Publishing names of permit holders serves no purpose - Kingsport Times-News Online

Many people of good character are up in arms over the publication of Concealed Carry permit holders by newspapers. The editors at the Roanoke Times have done so already in Virginia. The editorial board at the Kingsport Times News have the sensible position from the start. One of the most important reasons is quoted below:

Among these permit holders are women with standing court orders of protection against estranged husbands or others. Publicizing their names provides information to those intent on harming them.

In an era where common sense is hard to find on editorial staffs of newspapers, the Times News excels at providing readers with common sense news and views. Another snippet:

If a gun permit holder kills someone with his gun — and that has apparently occurred exactly once since Tennessee’s current gun permit program began — then media and the public have an interest in knowing it. But absent such criminal behavior, what legitimate public interest is served by the indiscriminate publication of the identities of gun permit licensees?

Tennessee media have the right to publish gun permit information (at least for now), but should they publish it simply because they can? Responsibility goes hand in hand with freedom. Abuse a freedom often enough, and you stand a good chance of losing it altogether.

The underline emphasis is mine. I do so to emphasize the point that contrary to scare tactics by the Left, the majority of gun owners and gun carriers are responsible and law abiding. Publishing their names indiscriminately is the height of First Amendment abuse.

Publishing names of permit holders serves no purpose - Kingsport Times-News Online

Newsmax.com - Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

In a great just shut up moment, this comes from Eric Holder, the most anti-gun AG the US has had.

The Obama administration has its sights set on reinstating the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that the move would help stem the tide of guns that cross into Mexico from the United States. Mexico is currently struggle with a surge of violence linked to drug cartels.

Let me get this straight.  Eric Holder blames the United States for the illegal drugs and criminal cartels by stating that the weapons pass through the border twice, once from our side to theirs and then on the arms of armed drug thugs? Eric Holder. JUST SHUT UP!!!

Ooops,wait, the candy store has only been open for a month. Let’s let the young man in the Oval Office satisfy his sweet tooth with hard earned tax payers money. The audacity of this president AND his cabinet. Argggggggggggggh, ye American people, ye suckers!!!! You all drank the Obama Kool-Aid.

Newsmax.com - Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

Why can’t John Brownlee stop lying about Ken Cuccinelli? | I'm Surrounded By Idiots

Hat tip to Shaun Kenney  for this very entertaining and very informative look at the Brownlee campaign’s assault on Senator Ken Cuccinelli.  A particularly interesting section of this post reads:

2006 session: Chief Patron of legislation that would have ensured that state law enforcement officers received the same expanded overtime compensation requirements that were passed in 2003 (SB 657). Chief Patron of legislation that expanded the definition of “sexually violent predators” and expanded the ability of the Office of the Attorney General to access child protective services records (SB 694). This piece of legislation was incorporated into a larger bill, SB 559, which significantly revamped the state’s Sex Offender Registry, which Cuccinelli was also a Co-Patron of. Co-Patron of legislation that increased penalties for people that commit sex crimes when they should be on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry, but haven’t registered (HB 561), which was incorporated into HB 984. Chief Patron of legislation that would have made “several changes in the process and procedures afforded to [law enforcement] officers under the procedural guarantee act, including right to counsel, notice of allegations, and a prohibition against a complaining officer being in charge of an investigation” (SB 697). Co-Patron of a resolution commending the Virginia Capitol Police and its head, Colonel George B. Mason, Jr. (SJ 296). Co-Patron of a resolution celebrating the life of Officer Seneca B. Darden of the Norfolk Police Department, who was killed in the line of duty (SJ 5035).

It seems like Senator Cuccinelli, far from being in cohorts with Kaine and the Dems, has actually fought very hard for law enforcement across the Commonwealth.  Care for another snippet? Senator Cuccinelli has long defended the pre-born and is a pro-life giant in the State Senate. My friend DJ has this to say:

John Brownlee, according to his own website, was U.S. Attorney for seven years, longer than Cuccinelli was in the state senate.  More importantly, Brownlee was active with the judicial branch of the Federal government, the branch which actually legalized abortion in 1973.  How many times did Brownlee fight to have Roe v. Wade overturned?  In how many cases did his office stand up for pre-born children?  If there were any, his website makes no mention of it.

My friends, I respect all three of the GOP candidates for Attorney General.  However, when it comes to a strict misrepresentation of an opponent’s record, I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed. This fact is exacerbated by the reality that Mr. Brownlee’s wife has extensive roots to Southwest Virginia. Mrs.. Leigh Ann Necessary-Brownlee served as six o’clock anchor for WCYB TV in Bristol. One would imagine that Mrs. Brownlee would understand the value of the truth.

 Here’s another intriguing and most informative post. Thanks to my friend Chris at Mason Conservative. If we choose to admit it or not, there is a moral aspect to Capital Punishment and the following blurb is very succinct in its description.

