Media Working Hand in Glove with Democrats on Gun Legislation
Why do the media consider the filibuster a strong, principled stance under Democrat leadership, but an obstructionist tool when used by Republicans? This media double standard has been used consistently during the current and past administration, and is currently being used to shame Republicans on the gun control debate. "For a party who is commonly regarded as "inflexible" and "unwilling to compromise" being seen as the side that ended gun control without even a vote further add to a very negative perception of the GOP," writes Chris Cillizza this week about the President's latest initiative. His piece describes the pitfalls of "Why Republicans shouldn't filibuster the gun bill."
But Democrats themselves filibustered many initiatives when they were the minority in Congress. Let's take a moment to see how they were treated. "After Republicans won complete control of Congress in the recent elections, Democrats took some comfort in the notion that Democratic senators could filibuster any truly egregious Republican initiatives and that it would take 60 votes-way more than the 51- or 52-seat Republican majority-to overcome such a filibuster," reported David E. Rosenbaum back in 2002 (emphasis added). "But since they have been back in Washington, Democratic lawmakers have come to realize that some big items on the Republican agenda are immune to filibuster." In other words, Democrats should be afraid of the Republican legislative agenda.
In 2007, the technique, when used by Republicans, was condemned as anti-democratic. "Although Democrats weren't shy about gumming up the works during the years of the Republican majority that ended in January, some are becoming frustrated with the growing use of what they see as an anti-democratic tactic," wrote Ken Dilanian for USA Today. At least Dilanian seemed aware of this double standard and reported it.
For Cillizza, one of the major reasons against filibustering the gun bill is the overwhelming polled support for background checks, which the legislation expands.
Investors Business Daily argued in a recent editorial that Obama is using the gun control debate to deflect from the more important question, that of the economy. "But in this he is failing," they write. "Thus, it might not be a coincidence that he is pouring most of his time and energy into a crusade that helps the middle class not a whit but polls well."
Indeed, the issue does poll well when restricted to gun shows and private sales. The question asked was "Would you support or oppose a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows?" and the answer was an overwhelming 91% in favor. However, some might balk at the idea that these background checks might create a registry that could later be used to track those in America who own guns. As always, the devil is in the details.
"So, in that regard, we think the current legislation, the current proposal on universal background checks raises two significant concerns," the liberal American Civil Liberty Union's (ACLU) Chris Calabrese recently told The Daily Caller. These two concerns are that the current legislation's "record-keeping provision" could be the precursor to a national gun registry, and secondly, the legislation creates a tip line for reporting "potentially dangerous students," according to Vince Coglianese with The Daily Caller. "We think that that kind of record-keeping requirement could result in keeping long-term detailed records of purchases and creation of a new government database," said Calabrese. How would this poll instead of the more vague question about background checks?
As for the tip line, this could easily be abused, as is shown by the hysterics of some school districts following the Sandy Hook massacre. For example, in Maryland a student was suspended for chewing a breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun and saying "bang, bang."
"In the 11 weeks since the massacre, at least two young children in the Washington region have been suspended for pointing their fingers like guns, and a 10-year-old in Alexandria was arrested by police for showing a toy gun to others on his school bus," reported Donna St. George for The Washington Post last month. "In Pennsylvania, a 5-year-old was suspended for talking to classmates about shooting her ‘Hello Kitty' gun-which blows bubbles."
One must also ask how effective this gun registry would be at preventing another Adam Lanza shooting spree? After all, "No practicable system of background checks would have prevented Sandy Hook, where the gunman used weapons legally purchased by his mother," argues Investors Business Daily.
While many supporters of stricter gun regulations are very disappointed with the bills that the Senate is now considering, viewing them as weak and watered down, President Obama continues to make his case, based on emotion and demagoguery. The late compromise on background checks between West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey seems to suggest that a bill will most likely pass this week.
In a New York Post column by Jacob Sullum, the senior editor of the libertarian Reason magazine, he cites the President's basic argument that Obama has made since the Newtown massacre: it was a "reason to enact the same gun controls he has always supported-including ‘universal background checks,' a renewed ‘assault weapon' ban and a 10-round limit on magazines-even though these policies could not possibly have prevented that horrific attack. He calls this ‘common sense.'"
Sullum points out some of the inherent flaws in President Obama's plans to do something, anything, whether it might have made a difference in Newtown, or not. "Instead of explaining, for example, how background checks can thwart mass killers, who typically don't have disqualifying criminal or psychiatric records and who in any event can use guns purchased by someone else (as Lanza did), Obama simply assumes his plan will work and insinuates that anyone who opposes it does not care about children as much as he does."
"Even as he claims to be troubled by a lack of empathy in the gun-control debate, Obama refuses to entertain the possibility that his opponents, like him, are doing what they believe to be right."
This latter point raises the question of politicians willing to oppose legislation that is supposedly supported by 91% of the American public. If the bill's supporters really believe those numbers, shouldn't they give credit to those willing to vote against something so extraordinarily popular, as being highly principled, even if they think they are wrong?
