I make no secret of my love of snubbies. I carry a .38 special sometimes, and a .357 mag sometimes. The .357 can stop a bear, but weighs 24 ounces empty and kicks like a shotgun. The .38 special can stop most things, weighs only 12 ounces empty and has a manageable kick, which makes accurate follow-up shots easier.
My .38 is a Charter Arms Undercover Lite. Was 350 bucks new. I carry it all the time, even at home. Outside the house, I carry it, and often carry the .357 Taurus model 605 also.
Below the pix are some good links with excellent snubbie info. (added later: also check out the comments, there’s some great info there, especially on speedloaders, holsters and carry options.)
(Note that his Wal-Mart link goes to pix of me. I found his blog from the pingback.)
I do like that he says:
Okay, I’ll say it: these people scare the holy heavenly living fuck out of me. They seem so misguided and sincere and expect major gun battles in retail outlets and coffee shops. And ummm… just in case they’re right, I’ll be at Peet’s, okay?
Meanwhile, here in Casper, the liberal “more taxes and less freedom!” daily newspaper the Casper Turbine Tribune finally gets around to writing about the tea party that happened a week ago, talks about the “extremism” at the tea party in an article called Tea partiers try to temper messages, but some turn ugly
Some tea partiers brought signs that were ugly, such as using Obama’s name as an acronym standing for “One Big Ass Mistake America.” Others didn’t carry signs, but they wore firearms on their hips.
Speakers talked about the evils of Obama’s health care reform, critics who call tea partiers dumb or racist, wasting taxpayer money, the justice system and government as corporations, health care reform, gun rights, the Constitution, disinvited University of Wyoming speaker Bill Ayers, political incumbents needing a kick out of office, the John Birch Society, and health care reform.
Some talked about America the way they thought it was and should be. “We will rebuild America the way it was back in 1776,” Allen Crowder said. “We are a Christian nation, regardless of what the president says,” Carl Collea said. “I don’t believe Obama is a Christian.”
The council often has no one to speak during the public comment sessions at the end of every meeting, which makes council members wonder if the public cares, Holloway said…Holding his Obama-as-The Joker sign, Matt Kull… feels frustrated that people speak and vote, but politicians do what they want. “Our perception is we show up and no one listens,” he said.
If you read the 60+ negative reader comments on that article from the “more taxes and less freedom!” crowd (four guys in Casper on SSI and one guy in California who used to live here but still wants to make Wyoming more like California), you get the impression that people think it’s silly that us tea party folk don’t like it that our government ain’t listening. I don’t get that.
The unattributed quote from me in that article’s sidebar about “It hurts to watch our country be in a hostile takeover” (video below) seems to sum it up well. (I was actually quoting myself, it’s a paraphrase of a line in my Right Arm of Wyoming song “Tar and Feather a Tax Collector.”)
Anyway, yeah, people were complaining about the do’h!-bama regime, and five of the 150 people did have guns on our hips (I was one of them), but I wouldn’t call the mood that day “extreme.” I’d call it quaint. And considering what the left is doing to America, I’d say the Right have been very polite up to this point.
In a debate on Thursday night of Wyoming Gubernatorial Republican candidates Matt Mead, Rita Meyer and Ron Micheli (candidate Simpson didn’t bother showing up) and Libertarian Party candidate Mike Wheeler, they all tried to out-do each other on how anti-Fed each one is.
This is a nice contrast. In my former state, California, the candidates generally praise Washington DC and talk about how if elected (or re-elected), they will enact more programs and entitlements. In Wyoming the candidates talk about calling out the Wyoming National Guard against the federal government (RLC-endorsed candidate Rita Meyer), and taking federal land in Wyoming away from the Feds (RLC-endorsed candidate Ron Micheli). Statist Matt Mead even talked boldly about “securing the nation’s borders.” (Not really a bold issue for a non-border state gov candidate, but hey…more conservative than some RINOs would try to get away with.)
I love it. So far Wyoming has no Democrat announced for the November election, and the Republicans are fighting on a platform of who hates the Feds more. I find it refreshing.
Check out some of the user comments from appalled lefties on the Casper Tribune (a leftie rag that some call “the Casper Turbine”) :
I’ve never been so embarrased (sic) or depressed to live in Wyoming, because let’s face it it – one of these boobs is going to be our next Governor, and more than half of our state populace will embrace this boob with open arms. My god, look at what they say in a public forum – lord knows what they’re really thinking in the dark cobwebbed feverish little poison closets of their minds. Dark days ahead indeed, for the state and the country. Time for educated and enlightened folks to wake up and come out swinging or we’re going to wake up one day and find the teabagger trolls running the show.
and
You and Rita are both suggesting the treasonous use of force against the federal government. It doesn’t matter what 7th grade scenario you think up, if you’re using force to fight the rule of law in this country, you’re committing treason. I hope you both end up before a firing squad should you ever try to pull such nonsense using this state’s national guard. Or any other force.
Yikes!
Anyway, the Libertarian Party candidate, Mike Wheeler, showed up tonight at the Republican Liberty Caucus meeting we had at the library. He seems like a nice gent, but I’ve got to say, he kinda monopolized the meeting and spun it into a campaign pitch for ten minutes or more until I stopped him. And moreover, he is not a true libertarian, he’s a LINO who thinks the government should subsidize cars to run on natural gas to help the state economy of Wyoming. When I pointed out that this wasn’t a very libertarian stance, he said “I’m not really a libertarian.”
Mike Wheeler may have his heart in the right place (being of service), but has a very child-like understanding of government (several laymen and one laywoman attending the meeting had a much deeper understanding of the way the world works. And my wife, the only other person at the meeting who was a registered Libertarian Party member, said “No way I’d vote for that guy.”)
This was confounded more by Libertarian Party candidate Mike Wheeler’s comments at the debate last week, (from the Casper Turbine):
Growing up on a southern Colorado cattle ranch, Wheeler said there were “a couple of people that had a little water on their back working on the ranch.”
He then lamented that there are “red-blooded Wyomingites that are losing a job to somebody that’s probably sending their money back to Chihuahua for tacos.”
Anyway, the scary thing is the guy thinks he can win. He said so tonight when I asked him.
I told him, in front of others at the meeting, that I think he’ll just take away votes from people who should win.
I asked him if he knew who Dave Dawson is, Wheeler didn’t know. Dawson is the Libertarian Party guy who split off three percent of the Republican vote in the last election and handed the Wyoming Governorship to a Democrat. (I’ve had lunch with Dave Dawson. He’s a sweet guy regardless of putting a Democrat into office. And that Democrat was Gov Dave, who really probably should have run as a Republican. Gov Dave is at least as fiscally conservative, if not more so, than Scott Brown.)
I also thought it was a little ironic that a Libertarian Party guy took up so much time at an RLC meeting, because I was anticipating (and prepared for) liberal shit-starters, and none arrived. So it kinda took me off guard when a Libertarian Party guy showed up and talked until I cut him off…at a meeting of a group that came out of the Libertarian Party to run candidates as Republicans so they could win, rather than splitting the vote to make a point, like the Libertarian Party so often does.
Amway, I’m excited about Rita Meyer and Ron Micheil, and the consternation they’re causing the small (but growing) number of liberals in this state. Yay!
I’d give it an A for effort, a C for presentation. It’s been a long time since I’ve yacked in front of the crowd. Also, I did point the opposite direction of where the library is when I said “….down at the library.” I’m sure at least two old cowboys in the audience thought “Damn carpetbagger!”
Whereas the John Birch guy
and the 911 Coalition gal
where feistier and more comfortable talking, but they’re more in practice. lol.
Tea Party was nice….there were about 200 people there, five open carrying guns (including me), no counter-protesters, and it was fun. Lots of families with kids.
NOTE: This song is not a call to action. It’s a history lesson, about the Whiskey Rebellion….sort of punk rock “Schoolhouse Rock.” lol….
NEW song from Right Arm of Wyoming. DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE. (RIGHT CLICK TO SAVE.)
Song is dedicated to my great great great great great great grandfather, Joseph Cornish, who died on the American side in the American Revolution.
LYRICS for “Would you Tar and Feather a Tax Collector?” :
CHORUS 1:
Would you tar and feather a tax collector?
Like they did in days of old?
Would you tar and feather a tax collector?
For breaking in and stealing your gold?
CHORUS 2:
GET OUT AND FIGHT!
GET UP AND FIGHT!
