Monday Musings With The Crew---Adios 2012

No dear readers, Sahib and I have not fallen over the fiscal cliff and taken our keyboards with us.  We've just been on a little holiday sabbatical, spending some time with friends and family.  Today, I'm sitting in my office watching the snow come down, and listening to clients calling in to cancel their appointments.  Ugh.  Anyway, on with the countdown.....

• Frankly, I am sick and tired of hearing the phrase "fiscal cliff".  I have news for you.....we went over the fiscal cliff a LONG time ago.  To be precise, we did a full gainer off the cliff on October 3, 2008, when then President George W. Bush signed the TARP bill into law.  The only question now is do we limp away from the landing with our tax rates and national security intact, or do we auger into the ground and have Dear Leader drop an anvil on our head a la Wile E. Coyote.  Reminds me of the old Norm McDonald joke......"there's only two kinds of cliff divers, world champions......and stuff on a rock"   

• As a young man growing up in Kansas, and then attending a land grant university (insert Silo Tech joke here), I am familiar with the old prank of "cow tipping".  What I didn't know is that the art has been perfected by our Russian comrades.....

• In what is surely a more accurate sign of impending doom than any Mayan calendar, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are having a baby.  Obviously the child will grow up to be a well-adjusted member of society, and make great contributions to the furthering of the human condition. We can only hope the little whippersnapper is smart enough not to donate any money to his daddy's charities... 

• Pennsylvania police have charged Benjamin Klinger with a multitude of charges stemming from the death of his 17 year old girlfriend in a car crash.  Police allege that Klinger intentionally crashed the car the two were riding in (at over 100 mph), and then sat on his injured girlfriend until she died of suffocation.  Senator Diane Feinstein immediately reacted by adding "the sitting position" to her upcoming weapons ban bill.  

• While we are on the topic of deadly weapons......how about the story of Franziska Hansen?  The 33 year old German woman is accused of attempting to murder her boyfriend during sex by suffocating him with her 38 DD breasts.  The boyfriend, Tim Schmidt, was able to escape the murderous confines of Franziska's cleavage, and ran naked to a neighbor's home to call police.  Schmidt claims that Hansen later admitted to him her intent, saying "I wanted your death to be as pleasurable as possible". We should all be so fortunate.....In response to this story,  the state of Massachusetts has asked Barney Frank to register his bad boys as potential deadly weapons...

• I don't know about you, but I am ready to kiss 2012 sayonara.  It was a crappy year for this country, for individual freedoms, personal responsibility, and most of the other things conservatives hold dear.  Chief Justice John Roberts lost his mind, the American electorate decided to vote for more handouts and less freedom, and the Kansas City Chiefs went 2-14.  Check please!

What Does "Gun" Control Really Mean?

Obviously our nation is currently embroiled in a vigorous "gun-control" debate.  The debate is doomed from the start, as the term "gun-control" is a non-sequitur.

Guns are inanimate objects, and as such are not subject to any laws or regulations.  They, like all inanimate objects, can respond only to physical forces and elements applied to them.  Press a gun's trigger firmly enough, and it will fire a chambered round.  Immerse it in water and metal components may rust.  Expose it to high enough temperatures, and it may melt into an amorphous blob.

Make no mistake, "gun-control" is about governmental control of people, not guns.  It is no different than any other governmental intrusion into the lives of the citizenry.  With each incremental increase in government's control over the populace, individual liberties take a corresponding decrease.  Many are comfortable having the federal government exert tremendous power over their daily lives, I am not.

I think what bothers me most about "gun" control advocates is their rank dishonesty.  I would have much more respect for them if they would just come out and admit that what they really want is a complete ban on private firearm ownership.  If only they would have the courage to boldly stake out their position, rather than cloaking it in politically palatable niceties.

This will never happen of course.  Statists learned long ago that rolling back liberty is much easier when done incrementally.  Me, I'm ready for the fight right now.   Come on you gun control pantywaists, make your play.  Knock on my door and tell me to turn my guns in.  Go ahead, make my day.

Evil, Not Elvis, Lives

With the horrible and tragic deaths that occurred last Friday in Connecticut, the hue and cry for more gun control laws has begun.  President Obama launched the first volley with his thinly veiled statement,

"These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change." 

I agree with President Obama, but I suspect our strategies to affect that change will be radically different.  Take a few moments to peruse the images below:

With one possible exception, does anyone believe gun control laws would have prevented the murders these men committed or for which they were directly responsible? And even in the case of James Holmes, as disturbed as he is, who is to say he wouldn't have gone the Timothy McVeigh route resulting in a greater loss of life.