On Monday of this week, President Obama accused the opponents of the new legislation, even though some are Democrats from Red states, as "powerful interests that are very good at confusing the subject, that are good at amplifying conflict and extremes, that are good at drowning out rational debate, good at ginning up irrational fears."
Sullum responded that this is what's coming from Obama, "from a man who says mass shootings, which remain thankfully rare, are becoming ‘routine;' who falsely asserts that Lanza used a ‘fully automatic weapon' and habitually conflates military-style semi-automatics with machine guns; and who claims background checks have ‘prevented more than 2 million dangerous people from getting their hands on a gun'-when in fact we don't know how many of those people were actually dangerous or how many were actually prevented from obtaining firearms."
Sullum concludes that "Obama's idea of ‘rational debate' involves trotting out grieving parents and presenting their pain as if it were an argument." One has to wonder if Obama is looking for solutions, or a wedge issue with which to run against Republicans in 2014.
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Mass Shootings In New York State (1984 - 2012) Source
1. 2009 - Binghamton, New York - weapons used: .45 caliber pistol, 9 mm pistol
2. 1993 - Long Island, New York - weapon used: 9 mm pistol
Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has been sacked after the newspaper conceded photos of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi were fake.
In a statement the Mirror said it had fallen victim to a “calculated and malicious hoax” and that it would be “inappropriate” for Morgan to continue.
At a news conference in Preston on Friday afternoon, the regiment demonstrated to reporters aspects of uniform and equipment which it said proved the photographs were fake.
The regiment’s Brigadier Geoff Sheldon said the vehicle featured in the photographs had been located in a Territorial Army base in Lancashire and had never been in Iraq.
The BBC’s Nicholas Witchell said it appeared Piers Morgan remained unrepentant right to the end.
“According to one report Mr Morgan refused the demand to apologise, was sacked and immediately escorted from the building,” he said.
Flashback: ‘Most Dishones Journalist Of Our Times’ Piers Morgan Fired From BBC For ‘Malicious’ Hoax Of Fake Iraqi Prisoner Abuse That Caused ‘So Much Damage’, Served As ‘Al Qaeda Recruiting Poster’
Excerpted from a BBC article of May 14, 2004: Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has been sacked after the newspaper conceded photos of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi were fake.
In a statement the Mirror said it had fallen victim to a “calculated and malicious hoax” and that it would be “inappropriate” for Morgan to continue.
The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment (QLR) said the Mirror had endangered British troops by running the pictures.
Roger Goodman, of the QLR, said the regiment now felt “vindicated”.
Mr Goodman added: “It is just a great pity it has taken so long… and that so much damage has been done in the meantime.”
At a news conference in Preston on Friday afternoon, the regiment demonstrated to reporters aspects of uniform and equipment which it said proved the photographs were fake.
The regiment’s Brigadier Geoff Sheldon said the vehicle featured in the photographs had been located in a Territorial Army base in Lancashire and had never been in Iraq.
He said the QLR’s reputation had been damaged by the Mirror and asked the newspaper to apologise because the evidence they were staged was “overwhelming”.
The Conservatives said they hoped lessons had been learned from the row.
Deputy leader and foreign affairs spokesman, Michael Ancram, said: ”Looking at the facts objectively, this is the right thing for Piers Morgan to have done.
“The photos that were published in the Daily Mirror have done great damage to the reputation of our troops, who are serving under some of the most difficult conditions in Iraq.”
‘Recruiting poster for al-Qaeda’
The photos published in the Mirror on 1 May appeared to show British troops torturing an Iraqi detainee.
In one picture a soldier is seen urinating on a hooded man while in another the hooded man is being hit with a rifle in the groin.
Colonel Black, a former regiment commander of the QLR, said the pictures put lives in danger and acted as a “recruiting poster” for al-Qaeda.
However one of the Mirror’s informants – Soldier C – said there had been abuse in Iraq.
The Territorial Army solider has been questioned by Royal Military Police after talking about his claims to the Daily Mirror.
On ITV’s Tonight With Trevor McDonald he said: “It did go on, it wasn’t all the army, it wasn’t systematic but it did happen.”
Downing Street refused to comment on the issue, saying it was a matter for the Mirror board.
The BBC’s Nicholas Witchell said it appeared Piers Morgan remained unrepentant right to the end.
“According to one report Mr Morgan refused the demand to apologise, was sacked and immediately escorted from the building,” he said.
Morgan will be replaced on a temporary basis by his deputy, Des Kelly.
The newspaper released a statement saying: “The Daily Mirror published in good faith photographs which it absolutely believed were genuine images of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner.
“However there is now sufficient evidence to suggest that these pictures are fakes and that the Daily Mirror has been the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax.
“The Daily Mirror therefore apologises unreservedly for publishing the pictures and deeply regrets the reputational damage done to the QLR and the Army in Iraq.
“The paper will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation.
“The board of Trinity Mirror has decided that it would be inappropriate for Piers Morgan to continue in his role as editor of the Daily Mirror and he will therefore be stepping down with immediate effect.”