STAND UP AND FIGHT!
FOR YOUR RIGHTS!
GET OUT AND FIGHT!
GET UP AND FIGHT!
WAKE UP AND FIGHT!
FOR YOUR RIGHTS!
The American Revolution was mostly
fought for just two things:
taxation and trying to take our guns.
My great great great great great great grand dad
died in that war.
He took a musketball from King George’s goons.
A few years later, in 1791 the federalist gub’mint
sent us the bill for that war
with even higher taxes than before
That federalist traitor Alexander Hamilton
acted like the new King George.
He tried to take honest money from the distillers.
But the brave men of Pennsylvania didn’t want a nanny state
so they tarred and feathered a tax collector
(CHORUS 1)
Flash forward 219 years
The new Alexander Hamilton is trying the same plan
but on a much larger scale
The gub’mint’s much bigger
And most people are sheep
waiting to be sheered in their sleep
(CHORUS 1)
The gub’mint buys guns by the millions
Meanwhile, they’re taking ours.
What do you think they’ve got in mind?
I’m not saying “it’s time.”
I’m just sayin’ ya gotta look behind.
Those who ignore history
have no future.
And King George wants us all subdued.
Middle 8:
It’s hard to watch my country being destroyed
It makes me very sad.
When I’m sad I don’t feel sorry for myself.
The sorrow turns to anger, which
hardens into steely reserve.
(CHORUS 2)
I’ll probably get on some list for singing this song
Screw ‘em – I’m right, they’re wrong.
We were taught to love our country, at one time.
But now?
That’s a hate crime.
I’ve said and done some silly things in my life (nothing as silly as this guy below did), but I’ve always done it under my real name (or made it damn easy to find my real name when using a fun pseudonym). People should use their real names on the Internet instead of cowardly hiding behind a sockpuppet, unlike the “higher taxes and less freedom!” activist/liar Jason Levin, of Beaverton, Oregon.
If you’ve got something to say, say it with your real name. And include your town too.
–Michael W. Dean, Casper, Wyoming
Repost via Wyoming Patriot:
====
Tea Party Infiltrators -
Lions and Tigers and Bears…
Oh My!!!
Many have asked about the news that there may be “infiltrators” at tea parties around the nation. A website (crashtheteaparty.org) was recently set up. The creator, though he tried to hide his identity, has been outed; his name is Jason Levin, and he’s a middle school teacher in Beaverton, Oregon. He’s on record saying that you might see some of his team in Nazi uniforms at your local tea party pretending to be racists and other offensive characters. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn’t it? And one has to ask the question; if tea partiers are racist, anti-Semitic homophobes, and it’s so obvious, why does he need to plant people who pretend to be those things at your tea parties? Ah…leftist logic and tactics…there is no way to understand their twisted thoughts. But you do need to know what the left is up to.
And by the way, if you’d like to let Mr. Levin’s school district know what you think of his behavior, and his potential influence on public school students in Beaverton, Oregon, you can contact them here. And you can reach the Principal at his school, Mr. Zan Hess, at this number: (503) 524-1345. If you choose to contact them, in direct contrast to Mr. Levin’s behavior, please be polite. Remember, just because he’s exposed himself publicly as a vile, indecent human being who will stoop to Nazi symbolism, and the promotion of racism and bigotry to silence those with whom he disagrees, doesn’t mean everyone in the school district is bad.
In any event, we know that infiltrators might be coming to our tea parties. But remember last April 15th; the idea that the tea parties would be infiltrated in the same way was all over the news. The results? Virtually no infiltration. We know they might be coming, and they know we know. And they know we are ready. So if you’re a couple of guys who enjoy wearing Nazi uniforms or holding racist signs, are you really likely to show up…just a couple of you, all alone, at a well organized tea party of 1,000-20,000 people who disagree with you? I haven’t seen many leftists with that much spine. They prefer to hide in the shadows and lurk, like sleazy predators, or secret molesters. They don’t want to be identified. And we ARE ready to identify them. Do they really want their ugly mugs pasted all over the internet holding racist signs? Hmmm…they might find it funny to think about and even to threaten, but it’s probably not a good career move, and most will chicken out before they ever get started.
What’s wrong with saying “no” to stupidity? I mean seriously. What is the left saying when they’re protesting? Are they rooting for “higher taxes and less freedom”?
From CNN– The mayor of Los Angeles, California, called Tuesday for a plan to shut down all city services — except for public safety and revenue-generating positions — twice a week beginning Monday in an effort to solve the city’s budget crisis.
“There are no easy decisions or simple ways to solve this budget crisis,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. “But as the CEO of this great city, it is my responsibility to make these difficult, but necessary, decisions to steer the city out of this crisis and onto solid financial ground.”
He said he was asking the city administrative officer to develop a plan to shut down the city for two days a week and calculate the money the city would save from the move….
I think this is the wave of things to come. California sets the tone for everything in America, including politics and spending. When you have decades of bailing out everyone with taxpayer-funded “social justice”, this is what you get.
It sort of reminds me of the squirrel in my yard. He barely noticed me for a long time. One day, I put some peanut butter out for him. He gobbled it up. Then I gave him some more, for several days in a row…..
One day I didn’t have any peanut butter, and he stood on my window sill, watching me eat my lunch inside, looking like “Hey buddy, quit stuffing your pie hole and feed me, or I’ll kill you.”
That’s California in a nutshell. Damn glad we got out while the getting was good.
–Michael W. Dean
p.s. When Los Angeles says they’re cutting off everything except for public safety and revenue-generating positions, I believe the second part – hell, they’ll ADD more meter maids. But public safety? They laid off a bunch of cops and firemen six months ago and let a lot of people out of prison early, including some violent offenders and kiddie touchers.
As soon as they give out vouchers for welfare, as they’ve talked about, the result will rival the LA Riots.
or this wonderful YouTube video of a cop shooting himself in the foot in a classroom full of kids, after bragging that he’s the only person in the room “professional enough” to use a gun.
Let me preface this by saying that my sincerest condolences go out to the family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq in 2006. Grief is a powerful emotion, and losing a child is one of the most horrible things any parent can ever endure. To add insult to the injury, the Topeka, Kansas based Westboro Baptist Church, home of the Phelps family and their offshoot cult, picketed Snyder’s funeral with signs that said “God hates you” and “Thank God for dead soldiers”. The WBC is a truly despicable lot. Led by Fred Phelps, who was once, ironically, a civil rights attorney, and his daughter Shirley who handles most of the public relations these days, the WBC makes its living from the controversy they cause.
Before the war, before 9/11, the Phelps gang mostly stuck to protesting the funerals of people who died of AIDS, or of people they knew were gay or lesbian. “God hates fags” was their catch phrase, and they engaged in these protests going back as far as the 1980’s. They were present at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a college student who was beaten and tied to a fence and left for dead because he was gay. They were so cruel in their delivery and their actions, but few people outside the LGBT community and independent media knew who they were. Then, in 2003, we went to war, and when the bodies started coming home, the WBC had new targets. They picket the funerals of American soldiers because, as they claim, this nation tolerates homosexuality.
Albert Snyder was not happy about these people using his dead son to make their point about homosexuals. He decided to sue the WBC, alleging privacy invasion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy in 2007, and won a multi-million dollar judgment against them. However, Westboro appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the decision was overturned. The court then ordered Mr. Snyder to pay $16,500 to reimburse WBC for their legal expenses. Nothing like a little lemon juice in a wound that will not heal. This case will make it to the Supreme Court, where freedom of speech will be pitted against a family’s right to hold a funeral free of people protesting it.
To me, there’s no question about it. As much as I hate the Westboro Baptist Church and find what they do to be despicable and dishonorable, their right to free speech is protected by the First Amendment. The Constitution does not demand that expressions of free speech be unoffensive or in good taste. It forbids the government from abridging it, period. Though most people abhor their methods, the WBC is making political statements within the framework of the Bill of Rights. Albert Snyder should have realized that before he decided to sue a family of lawyers.
I feel for him, I really do. I would be extremely angry and hurt if my loved one were being lowered into the ground after sacrificing his life for his country and there were a bunch of jerkoffs holding up such horrible signs and shouting terrible things at me and my family. There’s no question that the Phelps gang are a bunch of cowards who hide behind the very freedom that Matthew Snyder died to defend, but die, he did, to defend that right, no matter how deplorable the sentiment being expressed.
