, but police groups say violent crime still appears to be down, although there may have been an uptick in property crimes.

As for gun control, experts say that far from being under attack, groups opposed to it have won a remarkable string of victories. Clinton's ban on assault weapons expired in 2004. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the District's restrictions on handguns, ruling that the Second Amendment creates an individual right to gun ownership.

Under Obama, the White House has said it wants to stop the illegal flow of U.S. guns to Mexican drug cartels, and it directed Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to review the way current gun laws are being enforced.

But a spokesman said that "the president respects and supports the Second Amendment and the tradition of gun ownership in this country." In the biggest gun-related debate of his tenure, Obama sided with gun groups, signing a bill to loosen the rules on firearms in national parks.

Still, in interviews with gun owners and ammunition dealers, many said the run on bullets was sparked by worries about what Obama?might?do.

"It was just logical, based on his record as a state senator and his record in the U.S. Senate," Dave Sugg, 37, a consultant in Ashburn, said after taking target practice with a .22-caliber semi-automatic Ruger rifle at a shooting range.

Jesus - it's like the reactionary knuckleheads building backyard bomb shelters in the fifties. They are always among us, but this time instead of preparing themselves to spend some time underground, they are preparing for some real-life Red Dawn revenge fantasy. And that ought to scare everyone.  


Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheyGaveUsARepublic-FrontPage/~3/5h8_LTuidYY/paran
oia-on-parade

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

In His FBI Interview About Plame Leak, Cheney
Refused To Answer 72 Times -- Verse-Case Scenario by Tony Peyser

Let the record now reflect
This writing on the wall:
The new synonym for lying
Is, "I don't recall."

(If he was just forgetful, Dick
Deserves kind words & hugs
And to find a clinical trial for
The latest Alzheimer's drugs.)

VERSE CASE SCENARIO

read more

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Election 2009: Altmires Faulty Math

Jason Altmire seems to think that if Democrats get their asses kicked today, it just proves he’s right about everything:Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) argued that an election night rebuke for Democratic candidates across the nation could lead some in[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/11/03/altmires-faulty-math/

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

The Personal Face of Abortion

The current squabbling over whether or not abortion would be government funded in some kind of back door fashion accentuates how conflicted we are as a nation regarding the procedure.  When many private plans cover the procedure, I find most unfair[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/zFzZ_DDmMR8/the-personal-face-of-abo
rtion

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

The Real Doug Hoffman

Rush Limbaugh outdid himself yesterday with a really sleazy dig at GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava, saying she was "guilty of widespread bestiality. She has screwed every RINO in the country." I know. I feel dirty even repeating it. Doug Hoffman got asked[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/qMNlrS1flgU/the_real_doug_h
offman.php

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

NOM's Maggie Gallagher Admits Rival's Same Sex
Partnership May Be Better, But Still Not Marriage

video details and more

Even with cognitive dissonance this striking, they still think they've got a right to withhold civil rights from a whole segment of the population:

Maggie Gallagher's disdain for Marriage Equality New York board president Cathy Marino-Thomas was palpable. The feeling, we're guessing, was mutual. The two shared the stage at Hofstra University's ?Day of Dialogue," and even outside the confines of a 30-second spot, Gallagher was still trafficking in misinformation. And eye rolls.

We do appreciate the debate over whether our "intolerance" for bigotry is, by definition, hate ? of the very same variety we call out and despise daily on this website. That's Gallagher's position: By labeling Prop 8 supporters as advocates of hatred, we're being intolerant ourselves, showing no respect for a difference in viewpoints.

But what Maggie does not, and may never understand is the difference between agreeing to disagree, and actively endorsing discrimination against an entire group of people. For that, we cannot be tolerant. [..]

But here's the soundbite we're holding on to, as Maggie addresses Marino-Thomas: "[Your marriage] may be better, but it's not a marriage. ? It's probably better than my marriage to hear you talk about it. I wouldn't talk about my marriage in such glowing terms."

It's so sad that someone who cannot speak well of their own marriage feels it's their right to fight to keep others from having that legal union.

On a related note, it's not a serious move so much as a political statement, but here in California, someone has decided to fight a real threat to the sanctity of marriage: the ability to divorce:

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen today authorized the backer of an initiative that would ban divorce to begin collecting signatures to put the proposed constitutional amendment before voters.

John Marcotte now has until March 22, 2010, to collect 694,354 signatures of registered voters in order to get the measure on the ballot next year. The proposal would change the California Constitution to "eliminate the ability of married couples to get divorced in California."[..]:

ELIMINATES THE LAW ALLOWING MARRIED COUPLES TO DIVORCE. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the ability of married couples to get divorced in California. Preserves the ability of married couples to seek an annulment. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Savings to the state of up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually for support of the court system due to the elimination of divorce proceedings.

While I obviously don't want my rights taken away (not that I'm planning on divorcing my husband, mind you. He's stuck with me.), I do appreciate the sentiment behind it. My gay uncle's marriage does not harm my marriage, threatens no one else's relationship and it's a ludicrous argument to claim it does. However, the ease in which we may end marriages (one-third of all first marriages end within 10 years, according to the CDC) certainly does. If these wingnuts want to hold up marriage as the foundation of society, then put up or shut up.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Health Care Tuesday

• A few new reports on the House health bill from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
  • Overview: House Health Reform Bill Expands Coverage and Lowers Health Cost Growth, While Reducing Deficits
  • House Health Reform Bill Would Strengthen Medicare
  • House Health Reform Bill Would Help Ensure Affordable, Quality Coverage for Older Adults Aged 55-64

    and see our own jim bow: Analysis of the Pelosi Health Care Reform Bill

• Oops. Not everyone wins.

