Proceeding According To Plan

Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee send Dianne Feinstein's Scary Guns ban to the Senate, where various Red State Dems will be offered an opportunity to commit ritual suicide.

Comments

[Rob Crawford]

"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."

[James D.]

Rob, that quote could refer to so many things going on these days...

[NK]

"...where various Red State Dems will be offered an opportunity to commit ritual suicide" Seppuku is an honorable tradition for the nobility. It is my sincere hope that theRed State Dems all die well. BANZAI!

[Walter]

Meh. McCaskill won't care.

Akin!

[Captain Hate]

Yet another opportunity for Manchin to disappoint anybody who trusts him to do the right thing.

[Danube of Thought]

The person who replaces any of the five in the Heller majority will see to it that the personal right to own guns is no longer recognized.

[James D.]

There was a bit in one of the "Star Trek" novels written in the 80's about the Romulan Senate.

They couldn't be voted out, obviously, but if they displeased their "constituents" sufficiently, they would send their Senator a sword, as a suggestion that the Senator use it on him or herself. If they received some threshold number of them, a combination of residual honor, peer pressure and adherence to tradition usually resulted in the Senator following the suggestion and offing themself.

I could get behind a program like that...

[matt]

does this include high capacity clip magazines?

[Clarice]

Ha ha ha.

[Clarice]

Unless move on has a spot for Manchin when his term is up, he is not going to vote for this ban.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

"Yet another opportunity for Manchin to disappoint anybody who trusts him to do the right thing"

When I hear the phrase "Blue Dog Democrat" I reach for my revolver.

[Old Lurker]

Maybe DiFi can chair a Committee for Public Safety and perhaps we can end it as the French did for Robespierre. I think PUK found where we could have the carts manufactured.

[Rob Crawford]

I don't know how to knit, but I'll learn if it gets me a good seat for the gun grabbers' appointments.

[matt]

porch;

how did the premiere go? How many autographs did you have to sign?

[Old Lurker]

Clarice will teach you Rob and save you a seat.

[Bruce]

I think that "modern semiautomatic rifles and carbines" would probably be more accurate than "scary looking guns". Because that is what DiFi and the other gun grabbers are trying to do - ban the features that make these weapons modern.

The AR platform was developed in the late 1950s, and the select fire version was adopted by our military in the mid 1960s, so it is over 50 years old. The features that make the weapons so scary looking are precisely those that are modern - they are constructed of modern materials, using modern manufacturing techniques, and use ergonomic engineering to make them more accurate, with lower recoil, more maintainable, safer, etc. The black composite look? Because they no longer utilize wood, which became effectively obsolete. What we had before the AR type weapons were semiautomatic rifles and carbines, some with detachable magazines, that were built with early 20th century workings applied to 18th century wood stocks. That is what DiFi wants. (Select fire and automatic fire rifles with detachable magazines were adopted by the U.S. military in WWI, and pistols a couple years earlier).

BTW - the only reason that a lot of these weapons are scary colored is convention. They have been manufactured in almost every color imaginable, including bright pink.

[Bruce]

Interesting exchange between DiFi and Cruz today. He asked about her treating the 2nd Amdt. differently than the 1st and 4th. She got all offended, and told him off, that she had been sitting on this committee for 20 years now, etc. And, never really did answer his question.

But, that has always been the problem here. DiFi, and many of the Dems here, are operating at an emotional level. Don't bother them with facts (like the reality that there are almost no murders every year from the rifles and carbines that they are trying to ban). Republicans, like Cruz, use logic, which in this case is unrefutable, so the Dems, like DiFi, don't even try to argue against it. Rather, they just scream more loudly.

[Jack is Back]

I hope they pass it. 2014 looks brighter every day.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

I think a very useful contribution to the discussion of this subject would be the elimination of the suffix "-style" from the conversation.

[Rick Ballard]

I wouldn't be surprised to see McConnell make a surprise move to allow it to move quickly to debate and a vote. It would make for a great filibuster and there is no way the House won't kill it.

[James D.]