Let us remember that the First Amendment was not installed to protect popular speech. That’s not the kind of speech that needs protecting. It’s the unpopular, terrible speech that needs to be shielded from being snuffed out by force of government, and what is considered unpopular and terrible by the government could change from time to time. For example, those who are intense in their criticism of President Obama might find themselves with less protection if the Supreme Court rules against the WBC. It’s called precedent, and nothing happens without it in our legal system. I agree that it would feel good to exact some measure of retribution against the Phelps gang, who have been causing intentional harm to grieving families for decades now, but not at the expense of our freedom of speech. Not now, not ever.
60s leftist radical William Ayers (shown above in a recent photo, standing on an American flag) was scheduled to speak at our state university. But now he’s been UN-invited. They also canceled Ayers’ teleconference indoctrination speech scheduled with all the state high school principals.
There were some threats, but mostly there were threats of people who regularly give money to the university saying they will STOP giving money to the university.
“The University of Wyoming is one of the few institutions remaining in today’s environment that garners the confidence of the public. The visit by Professor Ayers would have adversely impacted that reputation.
“During the past few days, controversy over Professor Ayers’s visit has been intense. While this episode illustrated an opportunity to hear and critically evaluate a variety of ideas thoughtfully, through open, reasoned, and civil debate, it also demonstrates that we must be mindful of the real consequences our actions and decisions have on others.”
“Observers in and outside of the university would be incorrect to conclude that UW simply caved in to external pressure. Rather, I commended the director of the center for a willingness to be sensitive to the outpouring of criticism, evaluate the arguments, and reconsider the invitation.”
Though, there were a lot of letters and comments written to the Casper Paper and elsewhere about alumni and others cutting off donations. That is the way to seriously stop most crap…..cut it off at the wallet, not the knees.
I’d like to take some small credit in stopping Ayers from coming to our state. I was the first person to blog about it (post below), before the local news picked up on it, and I tirelessly networked other people (including some politicians and alumni) into action. Kinda felt good to wake up today to the news that we’d actually gotten something done.
We didn’t stop his thoughts from being in our state. You can see what he has to say by reading his blog or his books. He’s very consistent in what he says, and if you’ve read his blog or books, I guarantee there’s nothing new he would have said in person.
Stopping him from coming to the state was symbolic. Letting someone speak at a University is an honor. He doesn’t deserve that honor.
Everyone who helped with keeping Ayers out of our state (especially folks from WyWatch and FSW) deserves a pat on the back. Well done.
Here’s my open letter to the Casper Tribune about it:
Do we want a terrorist speaking at the University of Wyoming?
—-
University of Wyoming has scheduled convicted domestic terrorist William Ayers as a 2010 Spring guest lecturer for Monday, April 5. Ironically, the name of the speech he’s scheduled to give is “Trudge toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action.”
In the early 70s, William Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Department headquarters, the United States Capitol building, and the Pentagon. He is unrepentant about these acts, and is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Ayers wrote a blurb for the back of President Obama’s autobiography, though Obama has downplayed their relationship.
I think having Ayers speak in Wyoming, especially to impressionable youth, is a HORRIBLE idea. And I think having it paid for by our taxes is a travesty.
I’m all for free speech, but I think Ayers’ past actions and present attitude goes far beyond free speech. I also think it’s a crazy world we live in when former enemies of the state are considered role models, and have a relationship with the president. Wyoming seems more secluded from this sad decline than the rest of the country, and I think we should help keep it that way.
I urge people contact to the public relations coordinator, Jim Kearns at 307.766.2670 or jkearns@uwyo.edu and event coordinator Tanaya Moon Morris, sjrc@uwyo.edu, 307-766-3422 and POLITELY ask them to cancel this event.
Respectfully,
Michael W. Dean,
Casper
Wyoming contact for the Republican Liberty Caucus http://www.rlcwy.org/
Republican Liberty Caucus info meeting
Monday, April 19, 7-9 PM. Free.
Natrona County Public Library, in the Crawford Room.
307 E. Second Street Casper, WY.
Milk and cookies will be served!
Info: WWW.RLCWY.ORG
Tell two friends!
RLC Statement of Principles:
The Republican Liberty Caucus supports individual rights, limited government and free enterprise.
We believe every human being is endowed by nature with inherent rights to life, liberty and property that are properly secured by law.
We support a strict construction of the Bill of Rights as a defense against tyranny; the expansion of those rights to all voluntary consensual conduct under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments; and the requirements of equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.
We support the Constitutional restrictions on federal government powers enumerated in Article I, Section 8 as an absolute limit on all government functions and programs.
We oppose the adoption of broad and vague powers under the guise of general welfare or interstate commerce.
We oppose all restrictions on the voluntary and honest exchange of value in a free market.
We favor minimal, equitable, and fair taxation for the essential functions of government.
We oppose all legislation that concedes Congressional power to any regulatory agency, executive department, or international body.
We support the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, the republican form of government it requires, and the right of all citizens to fair and equitable representation.
We believe these are also the proper positions of the Republican Party.
In these trying times, I think a little sunshine is nice to brighten our days. So here’s some pix of two of my three cats and the two .357 revolvers I’m carrying these days (at the same time, the snubbie is my backup/”New York Reload.”)
About two weeks ago, a 16 year old kid who was known among his friends for being a clown picked up a courtesy phone at Wal-Mart, punched in the code to access the PA system, and announced, “Attention Wal-Mart customers: All black people leave the store now”. I had an odd sense of deja-vu as the media blew this story up like it was a Klan lynching. I remembered Don Imus, who was fired from two jobs after making his ‘nappy-headed ho’s’ joke in reference to the Rutgers female basketball team- which wasn’t even an issue until a week after it was made thanks to Media Matters. I recalled how Michael Richards was made out to be Hitler after he blew up at two black hecklers in the audience and dropped all kinds of N-bombs on them. Even earlier, Senator Trent Lott was painted as a racist for telling Strom Thurmond at his birthday party that if he had been elected when he ran for president 50 some-odd years before, the country would be better off. Of course, that means Trent Lott wants separate drinking fountains, right? I also fondly recalled how South Park (see image above) ripped to shreds the race pimps and the politics of racial destruction with their ‘naggers’ episode.
This 16 year old kid, whose name is not being released due to his age, has been charged with harassment and bias intimidation. He was arrested. Let me repeat that. HE WAS ARRESTED. Now, granted, his prank was not in the best of taste, to some it was definitely offensive. I don’t even think it was all that funny of a joke, I think it could have been much better had it been thought out beforehand. But I am absolutely appalled that this teenager is being charged with a criminal offense because of what he SAID.
The libertarian in me would leave it up to Wal-Mart to decide whether or not to pursue criminal trespass, after all, the kid did use Wal-Mart’s property and did harm to their ability to do business. That I can understand. What I can’t understand is the thought-policing going on here. Nevermind actual racism, which this was not, but you can’t even make a joke involving race or you will face JAIL TIME.
Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously?
If this is where we’re going as a country then we deserve to be wiped out. A bunch of thin-skinned, whining nellies who can’t even shrug off a poor joke, something so obvious as a kid playing with the PA system. What gets me is that it’s not black people who are outraged about this, except for the black mouthpieces who are always outraged. It’s white people who are falling over themselves to be outraged because they think it makes them look not-racist to black people. It’s this sickening, nauseating, and condescending pandering that guilt-ridden white liberals engage in that is characterized by faux outrage and hypersensitivity to anything racial, whether it’s a joke or a serious point in discussing race relations or politics involving race. They want to be seen as so-not-racist that their racism is clear as day for anyone who looks past their holier-than-thou auras. They think that they have to defend black people from stupid pranks, jokes from Don Imus, angry outbursts from Michael Richards, and innocuous comments made by Trent Lott. Stop it. Black people are capable of deciding for themselves what is offensive and what isn’t. They’re even capable of chuckling at a racial joke or poking fun at the stereotypes associated with black people. They don’t need a white savior to protect them from bad jokes or even real racism. Enough with the pandering and thought policing. This kid does not deserve to be arrested for the content of his joke and charged with bias crimes, especially when racially motivated assaults from blacks against whites are happening more and more in cities all over the country. No more double standards and no more patronization, please.
I dig them and dig what they do. My wife and I are members, and will continue to be, probably our whole lives. (We haven’t ponied up for the lifetime membership yet, but keep renewing our membership and also send ‘em a check for a little more than that once in a while.) The NRA is, if not the reason guns are still legal in America, they’re at least largely the reason there is shall-issue concealed carry permits and Castle Doctrine in a lot of states (including Wyoming).
