Category Archives: Guns

Let’s Help Texas Secede.

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On several occasions, Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that the Republic of Texas might secede from the United States.  He meant it as a threat, but after first ridiculing the idea, I’ve come to embrace it.

Let’s consider the benefits.

If Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee (Yes, I know this isn’t all of the original Confederacy, but the others have better embraced their statehood.) were allowed to secede, the level of education in the US would improve overnight.  At the same time, the number of impoverished would plummet.  We would also improve the United States’ international rankings with regard to incarceration and capital punishment.

Moreover, the US would dramatically reduce the number of assault rifles and handguns within its borders.  We would rid ourselves of the evangelical crackpots on the Texas school board responsible for rewriting textbooks to whitewash history.  We would improve the percentage of our population with health insurance. And since most of the Tea Party crackpots in Congress come from the former Confederacy, the level of political discourse would likely improve.

I know this plan seems radical, but I think it best.  Many of the former Confederate states have long been openly hostile to the federal government, even threatening to “exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.”  In Arizona, there are legislative bills calling for state sovereignty of national parks and all federal lands.  And many of these states have refused to accept the legitimacy of the Affordable Care Act despite a Supreme Court ruling.

For the states that do secede, they finally could have the theocratic government they seem to so desire.  They could completely ignore science.  They would no longer have to accept the billions in federal money that have been thrust upon them to provide food and medicine for their poor.  And unless they continue their hostility to foreign visitors, they could replace Mexico and Jamaica as warm weather destinations for US tourists.

Of course, the plan is not without downsides.  We would have to move many of our military bases to Union states.  Football could suffer without Texas and Florida athletes, but since we already embrace foreign nationals for basketball and baseball, we could make accommodation for football players.  We would lose much of the domestic oil production and refineries, but all of that oil and gas is sold on world markets, anyway.  And since I live in Arizona, I’d have to sell my home at a loss in order to move back to the US.

Nevertheless, I encourage you to give my plan serious thought.  If you do, I’m confident you’ll see that the many benefits outweigh the negatives.

The Cowardly Russell Pearce.

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Those in Arizona are all too familiar with Russell Pearce for using his position as former Arizona State Senator to push for the ill-conceived immigration bill, Arizona SB 1070.  Happily, he was recalled in a special election and sent packing back to the cave he crawled out of.

But he’s making news again by blaming the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shootings for the crimes perpetrated against them.

That’s right.  The shootings were the victims’ fault.  According to Pearce, “Had someone been prepared and armed they could have stopped this “bad” man from most of this tragedy.  He was two and three feet away from folks, I understand he had to stop and reload.”

Keep in mind that this is coming from a man who has long fought for expanded gun rights, including the right to carry concealed guns into bars and onto college campus.  It’s because of people like Pearce that assault rifles, handguns and high-capacity magazines are so readily available to potential killers like Jared Loughner and James Holmes.

Arming every single citizen in the US will not help prevent incidents such as that in Colorado.

After every mass killing, those who were victimized or witnessed the event say that it happened in such a flash that they didn’t have time to react.  Indeed, following the Tucson shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the one person who drew his weapon nearly shot those who disarmed the shooter.

One wonders how Pearce would react in a similar situation, even if armed.  I’m betting he’d dive for cover behind the women and children in front of him.

Of Bullies And Cowards.

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For more than 30 years, the bullies at the National Rifle Association have pushed their gun laws on the American public.

“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” they say.  Well, a whole lot of people have been killing other people with guns lately.  And, unless we do something to keep assault weapons and handguns out of the hands of crazy people, we’ll see a lot more deaths.

“But guns are needed for self-defense,” they say.  Well, the fact is that guns are offensive weapons.  In most cases they’re useless for self-defense.  What good would a gun have done in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater last night?  If some movie-goers had opened fire, likely even more people would be dead or wounded in the crossfire.

The plain fact is the NRA is full of bullies who demand that everyone else accept their beliefs.  Our gun laws are not designed for hunters.  Who hunts with an assault rifle, a silencer, a night vision scope or a semi-automatic handgun?  Our laws are designed for bullies who want to have the threat of violence easily at their disposal so they can force their will on others.

