Because, after all, it's not like you'd ever need to defend yourself in Chicago

Our betters over at the Chicago Tribune, in addition to being the only people qualified to comment on the news, are now more adept at Constitutional law than the Supreme Court. That isn't too objectionable, as I've often thought you plunk out 9 Morons and have infinitely better decisions handed down.

However, I've never thought that I knew the Constitution better than the people who wrote it:

No, we don't suppose [repealing the 2nd Amendment]'s going to happen any time soon. But it should.

The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is evidence that, while the founding fathers were brilliant men, they could have used an editor.

You see, if only they had been clearer about the need for Chicago's city police to steal the handguns of every citizen, this could have all been avoided. But forget that, Chicago is the official home base of Hopenchange. Who are we to judge his Masterful Works? But let's continue reading this garbled crayon-scrawl of an op-ed:

The majority opinion in the 5-4 decision to overturn a Washington, D.C., ban on handgun possession goes to great lengths to parse the words of the 2nd Amendment. The opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, spends 111/2 pages just on the meaning of the words "keep and bear arms."

But as Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in a compelling dissent, the five justices in the majority found no new evidence that the 2nd Amendment was intended to limit the power of government to regulate the use of firearms. They found no new evidence to overturn decades of court precedent.

You see, the main problem with Scalia's majority opinion is that it spend too long talking abotu what the "right to bear arms" meant.  You originalists and your silly explanations of historical truth.  Don't you know that the Constitution is a living, breathing, hoping, changing document?

Also, what "new evidence" did Justice Stevens require?  If you can't use the words our founding fathers wrote as evidence, what other evidence would have compelled him to think differently?

But, I think we are forgetting the most important point of all this.  The Chicago gun ban has been wildly successful:

Chicago and the nation saw a decline in gun violence over the last decade or so, but recent news has been ominous. The murder rate in Chicago has risen 13 percent this year. Guns are still the weapon of choice for mayhem in the U.S. About 68 percent of all murders in 2006 were committed with a firearm, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

You see, we must keep our restrictive gun laws.  Yes.  They ones that don't work.  Don't questions us.  It's for The Children^tm.

(h/t)

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 03:06 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment
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When the DNC speaks, I listen! Intently!

A DNC press secretary says that the GOP should be worried about former Congressman and Balls Insurance spokesman Bob Barr's presence on the Libertarian ticket:

He may be proof that political wisdom can grow when not polluted by the mindless partisanship and seductive careerism that contaminates Capitol Hill.

An anti-drug warrior in the Reagan Department of Justice as well as in Congress, Barr now supports medical marijuana rights and questions neo-Prohibition. The author of the Defense of Marriage Act while in the House, he now opposes the federal constitutional amendment against gay marriage and advocates states’ rights on the issue. A supporter of the post-Sept. 11 Patriot Act, Barr now publicly regrets that vote.

Perhaps most remarkable for a man made famous as one of the House managers in the Clinton impeachment, the anti-Iraq-war-Republican-turned-Libertarian recently gave this answer to MobLogic.tv interviewer Lindsay Campbell when she asked him to choose between George W. Bush and Bill Clinton: “Why you doin’ that to me?” he sighed. But he quickly answered, “I’d have to go with Bill Clinton. Bush has done such damage to freedom, liberty and privacy.” Wow.

As a libertarian Democrat (there are about six of us, I think), but also an Obamamaniac, I certainly appreciate all the support Barr can provide in helping to thwart a third Bush term.

I think (know?) that all this talk about Bob Barr ruining the GOP's chances of retaining the White House are more wishful thinking than anything. 

One of the only things that has drawn anyone in the GOP to McCain has been his stance on the Iraq War and other national security issues.  Barr is now running as Ron Paul with Less Overt Craziness, on an anti-war, anti-FISA, pro-drug legalization platform.  Now, if he had chosen to frame his campaign around issues like the First Amendment, runaway spending, etc., he may have had more of a chance.  I doubt that anyone who has a huge problem with the Iraq War was planning on voting for McCain anyway.

While conservatives are none too pleased with John McCain, I doubt many of them agree with Rep. Barr that President Bill Clinton has been a better president than George W. Bush.  To Barr, how good one is as a president is directly proportional to how many terror attacks were ignored under their watch. 