But while they’re very in favor of concealed carry with a permit, they don’t seem to want to admit that open carry without a permit, is legal in many states (including Wyoming).
The new (April 2010) issue of the NRA magazine “America’s 1st Freedom” has an article on page 13 called “Should the Brady Campaign Try Decaf”? It’s about how the cranky nanny-statist anti-gun group The Brady Campaign are trying to get Starbucks to ban legal carry of guns in all their coffee shops nationwide. (Which would only turn all Starbucks into “gun free zones” i.e. “victim disarmament zones” where any criminal with a gun could more easily tyrannize and harm law-abiding citizens.) It’s a good article and makes some cogent points: Starbucks is righteous for not giving in, and the Brady Campaign used to be a powerhouse but no one really pays attention to them anymore.
The really square thing about the article is that it does not mention open carry, even though it was open carry events at Starbucks that caught national news attention and got the Brady Bunch gun grabboids involved i the first place! The article simply mentions the Brady Campaign “attacking Starbucks for allowing people to carry firearms in its coffee shops as provided for by state law.”
That’s kind of making the story a little more square than it is.
See, some folks from a really cool web site , OpenCarry.org (I’ve been a member of their forum for almost a year) recently had some peaceful, mellow events at some Starbucks and open carried their guns in holsters on their hips. It got some national news. It got some vitriol from the leftie blogs. And Stephen Colbert even joked about it.
After it hit the news, the Brady Campaign wet their fussy panties about it and tried to get Starbucks to forbid ALL legal gun carry (open and concealed) at all Starbucks. Starbucks refused, and then the NRA wrote the article. But, again, NO MENTION OF OPEN CARRY in the article.
I’m a member of some smaller gun-rights organizations that ain’t so square. They also ain’t got as much juice, or as many numbers. Maybe being square and compromising is how the NRA stays big and have the juice they do. (They’ve been called “The most powerful lobbyist group in America”, and they are.) But maybe a lot of NRA members are such straight-arrow boyscouts that they are scared of open carry, even though Open Carry is TRULY THE MEANING OF “KEEPING AND BEARING ARMS.”
So I’ll keep up my NRA membership. But I’m also keeping up my membership of the GOA, the JPFO, and the WGOA.
Anyway, I haven’t even BEEN in a Starbucks in a long time, but I open carried and went into one yesterday (East Side, Casper Wyoming), just in the spirit of all this news, and to help support them for being supportive of us. No one seemed to care that I was open carrying, except one lady who’s eyes bugged out at my big-ass revolver. Her husband (or brother) asked me “is that a .44 Magnum”? I resisted the urge to give the Dirty Harry speech verbatim (just kiddin’) and simply replied “No, it’s a .357 Magnum.” Then he nervously chatted with me a bit about his gun-shooting experiences.
But as one person said on OpenCarry.org “Your need to feel safe doesn’t trump my need to be safe.”
NIAGARA FALLS — The “Slaughter Solution” on health care isn’t the only thing that has come under attack in U.S. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter’s world this week. Sometime early this morning, someone threw a brick through the front window of her Pine Avenue office.
The damage was discovered about 12:30 a.m., city police said.
The brick put a hole in the outer-most window at the office at 1910 Pine Ave., but did not damage a second interior window, police reported. A piece of broken brick believed to have caused the damage was found at the scene.
Damage was estimated at $350.
Slaughter, D-Fairport, is head of the House Rules Committee, which will structure the debate on health care reform votes set for this weekend.
By the way, the Constitution-shredding Slaughter not only is disgracing the fact that she’s distantly related to Daniel Boone, she’s a hypocrite. Because in April 2006 Slaughter, along with John Conyers, brought action against George W. Bush alleging violations of the Constitution.
This meeting occurred in a town only a 30 minute drive from my house. All these guys said was that if politics could not reign in this federal government, we may have to resort to a revolution. Well if the political system can’t reign it in then what are we supposed to do? Just accept it? No. I would hope that we can turn this around, but if it doesn’t then the sad reality is that yes, we may have to rebel.
As Thomas Jefferson said “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, & as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” – Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Paris, 30 January 1787.
Michael W. Dean talks about filmmaking, art, life and politics
podcast episode 38
Michael W. Dean sits in his back yard on a glorious spring day, pets his cats and talks about digital filmmaking, art, life and politics…while answering interview questions from a college student in India. His name is Anamitra Roy and he’s no-budget filmmaker from Kolkata, Westbengal, India and a student of film studies at the Jadavpur University. He has sent me these questions while preparing his dissertation paper on no-budget film making worldwide.
Questions I was asked, then talked for 40 minutes:
1) What does it mean by ‘no-budget film’ ? ( Definition or the concept)
2) What is the philosophical aspect of these non/anti-industrial films? (Marxism, people’s art or Post-modern individual effort / potential role in a democratic state)
3) What Cameras and Edit suits have you used for your films? Why? (availability of digital technology in today’s world)
4) Unless there have been a DV revolution, do you think that the concept of no-budget had flourished to this extent? (The festivals organized all over the world, people making films on their own — could this be real in the era of celluloid too. Please elaborate.)
5) Will you go to Hollywood if they call you? Why? (center – periphery relationship / cultural hegemony)
(I forgot to answer this one, but the answer is “No.” I plan to never ever set foot in the state of California again, mainly because it’s a dangerous place and I can’t legally bring my guns. The California chapter in my life is over. I lived there from 1986 to 2009. That’s well long enough.)
6) How does Digital technology help in organizing screenings? (budget)
CHEYENNE — With some trepidation, Governor Dave Freudenthal on Thursday signed into law a bill asserting that Wyoming-made firearms are exempt from all federal laws and regulations.
The legislation, which takes effect in July, is meant as a shot across the bow of the federal government. But it’s unclear whether the new law will remain a symbolic declaration of states’ and Second Amendment rights, or spark a real-life confrontation between state and federal officials.
Under the law, any firearms made from scratch in Wyoming — besides automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers — are officially exempt from all federal gun laws so long as the gun isn’t taken out of the state.
That means no three-day waiting period to buy a Wyoming-made gun, no Federal Firearms License needed, no federal taxes to pay…..
Wyoming is the third state to pass a Firearms Freedom Act, after Montana and Tennessee. The laws are all based on the argument that since the federal government justifies its ability to regulate firearms on a section of the U.S. Constitution allowing Congress to regulate interstate commerce, any guns that never leave a state are exempt from federal control.
But Wyoming’s Firearms Freedom Act is harsher than the other states’ laws, as it says that any state or federal official who tries to enforce any federal gun law on firearms made and sold in Wyoming could face a $2,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
(note, there’s an error in this, Wyoming is the fourth state to pass such a law, Utah just passed one. But Wyoming’s IS the first with penalties for federal officials who violate it.)
The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Wyoming bill HB0095 will allow our state to circumvent the federal government’s gun laws for guns made and used in the state. (Most federal gun laws use the “Interstate Commerce Clause” to insert the feds into state business.) HB0095 rightfully applies the 10th Amendment (States’ Rights) to declare that if guns & ammo are made here and only ever used here, and not shipped out of state, they do not come under federal jurisdiction.
Both Tennessee and Montana tried this last year. But the feds basically said “No, you’re wrong.” The states said “Why?”, the feds said “BECAUSE WE SAY SO!”, and both states basically said “OK. We’re sorry…never mind.”
The Wyoming bill, HB0095, is different in that it allows the state to prosecute federal agents who ignore this law.
I’m all for this bill. But the problem with it is that in order to be more than a piece of paper, it would have to go to be tried in the courts. For that to happen, it could require a Wyoming citizen to get arrested by the feds, so Wyoming can arrest the fed who arrested the Wyoming citizen. Because that would give it teeth. Otherwise it’s just like the Tennessee and Montana bills: a nice start, but just a piece of paper in reality.
I think it has to be tested to make it stick.