  As Congress struggles to rein in health care costs as part of its sweeping reform efforts, hospitals in New York City and other urban areas that provide some of the most expensive care are among the primary targets.

• This month's issue of Health Affairs concentrates on AIDS and neglected tropical diseases.
• From CDC:

  Q & A Regarding 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Supply

  Why is there less 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine available in October than was expected?

  26.6 million of a projected 250 million vaccine doses are now available. The rest will be, at a rate of ~40 million a month. You can follow the numbers here.

• AP on vax safety:

  Decades of safe influenza inoculations mean specialists aren't expecting problems with the swine flu vaccine, because it's made the same way as the regular winter flu vaccine. But systems to track the health of millions of Americans are being tapped to make sure — to spot any rare but real problems quickly, and to explain the inevitable false alarms when common disorders coincide with inoculation.

  U.S. health officials have spotted no concerns to date, Dr. Bruce Gellin, head of the National Vaccine Program Office, told The Associated Press.

  An interview we did last week with Bruce Gellin can be found here. More from Tony Fauci at NIH:

  A leading government health figure says tests on millions of people who have received the H1N1 flu vaccine show that it's safe and effective.

  Here's the NIAID page:

  Initial Results Show Pregnant Women Mount Strong Immune Response To One Dose of 2009 H1N1 Flu Vaccine

• NY Times:

  The World Health Organization last week recommended one dose of vaccine for all children, but the United States is ignoring that advice. The organization’s primary goal is to make sure that the world’s vaccine supplies stretch as far as possible among the world’s children. It endorses vaccine-stretching adjuvants and favors one dose per child so more children can get one.

  Federal health officials, by contrast, are trying to make sure that American children are fully protected first. They have also decided not to use adjuvants, even though they think they are safe, because anti-vaccine lobbyists have campaigned against them, calling them dangerous, and officials feared that some Americans would be scared away from being vaccinated.

  Also:

  One dose of swine flu vaccine protects pregnant women against the flu, but children under 10 still need two doses, federal officials said Monday, announcing further results of clinical trials of the vaccine.

• CNA/NNOC: Nurses win bargaining unit concessions on H1N1.

  In calling the terms a national model, CNA/NNOC repeated that it continues to hear from nurses at other hospitals across the nation of serious lags in hospital readiness in such major areas as isolating contagious patients, distribution of N-95 masks, re-use of the masks, informing staff when they have been potentially exposed, and training everyone on the best policies and procedures.

  This is a moving target, as advice on personal protective equipment changes and equipment shortages plague most hospital systems. Having everyone involved is a good thing.

• A little oddball science mixed in with health care:

  With the CERN particle physics lab due to start shooting particles around its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) again this month, and the first particle collisions expected in December, anti-LHC campaigners are on the warpath again. A new group calling itself the Committee on CERN Experimental Dangers (ConCERNed) will submit a complaint on 3 November to the human rights committee of the United Nations calling for work with the LHC to be stopped because it threatens life on Earth and so violates the complainants human rights

  I figure threatening life on earth counts as "health care". And it just goes to show that nutters are not confined to medical issues.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Making History

Woke up with morning GOTV canvassers knocking on the door of the place where I'm staying in[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/gVSEozaYgW0/gametime-by-Adam
-Bink

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Arizona Republican National Committeeman tries to
show solidarity with the ‘brown people’ in his city.

Arizona Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash recently called in to the radio show of right-wing host Jon Justice — who has been called the “Rush Limbaugh of Tucson” — to take issue with local Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers’ opposition to a city ballot initiative. Ash said that Rogers doesn’t understand levels of crime in the city. To show how aware he is personally, Ash recounted some of his conversations with the city’s “brown people”:

I listen to the event and I heard the argument, and what was really truly amazing to me, Jon, was the pomposity that Jeff Rogers displayed. He sits in his little house in midtown with his kids who go to school, with his little job, and his job as the Democrat county chairman, and he is blind to all of the crime that is going on in this city.

It’s maybe not happening in his little neighborhood, but you ask any of the brown people who live on the South Side, or the West Side, or the South Central side of Tuscon, and they will tell you, in no uncertain terms, the fear they have getting in their car, walking in the street, and sometimes just sitting in their house.

Listen here:

video details and more

The Arizona blog Rum, Romanism and Rebellion gives Ash the benefit of the doubt and says it might not have been blatant racism. However, the site says that Ash’s “sudden care for ‘brown people’ on the South Side” comes off as “good old fashioned patronizing and nothing more.” Huffington Post blogger Marlene Phillips also notes that crime statistics don’t support Ash’s claim that crime is higher in the city’s Hispanic neighborhoods. (HT: AMERICAblog)

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Election 2009 and Obamas Plaintive Cry

Arianna Huffington nails it again, a follow up to “Leaderless.” There’s no getting around it. One year after Barack Obama won an historic election he’s simply not delivered. Tavis Smiley said it well on “Morning Joe”[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.taylormarsh.com/2009/11/03/election-2009-and-obamas-plaintive-cry/

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!