Two Appologies
1. I had thought that libertarians and conservatives were overwrought when they accused the Obama administration of using their own gun sales in the Fast and Furious program to argue for increased gun control. Oops. It appears that is exactly what they are doing. This article is particularly fascinating, as we get to see a gun dealer, so often vilified by the Left, showing more concern about the guns winding up in the wrong hands than does the ATF.
2. I had thought it an exaggeration when Conservatives accused Obama of being a Marxist. I thought he was reinforcing a corporate state, but politicians of both parties play that game. I assumed that, like much of the Left, he had socialist tendencies but basically accepted the core approach of free exchange and individual liberty. Oops. It is clear from his speech in Kansas that Obama has decided he is going to run in 2012 on a platform of proletarianising the middle class..
caseyboy:
At least Obama has declared himself. No more vague hope and change. He has declared that the "free markets" don't work.
Hmmmm. How long has it been since we had "free markets" in this country?
You've got to give the progressives credit for gumption. Implement market killing regulations and taxes, then declare the markets don't work. Implement all kinds of healthcare and insurance regulations and then declare the healthcare system is broke. Oh yeah now it needs a massive big government take-over. Over regulate and politicize the financial markets (with little compliance benefit) and then declare that the financial markets are broke. Needs more regulation and oversight per Dodd/Frank.
The strategy, grab something that is working, regulate the heck out of it and then declare it doesn't work so you can add more regulations. Always for the purpose of expanding government's reach and control.
Good old Ben Franklin made an interest point, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb (the people) voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
Obama's speech yesterday may be a watershed in that an honest debate may take place on this point. Not a fair debate given the main stream medias bias in this regard, but a debate nonetheless.
December 8, 2011, 9:27 amSam L.:
About time you wised up.
December 8, 2011, 9:30 amSebastian:
Social unrest is on the rise. Who does still taping his eyes and does not want to see the direcction we are heading. It is just a matter of time till the whole thing collapses. We will have a Western Spring soon when people will rioting in Berlin, New York and London.
http://djia.tv/press-tv/oecd-report-portugal-champion-in-social-economic-gap/
December 8, 2011, 9:50 amEvil Red Scandi:
Sadly, we live in a day when even the conspiracy theorists are having a hard time out-doing reality.
December 8, 2011, 10:06 amDon:
Dude, every uncovered conspiracy was once a theory :^).
Also, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me!
Honestly, it's hard NOT to think Mr. O is a communist when you look at who has associated with over the years.
December 8, 2011, 10:20 amTed Rado:
I am mystified as to why Obama thinks that government running everything will work here in the US when it has failed spectacularly everywhere else. Even the Chinese have given up and switched to a capitalist economy. We all need the carrot and the stick. An incentiveless system where evryone gets the same regardless of their effort and contribution simply does not work.
December 8, 2011, 10:47 amHenry Bowman:
Sam's right, it's about time you wised up, Warren. Keep in mind that Mr. O and many in his Administration hail from Chicago. That by itself should provide huge amounts of information. There is nothing of socially redeeming value that has ever crawled out of that political cesspool.
December 8, 2011, 12:45 pmaeronathan:
It's not paranoia when it's true...
December 8, 2011, 1:14 pmMJ:
I don't think you have to apologize for thinking Obama isn't a Marxist. I think you are still essentially correct. His core beliefs will eventually (during his second term) point this country back on the path toward the corporate state. He is a shrewd politician, and like most of the them, each move is calculated.
He is watching the polls and keeping an eye toward the next election. He knows the "targeted" tax hike will probably not pass, but the polls say it is safe for him to demagogue this issue and hence throw a bone to the disgruntled liberal/progessive wing of the Democratic Party, just in time for 2012. This is move is really just a classic head-fake. If he gets reelected, this issue will drop off the radar and he will return to the previous, corporatist path.
December 8, 2011, 2:24 pmEvil Red Scandi:
Dammit, I'm selling my gold and stocking up on tin-foil! :-)
December 8, 2011, 3:52 pmDan from Gilbert:
Now THIS is the kind of observations we should be getting from you. Not that Joe bashing crap. :-)
December 8, 2011, 8:58 pmGil:
Gun sales are up? For what? How long does a gun last? You'd people who bought guns before don't need more guns. So did all the guns bought up before got rusty or out of shape and new guns had to bought? If so, then this doesn't bode well for the "Second American Revolution".