The death penalty should not be something we celebrate, it should not be something we consistently push for an expansion without thinking about it.  Ken's caution in his last statement, getting caught up in a robbery gone bad, is correct.  Taking a human life is serious business and we have to make sure its applied honestly and applied to those who truly deserve it.  Brownlee comes at it from a US Attorney's perspective and I can understand how he thinks it helps, but does it really help society to put someone to death because of an accident or a robbery gone bad? 

 

Why can’t John Brownlee stop lying about Ken Cuccinelli? | I'm Surrounded By Idiots

DJ McGuire - Republican For Lee Hill Supervisor

As always, I’m late with this one, but this website is a must see. My friend and fellow Duncan Hunter supporter is running for the Board of Supervisors in Spotsylvania County. In this one area I can understand where D.J. is coming from. I ran for Washington County Board of Supervisors in 1999 and the time it consumes is unbelievable. I only wish that more people of DJ’s stature and intelligence would run for county seats. 

DJ McGuire - Republican For Lee Hill Supervisor

Housing bailouts subsidize irresponsible behavior - Kingsport Times-News Online

This editorial is why I love the Kingsport Times-News. They tell the truth with little or no partisan spin (unlike J. Todd and his Gang on Morrison.)  Another reason why this editorial is so captivating is because it uses common sense (a virtue lost to many liberals.) This is a must read.

Housing bailouts subsidize irresponsible behavior - Kingsport Times-News Online

PJB: Metrics of National Decline | Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website

Pat Buchanan has it right.

Let me share some snippets from this insightful column.

From January 2008, right after Kudlow’s column ran, through January 2009, the U.S. economy lost 3.5 million jobs. The private sector loss of 3.65 million jobs was slightly offset by 148,000 jobs created by federal, state and local governments. Say what you will, the Bush years were boom times for Big Government.

Agreed. Big Government conservatism became the boon of the neoconservatives like Wolfowitz and Volcker.  The Furnace that once was the Forge of our Republic has now sucked up billons of dollars in debt and is seeking bailout from our Big Daddy Government. Here is more insight:

From Jan. 31, 2001, through Jan. 31, 2009, 4.4 million manufacturing jobs, 26 percent of all of the manufacturing jobs in the United States, disappeared.

With the onslaught of service and information industries, good paying manufacturing jobs are becoming a thing of the past. Most solid, blue-collar workers who know nothing but hard work and the fruits of their labors are slowly(or maybe not so slowly) being replaced by foreign voices at call centers around the globe thanks to free trade. Let’s proceed.

Last week, final trade figures for 2008 came in. They make for riveting reading for Americans who yet believe that manufacturing is an indispensable element of national power.

With China exporting five times the dollar volume in goods to us as she imports from us, Beijing’s trade surplus with the United States set yet another world record: $266 billion.

Let me put the so called “stimulus” in perspective. The $784 billion dollars recently signed as a dole out is twice the size of our trade deficit with China, which stands at $266 billion.  Let me put it this way, we’re losing jobs, we’re consuming more than we’re producing and we’re spending like there is no tomorrow.  In other words, America’s best days are behind her. PJB concurs.

These statistics, these realities — factories closing in the United States, manufacturing jobs being outsourced in the millions to China and Asia, enormous, endless trade deficits in goods — testify to a painful truth: America is a receding and declining world power.

However, there can be hope.

How do we correct those “trade-related imbalances” of which Volcker spoke? We must export more and import less, save more and spend less, produce more and consume less. We need to emulate the ants and behave less like the grasshoppers of summer.

Oh wait, those who work hard, save their money for a rainy day, and build the American Dream for themselves are old fashioned. The Left’s view of them is, “We must punish them for doing the right thing. We must punish them for providing for their families. We must punish them for not be socially responsible.” As a matter of fact, the American people, historically, are the most charitable people on earth.

Obama Seeks $634M Over 10 Years to Revamp Health Care System - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com

I don’t hate to say it but Robert Bork is/was right. Not only are we slouching toward Gomorrah, but we’re sprinting toward outright Marxism at a breakneck pace.

I would say that the Obama administration is spending our money like a drunken sailor on shore leave, but that would be too derogatory against the sailor. At least the sailor spends his own money. This country is bankrupt and Obama is going to bankrupt our grandchildren.

Normally, I’m a fairly optimistic person, but I’m afraid that unless the United States restores some fiscal sanity, our best days are behind us and we have no one to blame but ourselves for drinking Obama’s Kool-Aid.

Obama Seeks $634M Over 10 Years to Revamp Health Care System - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com

The Case for Cuccinelli

John Brownlee's supporters have been pretty aggresive over the past few weeks and months hammering Senator Cuccinelli over the "triggerman rule." It's time for a reality check.

#1.) Ken Cuccinelli has been elected to a position of public trust in an area NOT friendly to conservatives. John Brownlee is an APPOINTED U.S. Attorney who has not been publicly vetted by a general election campaign. Even Dave Foster has held elected office before. Ken Cuccinelli has a record to run on, not just campaign slogans and trial outcomes.

#2.) Senator Cuccinelli has received the endorsement of the Gun Owners of America. The GOA is widely regarded as the only no compromise gun lobby in Washington.