Sensible gun laws would place limits on the number of weapons any individual can purchase and own.  They would limit the size of ammo clips.  They would ban assault rifles and large caliber sniper rifles.  They would force anyone who wants to carry a handgun to be trained and licensed.  (If Teapublicans think voters should have drivers’ licences as ID, why shouldn’t gun-toting wingnuts have a gun license?)

What does it say about our society that guns are so readily available to the crazy and deranged? What does it say about us that our citizens are so afraid of each other that they feel the need to be armed? What does it say about our politics and media that people are now convinced that they must arm themselves against our government? What does it say about us that we accept one mass killing after another with scarcely a whimper of protest.

It’s not only the GOP, the NRA, Fox News and the radio hate-mongers who are at fault.  The cowards in the Democratic Party who refuse to fight for common sense laws must also accept some blame.

In Contempt Of Congress.

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Yesterday, the Teapublican-controlled House of Representatives voted to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.  If I could speak directly to Mr. Holder, I would offer my congratulations.

I think most American citizens are in contempt of this Congress!

As I’ve previously written, the charges that Mr. Holder is withholding “vital” information on Fast and Furious that would expose corruption in the administration is fantasy.  Contrary to Congressman Issa and the National Rifle Association’s bizarre conspiracy theory, the ATF did not let guns “walk” across the border in order to create an outcry for stricter Arizona gun laws.

I’ve read conspiracy theories about UFO cover-ups that are more plausible than that!

We don’t need some crazy conspiracy to draw attention to the need for common sense gun laws.  All we need is to focus attention on the fact that there are now more deaths each year as the result of guns than from auto accidents.  Further, what is the sense of allowing anyone over 18 to purchase enough assault weapons and handguns to outfit a small army?  Was that really the intent of the Second Amendment?  And, if so, do we really want to allow buyers to turn around and sell them to others without a license or background checks?

Too bad there isn’t a mechanism to allow ordinary citizens to officially cite Congress and the NRA for contempt.  Oh wait…there is.  All you have to do is vote the NRA-supporting Teapublicans out of office this November.

Fast And Furious Lies.

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In 2010, Sen. John “McNasty” McCain, Gov. Janet “Finger Wagging” Brewer and many other Teapublican politicians vilified immigrants in order to be elected.  The only things that have changed for 2012 are the candidates and the scare tactic.  Since the Supreme Court gutted SB 1070, the focus has turned to Fast and Furious.

Fast and Furious, of course, is the name of the ATF program designed to stop the flow of guns into Mexico.  In case you don’t know, it’s illegal for anyone in Mexico outside of the military or police to own a gun.  So the drug cartels have made Arizona their personal gun store.  Arizona’s gun laws are so lax that anyone over 18 can buy as many guns as they can afford.  All they have to do is pass a quick background check.  And, if they want to avoid the background check, they can go to any of the state’s hundreds of gun shows and buy guns with no questions asked.

Is this a great state or what?

As a result of this lunacy, Mexican cartels have shipped drugs into the US in exchange for cash and guns.  This arrangement has been so successful, Mexico claims the resulting gun violence has resulted in the deaths of 47,000 Mexicans since 2006!  And that’s despite the fact that ATF has seized more than 68,000 guns over the same period.

How do you think Americans would react to the deaths of 47,000 of our citizens as the result of lax Mexican laws?  That’s more than double the number of deaths from 9/11 every year for 6 years!

But Teapublicans seem to not care about those deaths.  Instead, they have their teabags in knots over the death of a US Border Agent who was shot with a gun that was being tracked by the ATF.  Obviously, any such death is horrible. But it seems our Teapublicans also view it as an opportunity.  So based on the flimsiest of evidence, they have set about politicizing the ATF and the Department of Justice.  They have used it to attack Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama.

Now Katherine Eban has exposed the truth about Fast and Furious in an investigative report for Fortune magazine.  In short, the article places the blame for the “failed” operation on a bureaucratic Assistant US Attorney and Arizona’s insane gun laws.  It also appears that the so-called “whistle-blower” was a recalcitrant and incompetent subordinate with a grudge against the ATF Division leader.