The Sun newspaper had offered a £50,000 reward for “information about the fake Mirror photos” but withdrew the offer following the sacking of Morgan.
Two people were wounded late Sunday when gunfire erupted at a local movie theater, sending panicked moviegoers rushing to exits and ducking for cover, police and witnesses said.
A lone suspect was in custody after being wounded by an unidentified law enforcement officer, a Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.
Witnesses said numerous shots were fired inside and outside the Santikos Mayan Palace 14 theater complex on Southwest Military Drive around 9:25 p.m., setting off the scramble to safety before police and EMS arrived. The complex was evacuated and sealed off for several hours.
Detective Louis Antu, spokesman for the Bexar County Sherriff's Office, said the shooting began at a nearby China Garden and “carried on into the theater.”
After the suspect reached the theater, an off duty Bexar County Sheriff officer who was working at the theater shot at him and possibly struck him, Antu said.
“She took all appropriate action to keep everyone safe in the movie theater,” Antu said.
Two wounded in theater shooting
Two people were wounded late Sunday when gunfire erupted at a local movie theater, sending panicked moviegoers rushing to exits and ducking for cover, police and witnesses said.
A lone suspect was in custody after being wounded by an unidentified law enforcement officer, a Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.
Conditions of the two people wounded were not immediately released, nor was it disclosed where they were when they were wounded, or the type of gun that was used.
Witnesses said numerous shots were fired inside and outside the Santikos Mayan Palace 14 theater complex on Southwest Military Drive around 9:25 p.m., setting off the scramble to safety before police and EMS arrived. The complex was evacuated and sealed off for several hours.
Detective Louis Antu, spokesman for the Bexar County Sherriff's Office, said the shooting began at a nearby China Garden and “carried on into the theater.”
At one point, the suspect fired at a San Antonio Police Department patrol car, Antu said.
“He was shooting at a marked unit,” Antu said. “He knows he was shooting at an officer so that's (an) automatic (charge of) attempted capital murder.”
After the suspect reached the theater, an off duty Bexar County Sheriff officer who was working at the theater shot at him and possibly struck him, Antu said.
“She took all appropriate action to keep everyone safe in the movie theater,” Antu said.
Tara Grace, who was getting a drink from the concession stand when the shooting began, ran into the bathroom and locked herself in a stall with five other patrons to avoid the mayhem.
“We thought we were going to die,” she said.
A person at the scene, an employee from a different location of the restaurant, said the gunman initially may have targeted a coworker before making his way to the theater, though Antu could not confirm a motive immediately.
The shooting immediately sparked fears of a mass slaying like the one in July that killed 12 people and injured 58 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
Cassandra Castillo, waited anxiously outside the theater for her son, a projectionist at the theater.
“It brings back memories of the other theater shooting, and the elementary school shooting,” she said. “You only think the worst.”
“***UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO THE MARXIST PIECE OF SHIT MAKE BELIEVE MESSIAH IN CHARGE AS WELL AS HIS MEDIA USEFUL IDIOT MINION DICKHEADS, THE ENTIRE SOCIETY OF LIBERTY LOVING AMERICANS ARE BEING PUNISHED FOR THE ACTIONS OF A LUNATIC. INSTEAD OF BLAMING A CULTURE OF PSYCHOPATHS AND CRIMINALS FOR VIOLENCE, THEY BLAME THIS 10” X 3” X 1” PIECE OF PLASTIC AND METAL ENGINEERING GENIUS FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF TWENTY INNOCENT CHILDREN AND SIX TEACHERS.(Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit)
OUR COUNTRY IS CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK BY THE DEMENTED, TWISTED, AND DISTURBED BRAINWASHED CHILDREN OF THE HARD CORE OLD SCHOOL SOVIET BLOCK COMMUNISTS WHO HAVE INFILTRATED OUR COUNTRY AT EVERY FACET OF SOCIETY. IF YOU ARE HERE LOOKING TO PURCHASE A MAGAZINE THAT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, THEN YOU OBVIOUSLY UNDERSTAND THE WORDS ABOVE. AND WHEN THEY PASS UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAWS, OR IMPLEMENT UNCONSTITUTIONAL REGULATIONS, I HOPE THAT YOU REMEMBER YOUR GOD GIVEN FREEDOMS, AND REFUSE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REGIMES INTENTIONAL DESTRUCTION OF OUR ONCE GREAT COUNTRY, AND DIE IN A PILE OF SMOKING BRASS.” MOLON LABE!
What you’ll see in the rebellion
Let me explain, gun grabbers, how your confiscatory fantasy plays out. Let us imagine for a moment that a sweeping gun control bill similar to the one currently suggested is passed by the House and Senate, and signed into law by a contemptuous President.
Perhaps 50-100 million firearms currently owned by law-abiding citizens will become contraband with the stroke of a pen. Citizens will either register their firearms, or turn them in to agents of the federal government, or risk becoming criminals themselves. Faced with this choice, millions will indeed register their arms. Perhaps as many will claim they’ve sold their arms, or had them stolen. Suppose that as many as 200-250 million weapons of other types will go unregistered.
