Glass Houses

Paul Helmke's latest Huffpo rant goes on about the Grammy Awards 'glorifying' guns w/ their usual dramatic onstage antics.

Perhaps he forgets the type of movies one of his biggest stalwarts makes.

Brady strategy = Epic FAIL

It’s fairly obvious to see their feeble attempt and the outline of their thinking.

1. The Massachusetts senate seat loss to Brown was a huge wake up call. The dual losses of the governorships in New Jersey and Virginia were a bad omen, but Mass was the clincher that sent chills through congress and the White House, especially considering the Messiah actively campaigned for all three losers.

2. As the center piece “accomplishment,” Health Care Reform was now a long shot in its current form. Lots of sub-audible muttering in the Halls of Congress. Midterms approach while the Light-Bringer’s poll numbers continue to fall. Pissy fits abound.

3. State of the Union had to be totally rewritten as the focus switched to the economy and jobs. On a more basic level, the SOTU was revamped to address the growing anger of the American people about campaign promises made vs. the steaming pile of unicorn farts in the Oval Office.

The Brady Bunch smelled red meat… er, uh…make that a large field of fresh grass after a light rain.

Henigan throws up a post calling out Rahm Emanuel about fulfilling his prior pledge to do away with Due Process concerning the 2A and the no-fly list. The attempt to link explosive underoos and firearms was entertaining to say the least.

A few days later, and a few days before the SOTU, the Brady’s release a “report card” calling the President an “abject failure” and give him the grade of “F” on gun control. All the other anti groups link to it(this provided exposure to dozens of people). Helmke hits the media circuit and makes damn sure millions of people both inside and outside of Washington DC hear their latest meme.

They made a gamble and doubled down; shame the President into acknowledging them and their agenda in the SOTU.

Well, that worked out rather well for them, huh?

Not so much as a single syllable uttered about gun-control.

Could it be that the Brady Bunch actually puts stock in the latest push-poll by the Word Doctors and honestly believe that gun-control is a winning issue?

Or is there another Mary McFate at the BC HQ that is sinking the ship.

My belief is somewhere inbetween.

The Brady Bunch knows full well that they’re full of shit and are sinking their own ship just be being themselves.

New Baby

A while back I mentioned an associate of mine, an elder in his church, who, after the situation at Colorado Springs and Jean Assam, decided to get a CCW license. He just contacted me to inform me of a new addition to his family.


Inn'it precious?

Friends and Enemies

The IL 59th State District is solidly Democrat. That's pretty much a given. We've spoken of the former holder of this seat, Kathy Ryg, before. She's the one that put out the campaign pamphlets showing machine guns and stating they were legal and handily won. That should tell you the kind of support for firearm rights there is in that area. Keep that in mind.

Her appointed replacement Carol Sente, however, was a slight improvement. Not exactly a friend to the 2A, she wasn't an enemy either. At one point she told the IL NRA lobbyist she was a member.

Well IL House Repub leader Tom Cross apparently thinks it's a GOOD idea to remove a moderate Dem in the primary and pave the way for another F- rated Dem to take the seat. He used a puppet group to send out Robo-Calls in her district with this message:

Hello this is an important voter alert.

You can trust Carol Sente to protect your right to own firearms.

Carol Sente is a member of the NRA and will be trusted to advance issues that would allow people to carry concealed weapons and reduce restrictions and regulations to buy guns.

If you care about guns, vote for Carol Sente.

Paid for by Citizens to Change Illinois.

Her response:

Sente says robocalls about her stance on guns are lies

"I am not a member of the NRA," Sente said Wednesday.

I'm so glad he's on our side.

H/T to Illinois Carry

VPC push to Re-institute 'Black Codes'

Josh Sugarmann of the Joyce Foundation funded Violence Policy Center seems to believe that African Americans should be disarmed for their own protection:

"Successful efforts to reduce America's black homicide toll must put a focus on reducing access to firearms."

Since over 90% of African Americans murdered are murdered by other African Americans, Sugarmann's best idea is to return to the days when laws disarming blacks was the norm.

Unfortunately for Josh, modern versions are still in place and have shown to be just as ineffective as all their other schemes to disarm the public and reduce crime.

This is how gun control activists think of the general public.