All of this, combined with the fact that Barr will have to run against his entire career as a Congressman, will keep Barr from being a Nader-like spoiler.  After all, John Edwards had to do the same thing.  How'd that work out?

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 01:35 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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An Open Letter to Sean Penn

 Sean Penn:  Super hero.

Dear Sean Penn,

A nation turns its lonely eyes to you, Mr. Penn. 

When dissidents were held without trial in Cuban prisons, who was there to gently place Fidel Castro's cock in his mouth?  Sean Penn.

When someone doubted that farce returns as tragedy, who was there to prove it by suing a hollywood director for having an anti-war blacklist?  Sean Penn.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, who was there to save the day, daring to launch his boat without a plug, risking the lives of countless cameramen?  Sean Penn.

As a nation, we have learned to turn to you when the getting gets tough, Mr. Penn, and with the situation along the Mississippi, things haven't been much tougher.

But you have abandoned us.

We expected Kanye West to ignore the situation because he doesn't care about white people.  We expected the Dixie Chicks to ignore it because have rural white people ever bought their music?  I think not.  They hate country.  It goes without saying that Spike Lee blew up the levies and is therefore unlikely to help. 

All we're asking is that you bring your camera crew and make the effort to appear to by trying to assist in helping the devestated areas.  That's all.  Just a quick, healing photo op. 

Then you can go back to fucking yourself.

Sincerely,
Moron Pundit

 

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 10:18 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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The Maverick stands alone, the Maverick stands alone

I've long thought that John McCain faced the risk of being overrun by Obama's huge advantages in funding.  I also thought he may have to bank heavily on effective 527s to counter that disadvantage.  Looks like I might have been wrong, he's probably on his own.  Most of the major Republican and conservative 527 groups are not going to be there for him like they were for Bush in 2004.  Many of them are sitting out the election, have disbanded or are operating at limited capacity.

There are a few typical cited reasons that GOP and political operatives are giving as for why there isn't a 527 operation set up yet, lack of enthusiasm, donor fatigue, fear of the race card getting thrown, but you know the biggest fear they have, one that most of them are citing? 

But, in explaining the absence of any anti-Obama groups this time around, every individual interviewed for this story cited the same central reason: a fear that their party’s nominee will publicly denounce them and hold a grudge.

There it is, McCainiacs!  I saw that coming from a mile away, did you?  How many times have we talked about this?  McCain's fixation with fragging his own side has caused him to be completely abandoned.  This is a tough quote,

“Both donors and operatives know how much [McCain] abhors these groups,” said John Weaver, the Arizona senator’s former chief strategist, referring to the independent groups that have thrived following passage of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. “If he is ultimately successful and any of these groups played a significant effort in electing him, many believe, probably rightfully, that they would be ostracized.”

Yeah, that's typical McCain.  You help the guy, and he immediately kicks sand in your face.  Oddly enough, the big 527 groups, donors and organizers seem to agree with us "crybaby conservatives."  Funny, it's almost like if you think you're entitled to treat people like garbage in an system of government that requires you to convince those same people to elect you, they don't work very hard to see you to victory.  Interesting how that works.  Moar,

Another GOP strategist said that McCain’s denunciation of a 501(c)(4) which aired an ad in South Carolina last November touting McCain when his resources were severely limited sent a chilling message to potential independent expenditure groups.

Yet he went further,

"Anyone who believes they could assist my campaign by exploiting a loophole in campaign finance laws is doing me and our country a disservice,” McCain said then.

He used even stronger language after that, saying at a Texas town hall meeting in late February that 527s “are distorting the entire political process and they need to be outlawed.”

Yeah, that was just a genius move there McCain.  Let's not forget, he doesn't just do this to conservatives and 527's, he does this to state parties too, like what he did to the NC GOP, which the article notes too.  That little press conference he put together to trash the NC GOP pushed me into the Write-in Zombie Reagan camp, where I still reside.  The money quote,

“People think that if they take the wink and nod and give the money that he will piss all over them like he pissed all over the lobbyists," said a Republican who has been involved in past third-party efforts.

...there it is!  How many times have conservatives warned the McCainiacs that they needed to put a muzzle on their guy, saying the same thing, nearly word for word about conservatives for months now?

