OH, BUMMER…
It looks as if we’re about to experience four years under a Chief Executive who is more inimical to the civil rights of gun owners than any of his predecessors. He’ll have as handmaidens a Vice-President and a Speaker of the House who are perhaps even more vehemently opposed to private firearms ownership than he.
I’m glad Grant Park stayed quiet. Secret Service was on the ball, and Chicago PD was out in huge numbers, riot gear handy, assisted by a reported 73 other law enforcement agencies. Turnout was less than a quarter of what the mayor invited and, probably most important, the attendees got what they wanted.
It’s a relief that, at least, this damn election is over. The pundits are saying, “It was the economy!” Uh, yeah, right. That’s why the electorate rejected the candidate who flew to Washington to work on the emergency fix, and elected the one who flew to California to party with Hollywood stars while that was going on. Yup, I got it … sorta…
Maybe Bob Hope had it right all those years ago, when he said this.
But, hey, I don’t wanna bash Democrats here. Hell, I’m an Independent, and on my local ballot, I voted for as many Democrats as Republicans. It ain’t a Party thing…it’s a “where this country is going” thing.
In the current (November/December 2008) issue of Backwoods Home magazine, editor and friend Dave Duffy wrote, “It doesn’t matter worth a damn who becomes President.”
I hope he’s right.
Stay tuned…
November 5th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
In the current (November/December 2008) issue of Backwoods Home magazine, editor and friend Dave Duffy wrote, “It doesn’t matter worth a damn who becomes President.”
I think so ,too
November 6th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Your right, it was way too long. Not how I wanted it but I’m glad it’s over. It’s going to be interesting. God help the Republic.
November 6th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I thought this was a good rundown of how the 2nd Amendment faired on election night:
http://volokh.com/posts/1225871855.shtml
He argues that Obama is smarter than Clinton and might be hesitant to waste political capital on going after gun owners. Let’s hope he’s right.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I’m afraid it does matter who is President. Thinking otherwise is, in my opinion, the easy way out of dealing with the issue. Mas and many of us are quite concerned with President-elect Obama’s overt hostility towards private gun ownership. Anti-gun legislation is sure to be spearheaded by the coming administration. Contrast this with a McCain administration, led by the man who co-sponsored the “D.C. Personal Protection Act of 2007″ (prohibiting mandatory trigger locks and gun registration) and “Protecting Americans From Violent Crime Act of 2008″ (allowing firearms in national parks).
The President has an incredible amount of power over us in the matter of judicial appointments. Not just the Supreme Court Justices but every other Federal judge throughout the nation. Issues that will affect Americans for generations to come will be decided by appointees of the most Liberal chief executive in our history.
The President is also the driving force behind most tax legislation. President Bush pushed for and got many tax reforms in 2001 and 2003, including among others an end to the marriage penalty, the death tax and an increase in credits for families with children. These reforms are set to expire in 2011 and President Obama has repeatedly said he supports this sunset. (So much for this nonsense of no tax increase for those making less than $250k.)
Finally there is the issue of Commander in Chief. Is there any real question that an Obama administration will be seen as weaker than a McCain Presidency? Which one said he will not “weaponize space” and dramatically curtail new arms development/deployment? Which one has pledged to retreat from a war we are winning? Which one has taken a Chamberlain-esque approach to dealing with a nuclear-hungry Iran?
The person in the White House matters a whole lot.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I’v never has such a feeling of foreboding as I have right now.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
If the Republicans had put up a man who didn’t represent four more years of the suspension of Habeas Corpus, another vote for “alternative interrogation techniques”, otherwise known as torture, with a vice-president who had tried to manually censor public libraries, with warrantless wiretaps on average American citizens, and tapping every phone call over a cellphone being deemed an alright thing to do…
…there have been so many rights violations over the last eight years, and so much agreeance with those policies from the McCain camp, it’s hard to sign away many of your rights to attempt to defend one of them.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Heck, I’ll keep going.
Obama asked his advisors what might work for an economic fix, or even a band-aid. That was when McCain tried to suspend his campaign to avoid another debate; he was polling downhill after every previous debate, so I’d have to say it’s occam’s razor, and that he didn’t suspend his campaign to “work on the economy”.
I’m a strong independent, and I’ve come to the other conclusion, because I’m not a one-issue voter on guns. McCain looked like a trainwreck from a policy standpoint.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Apologies. I feel like the internet crank, but I think the side I’m going for is underrepresented, given how it polls.
36% of gun owners… for Obama. 35% for Kerry.
November 6th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Per Koppel, things aren’t that grim for gun rights. We’ll see.
I’m more worried about a return to an FDR style command economy. Big spending, big taxes, protectionism, and redistribution via the tax system that will just tank the economy as we knew it. It’ll be “Interesting” only in the sense of the Chinese curse.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
He is already reneging on his promise to uphold the second amendment rights for citizens. I suggest we all get started in fighting this crap before he gets a chance to get the presidential seat warm. Here is a direct quote from his web page.
~Brogan
http://www.change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy/
Address Gun Violence in Cities:
As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.
PS- How can you child proof a gun? Why would you want to? Is he assuming we’ll let kids play with our guns? Get a gun safe… problem solved.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Maybe we’ll get NRA membership over the 10 million mark!
I’m going to do my best to sign up five new members before Jan, 20.
I already have one, just 4 more to go!