Twisting the Knife

Paul Helmke in his We Win They Lose rant:

The elections two weeks ago reflected significant advances for the cause of gun violence prevention.

and

the NRA suffered losses in every region of the nation, up and down the ballot,

Today from NRA rep for Indiana: Indiana House passes Emergency Powers/Parking Lots:76-21 and Gun Permit Data Privacy 84-11

Guess it's just not the White House that isn't listening to them.

A Slightly Better World Today..

(AP) BAGHDAD - Iraq's government spokesman says Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was executed Monday about a week after being sentenced to death for the poison gas attacks that killed more than 5,000 Kurds in 1988.

No tears here.

Paul Helmke: Then vs Now

In Nov 2008, Paul Helmke proclaimed "We Win, They Lose. Now, Let's get to work."

The video states"

"This election, in terms of the gun prevention issue, is probably the most significant we've ever had." ... "Bottom line - in 2008, we won on the gun issue."

But wait. The embedded video has been "Removed by the User". It's still up on their YouTube Page (for now) though:



Now, in Jan 2010, the Brady Campaign releases a report calling Obama's presidency an "Abject Failure". Here's Paul Helmke crying about it on MSNBC.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

THE line?

Interviewer: Are they listening to you over at the White House?
Paul H.: They haven't yet.

Hee Hee.

H/T to the folks over at IllinoisCarry.

Good News

School overturns student's expulsion over guns in truck
Hudson Sangree | Sacramento Bee

A Willows High School student who was expelled for having firearms in his pickup that was parked near the school will be reinstated and have record of the disciplinary action expunged from his record.

That ruling was made this morning by Glenn County school trustees acting on an appeal filed by Gary Tudesko.

The Oct. 26 incident occurred a few days after the start of waterfowl hunting season in an area where duck hunting is a major pastime. Tudesko said he was returning from a morning hunt and did not have time to take the shotguns home without being late for school.

He said he parked on a public street thinking that satisfied the rule against bringing guns on campus. A dog trained to locate weapons later alerted authorities to the shotguns.

Tudesko, a high school junior, was expelled Nov. 19 by the governing board of the Willows Unified School District.

The unanimous decision by the five-member school board was met with cheering and applause by supporters of Tudesko, who celebrated by hugging his parents and lawyer.

After the expulsion, Tudesko's parents appealed to the county education board. The National Rifle Association and the California Rifle and Pistol Association provided support and legal assistance.

GrassRoots Support

While NYC Mayor Bloomburg and his Mayors Against Gun Ownership, along w. the Brady Campaign and other anti-gun groups crow about their push poll showing even NRA members want to ban guns,the reality is different.

In VA, over a thousand showed up for the VCDL lobby day in contrast to the few dozen anti-gun advocates who bothered. Over 10:1 by the lowest estimate. Again, they didn't even have enough people to complete their 'Lie' in. Even in the home state of the VT tragedy.

While in McHenry County, IL, over 400 people attended a townhall on supporting CCW legislation. Beyond on Sheriff who expressed reservations about 'may issue', there was NO opposition according to attendees.

Last years IGOLD lobby day had over 5,000 attendees. No gun control group showed while anti-gun legislators killed a CCW bill before we got there then ran out the back doors.

Telling, isn't it?

Fly on the wall at Brady Bunch HQ

Paul: All right, everybody huddle up. We have some rather serious times before us and what we’ve been doing up to this point clearly isn’t working. I think we need some new angles and fresh memes. Share your ideas and remember, this is a brainstorming session so just throw it out there, there are no dumb ideas.

Sarah: Not working? But we have the House, the Senate and the White House chock full of kindred spirits. We won, they lost now let’s get to work everybody!!! Right, Paul?

Dennis: Uh… Sarah, would you be so kind as to go bake some cookies. We’re probably going to be up late tonight and I’m feeling a bit peckish.

Sarah: What kind!?!

Dennis: I can’t see how it matters.

Petey: I could threaten to shoot gun owners again.

Doug: I could publish personal info about people who comment on our blog again.

Josh: The Joyce Foundation cut our fucking funding!