Tens of millions of Americans will refuse to comply with an order that is clearly a violation of the explicit intent of the Second Amendment. Among the most ardent opposing these measures will be military veterans, active duty servicemen, and local law enforcement officers. Many of these individuals will refuse to carry out what they view as Constitutionally illegal orders. Perhaps 40-50 million citizens will view such a law as treason. Perhaps ten percent of those, 4-5 million, would support a rebellion in some way, and maybe 40,000-100,000 Americans will form small independently-functioning active resistance cells, or become lone-wolves.
They will be leaderless, stateless, difficult to track, and considering the number of military veterans that would likely be among their number, extremely skilled at sabotage, assassination, and ambush.
After a number of carefully-planned, highly-publicized, and successful raids by the government, one or more will invariably end “badly.” Whether innocents are gunned down, a city block is burned to ash, or especially fierce resistance leads to a disastrously failed raid doesn’t particularly matter. What matters is that when illusion of the government’s invincibility and infallibility is broken, the hunters will become the hunted.
Unnamed citizens and federal agents will be the first to die, and they will die by the dozens and maybe hundreds, but famous politicians will soon join them in a spate of revenge killings, many of which will go unsolved.
Ironically, while the gun grab was intended to keep citizens from preserving their liberties with medium-powered weapons, it completely ignored the longer-ranged rifles perfect for shooting at ranges far beyond what a security detail can protect, and suppressed .22LR weapons proven deadly in urban sniping in Europe and Asia.
While the Secret Service will be able to protect the President in the White House, he will not dare leave his gilded cage except in carefully controlled circumstances. Even then he will be forced to move like a criminal. He will never be seen outdoors in public again. Not in this country.
The 535 members of the House and Senate in both parties that allowed such a law to pass would largely be on their own; the Secret Service is too small to protect all of them and their families, the Capitol Police too unskilled, and competent private security not particularly interested in working against their own best interests at any price. The elites will be steadily whittled down, and if they can not be reached directly, the targets will become their staffers, spouses, children, and grandchildren. Grandstanding media figures loyal to the regime would die in droves, executed as enemies of the Republic.
You can expect congressional staffs to disintegrate with just a few shootings, and expect elected officials themselves to resign well before a quarter of their number are eliminated, leaving us with a boxed-in executive, his cabinet loyalists trapped in the same win, die, or flee the country circumstance, military regime loyalists, and whatever State Governors who desire to risk their necks as well.
Here, the President will doubtlessly order the activation of National Guard units and the regular military to impose martial law, setting the largest and most powerful military in the world against its own people. Unfortunately, the tighter the President clinches his tyrannical fist, the more rebels he makes.
Military commands and federal agencies will be whittled down as servicemen and agents will desert or defect. Some may leave as individuals, others may join the Rebellion in squad and larger-sized units with all their weapons, tactics, skills, and insider intelligence. The regime will be unable to trust its own people, and because they cannot trust them, they will lose more in a vicious cycle of collapse.
Some of these defectors will be true “operators,” with the skills and background to turn ragtag militia cells into the kind of forces that decimate loyalist troops, allowing them no rest and no respite, striking them when they are away from their most potent weapons. Military vehicles are formidable, but they are thirsty beasts, in terms of fuel, ammo, time, and maintenance. Tanks and bombers are formidable only when they have gas, guns, and can be maintained. In a war without a front, logistics are incredibly easy to destroy, and mechanics and supply clerks are not particularly adept at defending themselves.
Eventually, the government will turn upon itself. The President will be captured or perhaps killed by his own protectors. A dictatorship will form in the vacuum.
If we’re lucky, the United States of America, or whatever amalgam results, will again try to rebuild. If we’re very lucky, the victors will reinstate the Constitution as the law of the land. Just as likely though, we’ll face fractious civil wars fought over issues we’ve not begun to fathom, and a much diminished state or states will result, perhaps guided by foreign interests.
It will not be pretty. There will be no “winners,” and perhaps hundreds of thousands to millions of dead.
Yet, this is the future we face if the power-mad among us are not soundly defeated at the ballot box before they affect more “change” than we, the People, are willing to surrender to would-be tyrants.
"I want to talk to gun owners and hunters and sport shooters and ask them, what should we do? I want to talk about community and responsibility, and I want to talk about values -- because we have common values that go far beyond the constitutional right to bear arms.
"We value our children. We value our safety. We value our freedom to go to a movie theater or house of worship and do what we want to do so long as we are not compromising the freedom of others. We value the right to live our daily lives and pursue our dreams, without fear."
Arne Duncan: 'We Have Common Values That Go Far Beyond the Constitutional Right to Bear Arms'
(CNSNews.com) - Americans value their children, their safety, and the right to pursue their dreams without fear -- and those "common values" trump the rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said last Friday in a speech at a Washington, D.C., elementary school.
In the coming weeks, Duncan said he plans to spend a lot of time visiting schools and communities -- to talk about gun violence:
"I want to talk to gun owners and hunters and sport shooters and ask them, what should we do? I want to talk about community and responsibility, and I want to talk about values -- because we have common values that go far beyond the constitutional right to bear arms.