My prediction: a Wyoming citizen will make a few silencers in his barn on his lathe, sell ‘em at the swap meet, get arrested by a fed. Wyoming will arrest the fed who arrests the Wyoming citizen. It could likely turn into a “hostage negotiation and prisoner exchange.” With one side trading a prisoner to the other side for their prisoner. And the new law might get muted as a condition of the process
Wyoming will likely pick and choose who to use as a test case…probably find the least “gun nutty” person arrested to make the case….like was done in DC in [i]Heller[/i], and like is happening in the Supreme Court now with that old grandpa in Chicago. So I wouldn’t count on smooth sailing for everyone who decides to test this if/when it passes. I think it also might have to do with timing in relation to the upcoming elections.
Or the feds might keep their prisoner, and just bring in an army to take back their prisoner.
There may be someone willing to be a martyr for it. I’m not going to volunteer for that job. There are generally no conjugal visits in federal prison. But if there are people willing to die for liberty, there must be someone willing to face prison to test a law. (Though I’d wait until after the election. No reason to get thrown to the lions just to get someone votes.)
To be clear, I am NOT encouraging anyone to try be the test case. Encouraging that could be illegal.
The way this will likely be tested will be the way the Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Hellerwas done. Someone (in this case, probably the state attorney general) will review cases and find the most non-”gun nut” candidate who’s already been arrested.
For District of Columbia v. Heller, a wealthy libertarian attorney (Robert A. Levy, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute) who has never even owned a gun hired a team and looked at and vetted a bunch of people who had been turned down for a permit in DC. They settled on a policeman, a “regular guy” who didn’t rock the boat in any other area of his life.
Levy and team didn’t want much involvement from the gun lobby either. They figured (probably correctly) that the case would have a better public face if it were more about rights not guns, even though it was about gun rights.
The gun lobby, at least the NRA, would likely NOT touch this Wyoming one. It’s a little too libertarian of a bill and not Republican enough for them. (My prediction? They won’t give it much ink.)
The GOA or JPFO, and WGOA would likely jump all over it though, so there is that.
There are other possible ways this could be tested. A corporation could ignore federal law and be prosecuted by the feds. A corporation would have to risk having all their assets seized. And if that corporation started making machine guns and selling them over the internet with people driving within the state to pick them up at the factory, the feds would likely also arrest the guys at the loading dock filling orders, and the customers picking them up.
The third way I could see is the feds testing it simply on the State of Wyoming, just for passing it. But win or lose, that would risk having federal funding cut off, like the feds usually threaten to do when states have raised their speed limits in the past. The state would likely risk that anyway if they defended an individual or corporation on this, too. “Dad’s gonna cut off your allowance if you don’t behave.”
That might just be what it takes. Losing federal funding. Because “nailing some paper to the church door” is a nice start, but it doesn’t have teeth.
It’s one thing to yell “GET OFF MY PROPERTY!” at trespassers. It’s another thing entirely to keep trespassers off your property.
Paid anti-gun lobbyists engaged in anti-gun edit war on Wikipedia (allegedly).
I’m saying “allegedly” because these folks probably have an army of lawyers and I’m just stating opinion here, reporting what others on Wikipedia have said.
There are a few people on Wikipedia who have been making edits to gun-rights articles, (allegedly) removing even encyclopedic wording that shows open carry, CCWs and gun ownership in a positive light.
Do the other editors realize that ForwardThinkers is the NEW EDITING NAME of a full-time paid lobbyist for The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV)–a gun control group? In fact, “CSGV “was his old editing sign-in name. Talk about conflict of interest! ForwardThinkers has been repeatedly warned in the past not to make substantive edits to gun rights pages by other editors and admins, yet he persists in doing so. This sort of meddling by paid lobbyists and their cronies is POISONING wikipedia, and compromising its neutrality.
Here’s where ForwardThinkers admits he’s “the Director of Communications” for anti-gun rights group the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:
ForwardThinkers stripped most of the useful and true information from the article on Concealed Carry. (It was later reverted by more neutral and senior editors.)
they pretty much sit around all day, every day, making edits on Wikipedia, and these edits are later reverted by other editors. Me thinks they might be paid to do this.
Also, this user, PeaceLoveHarmony, is “engaged in an edit” war, according to more senior Wikipedia editors, and has been threatened with getting kicked off the site for editing gun-rights articles in a negative light.
But that user is unlikely to get spanked, he abides by the rules of Wikipedia, and also edits non-RKBA articles, stuff on sports, etc. That goes a long way on Wikipedia for not seeming “spammy” or “sockpuppty.” In fact, he’s been awarded a “BarnStar” (Wikipedia award for outstanding service.)
This non-spammy user GB fan, actually removed the link to OpenCarry.org link on the Open Carry article on Wikipedia, but it was simply a “notability challenge”, a common and needed filtering technique on Wikipedia. Several users challenged the challenge, here,
I’m only pointing this out. I’m not asking people to challenge this on Wikipedia, unless they are long-time Wikipedia users with many useful edits, and who understand the way Wikipedia works. Any new user who jumps in and starts making feisty edits will usually have their edits deleted. There’s a protocol, and it has to be followed. And old users have more sway than new users, especially old users with many useful edits, with attribution, on a number of topics.
I’d say if there are any long-time Wikipedia users with many useful edits, and who understand the way Wikipedia works, they keep an eye on the anti-gun editors and challenge edits, with verification, and with explanation on the talk page for the article.
1. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
2. “Vacation” means going up north past Worland for the weekend.
3. You measure distance in hours.
4. You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
5. You often switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back again.
6. Your whole family wears brown and gold to church on Sunday.
7. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
9. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
10. You think of the major food groups as beer, fish, and venison.
11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
12. There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at Big R Ranch & Farm at any given time.
13. You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
15. You refer to the Bronco’s as “we.”
16. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
17. You can identify a Colorado accent.
18. You have no problem spelling Meeteetse.
19. You consider Cheyenne exotic.
20. You don’t have a coughing fit from one sip of Coors.
21. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.
22. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
23. Down South to you means Denver.
24. A brat is something you eat.
25. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new machine shed.
26. You go out to bull fry every Friday.
27. You know how to line dance.
28. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
29. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
30 You find 0 degrees “a little chilly.”
31. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Wyoming friends
====
This is longer, but even better:
Wyoming State Barbies are finally available
Jackson Barbie: This modern day homemaker Barbie is available with a Mercedes 4WD SUV, a Prada handbag and matching Nike Yoga ensemble. She has a masters degree and double-majored, but has the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom with Ken’s generous salary. Comes with Percocet prescription and Botox. Starbucks mug and traffic-jamming Blackberry internet/cell phone device sold separately. Husband Ken is into fishing, golfing, baseball and is often “working late.” Available at all Seattle-area Starbucks retailers.
Teton Village Barbie: This princess Barbie is only sold at Nordstrom. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade handbags, your choice of a BMW convertible or Hummer H2 and a long-haired foreign lapdog named “Honey.”
Also available is her cookie-cutter development dream house. Available with or without tummy tuck, facelift, and breast augmentation. Workaholic, cheating husband, Ken, comes with a Porsche.
Rock Springs Barbie: This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, switchblade, ‘78 El Camino with dark tinted windows, and a meth lab kit. This model is available only after dark and can only be purchased with cash – preferably small bills, unless you’re a cop, then we don’t know what you’re talking about. Boyfriend Ken is in rehab. Available at many pawn shops.
Rawlins Barbie: This tobacco chewing, brassy-haired Barbie comes with a pair of high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased Beer Gut Ken out of Auburn Barbie’s trailer. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, strawberry lip gloss and a see-through halter top. Purchase her Mustang convertible separately and get a Confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free. Boyfriend Ken is in the State Prison. Available at Army Navy Surplus.
Cheyenne Barbie: This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans 2 sizes too small, steel-toed cowboy boots, a Willie Nelson T-shirt and a Tweedy Bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has fake fingernails, a six pack of Budweiser, and a Hank Williams, Jr. CD set. She can spit over a distance of 6 feet and kick PRCA cowboy Ken’s ass when she is drunk. Also available is the gold-toned cubic zirconium ring that Ken gave her after another one of his “episodes” with his boss’s daughter. Comes with Barbie’s Dream Double Wide Trailer. Available at Wal-Mart.
Gillette Barbie: Pregnant at purchase, this Barbie comes with a stroller and bus pass. Also included is a G.E.D. and a completely filled out food stamps form. Construction worker Ken and his ‘82 Caddy are optional. Available at Value Village.
Laramie Barbie: This Barbie is made out of recycled plastic and tofu. She has long straight brown hair, archless feet, hairy armpits, no make-up, and Birkenstocks with white socks. She does not want, or need, a Ken doll. If you purchase the optional Subaru wagon, you will receive a free rainbow flag sticker. Available at REI.
