Articles tagged as

GraniteGrok

Notable Quote – Glen Reynolds

NOTE: When people say things like “don’t let this moment pass without acting on gun control,” what they’re really saying is our arguments are so unpersuasive that they can only succeed when people aren’t thinking clearly. – Glen Reynolds, Law Professor, Instapundit

I am not your subject…I am not your servant…I am not your peasant.

Boston’s letter, titled “No ma’am,” was first posted on CNN’s iReport on Dec. 27 and quickly made the rounds on social media as he responded to all of the items that are known about US Senator Diane Feinstein’s gun grabbing legislation (for nothing says ‘gun grabber’ like legislation that requires fingerprints, a humungous new Federal database, and mandated confiscation of your guns upon your death)..

“I am not your subject. I am the man who keeps you free. I am not your servant. I am the person whom you serve. I am not your peasant. I am the flesh and blood of America,” the eight-year Marine Corps veteran wrote.

He gets right to the heart of the matter – a point that most Politicians never ask as they write scads and scads of new legislation – does this conform to the basic philosophy of how this country was formed?  Does this met the ideas embodied in the Constitution – are you limiting yourself with your new bill to stay within a limited government framework?  At what point is enough, well, enough?  The Declaration says that government is created to secure the Rights that predate government – yet we now see, via Progressive policies written by Progressives (remember: Progressivism is merely Socialism implemented slowly) slowly whittling those Rights away (like the First Amendment’s Right to the freedom of religious expression, which Obama is single handedly re-writing as ‘freedom of worship).  Is this a function that is aligned with a limited stricture of the Proper Role of Government?

Read more

Notable Quote – Mark Jones

I’ve been hearing cries for “compromise” from the usual gun control proponents. Funny, but in a real compromise, both sides give something up. What CURRENT gun control laws are they prepared to repeal in return any new laws they’d like to enact? None, of course. Which is why the call for compromise is a cynical … Read more

Somehow, most of us DO think the Feds have a spending problem, Mr. Obama!

“What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation: “At one point several weeks ago,” Mr. Boehner says, “the president said to me, ‘We don’t have a spending problem.’” …Under this scenario, federal spending would average 23% of GDP over the next … Read more

More and more, are Progressives pushing for a different kind of “Cliff”? Careful what you fear monger…

I put this post up yesterday (“I really hope that Kelly Ayotte, BFF with John McCain, is not playing this game”) after seeing what Captain’s Quarters had posted about a possible end run around the US Senate rules as they stand right now – but it would lend itself to passing all kinds of mischief to Liberty and Freedom without the “Senate governor” known as the Filibuster.  But there was more to that post along the lines of what a number of us are seeing around the blogosphere – that other folks are getting extremely uneasy about the ramifications of the Left driving the culture.  Always pushing, pushing, pushing, and pushing in changing American life to new norms – to secular Progressive (and Socialist) values.  In essence, the slippery slope is getting tilted more and more with buckets of glycerine thrown onto it.

Many Conservative folks (and lately, just ordinary non-political folks) are really starting to feel put upon by the constant din of “change your values – to what we say they should be” via the mainstream media, the culture makers of tv, movies, and music, and politics in loud, soft, and discrete ways and manners.  However, it seems that the Progressives / gun-grabbers are switching gears and have now moved to going full out on what many see as inner core of American Freedom – wrapped in the ideas of the Right to self-defense, Citizen sovereignty and primacy over the State as people start examining and studying primary documents of our founding, and the proper role of Government……and feeling that Government, at the behest of Progressives, is far overstepping its bounds.  It’s called the Second Amendment

Instead of the inanely stupid euphemisms of “gun control” or “gun violence” or “gun safety” or any other focus grouped “non-confrontation phrases”, many are seeing themselves sanctioned for gun removal and confiscation – and left defenseless not just before criminals but a tyrannical government (which, by this action, is starting to show itself to be exactly that).  They feel they are being made into, not victims, but pariahs on the scale of sex offenders (except Progressives can forgive the latter and make excuses for them).  If these potential gun grabber bills become law, gun owners see this as Government reaching into their homes and lives to punish them for actions they have not committed.  In actuality, many on the Left have actively called for their deaths, to be thrown in jail, and to be marked for life simply for not wanting to give up things that are perfectly legal to own – to be treated as dangerous criminals.

Read more

Notable Quote – George Washington

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – George Washington, first President of the United States

Has a REVOLVER. Shoots Intruder 5 times. Hits six times. He’s still moving. Know what the problem was?

“Revolvers are what the gun grabbers wish to reduce us to – if even that.”

While the weak-kneed gun grabbers are all thinking that eliminating guns is the answer comes this story that should make themselves grovel in front of this lady; from Loganville, GA:

A woman hiding in her attic with children shot an intruder multiple times before fleeing to safety Friday.

