Month: August 2019

In view of the recent shootings in El Paso and in Dayton, imagine the horror next week if CNN or MSNBC reported: “120 Killed in the Last Hour Across the U.S.A.!” The liberals, assuming that this was referring to assault gun violence would be apoplectic, and of course Trump would be blamed. Actually as many of you are perhaps aware this is a U.S. abortion statistic . . . 120 abortions every hour; 2899 abortions each day; 1.058 million each year in the U.S. Those on the right are probably shocked at these numbers, while those on the left are applauding a “woman’s right to choose.From my perspective, a woman does have “the right to choose,” until the embryo, at some point, deserves “the right to live.” Although I do not agree with abortion in general, I can appreciate the argument on the other side . . . up to a point, and that point is when the embryo becomes a “living thing,” and by this, I mean, when there is a heartbeat. If the fetus has its own heartbeat, it is now a living thing and deserves its own right to life.

There is no segue here!

Let’s now consider the recent mass shootings in Gilroy, in El Paso, and in Dayton. These involved semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines. Ohio and Texas allow these  guns and the magazines to be sold. California bans the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, but the Gilroy shooter legally bought his gun in Nevada. In Dayton, Ohio, police said Sunday afternoon the shooter legally purchased his .223-caliber weapon online and then had it transferred to a local arms dealer. Police said he affixed the rifle with a 100-round drum magazine and was carrying 250 rounds with him. Now let’s think rationally for a second. Is there any situation that a hunter would require a 100-round magazine? Likewise would someone who owns a gun for personal protection ever need a semi-automatic weapon with even a 30-round magazine? The reasonable answer to each of these questions is “no!”
My suggestion to both the liberals and the conservatives, both the left and the right, especially those in Congress is a version of “Let’s Make a Deal.” “Compromise” is a term that used to be actually practiced in Washington. Now is the time to resurrect “compromise.”                                

Follow me with this:No abortions once a fetal heartbeat is heard. Outlaw all semi-automatic guns and high capacity gun magazines.Both of these are non-negotiable, and together both will make both the left and the right extremely unhappy! . . . and this, my friends, is essential to the art of compromise!

The headline, “Two Mass Shootings Leave 29 Dead,” is horrifying, and the responses from those on the left mainly involve banning “assault weapons.” The responses from those on the right mainly have something to do with “guns don’t kill, people do,” or violent video games and the abolition of God in our society are responsible. While I agree with the responses of those on the right, these responses do not get us anywhere. Likewise, I am not a gun owner, and I assume that most, if not close to all, of us non-gun owners are confused by some of the terms that are flippantly tossed about. Only after there is an understanding of the basic terminology can we, as a country, have some reconciliation, and make some progress on this issue. The first step in reconciliation would be to have the Democratic presidential candidates keep their mouths shut, at least until the dead are buried!

What is an “assault weapon?”

There’s no technical definition of an “assault weapon.” There are fully automatic weapons, which fire continuously when the trigger is held down. These “machine guns” have been strictly regulated since 1934. Then there are semiautomatic weapons that reload automatically but fire only once each time the trigger is depressed. Semiautomatic pistols and rifles come in all shapes and sizes and are extremely common in the United States. [FYI: The AR in AR-15 refers to ArmaLite Rifle . . .not Assault Rifle. (Due to financial problems, and limitations in terms of manpower and production capacity, ArmaLite sold the ArmaLite Rifle-15, abbreviated AR-15 design and the AR-15 trademark to Colt’s Manufacturing Company in 1959. Colt started selling the semi-automatic version of the M16 rifle as the Colt AR-15 in 1964.)]
The New York Timesadmitted in 2014 that Democrats manufactured the term “assault weapons” in order to ban a “politically defined category of guns — a selection of rifles, shotguns and handguns with ‘military-style’ features’” and added that those weapons “only figured in about 2 percent of gun crimes nationwide before the ban in 1994.”In 1994 Congress passed and President Clinton signed the “Assault Weapons Ban,” which expired in 2004, and was not renewed by Congress. Although not agreed upon by all, it seems that this 10 year ban did not do much in terms of preventing killings.

What is a gun magazine?

The magazine holds additional bullets for the weapon, and can be changed out in approximately five seconds by an experienced shooter. AR-15 rifles usually come with 30 or fewer rounds in a magazine. But increasingly gun manufacturers have catered to shooters looking to have 40, 60 or 100-round magazines that traditionally were shunned because they were heavy and cumbersome. High-capacity magazines have been used in mass shootings, including in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Texas, and Parkland, Florida as well as in the recent mass shootings.