Lander Barbie: This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to Ken by simply adding or removing snap on parts. Walks to work. Likes to “experiment,” but will never commit. This model is being phased out and is only available from the manufacturer.
Cody Barbie: This Barbie is a transplant from California and moved into the area to “get away from the big city”. She comes with a 10 acre “ranch” on the South Fork and a 1-ton crew cab diesel truck that she drives the kids to school in. She moved here to live in the beautiful and low populated west, but now doesn’t want anyone else to move here because they will ruin the area. Retired lawyer Ken comes with his own cowboy outfit so he can act like he is a local and “fit in”. This model is sold at any main street art gallery in Cody, and there are several to choose from.
I got me a big ol “Wyoming cowboy gun” (large .357 magnum revolver, a.k.a. a “hog leg” revolver.) It’s made in Newport, New Hampshire by the Ruger company. It’s the Ruger GP100, the one with the 6-inch barrel. It ’s pretty heavy. One review I read of it said “Great gun, and it doubles as a club!” lol…
We also got a new rifle today, a .308 caliber from a Japanese company called “Howa”, they make good guns for the money. The ironic thing is that it’s illegal to own a gun in Japan! Will work for hunting deer and antelope if we ever get around to that.
–Michael W. Dean
Charlie looking like a chicken or a llama:
Wyoming beeoches!…. (note…this is a joke, I am not a gangsta):
Peanut in his favorite position:
Fuzzy enjoys a “frink”:
Peanut plays:
Kurt Russell in Tango & Cash with the Ruger GP100 with a 4-inch barrel and some huge 1980s laser site:
I hang a United States flag outside my house most days. (When the wind is under 40 MPH in Wyoming, when it’s higher than that it will bend the pole. It’s happened before.)
But most days, it becomes a “burrito flag” within hours:
I go outside several times a day and un-burrito it:
We had a flag up in California the last few months there, but someone stole it off our house. (Probably to perform some Satanic ritual with it, or to disgrace it in some way and call it “art.”)
We are patriotic. Not in a “my country, right or wrong” way. More in a “love it or leave it” way. I don’t trust my government, but I love my country.
And I love Johnny Cash. I’m listening to him right now. Seems to fit somehow.
We are just loving every moment in Wyoming. It’s what we always wanted but just didn’t know it existed. Here are some photos:
DJ happy:
Below: on the left is the Dick Cheney Federal building. To its right is the William Jefferson Clinton post office. (Do you think they fight when no one’s looking? Or….if you’re a NWO conspiracy theorist, do you think they drink blood and sacrifice virgins together?)
DJ happy downtown:
Me happy downtown, with a gun on my hip under my coat, in front of some REAL public art:
(re-post of a blog post I did in June 2008 about George W. Bush. I’m re-posting to quash beliefs that I only dislike liberals and love all Republicans.)
Is the president being impeached? (I hope so.)
I have been watching a lot of C-SPAN lately. It’s basically the only thing worth watching, now that all TV pretty much sucks.
Not a lot of people watch C-SPAN. So I’m one of the small percentage of Americans who know, at this moment, that Representative Dennis Kucinich is on the Congressional floor presenting his resolution calling for Bush’s impeachment. It’s a list of 35 charges, (list here) mostly Constitutional violations and Geneva Convention violations, and he’s been reading it for about an hour, and he’s about halfway through it. A member of the House of Representatives presenting a resolution detailing charges is one of the first steps in impeachment proceedings.
The charges range from election fraud, including disenfranchisement, to illegal wiretapping to illegal torture, to lying about our reasons for going to war, to handing out padded military contracts to his buddies. And a lot more. I can barely keep up. And I’m as giddy as a kid in a candy store about this. So is Debra Jean. She’s glued to the screen. We both love the Constitution. A lot.
It’s history in the making, and it’s not even on CNN.com or Yahoo News yet. I think it’s an emergency meeting, because it’s 10:30 PM in DC right now. I remember seeing the effort to impeach Richard Nixon as news coverage on TV when I was a kid, but he was never actually impeached. (He quit before that could happen, and Ford pardoned Nixon as soon as he took office.) And Nixon was basically just going to be charged with, as I recall, one thing (conspiring to pay people to bug a hotel room). The charges being read against Bush are many, and many are far more serious.
Kucinich is quoting the US Constitution a lot. I wish Kucinich had made it to run for president. He’s smart, and has other things going for him.
I have a prediction: tonight on the Colbert show, Colbert will report this out of character, as he really is, not as his “alter ego” who would be outraged by this. He’ll just state it, and let people cheer.
Here’s a quick 20-minute podcast I recorded, and uploaded while the proceedings were still being read live. It’s about 17 minutes of the charges being read, and about three minutes of us commenting on it. We’re pretty much in shock. And pretty happy.
(behind every great short man is a smart, better looking, and often taller, woman)
Up the independents. I am tired of people trying to put me into a box because they only see other people’s political views in relation to their own. If I am disagreeing with a liberal, that must mean I am a right-wing nutcase. If I am arguing with a conservative, then I am a bedwetting liberal moonbat. Stop already, you people who do this are embarrassing yourselves.
Recently, I had an exchange with someone on one of the message boards I post on. Someone complained that Republicans were abusing the filibuster and stonewalling Democrat-backed legislation in the Senate. When I mentioned that the Democrats did the same thing to President Bush’s judicial nominees, I got a world of shit for it. I was called an ‘apologist’ for the GOP, I was told that it was different since the Dems were filibustering nominees but the Republicans are just blocking everything. I was even called a “traitor” to who I am, since the Republicans generally oppose same-sex marriage and the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Oh man, did I get pissed. Here’s what I said:
“Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what my political ideology should be based on who I have sex with? Because I like smoking a pole or two, that means I have to support EVERY liberal tax me out the ass, welfare state-loving, illegal immigrant harboring, enviro-nazi chump-stain socialist douche nozzle who runs for office?
Again, fuck you, pal. I agree with what the Democrats SAY about marriage equality and ending DADT, now let’s see them actually DELIVER on it. Maybe then I’ll be more willing to put up with all the other bullshit that spews out of the DNC. Until then, I will support whomever the fuck I want and if you don’t like it, tough shit.”
I was slightly miffed.
The truth is that I can’t stand either major political party. I think they’re both full of incompetent and/or corrupt people out for their own gain and their own power. I don’t think they care one bit about average people. TS, who responds to many posts here, believes that conservatives are selfish and liberals are compassionate. Are they? Or is that what people been led to believe by those who are trying to pose as compassionate? Who or what defines compassion anyway, or selfishness for that matter? Doesn’t anyone ever think that maybe, just maybe, there isn’t that great of a divide between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to their votes and their actions? Put away the rhetoric and look at what they DO.
Both tend to favor big business over the individual.
Both supported bailouts and giveaways to failing industries.
Both were complicit in the signing of the Patriot Act and in sending our troops to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Both parties used the filibuster as a cheap way to thwart the executive branch, and both parties even met to hammer out a compromise so they would be able to use the cloture process as a de-facto filibuster in the future.
Both support the massive confiscation and wasting of our tax dollars.
Both support, for the most part, the war on drugs.
Both supported NAFTA and all of the other so-called “free trade” agreements that only served to gut the American workforce and erode our national sovereignity.
Just because they pretend to be on polar opposites every election year doesn’t mean they really are. They’re simply trying to get themselves elected, and the American public buys it, thinking that there are real differences at play.
As George Carlin was fond of saying, “Bull-fucking-shit!”
Words of Wisdom:
Rest in peace, George. A shame you didn’t live to see the final freak show.
TS asked on a comment on another thread: “Please explain how people are being ‘forced’ to give away their private assets to help others.” (in regard to progressives/liberals/Democrats).
This really is libertarianism 101, but deserves its own post.
But here ya go:
When you vote in people who want to increase social spending (welfare, for instance, or foreign aid), those people raise taxes. If someone who did not vote for that person disagrees, he has to pay those taxes anyway. If he doesn’t pay taxes, agents of the government will come to his house and arrest him. If he refuses to come out, they will come in his house and put a gun to his head.
Therefore, the social services you “benevolently” and “compassionately” vote for are paid for with taxes collected at the barrel of a gun. This is an initiation of aggression and a use of force and is NOT compassionate.