I know McCainiacs and the Fall in Line brigades are going to argue that "McCain don't need no stinking 527's", that he's gonna rise above it all.  Bull.  Negative ads and 527's exist because they work.  People swear up and down that they hate 527's whenever they're polled, but time after time, election after election, they work.   You need negative ads, you need 527's.  If McCainiacs are honest with themselves, they'll admit that McCain's political situation is grim, he has no support from conservatives, no support from the GOP (because the GOP has no support from conservatives), and now no support from big donors or 527's.

McCain's only chances are if Obama's campaign implodes due to scandal, people are turned off by his radicalism, or his demographics disadvantages break him.  This is no longer John McCain's election to win, it's Obama's to win or lose, as a veteran, McCain ought to know giving the initiative to your opponent is never a good thing, yet he has done exactly that.

If McCain wins, it'll be, to paraphrase our co-blogger Moron Pundit, because 10 unenthusiastic people voted for McCain, and 9 enthusiastic people gleefully voted for Obama.  That said, I'm really beginning to doubt that McCain is going to pull that off, and his insistence on fragging his own side will be his downfall. 

Hi-ho the derry-o
The Maverick stands alone...

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 12:11 PM | Comments (26) | Add Comment
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Time to make the move on drilling legislation?

Ace seems to think so, and I think he's right.  If the Congressional GOP wants to save it's collective ass this fall, now is the time to make their move and move to expand drilling, refining capacity and nuclear energy.  And they can't be squishy, they need to be out front and bold. 

People aren't buying the alternative energy lie anymore, they aren't buying the greenie Global Warming propaganda, and there are growing calls for Congress to allow the market to work, and allow increased supply.  The effects of demagoguery pushed by liberals, the media and populists are wearing off, and people are finally coming to their senses. 

The GOP in Congress cannot hedge themselves because of McCain's intemperate stubbornness either, if McCain is stupid enough to choose to fight on that hill with the Democrats, let him fight.  He'll either accept that he's lost, and sit it out or join the fray, or lose with them. 

House and Senate Republicans should propose as many bills to expand oil exploration and energy production as they can, and keep pounding away daily until public pressure forces the Democrats to go along with it.  The current GOP Congress has what may be their last chance to restore their badly tarnished image.  If they seize the initiative, ignore the Global Warming hysterics, especially Newt Gingrich and John McCain on our own side, and take a bold stand for something, they may not see themselves receive the severe beating they're anticipating taking this fall.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 02:46 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Bumper Sticker Prediction

I earlier predicted a win for McCain in Wisconsin but I've decided that I was basing this on an expected rationality that Wisconsin and the nation seem to have lost. 

I started looking at one of my favorite political indicators over the past week: bumper stickers in traffic.

I have seen several dozen Obama bumper stickers but have yet to see even one McCain sticker on the highways of Wisconsin.  Unfortunately, this isn't the only indicator.  Every major poll has Obama way ahead electorally and in nearly every battleground state. 

I resisted saying this because I was so sure America would come to her senses but it's time to admit the truth. 

Obama is going to bury McCain in November.  I'll predict 53% of the national popular vote.  This will result in a brutal ass-raping in the Electoral College.  

We're so screwed.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 01:28 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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We get (extremely stupid) letters

Meet Ms. Hope Molyneux of Thousand Oaks, CA. Hope is a retard. And yet, in spite of that, she managed to get a letter published in today's L.A. Times. It seems she was disappointed by the results of the recent Senate Intelligence Committee foofaraw:

So the Senate Intelligence Committee has spent four years and untold millions of taxpayer dollars on another report that accomplishes nothing. If they are going to investigate and then insult us by doing nothing, what is the point?

Okay, so far, that's not so bad. I agree with Hope that the government wasting money is not generally a good thing.

But fasten your seat belts, people, because she's about to veer hard into the retard lane:

There should be a law that requires an impeachment trial if there is even the possibility of wrongdoing by those investigated at huge taxpayer expense. If Congress does not want to pass that law, then spend our money on anything but more useless and pointless investigations.

That's right. She just suggested that if a federal official is even suspected of possible wrongdoing, we ought to be legally obligated to launch straight into impeachment proceedings.