Rick, are you 100% sure about the House killing it? My faith in Boehner & co. is pretty thin just now.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

That CA GOP guy McCarthy said the other day that the house could approve a gun control bill with very little Republican support. I would hope that a primary challenger appears immediately.

I think the .45 ACP pistol was adopted in 1911 and the M-16 was in use in Vietnam in 1963.

[MALIA and SASHA]

Diane Feinstein has been on the committee for 20 years she says! Unless she is Jethro Bodeen, that would probably preclude her from being a 6th grader!!

[Bruce]

I think a very useful contribution to the discussion of this subject would be the elimination of the suffix "-style" from the conversation.

But, of course, the reason for that usage is that these semiautomatic rifles and carbines look like their select fire (and therefore already heavily regulated) brethren. And, since we now have nearing 50 years of movies with our military utilizing such weapons, along with maybe half that with our police, they are now associated with Hollywood violence in the minds of many Americans.

The interesting thing to me is that the M16 and M4 Carbine are derived from the AR-15, and many of the refinements and improvements over the years in those weapons migrated back into the AR-15 line. But, more recently, there has been significant movement in the other direction, with innovations in the semiautomatic civilian market moving back to the military market. With the introduction of rail systems, the market for accessories has boomed, and we saw a lot of civilian accessories being utilized with our military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the military playing catch-up in providing fully authorized and supplied accessories to replace the civilian ones that some of the troops were utilizing.

[Bruce]

I think the .45 ACP pistol was adopted in 1911 and the M-16 was in use in Vietnam in 1963.

Which gives us a century with military adoption of "large capacity" magazine fed semiautomatic pistols and a half a century of AR-15 type select fire weapons. My comment about "large capacity" magazine fed automatic and select fire weapons was in reference to the BAR and Thompson submachine gun, both introduced to our military near the end of WWI.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

March 10:

"However, what should be alarming is that the House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said he is open to ramming through bills on issues like gun control and immigration without the support of his Republican colleagues."

(Freedom Outpost)

[Jack is Back]

The Pope checks out of his hotel:)

[Clarice]

DoT--Breitbart:

"UPDATE: Late this evening, Rep. McCarthy's representatives reached out to both Breitbart News and The Hill regarding the use of the Hastert rule in the House. The Hill reports in an update to its original story:
In a statement to The Hill, McCarthy spokesperson Mike Long said: "Whip McCarthy strongly supports returning to regular order to bring legislation to the floor that has the support of a majority of the majority. Insinuation to the contrary is completely false."

[Skoot]

"Hey! a Youse guy's. a Where's a da Pope's a bag's a?

[Danube of Thought]

A glimpse at how the man thinks:

“It is better if the House does their work,” said McCarthy. “We should be sending bills to the Senate.”

Right. Doesn't matter what's in the bills. We sent you to congress so you would send bills to the Senate.

[Bruce]

I don't see a filibuster for DiFi's gun ban. Without, the Dems are in a pickle - plenty of gun state Dem Senators who will be placed in the position of either voting for something that will likely cost them their next election, or voting to defeat the bill being pushed by their party.

But, the person to watch is Harry Reid. He has, until this point, been real cozy with the NRA, and represents the state where you can rent almost any type of machine gun manufactured (at least up until the 1980s), including the .50 M2. Though the state is undergoing Californization, it is still one of the more gun-friendly states. I question whether he can personally afford to let DiFi's gun grabbing bill come to the Senate floor for a vote.

We shall see.

[narciso]

In the context of the violation of the Hastert rule it seems rather clear,

[Rick Ballard]

James D.,

I freely acknowledge the possibility Boehner might disappoint but I believe there has been a shift since the end of the post election honeymoon. We'll know for sure within three weeks.

[maryrose]

It could get real interesting in the Senate if they bring the gun bill to a vote. The following senaors who are dem will vote it down: Tester,Pryor{he is already being targeted with ads, Manchin{if he wants re-election remember his gun commercial shooting Bammycare?"
Landrieu{you need guns to stay alive down there.}The last time I was in New Orleans I saw police take down a criminal about 100 feet away from us.
Reid will vote "no".
Rockefeller will vote yes because he is retiring.Ditto for Lautenberg,Harkin,Levin,andSchumer of course.