Bryan: My brother is deeaaaaaaaaad! *sniffle*

Paul: This isn’t the feedback I was hoping for. We need to stay within the law and develop some new form of crap that will easily stick to the wall we’re currently banging our heads against. We need something new. Let’s first identify where we stand right now; a brief recap: 1. Heller. Hurt. Us. Bad. 2. We’re going to lose the Chicago ban. 3. We just lost Kennedy’s senate seat to a republican ahead of the midterms. 4. The President has proven to be an abject failure to our cause, going so far as to muzzle his cabinet officials and sign pro-bills into law. All of this rests on a backdrop of looser CCW laws, Castle Doctrine sweeping the land and the NRA not simply surviving, but down-right thriving in an environment we thought would be a nightmare for them just one year ago. That’s where we are, how to we get to where we all want to be?

Dennis: I think it would be prudent to also note the legal limitations we’ll be operating under going forward. Yes, the SCOTUS has ruled the 2A an individual Right to keep functional firearms, including handguns, inside the home for personal self-defense, so continuing our focused attack on these looser CCW laws is something we should maintain regardless of any new approach taken. In addition, the McDonald case ruling striking down the Chicago ban will frame the options available to us so we should brainstorm under a worst case scenario.

All: Agreed.

Kelli: I’m like so totally behind you 100%, Paul!!! You’re ~ an ~ inspiration!!!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dennis: Uh, Kelli…we’re gonna want some milk with those cookies, there’s a market just down the block.

Petey: Okie-dokie, back to the fundamentals, how about a name change? We all know that the youth is the secret to changing the future and younger, more impressionable folks don’t even know who Ronald Reagan was, much less James Brady. I think we should adopt a name more up to date.

Paul: Suggestions anyone?

Josh: Let’s just be clear that the VPC has no desire to be absorbed under one big umbrella, the Joyce Foundation still covers my salary and the cost of my internet and google account…for now. I’d be willing to talk about it.

Bryan: Hell, sign me up. We can’t even afford to pay the rent on our domain name. I’ll serve under any banner as long as I don’t have to go out and get a real job.

Doug: We need some hip imagery that boosts our street cred and slights the NRA at the same time. How about “American False Idol” or “Dancing with the Blood?”

Dennis: Hmmm… Not sure that would play well for our media allies. I’d suggest a more toned-down identity like “Founding Father’s Future” or “The Queen Mum’s Children.”

Bryan: How about “The Anti-NRA?”

All: OOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul: Now we’re getting somewhere! Let’s agree to implement this immediately. Now what do we do under this new umbrella?

Dennis: Let’s spend millions renting out convention halls and hold anti-gun shows!

Doug: Let’s call congress critters and tell them we don’t want to exercise our 2A Rights!

Josh: Let’s tell the Joyce Foundation that changing our name is a major victory and very expensive!

Bryan: Let’s close down comments on all our blogs!

Paul: I think we’ve made some great progress and the Gun Lobby, as well as congress and the White House will be in for quite a surprise once they witness our new stark naked power.

Sarah: Cookies are ready!!!! I made Snicker-doodles!!!

Kelli: Ice cold milk, come get your ice cold milk!!!

Dennis: Uhhhh, these are actually cat turds sprinkled with sand and that smells a lot like horse piss.

Paul: Sounds reasonable to me.

Reasoned Discourse: Sun Times Edition

Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun Times Lynn Sweet posted a blog entry w/ Daley's press release to the US Conference of Mayors in full. It lists all the elites and intellectuals who are supporting Chicago's gun ban and the usual PSH:

Nutter said, "There is no reason to have an m-16 in an urban environment/. The NRA is out of control."

Of course they don't call it a ban except in the headline, they call it an 'ordinance' and 'strong handgun laws'. Technically true. Neither does she note all the briefs filed against Chicago. I tried to leave this comment noting all the individuals opposing the ban:

Chicago's handgun ordinance?

That makes it sound like you are allowed to own a handgun. It's a ban. A resident has not been allowed to register any new handguns since 1982.

And that 82% of murders committed w/ firearms in the city? Still occurring even though handguns have been banned for over 20 years. The city accounts for over 60% of the murders in the state but only 22% of the population.