"We value our children. We value our safety. We value our freedom to go to a movie theater or house of worship and do what we want to do so long as we are not compromising the freedom of others. We value the right to live our daily lives and pursue our dreams, without fear."
Duncan said the nation must learn from the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School:
"It's not the time to point fingers," he said "But we absolutely have to reassess a number of our society's value choices on issues like easy access to guns and limited access to mental health services."
President Obama has named Duncan to a task force led by Vice President Joe Biden to come up with proposals for reducing what Obama called the epidemic of gun violence.
By Douglas J. Hagmann
Introduction
23 December 2012: After a lengthy, self-imposed informational black-out, my high-level DHS contact known as “Rosebud” emerged with new, non-public information about plans being discussed and prepared for implementation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the near future. It is important to note that this black-out was directly related to the aggressive federal initiative of identifying and prosecuting “leakers,” at least those leaks and leakers not sanctioned by the executive office – the latter of which there are many.
Due to those circumstances, my source exercised an abundance of caution to avoid compromising a valuable line of communication until he had information he felt was significant enough to risk external contact. The following information is the result of an in-person contact between this author and “Rosebud” within the last 48 hours. With his permission, the interview was digitally recorded and the relevant portions of the contact are provided in a conversational format for easier reading. The original recording was copied onto multiple discs and are maintained in secure locations for historical and insurance purposes.
Meeting
The following began after an exchange of pleasantries and other unrelated discussion:
DH: Do I have your permission to record this conversation?
RB: You do.
DH: I’ve received a lot of e-mail from people wondering where you went and why you’ve been so quiet.
RB: As I told you earlier, things are very dicey. Weird things began to happen before the election and have continued since. Odd things, a clampdown of sorts. I started looking and I found [REDACTED AT THE REQUEST OF THIS SOURCE], and that shook me up. I’m not the only one, though, that found a [REDACTED], so this means there’s surveillance of people within DHS by DHS. So, that explains this cloak and dagger stuff for this meeting.
DH: I understand. What about the others?
RB: They are handling it the same way.
DH: I’ve received many e-mails asking if you are the same person giving information to Ulsterman. Are you?
RB: No, but I think I know at least one of his insiders.
DH: Care to elaborate?
RB: Sorry, no.
DH: Do you trust him or her. I mean, the Ulsterman source?
RB: Yes.
DH: Okay, so last August, you said things were “going hot.” I printed what you said, and things did not seem to happen as you said.
RB: You’d better recheck your notes and compare [them] with some of the events leading up to the election. I think you’ll find that a full blown campaign of deception took place to make certain Obama got back into office. The polls, the media, and a few incidents that happened in the two months before the election. I guess if people are looking for some big event they can point to and say “aha” for verification, well then I overestimated people’s ability to tell when they are being lied to.
DH: What specific incidents are you referring to?
RB: Look at the threats to Obama. Start there. The accusations of racism. Then look at the polls, and especially the judicial decisions about voter ID laws. Bought and paid for, or where there was any potential for problems, the judges got the message, loud and clear. Then look at the voter fraud. And not a peep from the Republicans. Nothing. His second term was a done deal in September. This was planned. Frankly, the Obama team knew they had it sewn up long before election day. Benghazi could have derailed them, but the fix was in there, so I never saw anything on my end to suggest a ready-made solution had to be implemented.
DH: What’s going on now?
RB: People better pay close attention over the next few months. First, there won’t be any meaningful deal about the fiscal crisis. This is planned, I mean, the lack of deal is planned. In fact, it’s necessary to pave the way for what is in the short term agenda.
DH: Wait, you’re DHS – not some Wall Street insider.
RB: So you think they are separate agendas? That’s funny. The coming collapse of the U.S. dollar is a done deal. It’s been in the works for years – decades, and this is one of the most important cataclysmic events that DHS is preparing for. I almost think that DHS was created for that purpose alone, to fight Americans, not protect them, right here in America. But that’s not the only reason. There’s the gun issue too.
DH: So, what are you seeing at DHS?
RB: We don’t have a lot of time, tonight – our meeting – as well as a country. I mean I have heard – with my own ears – plans being made that originate from the White House that involve the hierarchy of DHS. You gotta know how DHS works at the highest of levels. It’s Jarrett and Napolitano, with Jarrett organizing all of the plans and approaches. She’s the one in charge, at least from my point of view, from what I am seeing. Obama knows that’s going on and has say, but it seems that Jarrett has the final say, not the other way around. It’s [screwed] up. This really went into high gear since the election.
But it’s a train wreck at mid management, but is more effective at the lower levels. A lot of police departments are being gifted with federal funds with strings attached. That money is flowing out to municipal police departments faster than it can be counted. They are using this money to buy tanks, well, not real tanks, but you know what I mean. DHS is turning the police into soldiers.