As others have pointed out, including this post by the wonderful Dana Loesch, the majority of these mass shootings occur in "gun-free" locations.  She also emphasizes a point that many gun-control enthusiasts often neglect:  How many tragedies are stopped by law-abiding, gun-carrying citizens?  According to her post, American citizens use firearms in self-defense more than 2.1 million times annually.

Here is my suggestion for "change".  Put prayer back in schools.  Have school children say the pledge of allegiance every day through high school.  Create a national campaign touting the benefits of two-parent homes.  Teach children the constitution starting in elementary school.  Offer gun-safety classes in schools.  Re-introduce corporal punishment in schools.  Create a campaign that de-stigmatizes spanking the children at home.................   Unfortunately, unless you plan on home-schooling, these things will probably never happen, but here are some concrete solutions that we COULD institute:

• In states that allow concealed-carry, severely curtail "gun-free' zones.
• In all states, make schools concealed-carry zones for teachers and administration.  Allow teachers and administrators, if approved, to voluntarily carry concealed weapons and train them in the use of said weapons.  Keep a confidential listing of staff who is authorized to carry.  
• Start a nationwide program for employers in hugely public-facing businesses that assists the employers in training their staff in firearm safety and self-defense.  Allow approved staff to carry concealed weapons.

You may think I'm kidding, but when was the last time you heard about some nutjob shooting up a NRA or Ducks Unlimited banquet?  Even with the Fort Hood shootings, the terrorist whack-job picked a spot on the post where he knew the soldiers would be unarmed.  

Will any of these measures completely stop EVIL people from doing EVIL things?  No, but they will be 100% more effective than adding more gun laws.  Just ask the people of Chicago how well gun bans are working out for them...

The Gun Debate- Must Watch Video Of The Year!

In the wake of the Newtown, CT shootings last Friday, I have struggled with what to say in this space.  If you are reading this, you probably already know that the right to keep and bear arms has no bigger supporter than me.  Rather than have me rehash the gun control debate with you, I want instead to share this video from a SACSTW favorite.  Ladies and gentlemen, the brilliant Kira Davis..........

When Did We Become a Nation of Pussies?

First of all, I would like to apologize for my vulgarity (sorry Mom), but I read a story that made me so angry that nothing else really seems to fit.  Maybe the Mayans have it right and the apocalypse is upon us because I never thought I would live to see the day when the US friggin A would so cravenly pander to our enemies.  And what, dear readers, you may ask, has driven Sahib, normally a pillar of decorum and restraint, into a vulgar fury?  Just read the title of this Fox News story:

"Proposed Army manual tells G.I.s not to insult Taliban, speak up for women"

In a quote from the article:

"A proposed new handbook for Americans serving in Afghanistan warns them not to speak ill about the Taliban, advocate women’s rights or criticize pedophilia"

And this gem taken from the proposed manual:

 "Many of the confrontations occur because of [coalition] ignorance of, or lack of empathy for, Muslim and/or Afghan cultural norms, resulting in a violent reaction from the [Afghan security force] member,"

Yes!  God forbid that we stand up for women, criticize pedophiles, and insult our enemies.  I am so sick of the idiots that think if we just empathize with our enemies they won't hate us.  If we were just nicer to them and didn't mention their abhorrent acts, we could then skip hand-in-hand with them through fields of daisies singing Coca Cola jingles. For those people, I say scroll back up to the top of this post and look at that picture again.

Try this one on for size.  Imagine the response you would have gotten if you had suggested to Patton that he refrain from criticizing Hitler?  Or encouraging MacArthur to empathize with the Japanese way of thinking after the Bataan Death March?

I'm glad my grandfather, a World War I veteran, and my wife's grandfather, a multiple silver star winner and D-day veteran are not alive to see what this nation has become.  I truly weep when I think that as a nation we have devolved to the point where we are instructing our fighting men and women not to speak out against evil.

Come on Mayans, drop that giant asteroid on us now.

Choose Death!

Doesn't that sound like an uplifting message for a license plate?

According to Fox News, apparently a federal judge in North Carolina feels the license plate displayed above is unconstitutional.  US District Court Judge James Fox has ruled the license plate violated the first amendment because North Carolina does not offer a similar product with an opposing view point. Here's a sample for them!

I'm sure that they won't have any trouble putting this on a license plate.  Again, I show my ignorance of the first amendment because, doggone it, I just cant find the opposing viewpoint provision. I see the part that talks about congress shall make no laws establishing a religion, but absolutely nothing about that says a state cannot put a slogan on a license plate.  Particularly one that has nothing to do with religion.  