Opposed to the gun ban are:

38 states
56 US Senators
249 US Representatives
Over 700 state legislators
Dozens of other organizations and individuals

The Historical brief in support of Chicago has already been found to have inaccurate and at times deliberately misleading information.

Read the Briefs and Filings for yourself. Don't rely on a speech by an organization led by individuals w/ 24hr security forces who think you should rely on someone else for safety.

http://www.chicagoguncase.com/

Here's the response:

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Why am I not surprised?

Chicago Amicus Brief Fail Cont.

David E Young continues his series shredding the various historical inaccuracies and outright fabrications contained in the Amicus Briefs supporting Chicago.

Chicago's Brief.

'Historians' Brief Part One and Two.

NRA on SCOTUS Campaing Finance Ruling

Fairfax, Va. - The National Rifle Association praised the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, removing unconstitutional restrictions on the NRA’s ability to speak freely at election time.

The late Sen. Paul Wellstone had said during the original debate over this legislation that it was his intention to silence groups like the NRA. While the author of this measure had singled out the NRA, this law delivered a clear message to all American citizens: “Keep your mouths shut and stay out of our political debates.”

Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president, said, “This ruling is a victory for anyone who believes that the First Amendment applies to each and every one of us. The majesty of free speech is that any American can roll out of bed and speak as freely as The New York Times, NBC or politicians. This is a defeat for arrogant elitists who wanted to carve out free speech as a privilege for themselves and deny it to the rest of us; and for those who believed that speech had a dollar value and should be treated and regulated like currency, and not a freedom. Today’s decision reaffirms that the Bill of Rights was written for every American and it will amplify the voice of average citizens who want their voices heard.”

The case originally centered on the FEC’s denial of Citizens United’s attempt to broadcast a film about Hillary Clinton through on-demand cable services in January 2008, but had broader implications in protecting the First Amendment rights of organizations like the NRA during election time.

Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA chief lobbyist, said, “This decision today returns sanity to our political system. The First Amendment does not allow Congress to make laws denying Americans the right to speak out on issues, the right to assemble or organize on public policy issues, or the right to petition our government for redress of grievances.”

Josh Sugarmann back to work..

Guess the Joyce Foundation didn't like that Josh has been wasting their money so he's back to blaming "lax concealed weapons law"'s for a horrific murder that had nothing to do w/ concealed carry.

No surprise really coming from their 'study' that has confused CCW victims as murders, non-CCW holders, self-defense etc. in their tally.

I suggest we start a letter writing campaign to the Joyce's encouraging them to direct more of their funds to the VPC so Josh can continue his outstanding and highly influential efforts.

Now What?

So Brown spanked Coakley's peepee for a seat that was held by THE Democrat for decades and Obama makes a speech about dismissing most of his cabinet and congress.

The GOP is crowing 'mandate' which usually is followed by an attack of the stupids.

How will they drop the ball this time to screw up the momentum that's there?

Will the DNC try and jam through health care and/or delay Brown's appointment?

In what other ways will our 'Government' show that they are completely detached from reality?

ISRA 2010 Endorsements

The ISRA-PVF/FedPac have released their lists of endorsements for 2010.

For Gov. primaries they're endorsing Dillard.

The full list of State endorsements/preferences is available here.

The list of Federal endorsements/preferences are here.

"Abject Failure"

That's the description of O's first year by the Brady Campaign who endorsed him wholeheartedly while he was making campaign promises.

Not that they have enough influence left for him to care what they think, I'm betting he's going to have to get used to that phrase when people describe his presidency.

Pro-Chicago Amicus Brief Fail..

Historian David E. Young takes the brief filed by other 'professional' historians in support of the Chicago gun ban to task. From his message:

Just thought I'd let you know that the first part of my comments on historical errors in McDonald amicus briefs is up at On Second Opinion. The first deals with problems in the English/Early American historians' brief. Six of its twenty-one signers were also signers of the Heller historians' brief. Thus, the newer one has the same kinds of problems as that filed in Heller. I suspect there will be several parts or posts dealing with this brief, and several more dealing with one not related to English history. There is a strong attempt in McDonald to re-argue Heller historical points.

That the Chicago briefs are trying to re-argue Heller seems to be the default for most of them. Read the whole thing to see how weak the claims they're making really are and how Anti's need to distort history to defend their beliefs.