[narciso]

Yeah, he would have a problem blending otherwise.

http://twitchy.com/2013/03/14/president-obama-reveals-secret-fantasy-tour-tel-aviv-wearing-fake-mustache/

[centralcal]

I am often naive and uninformed. I admit it. But I am gobsmacked to learn that a President of the United States cannot eat the food served at a luncheon, hosted by the Senate (or opposing party) because it wasn't "tasted" officially by a friggen court jester.

How long has this been a practice? I completely had no idea!

[boatbuilder]

Reed won't let it go to a vote if he can help it, and those pushing the bill don't really want it either, because they know that it will either go down in flames or will be a battle they win which costs them the war when election time comes. Mostly those in hysterical anti-gun districts want to be seen as doing something.

[AliceH]

I missed that, CC. Where is the food-taster thing coming from? (I'm skeptical, btw).

[MarkO]

Let's get this to the SC before the composition changes or The Dred Pirate Roberts can come up with a different solution.

[boatbuilder]

I saw a letter or op-ed the other day (I forget which) about pink guns and non-scary looking weapons being dangerous because kids think they are toys, with examples cited (don't know if the examples were bogus). Made sense to me. So the ban on scary-looking weapons seems to be aimed in the wrong direction.

[centralcal]

Originally from the Daily Caller, but I saw it at Weasel Zippers:

WASHINGTON — Following President Obama’s lunch meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins described the food served and the president’s reaction to what was on menu.

“University of Maine recipe for healthy lobster salad — I pointed that out to the president in keeping with the first lady’s initiatives and Fox Family Potato Chips made in Aroostook County where I’m from and wild blueberry pie full of anti-oxidants, see this was a healthy lunch as well. We did have a little ice cream on the pie too, also made in Maine, Gifford’s Ice Cream. So in all seriousness this was well received,” Collins told reporters on Thursday after the meeting at the Capitol.

“Unfortunately, you know, the president can’t,” said Collins when asked if Obama ate at the lunch meeting.

“He looked longingly at it,” Collins continued. “He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over so, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better food than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting.”

[boatbuilder]

Is "Dred" a pun, MarkO?

[Janet]

Marxism in Education – The Infiltration of Our School Systems by the Common Core Standards

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Obama has to have a food taster? Are you kiddng? Who does he think he is? Mussolini?

[Beasts of England]

centralcal@7:28 - Yes. According to Zagat:

'Obama is headed to Asia this week, and the Secret Service has beefed up his security in an interesting way – with extra food tasters. Though the concept of food-taster protection seems medieval to us, it’s certainly still in use. The Service is bringing in 12 new ones, all of which are doctors at the JJ Hospital in Mumbai. They have to be on site at places like the Taj Mahal Hotel to give the all-clear on grub before it goes out to the Prez. That’s in addition to the team of “staff” food tasters, which regularly travel in the president’s entourage.

One of the tasters acknowledges that he is essentially a “guinea pig," but he is still excited to work for the U.S. president. If you are looking for a career change – maybe this is a road you should investigate. It actually might be fun to try all those dishes – except for that pesky chance of being poisioned [sic] and all.'

While I'm not surprised, per se, I would have guessed they had a more sophisticated device or procedure in place, i.e., does the job description say 'you could die'?

[centralcal]

Jane and AliceH - Daily Caller has a recording of Susan Collins saying, yep, he essentially has to have a food taster/tester.

So all those dinners out with Moochelle, the Hawaii vacay and the photo ops of buying icies and cookies, and the campaign stops picking up pizzas and donuts and hamburgers, etc. etc. - the SS is swarming the place sampling everything in sight and waiting (how long, exactly) to see if anyone drops dead of poisoning??????????

[AliceH]

wow, CC.

I guess I'm not particularly worked up about whether the Pres has a food taster or not (Secret Service protections are varied and they do not comment on them), but it does seem like a lame excuse. Who accepts an invitation to dinner without the means to eat dinner?

[narciso]

They are doing their best impression of a kamikazi Scotman,

[centralcal]

Beasts - You know, I am not surprised at food testers on foreign travels and think that is probably very wise. But on Capitol Hill?