What are “bump stocks?”

“Bump stocks,” for practical purposes, convert a semi-automatic weapon to an automatic weapon. They are now apparently mostly a thing of the past, as a ban on them went into effect on March 26, 2019. The ban dictated that owners of bump stocks were required to destroy them or surrender them to ATF, punishable by 10 years imprisonment and $250,000 fine.
Now that we all have a basic understanding of the terms, what do we do now? 

At this point, I recommend the following in order to slow down the slander and chaos on both sides, and hopefully move toward some reasonable compromises:

1. Totally eliminate the term “assault weapon” from the discourse, as it is confusing and and only serves to muddy the waters when used by those who do not know what the term means. Just the other day Joe Biden said that, if elected president, he would institute a national buyback program for “assault weapons.”
2. Encourage Congress to immediately reinstitute the 1994  “Assault Weapons Ban.” Since it is already written it could be passed and signed quickly. Magazine size bans need legislation, like the federal ban that ran from 1994 to 2004. I know that I said the “Assault Weapons Ban” was of only questionable effectiveness, but it could perhaps get the bickering off of the front page and restore some sanity to the process. I would suggest that this remake of the 1994 law be in effect for only for six months, so that Congress would have a reasonable length of time to come up with some sort of bipartisan, more effective resolution.
3. Immediately implement “Red Flag” laws. As President Trump said, “We must make sure that those judged to pose a risk to public safety do not have access to firearms—and that if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process. That is why I have called for “Red Flag” laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders.”
4. As I noted above, politicians should keep their mouths shut, at least until the dead are buried! Beto, are you listening? Again here I agree with President Trump who tweeted, “Beto . . . respect the victims & law enforcement – & be quiet!”  At this point I am seeing many anti-Trump comments by Dems about the El Paso shooter’s manifesto, but I have not seen any comments by Republicans concerning the very liberal pro-Warren philosophy of the Dayton shooter.

I usually do not invest too much time paying attention to polls, especially after the “spot-on” polls that told us who was going to win the 2016 presidential election! However, I came across some interesting poll results earlier this week, and it made me think that the Democrats are spot-on with their message to the voters. 
This survey of 1,346 adults was conducted July 15th through July 17th, 2019 by The Marist Poll sponsored in partnership with NPR and PBS NewsHour. Adults 18 years of age and older residing in the contiguous United States were contacted on landline or mobile numbers and interviewed in English by telephone using live interviewers. Mobile telephone numbers were randomly selected based upon a list of telephone exchanges from throughout the nation from Survey Sampling International. The exchanges were selected to ensure that each region was represented in proportion to its population.
So this particular poll sounds like a reasonable sampling of the population. What was interesting to me was not what the Democrats or the Republicans thought, but what the Independents thought. As most of us are aware it is often the Independents that determine the outcome of elections.In general this poll was encouraging to me, because it should be discouraging to the Democrats!

Look at the following answers from Independents. Independents were asked if they support Medicare for All as a replacement for private health insurance (good idea/bad idea): 39/55. Again in response to the question, Is free healthcare for illegal immigrants a good idea/bad idea? Independents: 27/67. Is decriminalizing border crossings a good idea/bad idea? Independents: 24/68. Is reparations for slavery is a good idea/bad idea? Independents: 23/65. Do you think the ideas being offered by Democrats will move this country in the right direct/wrong direction. Independents: 40/48. Wow!

Remember that this poll was done in conjunction with NPR, who does not exactly have a rightward bent.  My message to the Dems at this point, “Keep on keeping on; you are spot-on!”

In an article entitled “How Trump Won,” written a few days after the 2016 election, the author surmised that a bunch of small voter groups coalesced into a large group that pushed Trump over the top. One of these small groups was comprised of “parents of inner-city children (predominately African-American) who had a choice to make – either to continue the present situation with their failing inner-city schools, dooming their children to a life of poverty and/or crime, or to hope that someone would take a stand on their behalf.” . . . “Mr. Trump’s message to these beleaguered parents was ‘What do you have to lose’?”

In the 2016 election Trump claimed 8 percent of the black vote compared to Romney, the previous Republican nominee’s 6 percent in 2012. This increase of 2% is a small increase, but it represented an increase in a group that no one expected. Will the same thing happen with inner-city black voters as a result of the recent “Elijah affair?” Everyone who is honest has to admit that the country is failing the inner cities and more specifically those who live in these inner-cities, e.g. Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, Baltimore, etc. As we all now know, Baltimore is the city that Elijah Cummings “represents.”