By the way, there has been a lot of communication recently between Napolitano and Pistole [TSA head]. They are planning to use TSA agents in tandem with local police for certain operations that are being planned right now. This is so [deleted] important that you cannot even begin to imagine. If you get nothing else out of this, please, please make sure you tell people to watch the TSA and their increasing involvement against the American public. They are the stooges who will be the ones to carry out certain plans when the dollar collapses and the gun confiscation begins.
DH: Whoa, wait a minute. You just said a mouthful. What’s the agenda here?
RB: Your intelligence insider – he knows that we are facing a planned economic collapse. You wrote about this in your articles about Benghazi, or at least that’s what I got out of the later articles. So why the surprise?
DH: There’s a lot here. Let’s take it step by step if you don’t mind.
RB: Okay, but I’m not going to give it to you in baby steps. Big boy steps. This is what I am hearing. Life for the average American is going to change significantly, and not the change people expect. First, DHS is preparing to work with police departments and the TSA to respond to civil uprisings that will happen when there is a financial panic. And there will be one, maybe as early as this spring, when the dollar won’t get you a gumball. I’m not sure what the catalyst will be, but I’ve heard rumblings about a derivatives crisis as well as an oil embargo. I don’t know, that’s not my department. But something is going to happen to collapse the dollar, which has been in the works since the 1990′s. Now if it does not happen as soon as this, it’s because there are people, real patriots, who are working to prevent this, so it’s a fluid dynamic. But that doesn’t change the preparations.
And the preparations are these: DHS is prepositioning assets in strategic areas near urban centers all across the country. Storage depots. Armories. And even detainment facilities, known as FEMA camps. FEMA does not even know that the facilities are earmarked for detainment by executive orders, at least not in the traditional sense they were intended. By the way, people drive by some of these armories everyday without even giving them a second look. Commercial and business real estate across the country are being bought up or leased for storage purposes. Very low profile.
Anyway, I am hearing that the plan from on high is to let the chaos play out for a while, making ordinary citizens beg for troops to be deployed to restore order. but it’s all organized to make them appear as good guys. That’s when the real head knocking will take place. We’re talking travel restrictions, which should not be a problem because gas will be rationed or unavailable. The TSA will be in charge of travel, or at least be a big part of it. They will be commissioned, upgraded from their current status.
They, I mean Jarrett and Obama as well as a few others in government, are working to create a perfect storm too. This is being timed to coincide with new gun laws.
DH: New federal gun laws?
RB: Yes. Count on the criminalization to possess just about every gun you can think of. Not only restrictions, but actual criminalization of possessing a banned firearm. I heard this directly from the highest of my sources. Plans were made in the 90′s but were withheld. Now, it’s a new day, a new time, and they are riding the wave of emotion from Sandy Hook., which, by the way and as tragic as it was, well, it stinks to high heaven. I mean there are many things wrong there, and first reports are fast disappearing. The narrative is being changed. Look, there is something wrong with Sandy Hook, but if you write it, you’ll be called a kook or worse.
DH: Sure
RB: But Sandy Hook, there’s something very wrong there. But I am hearing that won’t be the final straw. There will be another if they think it’s necessary.
DH: Another shooting?
RB: Yes.
DH: That would mean they are at least complicit.
RB: Well, that’s one way of looking at it.
DH: Are they? Were they?
RB: Do your own research. Nothing I say, short of bringing you photographs and documents will convince anyone, and even then, it’s like [DELETED] in the wind.
DH: So…
RB: So what I’m telling you is that DHS, the TSA and certain, but not all, law enforcement agencies are going to be elbow deep in riot control in response to an economic incident. At the same time or close to it, gun confiscation will start. It will start on a voluntary basis using federal registration forms, then an amnesty, then the kicking-in of doors start.
Before or at the same time, you know all the talk of lists, you know, the red and blue lists that everyone made fun of? Well they exist, although I don’t know about their colors. But there are lists of political dissidents maintained by DHS. Names are coordinated with the executive branch, but you know what? They did not start with Obama. They’ve been around in one form or another for years. The difference though is that today, they are much more organized. And I’ll tell you that the vocal opponents of the politics of the global elite, the bankers, and the opponents of anything standing in their way, well, they are on the top of the list of people to be handled.
DH: Handled?
RB: As the situations worsen, some might be given a chance to stop their vocal opposition. Some will, others won’t. I suppose they are on different lists. Others won’t have that chance. By that time, though, it will be chaos and people will be in full defensive mode. They will be hungry, real hunger like we’ve never experienced before. They will use our hunger as leverage. They will use medical care as leverage.
DH: Will this happen all at once?
RB: They hope to make it happen at the same time. Big cities first, with sections being set apart from the rest of the country. Then the rural areas. There are two different plans for geographical considerations. But it will all come together.
End of Part I
Source: The latest from “DHS Insider” (Part I) « Northeast Intelligence Network
The Post-Newtown Witch Hunt
In the aftermath of the horrific Newtown, Conn., school massacre, Americans from all parts of the political spectrum agree that we need to pay more attention to mental health issues. Public death threats and incitements to violence must be taken seriously. The incendiary witch hunt against law-abiding, peaceful gun owners is neither noble nor effective. It's just plain insane.