So by this logic, a state would not be able to have a license plate that says "Say No to Drugs!" unless it offered one as well that looks something like this:

I just want to make sure that I have it straight...

Monday Musings With The Crew

• All of this bashing of Obama for FEMA's handling of Hurricane Sandy has got to stop.  Oh wait, there hasn't been any bashing of Obama for Sandy, I'm confusing it with the incessant Bush-bashing over Katrina.  Well, the federal response to Sandy has been much better than Katrina, right?  Uh, maybe not.  According to a story at foxnews.com, early responders to Sandy were told to "go sight-seeing".  Interesting quote from one worker....."I worked in Katrina and Katrina was run better than Sandy".  

• Yesterday was the first day same sex marriages could be performed legally in the state of Washington, and let me tell you it was FABULOUS!  I've included a few snapshots so SACSTW readers could enjoy from afar......

Hey, I thought these were same-sex marriages!  Oh, wait....

The bride was stunning in camouflage and a multi-colored beard...

Spouse A, check.... Spouse B, check....ummm- are we to Spouse C already?

Honestly, I've got no real beef with these people.  I guess it's the Libertarian in me, but same-sex marriage ranks pretty low on my list of threats to our country's future.  Unless of course Barney Frank is involved.

• This morning I found a hilarious parody of whitehouse.gov.  The page on the 2012 Obama Vacation is must read stuff..... I love the "if Congress doesn't act" vacation delay countdown timer!  Here is what is not so funny.  I didn't realize the page was a parody until I visited it a second time.  That folks, is a sad commentary on what we've come to expect from George and Weezy Obama.

• Alberto Diaz Gonzalez pled guilty to smuggling charges in federal court last Thursday.  Upon returning to Miami from Cuba, Gonzalez was found to be hiding 16 Cuban bullfinches......in his pants.  Gonzalez admitted to intending to sell the smuggled birds.  Kind of reminds me of the old joke about the guy taking his duck to the movies,  but I digress.

All Time Top Five Posts

Having reached a significant SACSTW milestone today, I thought we would give our readers who may have missed them the all-time Top 5 SACSTW posts.  Here they are:

#1 An Apology:  Video of the Year!  You Must watch!

#2  King, Mandela, Gandhi, and Barkin?

#3  Dude!  Where's my Lesbian?

#4  You Cry Harder!  North Korean Grief Reeducation

#5 Hollywood HOs Winner Morgan Freeman Marries his Granddaughter?

Hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed writing them!

Instead of Pissing Off People, Ed Asner is for Pissing on Them

Hollywood Hall of Shame

This week's Hollywood HOs  winner is no other than notorious Hollywood moonbat lefty Ed Asner.  Long known for his hatred of all things capitalist, Mr. Ed narrated a video for the California Federation of Teachers titled, "Tax the Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale".

Most notable in this little demonization of success video is a scene where rich people's concept of "trickle down" economics is demonstrated by a rich guy urinating on common folk from above.  Clever, yet repulsive.  But of course, in their usual display of spinelessness, once called on the carpet for something so outrageous, the CFT edited out the golden shower scene.  You can see the edited version below.  The edited scene occurs at the 2:50 mark.  It has been replaced by a still shot.



When questioned about this by Fox News, Mr. Ed was not only unrepentant, but asked if he could urinate on the Fox News employee.  You can view the edited scenes and Mr. Ed's request in this clip from the Sean Hannity Show:



What I find truly repulsive and frightening is that even a union in the People's Republic of California finds this load of Mr. Ed manure even remotely educational.  It is a fairy tale of falsehoods indeed.  Where did they get the idea for this propaganda abomination, the SKB (Stalin/Kruschev/Brezhnev) Cinematic archives?

You know the funny thing?  Lou Grant would have smacked Ed Asner upside his fevered head and said, "Grow a pair and get a clue, you whiny liberal piece of crap!"

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sir Charles Schools Costas on Guns

I've always liked Charles Barkley.  The Round Mound of Rebound is one of the most underrated "great" basketball players of all time.  To do what he did in the paint at his size shows a man with ferocious determination and will to win.  Not only that, but he may be the only man on the planet with a worse golf swing than me.  But I digress.

Barkley's outspokenness is another trait I admire in him.  Never one to shy away from controversial topics, his comments have often landed him in hot water.  I don't always agree with what he says, but this time he is absolutely spot-on.

The murder rate in the black community is not a gun issue, it's a crime and violence issue.  In this clip scheduled to air tonight, Sir Charles takes Bob Costas to school on gun ownership.....