#3.) Senator Cuccinelli has consistently fought for the sanctity of human life. I quote directly from his website "Without the right to life, all other rights are unavailable. His patronage of SB 801 provides for the issuance of Choose Life license plates.

B. The annual fee for plates issued pursuant to this act shall be $25 in addition to the prescribed fee for state license plates. For each such $25 fee collected in excess of 1,000 registrations pursuant to this act, $15 shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to a special nonreverting fund known as the Choose Life Fund, established within the Department of Accounts. These funds shall be paid annually to the localities in which the vehicles are registered and shall be distributed by the localities to which they are paid to nongovernmental, not-for-profit agencies, located within their boundaries, that provide counseling and other services intended to meet the needs of expectant mothers who are committed to placing their children for adoption.

#4.) Senator Cuccinelli is fighting for the Constitutional liberties of all citizens in the Commonwealth by introducing SB 1431 a bill which prohibits the Commonwealth from participating in the REAL ID Act of 2005 as well as SB 841 which prohibits the Commonwealth from using biometric data in any form of ID.

#5.) Senator Cuccinelli is a friend of homeschoolers across the Commonwealth. He has introduced SB 1547 which enables homeschooled students to receive state financial aid funds.
There are many homeschooled students across the Commonwealth who are gifted and talented enough to excel at the post secondary level. Ken Cuccinelli is fighting for those students.

#6 Ken Cuccinelli is fighting to reduce taxes across the board. His introduction of SB 813 provides an exemption from sales and use tax for the fabrication of animal meat.
A sale does not include fabrication of animal meat to be consumed by the purchaser of the animal meat or his family, when the purchaser supplies the animal or meat that is fabricated. This helps hunters, farmers and others who grow their own meat when the time comes for butchering or processing.

These are just a few examples from the preceeding GA session. Ken Cuccinelli, in league with Kaine and Dems? With all due respect to my blog brother Kilo, I don't think so. Ken Cuccinelli is his own man and says what he means and means what he says.

America First Party

The United States’ two party political system has failed. Beginning in the first half of the twentieth century with FDR, a plethora of unconstitutional spending programs and public works projects has bloated the size of the United States Government to a level not even imagined by the Founders, much less approved by them. The Democrats have been overtaken by the radical environmental, feminist and homosexual agendas. Now that the Left controls both the White House and the Congress of these United States the American taxpayer will be expected to foot the bill. The Republican party, while less friendly to the above lobbies, has become the party of big business and neo-conservative New World Order advocates.

I have been debating as to what personal action is consistent with my own conscience. To that end, I announce my formal resignation from the Republican party and my affiliation with the America First Party. I will still support those candidates that I have listed on my blog. I believe in the sanctity of my word and I will fulfill that obligation. After that, I will devote my efforts toward helping build a party that still believes in Fair Trade, the sanctity of ALL human life, and the restoration of our Constitutional Republic.

The AFP has a grassroots approach to party building. They believe in building from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. To that end, the AFP will focus efforts on electing principled people to county and municipal offices almost exclusively. The AFP recommended Constitution Party nominee Chuck Baldwin and Libertarian nominee Bob Barr to its members as candidates most in line with the AFP platform.

There, I did it AND mean it this time. I voted for Bob Barr in 08 and kept my word that I would not vote for John McCain. I still look forward to working with my conservative friends in the ODBA and the Jeffersoniad to advance conservative causes.

America First Party

TN Newspaper Publishes Concealed Carry Permit Holder List | TriCities

This travesty illustrates the slide toward socialism that the United States has embarked upon. Granted, the records themselves are in the public domain. However, the purpose of concealed carry is defeated when the general public knows who is carrying. I should not be surprised but Barack Hussein Obama will not be satisfied until he eliminates the Second Amendment. 

TN Newspaper Publishes Concealed Carry Permit Holder List | TriCities

Old Virginia Blog: Was Abraham Lincoln An Orthodox Christian?

I would encourage you to read this post and the linked article regarding our 16th President and Christianity. Evidently, Orthodox Christianity was not Lincoln’s strong suit.

Old Virginia Blog: Was Abraham Lincoln An Orthodox Christian?

Personal Loyalty

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling has done a good job in a difficult position working with a liberal Democrat as boss and is a fine man as far as I can tell. However, before I ever heard of Lt. Governor Bolling, I met a young Giles county farmer running for the Ninth District Republican nomination. I've covered plenty of miles in an old Ford Aerostar anywhere between Abingdon and Lee County or Buchanan County and Dickenson County. I've personally walked with Patrick Muldoon during a campaign where we where constantly told, oh you'll never beat Rick Boucher. That was true. We didn't beat him. Patrick waged a vigorous campaign and garnered 40% of the vote. Patrick kept moving forward. He saw it through to the end. Patrick Muldoon is a man I'd walk through political hell with. I saw the measure of the man when faced with late night returns from meetings, his campaign manager and I and Patrick would sleep on the floor with one pillow until morning broke and off to do it again.

My point in this diatribe is that personaly loyalty sometimes trumps political expedience. I throw my support to Patrick Muldoon for Lieutenant Governor