December 8, 2011, 9:50 pmMark:
@Gil guns do wear out. And people do like to trade up as they get more experience, just like your first car is probably a focus and you end up with a Lincoln.
I believe many of the guns though, are going to first time buyers. And those that like to hunt are buying now to avoid any potential upcoming ban so they can keep up with their sport.
Can say Obama has expanded at least one market!
December 8, 2011, 9:54 pmNoumenon:
Can anybody link to the editorial Coyote was reading when he made this post, because I read the speech and it doesn't sound at all like what he's talking about.
December 9, 2011, 2:14 amJames H:
Instapundit linked a study where the number of gun owners has increased from something like 40% of the population owning a gun a year ago to 47% this year. So it would seem like there are probably more first-time buyers.
December 9, 2011, 7:33 amTed Rado:
How many guns a person owns is nobody's else's business. A law-abiding citizen is free to buy as many guns as he wishes. (see Second Ammendment).
The number of guns a person has has nothing to do with his inclination to shoot someone. I am a gun collector and have never been in trouble with the law. For someone to suggest that I am a menace because of my ownership of guns is absurd. In fact, over the years, I have been called over by women living lone that were afraid of something in the night because they knew I was armed. Thus I feel my guns have had a beneficial effect on others as well as myself.
For those of you who do not own a firearm, knowing that there is a loaded gun within reach is very comforting when one hears strange noises in the night. Also, if your car breaks down on a lonely road, a gun gives peace of mind.
Those of us who are armed bring security to those who choose not to own a gun. The bad guys have to guess whether a potential victim might shoot them. That alone is a deterrent.
December 9, 2011, 9:20 amSmock Puppet, Fantasy TV Viewer:
>> Two Appologies"
??
Two apologies, but only one "p", please... :D
December 9, 2011, 11:54 amSmock Puppet, Fantasy TV Viewer:
(see Second Ammendment)
... LOL, does NO ONE ever use spell check around here these days?
Sorry, don't mean to be a spelling Nazi, but these two aren't more subtle homophone errors, they're the kind of things that spell check was made for, and actually good at.
December 9, 2011, 11:57 amSmock Puppet, Fantasy TV Viewer:
P.S., Ted, you are, other than your "emminence", utterly correct.
One of the more telling stats I've encountered is that, in the UK, where gun owners are rare, something like 80% of all home invasions occur when the person who lives there is at home. Because the thugs in question knows they can threaten to beat the crap out of the owner in order to tell them where the valuables are, and know there's little risk of getting their asses shot off.
The figure is reversed in the USA, with 80% of all home invasions occurring when the owner is OUT because, while it's a lot easier to find the "good stuff" when the owner is around to tell you where it is, the chances of getting your ass shot off isn't worth the added benefit.
It's also why most home invasions in the UK are directed at women and the elderly, who are unlikely to be able to resist a "Clockwork Orange" gang of Droogs.
December 9, 2011, 12:11 pmTed Rado:
Smock Puppet:
I use spell check with my word processor. I don't know how to use it here. Any suggestions?
December 9, 2011, 12:50 pmcaseyboy:
God Bless our Founding Fathers
“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms." James Madison
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good" George Washington
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." President Thomas Jefferson
"The people have a right to keep and bear arms." Patrick Henry
"A free people ought to be armed” George Washington
December 9, 2011, 12:51 pmGoober:
I live by a simple code. Well, several of them. But one of the codes that i live by is this:
"Never attribute to malice that which can be more easily explained by stupidity."
I gave the ATF the benfit of the doubt, but the longer this goes on, and the more information that is leaked on it, the more it looks like stupidity is not the simple answer here. This was malice, plain and simple. It was a false flag pretext created by the ATF to support a full-on-assault on all of our constitutional rights.
I know for an absolute fact that the founding fathers of this country would be demanding blood. We, on the other hand, have become more civilized than that. *sigh*
December 15, 2011, 2:46 pm