Moreover, Democracy is undemocratic, because 51% can tyrannize 49% with things like this.
This joke explains it well:
I recently asked my friends’ little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, ‘If you were President what would be the first thing you would do? ‘
She replied, ‘I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.’
Her parents beamed with pride.
‘Wow…what a worthy goal.’ I told her, ‘But you don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. ‘
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, ‘ Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50? ‘
I said, ‘Welcome to the Republican Party.’
Her parents still aren’t speaking to me.
Another quick explanation is found in one of my lyrics, the Right Arm of Wyoming song “Freaky Liberal Mammal Sex“:
If my neighbor had three cars and I stole one
I’d rightly go to prison
If this “progressive” gub’ment mugs my neighbor for his car
to tax-support crack babies
Liberals think that’s justice
The younger people are, the more they think their own rules are set in stone. The older you get, the more you realize you have to sometimes re-evaluate them.
Personal “moral” rules change. It’s not selling out, it’s evolution.
When I was 10, I thought it was immoral to smoke pot.
When I was 13, I was a vegetarian, and thought it was immoral to eat meat.
When I was 14, I was a born-again Christian and thought it was immoral to say “Goddamn.”
When I was 15, I was a pacifist and thought it was immoral to hit back if someone hits you.
When I was 21, I thought it was immoral to carry a gun. And I thought it was immoral to deal with major corporations or vote Republican.
And I believed it was immoral to deal with major corporations until my late 20s, and believed it was immoral to carry a gun or vote Republican until I was in my early 40s.
You get old the moment you stop being teachable.
–Michael W. Dean
—-
I’d love to hear how your “absolutes” have changed with age.
Last week at CPAC, much to my delight, some little prick from California named Ryan Sorba got himself un-welcomed. I couldn’t be happier.
The back story. Last year, a number of Log Cabin Republicans split from the group and formed GOProud. Apparently, LCR was too liberal, too Washington establishment. Personally, I think gay Republicans are gluttons for punishment, but hey, that’s just me.
It seems that GOProud was invited to be a part of CPAC, and initially, many other participants threatened to back out. However, they didn’t, and all was going well until this douchebag Ryan Sorba took the podium and began trashing CPAC and going off on his silly rant about natural law. Look at his face. Go on. Look at that smug little kisser. Don’t you just want to punch him repeatedly? Now, I am not advocating that anyone do it, but oh does he have a punchable, arrogant puss.
What surprised me, though, is that CPAC booed him off the stage. I expected perhaps a tepid response, or nervous clapping, but no, they took him down, and it’s likely he won’t come back next year. It’s a faint glimmer of hope that perhaps some mainstream conservatives are getting over their tendency to reject anything LGBT. It’s not much, but it’s a start.
This slick piece, created by WorldNet Daily contributor Jason Mitchell (also known as ‘Molotov Mitch’) has created a bit of a stir. I can’t see why, I mean, he’s only coming out in support of a bill currently pending in Uganda’s parliament that would make homosexuality a capital offense. He seems irked that many people, including thousands of Christians, have called upon American religious and political leaders to condemn the people pushing this bill. If gay Ugandans don’t like the new law, should it take effect, they can just leave.
This bill, commonly referred to as the “Kill the Gays” bill, would make certain gay sex acts punishable by death and others by life imprisonment. It would also require Ugandans who know a gay person to report them to the police. Failure to do so will land them in jail. Perhaps Ugandans can leave, but where will they go? Africa is the New Christian Experiment, with Catholics on one side promoting starvation, famine, and AIDS by preaching against condoms and borth control, and Evangelicals pushing for draconian laws against homosexuality and agreeing, for once, with the Catholics on doing away with condoms. Christians have been fucking over Africa for centuries. Maybe King Mwanga II was right.
Who was King Mwanga? According to Mitchell, he was a “Sodomite King” who passed a law that required any male he desired to yield to his sexual advances. There is no evidence that King Mwanga II was a homosexual or that he instituted such a law. In my readings on the subject, only Mitchell makes the claim. According to his summary on Wikipedia, he was a polygamist who had sixteen wives with whom he fathered seven sons and four daughters. While he might have enjoyed the company of men on the side, the claim that he was a “Sodomite” is ridiculous on it’s face. Mwanga II did, in fact, have 22 Catholic missionaries burned at the stake, but not because they refused his charming propositions. He had them killed because they had converted to Catholicism and wouldn’t renounce their new faith. These men became known as the Uganda Martyrs, but they died for their religious beliefs, not because they wouldn’t play with the king’s royal sceptre. Later in life, after being deposed and exiled to the Seychelles, Mwanga became an Anglican and spent his final days as a Christian man.
Mitchell also lies about the Founding Fathers, claiming they made homosexuality a capital offense, yet he only cites two examples where anything close to this was enforced. “Anti-buggery laws” were a default under English Common Law. This isn’t really a stretch. To say that they actively persecuted homosexuals, however, is. Very simply, homosexuality wasn’t defined as an orientation or attraction until 100 years after the Republic was founded. Of course, homosexuality existed- Washington did have a soldier drummed out. It didn’t stop him from having Baron Friederich von Steuben, a Prussian General and alleged lover of young boys, come and whip the Continental Army into shape. Without von Steuben, it’s likely the Revolutionary War would have been lost.
He ends his slick propaganda piece with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr, saying that “the moral arm of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. I don’t think Mitchell understands the context of that quote, but then again, he deliberately mischaracterized and outright falsified so much else in is video editorial, I don’t think one more lie will matter.
ANGRY PEASANT RECORDS will send CDs FREE to active military at US/ APO/FPO address. Will send to the first 70 who write us. (NO FAKERS. REMEMBER, STOLEN VALOR IS A CRIME AND WE WILL CHECK!)
Sending these free to our troops is our small way of saying THANK YOU!
YOU GET: TWO (yes, 2!) copies of the CD of feisty libertarian gun-nut punk rock/industrial music, CLING TO OUR GUNS by Right Arm of Wyoming. Check out the music at www.rightarmofwyoming.
Extra copy of the CD is to “spread the love”, makes a perfect gift for that leftie relative who needs some modern “school house rock” to educate them on the error of their ways!
STYLE: PUNK ROCK, HARDCORE PUNK ROCK, INDUSTRIAL ROCK, ROCK ‘N” ROLL
SONG LISTING:
1. GET OFF MY PROPERTY!
2. MY GUN KEEPS YOU HONEST
3. REDISTRIBUTION OF THEFT
4. GOVERNMENT IS A COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATION
5. GUN CONTROL GETS WOMEN RAPED
6. LIBERTY IN SHARDS
7. FREAKY LIBERAL MAMMAL SEX
8. FAKIN’ THE RACE CARD
9. SINGLE CRACKLING BLUE FLASH
10. WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS!
11. US Bill of Rights (read by Mrs. Dean)
12. LETTER TO A YOUNG ME (SPOKEN)
13. MY GUN KEEPS YOU HONEST – CLEAN VERSION FOR RADIO
REVIEWS:
—”Fox News – the band” – Bridge Nine punk forums
—”As refreshing as a gunshot to the head…” – children’s book author Eric B. Anderson
—”You rule! I listened to your CD. It’s AWESOME!” –Pat Kim (head honcho at ConservativePunk.com)
—”WOW, you do not pull any punches. Great! The movement needs music which will strike a cord with all different kinds of people. Thanks for all you are doing to preserve our freedoms, liberty and culture.”
– Patriotic singer Lloyd Marcus
—”I threw up watching this crap. Talk about trying to indoctrinate! Pure propaganda set to music.”
–Some Michael Moore fan, commenting about Right Arm of Wyoming on YouTube
CD is factory glass mastered (not burned at home), and packaged in nice cardboard sleeve with four-color printing.
I don’t understand libertarianism, is it more right wing or? left wing?
I replied:
It’s kind of both, or neither. Fiscal conservatism to the right of Republicans, and socially to the left of liberals.
In other words, we don’t care if you? smoke crack, but we don’t wanna pay for the crack babies you have.
And we really like guns. A lot.
Basically the shortest definition of libertarianism is “get off my property”, with “property” being everything: rights, taxes, money, guns, drugs, what people do in their bedroom, etc.
Hope that helped.
Michael W. Dean
He replied:
Thanks! That helps a lot. I will look into libertarianism, because I agree with what you said.