As for “gun-walking” and a supposed cover-up?  It appears those were merely the figments of Teapublican imaginations repeated by a lazy and biased media.  The entire controversy could have been avoided if either the press or the Congressional Oversight Committee had been more focused on finding the truth than scoring ratings or political points.

There’s A Reason It’s Called Gun Fire.

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Much of the western United States is tinder dry as the result of a prolonged drought.  Wildfires are breaking out throughout Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah at an alarming rate; many caused by people taking target practice in remote areas covered in tinder dry grass.  The resulting fires have cost millions, yet the shooters are not going to let that get in the way of their second amendment rights.

It seems the states can ban campfires, even camping, but they don‘t dare ask a gun owner to hold his fire until the drought eases.  They can’t even ask them to confine their shooting to gun ranges thanks to the National Rifle Association.   You see, the NRA vehemently refuses to accept any restrictions on guns, no matter how many people are needlessly killed.  No matter how much damage their “rights” cause to others.

As long as politicians continue to fear the NRA, we can forget about common sense gun laws. Although NRA members have an abundance of guns, ammo and political influence, they’re entirely lacking in common sense.

Fast And Furious Politics.

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The name of the failed ATF gun-walking program could also apply to the Teapublican attacks on the US Attorney General and, by association, President Obama.

In case you don’t already know, Fast and Furious was a program intended to reach the leaders of the Mexican drug cartels who are using “straw buyers” to obtain assault weapons from Arizona.  This was a program unique to the Phoenix division of the ATF that followed a similar program called Wide Receiver that began in 2006.

Neither program succeeded in achieving its goals.  And they likely would have gone unnoticed had not two of the guns been involved in the death of US Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry.

Of course, Teapublicans have never passed up an opportunity to attack President Obama.  So Congressman Darrell Issa called for hearings into the matter.  That could have been constructive had his committee decided to examine the origins of the program, the reasons for the program and the participation of all involved.  Instead, Issa used the opportunity to attack and embarrass Attorney General Eric Holder.

It seems that Holder originally testified that he was unaware of the program, and that’s quite likely.  In his 8 ensuing appearances before the committee, he apologized and cooperated to the tune of more than 7,600 documents provided.  According to Issa that was not enough.  Issa demanded transcripts of wiretaps and other documents that Holder could not legally provide “in the interest of full disclosure.”  That’s rich, considering that the committee refused to call for testimony from the previous Attorney General or any of the individuals who orginated the program under the Bush administration.

Some “full disclosure.”

When Holder agreed to provide more documents under the condition that Issa would agree that the subpeona for documents had been satisfied, Issa refused.  Recognizing that Issa was more interested in embarrassing Holder than seeking the truth, President Obama exerted Executive Privilege over the remaning documents.  Of course, Issa and the Teapublican media were outraged.  The committee responded by voting to find Holder in contempt.

Far more contemptable are Arizona’s idiotic gun laws.  These laws make it all too easy for straw buyers to provide weapons to the cartels.  Even with intense searches of vehicles leaving Arizona for Mexico, guns are crossing the border with great frequency; not all that surprising considering that anyone can walk into one of hundreds of gun shows and buy weapons without having to pass a background check.

The truth is, the Obama administration has been more transparent and done more to secure the border than any administration in recent history.  Unfortunately, at the same time, Issa and his colleagues have done more to obstruct the administration than any Congress in history!

The Teapublican Book of Lies.

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You know those things Teapublicans present as facts that just never quite make sense?  The ones that are repeated day after day on Fox News Channel and right wing radio?  The conservative ideas that have been tried and failed, but keep coming back?

I’ve taken 50 of those so-called “facts,” researched them, and presented my findings in a new book:  The Teapublican Book of Lies.  It’s a sort of handbook for debates with your conservative friends and family members.

Pardon the shameless self-promotion, but you can buy the book from Amazon.

The Party of Hate.