And to think,  Hope is probably allowed to vote.  The mind boggles.

Posted by: Sean M. at 11:56 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Three Types of People

It seems there are three types of people in the world.*  Those that want to command others, those that want to be commanded and those that want to be left alone.

Unfortunately for us (I assume we're dominated by the 'left alone' mindset), it appears that the former two groups are quickly taking over America.  Whether it leads to socialism or fascism (I'm betting socialism... are we there yet?), it seems a majority of our fellow citizens value many things above their freedom.

How else do you explain Obama's popularity?  How else do you explain the fucking Democratic party?

I remember Kim du Toit (I can't find the post) being told that "you redneck, gun loving, capitalist Rethuglicans need to go start your own country and get the fuck out of ours" by some liberal fascist.

His response was eloquent: "We already did.  It's called America.  Go back to Europe if you want to be a socialist."

* - Actually there are 10 kinds of people, those that understand binary and those that don't.

Or was it, there are two kinds of people, those that divide the world into two groups of people and those that don't.

Did you know that the IQ of a committee can be determined by taking the lowest member's IQ and dividing by the number of participants?

 

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 11:32 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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Another Reason We Need the Electoral College

The tyranny of the majority:

Kevin King and his wife, Donna, dream of installing a backyard pool this summer.

But the young couple got a rude awakening when their pool contractor drove to Lancaster Town Hall to get the construction permit this spring.

That’s when the Kings learned for the first time since buying their home in 2003 that they legally have only a 3-footdeep yard in which to build their pool.

Or to enjoy a swing set with their kids, ages 3 and 5.

Or to do much of anything else, it seems.

Turns out the Kings technically aren’t even supposed to mow the grass in their 60-footdeep backyard because of a conservation easement.

This isn't an unusual story but instead a significant risk to the freedom and prosperity of many who make their living off the land out West. Laws made by liberal shitstains thousands of miles away are having real, devastating effects on these people, often without any real say in the matter.The reason they don't get a say is that densely populated, liberal strongholds support all sorts of environmental government action that they know they'll never have to personally endure. Farmers in Utah or Wyoming are not so lucky.

The only current protection these people have is that their states are ever so slightly weighted in the national election process. Were we to abolish the Electoral College the wishes of places like Alaska and Wyoming would be ignored as easily as those of children or Canadians.

Of course, none of this would matter if the property rights laid out in the Constitution were upheld by the courts or legislature or even the President. Obviously this isn't the case.

(h/t)

Update: As is correctly pointed out, this specific instance has less to do with the federal government and more to do with local politics.  Still, it is the government taking land donations in perpetuity from people under duress for ostensibly environmental reasons. 

I'm sure the local municipality cared little about the environment when they made the push but I maintain that nearly all big-league environmentalists don't really give a shit about the environment.  It is just a shortcut to socialism.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 07:28 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Alright Late-Term Abortion Aficianados

Riddle me this: If it is okay to not only tear a baby from its mother's womb in the third trimester but also to execute the newborn after it survives this gruesome procedure, should this woman be punished?

A mother who was intoxicated during her labor at a Polish hospital gave birth to a baby girl who was almost 15 times over the country's adult drunk-driving limit, Agence France-Presse is reporting.

The baby girl, born Monday, had a blood alcohol level of 0.29 percent. Poland's drunk driving limit is 0.02 percent, according to the report.

In the U.S., the adult drunk-driving limit is 0.08.

Doctors at a hospital in Otwock, on the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, called the police after the drunk expectant mother checked in to give birth.

The 38-year-old mother's blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent, which is the equivalent of drinking a bottle of wine, according to the report.The mother could face up to five years in prison on charges of endangering the life and health of her child, it is reported.

If so, I have a follow up. Do you even attempt consistency in your fucking worldview?

I've just always wondered. 'Women's rights' activists seem fully capable of supporting late-term abortion and charging a man with two counts of murder if he kills a pregnant woman.

Here is a picture of what would happen to my head if I even attempted to mix those beliefs in my moron brain.

(h/t)

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 04:31 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Hurt By High Gas Prices? (And Accompanying Disjointed Rant)

The Lightmaker has the solution! Give up? Moar taxes!

