Guns: Observations From the Front Lines

March 2, 2018

Guns: Observations From the Front Lines

gun front

Mark Rubin

Warner Wolf did sports for many years. He’s famous for Let’s Go to the Videotape, and this link shamelessly helps Mr. Wolf sell his book. The guy has sued Don Imus, which explains my interest in helping him.

Anyway, here’s my videotape. Stretch yourselves, non-clickers! Watch A. Bunker, of 704 Hauser St. in Queens, and a veteran of the Big War. In reverse he channels D. Trump, of 85-15 Wareham St., in Queens, who avoided service in Vietnam because of bone spurs. Norman Lear created Archie Bunker. And our Momzer-in-Chief? Candidates include Fred Trump, Roy Cohn, and sub-human matter I can’t mention in mixed company.

Oh,

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How low can you go, Donnie Boy?

August 9, 2016

From the world of “How low can you go, Donnie Boy,” here’s Limbo Rock by Chubby Checker. So, how low did Donald J. Trump go today? Well, the New York Times has the story in a very balanced piece by Nick Corasiniti and Maggie Haberman: Donald Trump Suggests ‘Second Amendment People’ Could Act against Hillary Clinton. Here’s the money quote:

If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.

Michael Hayden, the retired Four Star Air Force General and former head of the National Security Agency, responded as well as anyone can when he said: “I used to tell my seniors at the

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Guns: More Thoughts!

February 13, 2016

Nicholas Kristof is a true giant in the world of opinion writers. I love reading David Brooks (occasionally), Gail Collins, and Paul Krugman, among others. But it’s Nick Kristof—alone among opinion writers I’m aware of—who has focused on the slave trade, the abuse of young woman across the world, women generally, and really hard stuff.

So when I saw Some Inconvenient Gun Facts for Liberals about a month ago, I paid attention. Frankly, though, I was unimpressed. I felt like Mr. Kristof was reaching, and his piece gained no traction. We do need to understand the other side in any situation, but when the other side is wrong they’re wrong, plain and simple. And more guns solves nothing, save fattening

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Cry, the Beloved Country

January 9, 2016

Cry, the Beloved Country came into my mind earlier this morning, less because of the story it tells about pre-apartheid South Africa, and far more because it so aptly describes my country.

To say we live in interesting times does an extraordinary injustice to the phrase “interesting times.” “End times” fits the bill far better. I have been sentient for 14 presidential campaigns—Goldwater – Johnson in 1964 through the present embarrassment, and I’ve never seen a campaign come close to disgracing our nation as badly as this one has.

The leading candidate in the Republican Party held a rally in Vermont. Leave aside for a moment the utter vacuousness of the words coming out the man’s mouth, and the fact

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Executive Orders

January 5, 2016

There’ll be a hubbub about executive action / orders by the time you’re reading this post. That arrogant, pompous wimp of a POTUS we have right now—does anyone else wonder how President Obama can be, at one and the same time, a king and a dictator and a skinny, wimpy dude who doesn’t have the cojones to stand up to anyone—will issue an Executive Order regarding guns in America later today.

From my perspective the Executive Order—a highlights sheet has already been posted—will do little, and ought to bring forth little controversy. Others will surely disagree. Here, and because it’s Law Day at MRW, I want to focus on the basis for presidential authority to act.

Executive Orders have been

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Terror, Perspective, and Consistency

December 10, 2015

I promised thoughts about terror, including notions of perspective and consistency. My thoughts are many, and may be a bit jumbled. Apologies in advance.

I heard Peter Beinart on NPR this morning. The story is titled ‘Atlantic’ Article Explores How Obama Thinks About Terrorism, and it’s an interesting interview. (The Atlantic piece is here, and it’s worth reading.)

I have slightly mixed feelings about the whole approach to terror in these times. First off, he who talks toughest will almost always win the first round of any debate. We’ve all got an id, and for many it’s highly developed. Put differently, for many the following words—they belong to Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)—sell:

We will utterly destroy ISIS. We

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Follow the Money

December 5, 2015

“Follow the money” comes from the All the President’s Men screenplay. The words were likely never spoken during Watergate, but truer words have rarely been written. Rational people can solve for many problems … until we face a problem which involves people whose economic interests lie with avoiding any solution.

Nobody with any real power makes money from the gun show loophole, but the National Rifle Association fights to the nth to prevent any modification to a loophole the size of a large nation. Gun manufacturers make money from the sale of assault weapons, but the real money flows into the coffers of the gun lobby, which opposes any reasonable regulations of weapons. Then there are cop-killer bullets. Who

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Guns and the Second Amendment

November 30, 2015

In almost 21 months at this site, I’ve only written two posts that focused on guns and the Second Amendment. One of them, Guns: Embarrassed and Ashamed!, was posted less than three months ago, and its title tells you everything you need to know about my not saying enough about the problem of guns in America.

The Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting prompted this post. Three dead. Several others will survive. The alleged shooter’s motives are not clear, although some evidence suggests a relationship between his views on abortion and the situs.

President Obama said “enough is enough” after the shooting. He and many others have used the same words, too often, with no evident change in the

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