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Teapublicans love to say incendiary things about their political opponents.  In just the past few weeks, Teapublican candidates and representatives have called President Obama a socialist, communist and fascist.  A Teapublican Senator called President Obama the most divisive figure in politics.  A Teapublican stated that gays should be rounded up, surrounded by an electric fence and killed.  And the Teapublican Secretary of State in Arizona has stated that he won’t allow the president on the state ballot unless the State of Hawaii will send documentation of his birth.

And that’s not to mention the usual drone of really hateful rhetoric on conservative talk radio.

Yet whenever Teapublicans are accused of fomenting hate, they ridicule the accusers.  They claim Democrats are manufacturing a straw dog for political purposes.  They claim that their remarks do not stir up violence.

Unfortunately, the facts don’t support them.

Just consider this:  According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (the organization that tracks domestic hate groups), the number of radical “anti-government” militia groups has increased from 150 to 1,274 during the years of the Obama presidency. The SPLC also reports that there have been more homegrown domestic terrorism attacks by right-wing groups than by international terrorists during his presidency.

Of course, Teapublicans say that has nothing to do with their constant drumbeat of hatred aimed at the nation’s first president of African-American ancestory.  Nooooo!  It’s only because of Obama’s policies, they say.

The last time hate groups were so prominent was during the Clinton administration when the SLPC identified 858 such groups.  So when a Democrat is in the White House, hate groups increase.  When a Republican is in the White House, the number of hate groups is diminished.  And when a black Democrat is in the White House, the number of hate groups explodes!

If you think that’s simply a coincidence, you haven’t been listening.

As Long As We’re Telling The Truth…

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A recent editorial in The Washington Post was headlined, “Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.”  The writers go on to say, “We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.”

This is not coming from the so-called “liberal media.”  It’s from one of the most respected and unbiased newspapers in the land; the newspaper that covers both sides of politics from our nation’s capitol. When The Washington Post makes such a statement, everyone needs to pay attention.

This amazing admonishment of the right, follows the revelation of a meeting that took place the night of President Obama’s inauguration.  With the nation having just experienced the collapse of the housing industry, the freefall of the entire global economy, the loss of 4.4 million jobs, the loss of billions or trillions in tax revenues, a bankrupt financial system, huge deficits adding to our national debt and two wars (one unnecessary), all caused by the decisions of an 8-year Republican administration, these “patriots” seemed concerned with only one thing:  How could they cause the Obama administration to fail?

Unaware of the plot against him, President Obama began his administration by trying to accomplish the goals of his campaign – to repair the fractures in our nation by working with Republicans. He asked several Republicans to join his cabinet in order to heal the nation.  Most declined.  Instead of accepting the president’s hand, Republicans claimed he was not an American citizen and, therefore, not a legitimate president. When the administration and Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and offered loans to the failing auto industry, Republicans cried “Socialist” and organized the “Tea Party” from their most right wing supporters. They appeared at Presidential speeches with guns. They carried signs calling him a Fascist, a modern-day Hitler and threatening to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.

Republican Senators filibustered almost every initiative to create jobs in the hopes that the struggling economy would benefit them politically.  They filibustered and obstructed legislation that would prevent a repeat of our economic collapse.  They refused to allow votes on a record number of presidential appointments, including federal judges and heads of government agencies.  A Republican Congressman even broke long-standing decorum by shouting “You lie” during a State of the Union address.

The stalemate caused by the Teapublican obstruction worked.  Teapublicans took control of the House in 2010.  Still, President Obama reached out to find compromise with the right.  In response, the Republican House Speaker said he didn’t believe in compromise; that he didn’t even know what the word meant.  Since then, Teapublicans have only become more obstructionist, more unyielding and more uncivil.

Now we’re approaching yet another election.  No thanks to Teapublicans, more than a million auto industry jobs have been saved, we’re digging out of the economic abyss, we’ve ended one war and placed an end date on the other, we’ve eliminated the leadership of al Qaeda, and we’ve greatly improved our reputation throughout the world.

By almost every measure, President Obama deserves to be re-elected.  Teapublicans, on the other hand, have earned a place in the very darkest corners of our history.