Huh, whaddaya know?  A black athlete who has owned and carried a gun all of his adult life, and somehow has managed to not dump a magazine into the body of a friend or family member.  How can this be?  Perhaps its because Charles Barkley is not a murderous criminal, and Jovan Belcher was.  Period.  

I love the little anecdote about Tony Dungy at the end of Costas's pathetic whining.  He seems absolutely dumbfounded that 65 of the 80 Colts players owned guns.  Was there a twinge of underlying racism in his conjecture?  You tell me.  About 65-70% of NFL players are black.  If we apply that to the Colts training camp he was talking about.....about 45 of those gun-owning players were black.  Costas's firm belief that you can't have 45 black guys with guns without something bad happening seems far more racist to me than anything the Tea Party has had to say over the last few years.  

Come on Bob, what are you really saying?  That we just can't trust black guys, particularly black athletes, with guns?  

As far as Johnny Mac goes, I think we can all agree that it's probably not a good idea for him to carry a gun given his placid demeanor.....

NFL Player's Crime Fuels Anti-Gun Nitwits

My hometown NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, was rocked over the weekend by a heinous crime involving one of their players.  Early Saturday morning, linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his 22 year old girlfriend Kassandra Perkins in their home.  Belcher then drove to Arrowhead Stadium, and killed himself in front of GM Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel with a gun shot to his head.  The couple has a 3 month old daughter.  

My focus today is not the crime itself, I will leave that to others more qualified.  I would like to discuss the entirely too predictable response by the anti-gun crowd.  Just as we saw in the wake of Aurora, this violent crime has given new vigor to those who would ban the private ownership of firearms.  In particular, let's focus on the comments by noted Constitutional scholars Jason Whitlock and Bob Costas.

Whitlock is a former Kansas City sports columnist and sports talk radio host who has been hired and fired by seemingly every sports media company in the country.  He currently writes for Foxsports.com, and penned this column in response to the Belcher shootings.  I mined these little nuggets from the column....

...We'd prefer to avoid seriously reflecting upon the absurdity of the prevailing notion that the second amendment somehow enhances our liberty rather than threatens it.  

...What I believe is, if he didn't posess/own a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.

And the piece de resistance of anti-gun lunacy...

...Handguns do not enhance our safety.  

Whitlock's specious and intellectually bereft comments were echoed on NBC last night by Bob Costas during Sunday Night Football.  

Let's face some "ugly reality" as Mr. Costas puts it.  Human beings have the potential for great violence and depravity.  For some of us, that potential lurks closer to the surface than it does for others.  It can be enhanced by mental (and physical) illness, financial stress, interpersonal conflict, and any of thousands of other stressors.  When a human being succumbs to these demons, the availability or lack thereof of a firearm is not what determines the ultimate outcome.  Five minutes of Google research unearthed these recent events..

• A Wyoming college professor was killed by his son in a murder-suicide committed with a bow and arrow
• 64 year old Henry Hamilton killed himself by ingesting an overdose of prescription medicatons.
• Janee Parsons, an American woman living in Oxfordshire, England was stabbed to death by her husband in front of their 2 children.
• A Staten Island woman, Jodi Surinaga, was bludgeoned to death with a metal baseball bat.  The alleged assailant, her husband, attempted to hang himself with a belt after the crime.
• Tim Schuster was bound to a chair by his wife, and died when she poured a barrel of hydrochloric acid over his body.
• A Washington man, Mark Williams, was murdered by his wife with a large hammer.
• 32 year old Lorna Valle drowned her two children, ages 1 and 5, in the bathtub.
• Pravartika Gupta, a 25 year old Indian woman, was burned to death by her husband because she gave birth to a baby girl instead of a boy.  (Note to Mr. Gupta,  perhaps a quick biology review is in order.  The gender of a baby is determined by which chromosome (X or Y) it receives....from its father)
• A Bronx man killed his 5 year old son with poisoned pizza.
• An Azusa, CA man attempted to kill his wife by poisoning her Rice Krispies.  
• Thomas Mortimer beat his wife, 2 children, and mother in law to death with several objects, including a frying pan
• 28 year old Holly Solomon ran over her husband in a parking lot because he did not vote against Barack Obama in November's election.  Her defense of justifiable attempted homicide seems to have some merit.  

Bow and arrow, prescription medication, fire, cooking utensils, acid, pizza, Rice Krispies, hammers, cars, water.... you name it.  Deranged people will use any tool at their disposal to commit acts of violence that most of us simply can't understand.  There is one big difference between all these items and handguns......handguns are used in self-defense an estimated 2-3 million times a year in the United States.  Try that with a large pepperoni pie or a bottle of Oxycontin.