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

He can't eat what senators put in front of him and eat themselves?
What a candyass.

[narciso]

Anyone wondering why the bait and switch, with 'Anneonymous; the videographer that looks like 'Dr. Evil's nephew

[Rob Crawford]

President Obama reveals secret fantasy: tour Tel Aviv wearing fake mustache

I hope no one tells him to avoid the Charlie Chaplin style.

[Rob Crawford]

Obama has to have a food taster? Are you kiddng? Who does he think he is? Mussolini?

Nero.

[narciso]

Interesting, the Salon page, has a link to Amanda 'I could have been Rielle' Marcotte,
but it has a reference to the Thomas Fordham
institute, as making some claim or another;

http://www.peytonwolcott.com/Fordham_Finn.html

[boatbuilder]

He doesn't think he's Mussolini. I think he's Mussolini.

[Beasts of England]

Good point, Ig! I guess it's ok for Senators to eat poisoned food...

cc: Yeah, I think the food on the Hill should be ok, kinda like Ig hinted at.

[Porchlight]

Hi matt,

Thank you for asking. It went very well. It wasn't as well attended as hoped - the band's fans are notoriously lazy (just like the band) and the screening was downtown in rush hour during the busiest week of the year - but the crowd was enthusiastic and the director and producers are happy. I loved the film and hope others will, too.

Afterwards we had a bar gathering that was a reunion of sorts. Very nice. And tomorrow I get to have breakfast with an old high school friend. SXSW has its upside....

[Porchlight]

Jane, I'm sorry, I think you asked about the movie on the old thread but it was dying, so hopefully you'll catch the update here.

Are you still coming to Texas?

[AliceH]

In the comments at DailyCaller, a (tongue-in-cheek) suggestion was that you never know... Republicans could have been taking tiny doses of arsenic and building up their immunity for months.

I really wish he had said iocane powder, though :)

[narciso]

You know that bit is right out of the Hunger Games, Pres. Snow, is notorious for poisoning his adversaries.

[boatbuilder]

Susan Collins is going to have to do penance for talking out of school and making Zero look bad. I predict that within the week she takes umbrage at Ted Cruz for being "mean."

[AliceH]

I got it I got it!!!

Next time the Republicans invite Obama to dinner, they need to server a Plastic Turkey!

And... the circle will be complete.

[narciso]

Wait, what now;

http://twitchy.com/2013/03/14/matthew-keys-retweets-story-about-his-indictment-promises-business-as-usual-tomorrow/

[Danube of Thought iPad]

I see that the felicitously named Brown University is offering a student workshop on prostate pleasure.

[Janet]

Obama Mocks Freshman House Democrat For Asking Him About Job Creation…

Made me think of this video mix of Obama as a Senator coming in late to numerous meetings.
He is SO arrogant.

[Porchlight]

Okay, so let's say he has to have a food taster. So why didn't he? It was a lunch meeting. Was it something he planned to blame on sequester?

[centralcal]

Was it something he planned to blame on sequester?

More likely, something he wanted to blame on evil Republicans. (*whispering* You know, they do want to throw Granny over the cliff and all sorts of other horrible things.)

[Rob Crawford]

Wait...

We have all those pictures of Obama "getting out of the house" for a snack. Grabbing burgers or Italian beef sandwiches or barbecue or whatever.

Are the Official Tasters there? I'll buy that the Secret Service watches as his order's prepared -- but do they have multiple orders prepared "for the president" and give the others to some guinea pigs?

[Mad Jack]

Who test smokes the Newports?

[Danube of Thought iPad]

His approval in PA has dropped from 51 to 44 in 45 days.

They voted for him, big-time.

[rse]

DOT-

I have been making the point for a while that education is trying to diminish knowledge and coming up with a variety of arguments to justify it. Today the argument that was intended to be so erudite that no one could object decided to compare it with the effect of postmodernist and feminist and race theory on the law.

I really did feel like the profs had decided to unwisely come play in the wrong play pen. This is the commission that matters that was off the radar screen being funded through another entity.

Of course the comment also made me think of the wise latina trying to cover all bases of a postmodern approach to the law.