Over the past week, I've witnessed a disturbing outbreak of off-the-rails hatred toward gun owners and Second Amendment groups. Whatever your views on guns, we can all agree: The Newtown gunman was a monster who slaughtered his own mother, five heroic educators and 20 angel-faced schoolchildren. He ignored laws against murder. He bypassed Connecticut's strict gun control regulations, and he circumvented the Sandy Hook Elementary School's security measures. Every decent American is horrified and heartsick by this outbreak of pure evil.
But tens of millions of law-abiding men and women own and use guns responsibly in this country. The cynical campaign to demonize all armed men and women as monsters must not go unanswered. What's most disturbing is that the incitements are coming from purportedly respectable, prominent and influential public figures.
Consider the rhetoric of University of Rhode Island Professor Erik Loomis. He teaches "U.S. environmental history, the Civil War, late 19th and early 20th century America, labor history, and the American West" in the university's history department. Online, however, Loomis is a militantly unhinged foe of all things conservative.
This week, the nutty professor took to Twitter to rail against law-abiding gun owners and the National Rifle Association. "Looks like the National Rifle Association has murdered some more children," Loomis fumed. "Now I want Wayne LaPierre's head on a stick," he added. (LaPierre is executive vice president and CEO of the NRA.) Loomis was just warming up.
"F**k the National Rifle Association and its policies to put crazy guns in everyone's hands," Loomis tweeted. "You are g*dd*mn right we should politicize this tragedy. F**k the NRA. Wayne LaPierre should be in prison," he spewed. "Can we define NRA membership dues as contributing to a terrorist organization?"
If all that wasn't clear enough, Loomis also re-tweeted the following message from a fellow left-winger: "First f**ker to say the solution is for elementary school teachers to carry guns needs to get beaten to death."
When the conservative group Campus Reform called attention to the craziness, Loomis whined about a "right-wing intimidation campaign." Sane university professors shook their heads. University of Tennessee law professor and blogger Glenn Reynolds explained the anti-NRA syllogism at work:
"(1) Something bad happened; (2) I hate you; so (3) it's your fault. This sort of reasoning has played out in all sorts of places over the past century, with poor results. One would expect a history professor to know better."
Unfortunately, Loomis is not alone. Famed author Joyce Carol Oates also took to Twitter to blame the entire membership of the NRA for one evil-doer's massacre. "Another NRA-sponsored massacre for Christmas 2012," Oates wrote. She then accused any politicians who supported the NRA of "felony homicide." And then she mused hopefully for mass shootings against the NRA: "If sizable numbers of NRA members become gun-victims themselves, maybe hope for legislation of firearms?" Shockingly, actress Marg Helgenberger of the TV show "CSI" cheered her on: "One can only hope, but sadly I don't think anything would change."
In Texas, state Democratic Party official John Cobarruvias threw fuel on the fire. Cobarruvias is the Democratic Party precinct chair in Houston, Texas, and holds a seat on the Texas State Democratic Party's executive committee. On his Twitter feed, Cobarruvias labeled the NRA a "domestic terrorist organization" and called for the assassination of NRA leaders and supporters: "Can we now shoot the #NRA and everyone who defends them?"
So, it's come to this: Advocating beheadings, beatings and the mass murder of peaceful Americans to pay for the sins of a soulless madman. But because the advocates of violence fashion themselves champions of non-violence and because they inhabit the hallowed worlds of Hollywood, academia and the Democratic Party, it's acceptable?
Blood-lusting hate speech must not get a pass just because it comes out of the mouths of the protected anti-gun class.
The "Snowdrop" Campaign
The Dunblane Story
On Wednesday, 13 March 1996, a 43 year old man made his way into the gym of the local primary school in Dunblane, Scotland. In his rucksack were two semi-automatic pistols, two Smith and Wesson revolvers and 743 rounds of ammunition.
While in the gym he fired 105 rounds of ammunition. He killed sixteen children, aged five, and their teacher. Thirteen others, including three teachers, sustained gunshot wounds, but survived. His guns and his ammunition were all legally held.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, there developed a massive groundswell of opposition to the legal ownership of hand-guns. The "Snowdrop Campaign", so named because March is snowdrop time in Scotland, was led by Mrs Ann Pearson, a friend of the bereaved families. The campaign was highly successful.
The British Government of the day, Conservative in complexion, proposed changes to the laws governing these weapons. Debate over these changes developed widely. Local churches, whose clergy and members had been deeply involved in the care and counselling of the bereaved families and of the families of those who had been injured, joined in the debate.
As the debate developed, supporters of rifle-clubs, shooting clubs and other interests, warned against an emotional reaction to the tragedy. In spite of this pressure, the Government introduced legislation and the result was the Firearms (amendment) Act of February 1997. This meant that all hand-guns, apart from pistols able to fire .22 or smaller cartridges, could no longer be bought, sold or possessed in Britain.
When the British Government changed in May 1997, new legislation was proposed to declare all hand-guns illegal. This measure became law in November 1997.
Accordingly it is no longer lawful in Britain to own, sell or buy any hand-gun. Arrangements were made for surrendering such weapons held, and for a measure of compensation. This legislation has been widely supported, particularly in Scotland.