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday he would impose a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies as he sought political gain from Americans' pain over high gasoline prices.

Okay, I'm trying to follow this divine line of logic. We take the excessive profits of the mustachioed oil barons and use it to umm... I'm really having a hard time figuring out how this helps the average driver save money on gas. I guess we could take the profit and use it to lower the fuel oil taxes but that would end up backfiring because the oil companies would just raise their prices to recoup the lost revenue.

Average Oil Baron Fat-Cat Overconsumer Racist Rich Man

Of course, I'm a moron. His Hopiness surely has the answer:

"I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills," the Illinois senator said.

What the fuck?

The plan is to increase the taxes on oil companies (and therefore, everyone and everything) in order to help the 'poor' pay for their electric bill? How is this not just naked socialism?

more...

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 01:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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yes mccainiacs, organization does matter

A few days ago, Karl Rove wrote about the importance of organization, and pretty much lays out all the points that I've made over the past few months about the problems both Obama and McCain face.  I had wanted to write about it, but I was waiting for the right time to do so. 

Rove points out that while Barack has a powerful political machine, his demographic problems are going to be difficult to overcome, his machine is made up of volunteers from demographics that are traditionally viewed with suspicion or even hostility by blue collar and rural voters, and in my experience, this high level of distrust has been well earned. It will also prove to be very difficult to overcome, because these voters can make or break a Democrat candidate.

Likewise, as I've warned McCainiacs and GOP or Bust'ers, Maverick's insistence on fragging his own side is going to cost him dearly, it is already, and will only get worse as he continues to play Maverick.  Likewise McCain's problem is demographics, because he's pissing off conservatives as a demographic, and while many are gonna go vote for him, they aren't going to work the phones, donate, put up signs and knock on doors.  McCain has next to nothing in terms of his political machine, and every time he plays Maverick, he's sapping the walls of his own castle. 

Rove thinks McCain has to try and build a patchwork of machinery made up of "veterans, Catholics, Latinos, small business people, evangelicals and women in key states" to try and compensate for his pitiful machine.  I think Rove is nuts on this point.  I think McCain making a few concessions to conservatives, and keeping his big fat mouth shut and think before he lobs that rhetorical grenade at our movement would help him immensely.  Sure, it isn't going to be enough for a lot of conservatives, but it'll keep him from seeing his organization completely collapse around his ears from lack of support.  He isn't going to come even close to making up his shortfall with his new voters. 

Of course as I understand it, Rove was the same one who thought the GOP could buy Latino voters with Amnesty and old people with the prescription drug plan, we learned that it doesn't work with the latter and managed to stop the massive damage the GOP and Democrats were planning on doing with the former.  My one gripe with Rove is he seems to have a fixation on taking unnecessary risks to draw in new demographics, sometimes with ideas that are outright destructive and decidedly not conservative, and these harebrained scemes often have disastrous results, that are not only a tactical disaster for the GOP, but bad for the nation as well.

Karl at PW also offers some criticism of Rove, particularly his overconfidence in the old machinery that Rove and the GOP assembled in 2004.  Rove doesn't think the Democrats have caught up, Karl at PW thinks Rove is being way to cocky about this. Be sure to check out the rest of Karl's piece, it's good, as most of his analysis is.

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Obama <3's Murder

Am I the only person on Earth who didn't know that this was happening?

As an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama twice opposed legislation to define as "persons" babies who survive late-term abortions. Babies like Gianna. Mr. Obama said in a speech on the Illinois Senate floor that he could not accept that babies wholly emerged from their mother's wombs are "persons," and thus deserving of equal protection under the Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Holy fucking Christ!

You mean to tell me that if a baby miraculously survives one of the most terrible procedures mankind has ever devised, they still fucking murder the baby? How, under any rational definition of the word, is this not murder? Does that word even mean anything anymore?

 I'll put it this way, if I saw a "doctor" kill a breathing baby I'd kill him back right on the spot.* Vacuum his worthless brain right out of his head.

* - I say this as a person who is very far from an arch-conservative on this issue. I'm generally ok with abortion up until the third month but  nauseated by late-term abortions. This, on the other hand, is just plain murder. It makes me ill to be part of a society that tolerates it.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 05:34 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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