If you plan to change the term limits and run a third term, as many conjecture, I would like to propose that you change your party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
I don’t suggest this only because Republicans are doing better now and are more popular, though we are. I suggest it because I think that you’re more fiscally conservative than most Democrats, so the switch would only makes sense. You’re more Republican than some Republicans, including the governor of California.
You’re in favor of preserving the Second and Tenth Amendments, things that most liberals are against. You favor Castle Doctrine and lower taxes, and are more willing to trust people to take care of themselves rather than feeling we need overlording and nannying. This trust is another mark of classic liberty-minded Republicans. You’re also more of a friend of liberty, and more fiscally conservative, than the Republicans who’ve run against you in the past.
You want the federal government out of the lives of Wyomingites, and are taking steps toward enforcing that. For all of this, I commend you.
As Democrats in America move to the left, favoring bigger government and higher taxes, and Republicans return to a Goldwater-like respect for the Founders’ ideals, I think the tag “Democrat” no longer fits you.
Come on over to the other side, Dave, it’s nice here! You’re already most of the way anyway, why not make it official?
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell is proposing a bill that will pay for a students schooling depending on grades (A=%100, B= %75, C=%50). I think this is bullshit. No one has the right to make you pay for another person’s college. And now while this is probably paid for by taxes from the oil companies and other corporation and not individuals, it’s still wrong. Taxation is theft, whether by a mugger in the street or a politician in DC. And what is a corporation but a group of individuals.
And the price of this?:
Parnell is proposing to pay for it by carving out $400 million of the state’s $8 billion Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund savings account as its own separate endowment, saying interest and investment profits from that would be used to pay for the scholarships. State Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux said it’s not clear how much the program would cost the state each year but he figures $20 million could be available annually for covering the costs of the scholarship program.
I would much rather struggle to pay for college and live off of ramen and live on a couch through my schooling than make others pay for my college.
Got my Wyoming concealed carry permit today. Meant more to me than when I got my driver’s license. (I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was 21, and never really drove much.) Getting a concealed weapon permit is a large part of the reason I moved to Wyoming….getting one is pretty much impossible in Los Angeles County, unless you’re a movie star or a judge.
You have to live in Wyoming six months before you can apply, and it took a month to get it. I’ve been here seven months, and have been open carrying the whole time. It was a trip to actually conceal carry, walk down the street, go to the library, go eat lunch with the wife. It felt good, like walking on the moon.
The libertarian in me doesn’t like the idea of needing a government-endorsed card to practice an inalienable right, but the Republican in me digs being able to get the card, and getting it.
Ironically for me, the Wyoming legislature is currently mulling a bill that would allow concealed carry without a permit, and that bill may pass. (Yay!). But my permit will still allow me to carry in Utah, the Dakotas, Montana and a bunch of other states. (Not New York or California though! Those places are no friends of freedom.)
Also ironic is that my permit was available yesterday for pickup, but it was Presidents’ Day, so the office was closed. “President’s Day” is what they call it, but it’s officially called “George Washington’s Birthday”, and I think George would have been appalled at the idea of needing a permit to carry a gun. He didn’t need no stinking papers to carry!
Anyway, it’s a really good day, and I’m very happy!
My beloved Taurus 605 snub-nose revolver failed the other day. Really bummed me out, I had a “relationship” with that gun, and was counting on it if I needed it to save my life. I carried it everywhere.
My Taurus jammed while shooting .38 special plus P ammo. I got the spent shells out, but the gun won’t close easily now, and you can barely pull the trigger.
Fortunately, Taurus guns covered by a lifetime guarantee, not just lifetime of the owner, but the life of the GUN, so even if you buy one second-hand, it’s still covered.
UPDATE, ONE MONTH LATER: Got it back from Taurus, 4 weeks to the day after sending it in, it’s now working better than ever.
I’ll carry my S&W 908 semi-auto until I get it back (could take Taurus a few months, I’ve heard) but I am going to ALWAYS carry at least the mouse gun (Ruger .380 LCP) as a backup. What if I’d needed the Taurus in a life-and-death situation and it failed, and I had no backup?
I got the gun new, and have fired maybe 1000 rd through it over a few months. Mostly .357, some .38.
FWIW, the brand of ammo I was firing when it jammed was Blazer, but I don’t think it’s an ammo issue. Those rounds have a lot less power than the .357s I usually use.
WHY REVOLVERS?
Someone asked me “why do people still buy revolvers”?
People buy revolvers for the reason people still buy hammers. Because it may be an old design, but they work (despite my exception, which is so rare it proves the rule).
They fail less than most semi-autos, they’re cheaper.
They’re actually great guns for people with no experience with guns. If you ever buy a gun for someone, like a girlfriend or wife, who’s willing to carry a gun, but not willing to really become a “gun person”, a revolver is great. No safety to forget to turn off, not mag disconnect to accidentally hit, just point, and pull trigger. The trigger is so hard it acts as a safety, but you can also cock the trigger with your thumb to get a shorter trigger pull. (Which also has the psychological effect on whoever you’re pointing it at,….think Dirty Harry).
And why snubbies? A .357 revolver is the most power you can pack in the smallest form. Someone described a .357 snubbie as being like the “Noisy Cricket” gun from Men in Black.
And Snubbies can be fired from inside the pocket if need be. A semi-auto, not so much, because the slide has to move. Also, revolvers do not engage a spring until you pull the trigger. You could probably leave a loaded revolver in a drawer for half a century, and it would still work when you pulled the trigger. A loaded semi-auto with a bullet in the chamber would probably seize up or the spring would break in that amount of time.
Plus all revolvers look and feel cool and retro, and have a lot of history. They were the first usable multi-shot handguns. “God mad man, but Sam Colt made them equal.”
Revolvers are much less affected by dust and dirt, require less cleaning and oiling, and are much easier to clean. (for what it’s worth, I cleaned mine often, and carried in a holster, which prevents pocket lint from getting in, but many people carry snubbies in a coat pocket. I don’t recommend that, for dirt, but also because in a holster, you KNOW what position it’s going to be in when you need to grab for it in an adrenaline situation.)
I’m psyched today. My concealed carry permit is waiting for me to pick up at the sheriff’’s office . Yay! I’ve wanted one for two years and more or less moved to Wyoming so I could get one!
Pro-Liberty legislation on Guns & Property Rights proposed by GOP legislators
by Michael W. Dean, Wyoming
Some interesting things going on here in the Rocky Mountain West…
There are three gun-rights bills going before the Wyoming legislature this month (as extra bills in a budget-only session), don’t know that they will pass, one will probably get tabled and considered later. two are 10th Amendment bills that would allow guns made and used only in the state to not come under federal purview (circumventing the Interstate Commerce Clause), but unlike the Montana bill, one of these actually allows the state to prosecute federal agents who violate it.
The other bill would allow Wyoming non-felons to carry a gun concealed without a permit, like Alaska and Vermont.
CHEYENNE — A proposal that would allow people in Wyoming to carry concealed weapons without permits passed an initial legislative hurdle on Thursday.
If the bill passes, Wyoming would become only the third state in the nation, after Vermont and Alaska, to allow conceal-carry without a permit.
Under House Bill 113, the only people not allowed to carry concealed weapons in the state would be people under the age of 21, convicted felons, those convicted of drug-related charges, alcoholics, those with physical disabilities that impair their ability to handle firearms, and people who have lived in the state less than six months.
Currently, Wyoming residents must apply every five years for concealed weapons permits.
Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, the Thermopolis Republican sponsoring the bill, said the legislation is meant simply to spell out rights that are already guaranteed under the Wyoming Constitution and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“I just believe people have the right to protect themselves and defend themselves,” Quarberg said. “And I want to make sure that we put it in statute and people know they can do it.”
There’s also the bill in session now to amend the state constitution to block federal demands that Wyomingites get health insurance if that federal health care debacle somehow passes.
http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2010/Digest/SJ0001.htm
SALT LAKE CITY — Conservative Utah lawmakers (photo of state capitol in SLC) want to spark a U.S. Supreme Court case that could ultimately allow states to develop resource-rich parcels of land that are now off limits where the federal government is the landlord.
The lawmakers said they will attempt to trigger an avalanche of legislation in the West through the use of eminent domain, which governments use to take private property for public use.
More than 60 percent of Utah is owned by the federal government, and policy makers here have long complained that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools.
Legislation was introduced in the Utah House on Thursday allowing the use of eminent domain on federal land. The effort has the full support of Republican Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who would have to defend the law.
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