The Snowdrop Campaign was founded after the Dunblane Massacre in March 1996 to call for a total ban on the private ownership and use of handguns in the United Kingdom. Founded by friends of the bereaved families and so called because March is snowdrop time in Scotland, it gained over 750,000 signatures to a petition in 6 weeks.[1]
Following presentation of the petition and a speech by one of the founders, Ann Pearston, to the 1996 Labour Party conference, the new Labour government of Tony Blair introduced the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, which further banned the private ownership of all cartridge ammunition handguns, regardless of calibre, including private ownership of .22 rimfire handguns.[2]
Gun Control Petitions Flood White House Website In Wake Of Newtown School Shooting
(Reuters) - At least 27 people, including 18 children, were killed on Friday when at least one shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, CBS News reported, citing unnamed officials.
If confirmed, it would be one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. The holiday season tragedy follows a series of shooting rampages in the United States this year that have killed multiple victims, and it was certain to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.
The principal and school psychologist were among the dead, CNN said. Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots with some saying as many as 100 were fired.
The suspected shooter, 24, was armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet-proof vest, WABC reported.
There were unconfirmed reports of a second shooter.
Connecticut School Shootings Recall 1996 Dunblane Horror In Scotland
In any case, the horrific mass murder of schoolchildren brings to mind the tragedy that occurred in Dunblane, Scotland in March 1996.
A gunman named walked into the school gym at the Dunblane Primary School in the morning and sprayed bullets from four weapons at random, killing 16 children and their teacher. One of the twelve other children who were wounded later died in hospital.
One student who survived the carnage later told UK media: "We heard these gunshots from the gym and looked round and thought he must be firing at a target or something then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts and we were all petrified."
Most of the child victims were only five or six years old.
At least 27, including 18 children, dead in Connecticut school shooting: report
(Reuters) - At least 27 people, including 18 children, were killed on Friday when at least one shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, CBS News reported, citing unnamed officials.
If confirmed, it would be one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. The holiday season tragedy follows a series of shooting rampages in the United States this year that have killed multiple victims, and it was certain to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.
The principal and school psychologist were among the dead, CNN said. Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots with some saying as many as 100 were fired.
The suspected shooter, 24, was armed with four weapons and wearing a bullet-proof vest, WABC reported.
There were unconfirmed reports of a second shooter.
Another person was being held in police custody after he was detained in the woods near the school wearing camouflage pants, CBS reported.
Sandy Hook Elementary School teaches children from kindergarten through fourth grade - roughly ages 5 to 10.
"It was horrendous," said parent Brenda Lebinski, who rushed to the school where her daughter is in the third grade. "Everyone was in hysterics - parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don't know if they were shot, but they were bloodied."
Television images showed police and ambulances at the scene, and parents rushing toward the school. Parents were seen reuniting with their children and taking them home.
"This is going to be bad," a state official told Reuters, requesting anonymity because the scope of the tragedy remained uncertain.
President Barack Obama was notified and would receive regular updates throughout the day, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"We're still waiting for more information about the incident in Connecticut," Carney said when asked about the president's reaction to it.
Carney called the event "tragic" and said there would be time later for a discussion of policy implications.
Obama remains committed to trying to renew a ban on assault weapons, Carney said.
All Newtown schools were placed in lockdown after the shooting, the Newtown Public School District said.
Lebinski said a mother who was at the school during the shooting told her a "masked man" entered the principal's office and may have shot the principal. Lebinski, who is friends with the mother who was at the school, said the principal was "severely injured."
Lebinski's daughter's teacher "immediately locked the door to the classroom and put all the kids in the corner of the room."
Danbury Hospital, about 11 miles west of the school, had received three patients from the scene, a hospital spokeswoman told NBC Connecticut. The mayor of Danbury, Mark Boughton, told MSNBC: "They are very serious injuries."
A girl interviewed by NBC Connecticut described hearing seven loud "booms" as she was in gym class. Other children began crying and teachers moved the students to a nearby office, she said.
"A police officer came in and told us to run outside and so we did," the unidentified girl said on camera.
One child was carried from Sandy Hook Elementary School by a police officer, and the child appeared to have been wounded, the town's weekly newspaper, the Newtown Bee, said on its website.
Connecticut State Police said its officers were at the scene with local police but provided no additional details. The emergency call to police occurred at 9:41 a.m., state police said.
Newtown, with a population about 27,000, is in northern Fairfield County, about 45 miles southwest of Hartford and 80 miles northeast of New York City.
Sandy Hook is one of four elementary schools in the district.
The United States has experienced a number of mass shooting rampages this year, most recently in Oregon, where a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall on Tuesday, killing two people and then himself.
The deadliest attack came in July at a midnight screening of a Batman film in Colorado that killed 12 people and wounded 58.
Laura Ingraham interviewed gun rights advocate John Lott. He recounted a conversation with then-Senator Obama who told Lott: “I don’t believe people should be able to own guns.”from PatDollard.com