The incident happened at a home on Henderson Ridge Lane in Loganville around 1 p.m. The woman was working in an upstairs office when she spotted a strange man outside a window, according to Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman. He said she took her 9-year-old twins to a crawlspace before the man broke in using a crowbar.

But the man eventually found the family.

More has come out since then – she was in a closet with her kids in the attic and was on the phone with her husband when Mr. Scumbag broke in (her husband was the one that called 911).  Just like those teachers in Sandy Hook (and yes, since the Progressives decided to “not let a tragedy go waste” and make it political, I am perfectly fine in “returning fire”).  Just like Adam Lanza, this scumbag man forcibly broke.  No, he wasn’t there merely to burgle the place – if so, he would have been in and out without looking for a conflict.  No, his purpose was to hunt her and her kids down.  Evil personified.  A man against a woman and two little girls – as the Libs say, as the FEMINISTS say, a power inequality existed.  The three females were about to be toast, just like those first graders.  Yet, Progressives believe in their heart of hearts (and tops of their craniums) that they can “perfect” even an evil scumbag of a man.

Oh wait!

Read more

Very good Right side political advice from two great bloggers

Any time that an Establishment rumpswab starts in on you about TEA Party candidates, remember the words of Prof. Jacobson:

If we had followed the establishment advice, we would not have Ted Cruz in office

 Ted Cruz was the insurgent Tea Party – supported candidate running against the more establishment David Dewhurst.

 If we followed the establishment advice to keep the seat safe, we would not have this rising star in office. The same is true for Marco Rubio and other next-generation Republican leaders.

 While there were other races where it didn’t turn out as hoped, Ted Cruz demonstrates the importance of primaries

And remember, there were a number of Establishment Senate candidates that got whupped as well (example: WI’s Tommy Thompson – a “shoo-in” they said!).  Go to the link as it has a video of Ted Cruz talking about “Opportunity Conservatisim”.

And then this from Glen Reynolds, the blogfadda!

My advice to Tea Partiers: Take over your state GOP.

Read more

Do our betters truly wish us to be this helpless?

I bookmark 100 times the number of other writers’ posts than what I can ever comment on.  Sometimes, I “find them” again – like this one.   If I was on “the other side”, I might put up as a Notable Quote – but sadly, I consider it to be an ignoble one.  American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, on gun control and school safety:

Firearms have absolutely no place in our schools—the Dec. 14, 2012, tragic massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is a chilling and heartbreaking reminder of this. Permitting firearms in schools—visible or concealed—enables a dangerous set of circumstances that can result in similar tragic outcomes. We should be doing everything we can to reduce the possibility of any gunfire in schools, and concentrate on ways to keep all guns off school property and ensure the safety of children and school employees.

The school had upgraded its facilities in the name of safety – glass, door, buzzer, cameras.  They had practiced the drills for lockdown.  The police had done their part with drills on active shooters.  They arrived 20 minutes after Adam Lanza killed his mother (breaking the law), stole her AR (breaking the law), stole her Sig handgun (breaking the law), stole another handgun  (breaking the law), stole a shotgun (breaking the law), stole her car (breaking the law), illegally entered the building (breaking the law), and began his murderous rampage of revenge ( (breaking the law multiple times).

I read Weingarten’s words then and just read them again.  And I think of Victoria Soto, the first grade teacher that put locked her door, put her students into a closet….and then waited.  Hearing the screams.  Hearing the gunfire. And scared to think that she and her charges would be next.  Helpless.

Read more

The true meaning of the Second Amendment – and it isn’t for sport or hunting.

Self-defense?  Yes, but not just for personal defense.  As I said here, I often run out of time in commenting on others’ posts.  Here, Kevin Williamson (whom we have interviewed in the past) talks about the real reason that the Second Amendment exists – the very uncomfortable reason, for Progressives and Big Government types that believe Government can only be for good, is that the Second Amendment is to be able to fight Tryanny – from without OR from within:

Brett, like practically every other person seeking to diminish our constitutional rights, either does not understand the purpose of the Second Amendment or refuses to address it, writing, “Gun advocates will be hard-pressed to explain why the average American citizen needs an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine other than for recreational purposes.” The answer to this question is straightforward: The purpose of having citizens armed with paramilitary weapons is to allow them to engage in paramilitary actions. The Second Amendment is not about Bambi and burglars — whatever a well-regulated militia is, it is not a hunting party or a sport-clays club. It is remarkable to me that any educated person — let alone a Harvard Law graduate — believes that the second item on the Bill of Rights is a constitutional guarantee of enjoying a recreational activity.

