Stop The Madness!

On March 23rd, four officers in Oakland, California were gunned down by a parolee.

On March 29th, a man pissed at his estranged wife shot and killed eight people in a nursing home in North Carolina.

On April 4th, a man upset that his wife was leaving him shot and killed his five children in Graham, Washington.

In Binghamton, New York, a man upset about losing his job and getting picked on for his poor English, shot and killed 14 people at an immigration center. This affected families around the world.

A man who believed in the NRA scare tactics of the non-existent gun ban, donned bullet-proof armor and shot and killed three officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While I am deeply saddened by all of this violence and wanton death-dealing, I am not overly surprised. The economy is only starting to show signs of healing of eight years of abuse and neglect from the Republican regime, and people are still losing their jobs, their homes and their families. The stressors are all there for this kind of mayhem.

What I do find mind-boggling is the response from the right. For the most part, it has been mostly crickets. Some, like Chris at BBA, go blissfully on without giving it a second thought and post "gun porn" crap.

Supreme Court Justice wannabe Randy Koschnick thinks there should be more guns out there.

My friend, the normally relatively level-headed Elliot Stearns takes umbrage at anyone who criticizes America's gun love.

First, let me say I am not calling for a ban on guns. I own guns and it would be hypocritical for me to call for a ban on something that I do. But I still believe that there needs to be solid, enforceable, and meaningful limitations to get some kind of grip on this epidemic.

BTW, over the weekend, while up north, I had to cut down a tree that was damaged in a recent windstorm. Not once did I feel it necessary to carry a firearm at my waist.

AFP: Hypocrites On Parade

UPDATE: Judging from what I've seen around the blogosphere this evening, once again I was correct.

This afternoon, with the warm weather of the last few days, I saw my first Asian Beetle and my first mosquito of the year. And just like those bugs, the Americans for Preposterousness is having their second Destroying the American Dream session.

AFP is supposed to be an anti-tax, anti-big-government, anti-letting-the-little-people-be-happy type of group. It only makes sense that this group is holding their shindig in downtown Milwaukee, which is supposed to the tax hell in a tax hell state.

And their line of speakers also shows they aren't about to practice what they preach.

They have Scott Walker, who wants Milwaukee County taxpayers to pay for the stimulus dollars, but not receive any benefits from them. Furthermore, he only keeps postponing the day of reckoning for when the bills caused by all of his neglect comes due. I guess they are not going to talk about personal responsibility either.

They also have Sheriff David "I like getting sued" Clarke. He can't run a jail, he can't run a correctional facility, he can't enforce the law. Who knows what he can do?

They also have Rose Fernandez, who doesn't have a clue about local politics, but thinks she can fix it. Not only that, but she wants to raise taxes. One of her proposals include the possibility of breaking MPS into five or six smaller districts. If she thinks one MPS is too expensive, how does she figure five or six MPS's, with all the added costs of separate administrations, separate school boards, separate pieces of equipment, etc, is cheaper than one. She is so bad that she and her supporters have to resort to red herrings and special interests (which visit this site daily to make sure I didn't write anything bad about her - hey, K12 and the rest of you guys - at least click on the ads while your here, or something, huh?)

Then they also have Joe the Plumber. Who's not really named Joe. And who's not really a plumber. He bombed out as a reporter too. He might not have a truthful bone in his body. He actually might just belong there, come to think of it.

There will also be Randy "Soft on Facts" Koschnick. To save me time, I'll just send you to Illy-T, who has been doing an absolutely fabulous job highlighting the foibles of a man who can't even rule on traffic tickets without messing things up.

In toto, it should be a grand waste of time. But on half of myself and the citizens of Milwaukee County, please do spend lots of money while you're here.

Defeating The American Dream

I see a lot of the right wingers are getting all pumped up for the second installment of "Defeating The American Dream."

Guest speakers include Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, Milwaukee County David "I only ran as a Democrat" Clarke, and Randy Koschnick, who is on his all conservative nonpartisan tour of Wisconsin.

Let's see, a county executive that is failing in his job so miserably that the State had to come in and save him from himself, a county sheriff that helps drunk drivers, and a judge who can't even handle a traffic case.

I never realized that the American Dream included incompetence. Unfortunately for them, Michael Brown must have had a previous engagement.