 Mr. Cummings made a major boo-boo – he pissed off The Donald, and whether President Trump’s anger toward Elijah Cummings was misdirected or not is irrelevant at this point, as the plight of the residents (predominately African-American) who live in his Baltimore district is now national news. Listening to the comments of these poor unfortunate people is heart wrenching! The filth, the trash, the crime, and the rats – awful!

At this point I would ask the predominately black inner-city residents of Baltimore, and by extension those that live in the other failing inner-cities, “Do you want to continue the present situation, or do you hope that someone would take a stand on your behalf?”  Is Donald Trump that someone?  “What do you have to lose?”
BTW: “How Trump Won” was included in my book, “The Quirky Contrarian.”
www.californiacontrarian.com

Back when I was a young boy, perhaps eight or nine years old, I was allowed to play outside unsupervised on the next block. I do not recall the exact circumstances of the incident in question. All that I can recall is that a bunch of us, including my friend, Jackie, and his older brothers, Jimmy and Tommy, were playing some group game. Certainly the game had to be rough because Jimmy was playing, and I must have gotten hurt. My mother was not particularly fond of Jimmy, as she thought he was a bully. She marched down to the other block, and verbally let Jimmy have it! (The enemy of my friend [son] is my enemy!) Good for my mother. 

I once had a similiar situation at work where I thought that someone in my department was being unfairly being chastised by an administrator and so I lit into the administrator. (The enemy of my friend is my enemy!) Good for me.

President Trump is not about to let some biased congressman (Rep Elijah Cummings) unfairly berate someone in his administration, especially when the congressman is doing it for his own political purpose. So in response, Mr. Trump lit into Rep Cummings (D,Md.) He tweeted:“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bullying, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the worst in the USA.” He added, “As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cummings’ District is a disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess.”(The enemy of my friend is my enemy!) Good for President Trump.

The response by Democrats and the liberal media was the hackneyed, “Donald Trump is a racist,” as Elijah Cummings is black. To me the crux of the issue is whether or not Cummings’ district is  a “rat and rodent-infested mess.” This is crucial as the vast majority of the district that he “represents,” is black. If President Trump’s comments are true and they eventually lead to an improvement in their living conditions in Baltimore, will the Democrats and the liberal media give Mr. Trump his due?

In 2018 the former mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh while touring an east Baltimore area of vacant houses with city leaders and said: “What the hell? We should just take all this [expletive] down.” “Whoa, you can smell the rats.” “Whew, Jesus.” “Oh, my God, you can smell the dead animals.” Were these comments racist? Of course not, as Mayor Pugh is black.

After the Baltimore riots in 2015, President Barack Obama spoke about communities in the major Maryland city that are struggling with “abject poverty,” “no investment,” and drugs. Obama partially blamed the riots on the lack of opportunity in Baltimore communities, pointing out the high rates of crime, substandard education, and drug abuse. According to Mr. Obama, Baltimore is not exactly the gem of the Chesapeake, although to be fair, he did not mention the rats. Were these comments racist? Of course not, as President Obama is black.

In December, 2015, the Baltimore Sun reported Bernie Sanders said, “Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you’re in a wealthy nation,” Sanders said during a visit to the city’s West Baltimore section . . . “You would think that you were in a Third World country.” Were these comments racist? Of course not, as Sanders is a liberal.

From Townhall: 

This week Turning Point USA’s Chief Content Creator, Benny Johnson, hit the streets of Baltimore to talk to residents about their experiences and to set the record straight. On being ‘Rat Infested’:- *Every* person I spoke with *confirmed* that the district was rat infested
– One man told me that rats the “size of cats” run through his house regularly
– One woman told me rats have “taken over” her neighborhood 
– One called it a “plague of rats”
On trash in Rep. Cummings’ district:
– There is trash everywhere
– Filth & garbage piled up high in the street
– One building had a big sign that begged ‘DO NOT PUT TRASH HERE’ – below the signs were piles of rotting refuse
– Constituents blamed the trash for the rat infestation
Were the comments by these black Baltimore residents racist? Obviously No,  even though they were essentially the same as Mr. Trump’s! Is Benny Johnson a racist? Hard for me to know at this point as I neither know the color of his skin nor his political affiliation, which to Democrats appears to be crucial when evaluating whether or not someone or that someone’s comments are racist! (The enemy of my black friend must be a racist!)