There is no legitimate exception to the Second Amendment for military-style weapons, because military-style weapons are precisely what the Second Amendment guarantees our right to keep and bear. The purpose of the Second Amendment is to secure our ability to oppose enemies foreign and domestic, a guarantee against disorder and tyranny. Consider the words of Supreme Court justice Joseph Story — who was, it bears noting, appointed to the Court by the guy who wrote the Constitution:

Read more

I really hope that Kelly Ayotte, BFF with John McCain, is not playing this game

Captains Quarters on the incipient Gun Control activities by the White House and the “set up” in Congress (emphasis mine):

They want to turn hunters against the NRA and modern sporting rifles. Fat chance. That didn’t work out so well for David Petzal or Jerry Tsai. Their plans to divide and conquer the NRA will meet with disastrous results. Every minute spent on such a tactic is wasted, and thus we have to hope that they expend a lot of energy on it.

But the later part of the strategy, i.e., politics, is far more fearsome and they have proven very adept at that approach. Gun Owners of America (h/t Mike Vanderboegh) gives us an inside baseball look at the current tactics.

Read more

Notable Quote – Henry Ford

“Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him had better take a closer look at the American Indian.” – Henry Ford, founder – Ford Motor Corporation   (H/T: Maggie’s Farm)

Notable Quote – The Barrister

American Exceptionalism contains the notion that government is a necessary evil, requiring containment and strict limitations by a virtuous people and a muscular Constitution to handcuff the state. The state is the enemy of individual freedom. – The Barrister   (H/T: Maggie’s Farm)

Your move, Kathy Sullivan – the offer has been accepted. What say you?

My previous post commenting about John DiStaso went a tad long, so I’ve decided to make sure that all can see – I happily accept Kathy Sullivan’s offer: She said she was not surprised Limbaugh picked up on the matter, but added, “Maybe everyone on either side needs to calm down and talk to each … Read more

Laconia Daily Sun’s “journalist” Mike Kitch decides to make sport of newly elected NH House Rep Mike Sylvia

I met Mike Sylvia a couple of years ago now.  Being a Big “L” Libertarian, his outlook on the size and role of Government is different than mine (not in direction but in a matter of degree; same page, different paragraph).  Which, however, puts him in the cross-hairs of the local Hobbessian believing scribbler Michael Kitch (not same page, not just different paragraph – a completely different book) who has a major problem with anyone that doesn’t acknowledge the Primacy of Government in the smallest affairs of individuals (lots of samples of similar behavior after the jump).  He has this thing for anyone that attacks his belief that only Big Government can maintain peace AND demand equality (including redistribution of political and financial capital).

Laconia Daily Sun Michael Kitch Makes Sport Of Michael Sylvia

Now in this case, reporting on how the Belknap County NH House reps voted on the rules that have now reversed the ability of people to protect themselves (and now have to rely on the State – a Liberal denial of the Right to self-defense), could Kitch just have reported the news (which would have been just the vote count)?  Sure.  Did he? Nope. He decided that he had to take a poke at Micheal Sylvia, who sits on the side of Natural Rights (including that of self-defense).  Did Kitch add anything of like manner from any of the Democrats?  Nope – not even a whisper (and I bet there would have been an opposing view).

Read more

Lunatics? To NOT spend more than what the US can repay?

$16 Trillion for our national debt.  A whole ton of money, which I’m not entirely sure that IF (and that is a mighty BIG IF) our CongressCritters and President were truly serious about our financial affairs, we could pay back in any kind of reasonable time frame.  But actions to date have proven that Obama is continuing his policy of Determined Weakness, other Progressives are hoping for a Cloward-Pivens moment, and Establishment Republicans continue to be “Appropriators” (that is, people who figure out how to spend other peoples’s monies).  The only folks that seem to be extremely serious (and scared out of their gourds) are TEA Party type ConcressCritters who realize that a 2% change in interest rates on our debt could Greece look like a lawn party.

So, who is the lunatic here?  I’ll side with Rick Santelli (emphasis mine):

The analyst said that the only obstacle he sees to the continued expansion of the U.S. economy were “lunatic Republicans” who may bring about an “insane technical default” when they attempt to negotiate spending cuts as part of a deal to increase the debt ceiling limit.

 “That’s the worry here,” Evans concurred. “Will we have a self-inflicted wound – a gunshot to the head?”

Right, so forget HOW much is on the national credit card and the “lunatics” that say we need to say stop – we HAVE to keep spending !!!!  These folks are all about paying what we have spent, and I’m ok with that.  What is missing in their equation is the adult part of this – and here, Rick Santelli again lends himself to the “adult in the room” scenario that is absolutely missing here:

Read more

Share to...
BufferCopyFlipboardHacker NewsLineLinkedInMastodonMessengerMixPinterestPrintRedditSMSTelegramTumblrVKWhatsAppXingYummly