Something Feral

Digging up the flower-beds.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Predictable, yet abhorrent nonetheless

Obama is nothing if not consistent; a verifiable rogues' gallery is assembling to infest the White House:
Washington attorney Eric Holder is President-elect Barack Obama's top choice to be the next attorney general and aides have gone so far as to ask senators whether he would be confirmed, an Obama official and people close to the matter said Tuesday.

Holder, a former U.S. attorney who served as the No. 2 official in the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton, would be the nation's first black attorney general...

On the last day of Clinton's term, Holder was asked whether the president should pardon Rich, a wealthy commodities dealer who had spent years running from tax charges. Holder said he was "neutral, leaning towards favorable" on the pardon. Clinton later cited that as among the factors that persuaded him to issue the pardon.

So much for a reputation as a "tough and aggressive foe of public corruption."

If anything, Holder's appointment confirms the fears of those rushing to purchase firearms before the Obama administration takes office in January... But I'll let Holder speak for himself:
"As most of you know, I have served as a judge, as the chief prosecutor for the District of Columbia, and for the past two years as the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. I know the harm that guns can do - to individuals, to families, and to communities. My concern about easy access to guns in our society is built on my professional experience and the tragedies I have encountered in my work day life. But even more important, I am a father, and I want to be sure that we here in Washington do everything we can -- everything in our power -- to make our communities, our schools and our nation a safer place for our kids.

"Five years ago, Congress came together in a bipartisan way and passed one of the most important gun control measures ever -- the Brady bill. Yesterday, the President announced that since this law went into effect, more than 400,000 criminals and others who are not legally eligible to have guns, have been stopped from buying guns.

"Four hundred thousand. That's a lot of guns. Particularly if those guns were in the hands of fugitives or felons.

"But while the Brady law has done a lot to make this country safer, the law has a dangerous loophole that criminals and others who cannot legally buy guns at a licenced gun shop exploit. While everyone who buys a gun through a licenced dealer must undergo a background check to determine if they are eligible to buy a gun, the current law allows unlicenced sellers at gun shows to sell to anyone -- with no questions asked.

"It's not hard to see what kind of message that sends to criminals."

I'm guessing that message is, "We're disarming the sheep-dogs for the disadvantaged thugs, and we'll pardon the rest of you."

Let me remind you all that the latest proposed ban leaves the determination of what constitutes an "assault rifle" to the Attorney-General:
(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.

I shouldn't have to say it again, as it's beating a dead horse at this blog, but I will: Get a battle-rifle while you can.

2 comments:

Elusive Wapiti said...

Feral,

I love it when the 400,000 figure pops up.

I also love it when people realize just how many prosecutions resulted from all those people illegally attempting to buy firearms.

Also looks like the FreeState Wyo page hasn't been updated in about a year...

Something Feral said...

It truly is amazing (in a horrific way) how many people blindly trust that those in power are benevolently looking out for the little guy... Nothing could be further from the truth.

Of course, admitting that means accepting culpability, responsibility for future action, and making decisions. And gosh, that's pretty darn scary!

/facepalm

Free State Wyoming's page hasn't been updated for a while, but it looks like the boards are still alive. It's not exactly a beehive of activity, but there's intelligent life in there.

(Insert Obama campaign joke here.)