Bad. Bad. Analogy people.

[Frau Guten Appetit]

This one's for TK. The "tasters excuse" prevents anyone from gathering the preezy's DNA which I have wanted since he left his waffle behind in a diner. How about you?

[AliceH]

LOL Frau!

[Threadkiller]

Frau is correct.

[Threadkiller]

Happy birthday Henry!

[Danube of Thought iPad]

" prevents anyone from gathering the preezy's DNA "

Pick up one of his cigarette butts. What would you compare his DNA with?

[jimmyk]

So did W have a food taster? Maybe it's just standard Secret Service protocol. I'll have to ask my BIL who was in the Service.

[Stephanie]

What would you compare his DNA with?

His half brother's? His aunty's? His kids?

Might be some interesting answers in that last question...

[Cecil Turner]

. . . but do they have multiple orders prepared "for the president" and give the others to some guinea pigs?

Nah, just to Joe Biden. Otherwise they'd endanger a bunch of innocent guinea pigs.

[bgates]

Who test smokes the Newports?

Forget about that, who-

...well, I suppose Reggie Love and Kal Penn could each...

...never mind.

[Stephanie]

If he doesn't swallow does it really matter?

/awaiting a thwack from Clarice any time now

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--What would you compare his DNA with?--

They still got those bodies from Roswell in a hanger somewhere?

[Threadkiller]

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/07/white-house-food-tasters/comment-page-1/

[narciso]

Notice how the claims seem to trail off here;

http://www.news4jax.com/news/Sources-Benghazi-suspect-detained-in-Libya/-/475880/19317780/-/format/rss_2.0/-/y4pvg2/-/index.html

[Threadkiller]

Maybe the taste testers are making sure no pork gets in Obama's food.

[Sue]

Maybe they have a specific threat?

[narciso]

That's possible, Sue, the problem is the track record of released operatives, like Al Harzi, and others that interrogation has not been allowed.

[Rick Ballard]

Sue,

It's possibly a universal threat. Prezinabubble would be fine with me.

[narciso]

This puts the story, in more context;

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/03/al_qaeda-linked_beng.php

[Dublindave]

Watching Feinstein fucking crush Cruz on camera was one of the best political moments thus far of 2013-she fucking destroyed and humiliated the little prick.

Dear God, even Democratic old ladies take Tea party men to the fucking cleaners.

[narciso]

As someone who has seen 'the agony of defeat' and 'the thrill of victory''

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/14/Caddell-Blows-the-Lid-Off-CPAC
With-Blistering-Attack-on-Racketeering-Republican-Consultants

[Elliott]

Happy birthday, Henry! Many thanks for keeping us apprised of the machinations and intrigues in your neck of the woods.

[narciso]

Well how do you think we ended with Murkowski, kind of a multiple choice question, in the LUN

[Elliott]

kind of a multiple choice question

'Fill-in the blank' is more apposite, in the circumstances.

[Extraneus]

Click for full size.

[narciso]

Very interesting. don't you think'

http://patterico.com/2013/03/14/i-ask-again-when-the-washington-post-whitewashed-the-menendez-scandal-was-that-rathergate-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-1185274

[marlene on Kindle]

Obama is a total jerk! I am so insulted he would not eat our yummy Maine food.
We are meeting JiB this morning.

[rse]

sbw-have you seen that inBloom data platform financed by gates with parents up in outrage in NYC on all the data to be shared? And the weasel response that only vendors will have access to it. henry and I have had discussions that this data is being too broadly used to be secure whatever the intentions.

It is a State story and might be interesting to cover. Ever since I quoted Klein as saying at that luncheon that amplify was about getting new kinds of minds I distrust all these efforts. I can find a link if you do not already have it.

Good morning everyone! Time to move through the nonsense this morning and spot and slay fallacies and false facts.

jimmy-I mentioned postmodernist legal theory as the absurd justification for these new ed theories not grounded in facts but aspirations for the future. Same report also grounded it in new models of economics. Gag.

[sbw]

rse, no. I'll look. Thanks.

[Jane: Mock the Media]

They voted for him, big-time.

Actually they voted for him over and over again.