The Wandering Minstrel

After years of endorsing liberal-except-for-guns Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-BAG - NV), the National Rifle Association is pulling their almost-automatic endorsement. I read their announcement and I think the bottom line is that the NRAthinks that Reid is to blame for not stopping the confirmations of anti-gun Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, which he easily could have done as Majority Leader, and did not.

Image - Reid telling Americans what he thinks of us

Excerpt from the NRA announcement:

The U.S. Senate recently considered a number of issues important to NRA members, including the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Out of respect for the confirmation process, the NRA did not announce its position on Ms. Kagan’s confirmation until the conclusion of her testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee. Her evasive testimony exacerbated grave concerns we had about her long-standing hostility towards the Second Amendment. As a result, the NRA strongly opposed her confirmation and made it clear at the time that we would be scoring this important vote.

The vote on Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Court, along with the previous year’s confirmation vote on Sonia Sotomayor, are critical for the future of the Second Amendment. After careful consideration, the NRA-PVF announced today that it will not be endorsing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for re-election in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Nevada.

Emphasis added.

I think that the Republicans in Arizona like Governor Jan Brewer’s policies:

Source: azCentral.com

Terry Goddard, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate ran unopposed in the primary. Interestingly, he received only 242,708 votes as compared to Brewer’s total of 404,918. If that ratio holds for the general election in November, Brewer would be up 63% to Goddard’s 37%. I suppose that’s not as scientific as a pollster like Rasmussen, who had Brewer vs. Goddard at 56% to 37% on July 23rd.

The AZ Primary Election is a week from today. On our errands here and there over the last two weeks, we see campaign signs on the roadsides in front of businesses and homes. This one was in front of a local auto supply store.

A Recent Rasmussen Poll puts Governor Jan Brewer well ahead of Goddard, current AZ Atty. General and the likely Democratic nominee. Another Rasmussen Poll shows that 60% of Florida voters favor an Arizona-like immigration law for their state. I’m sure that many other states lean that way as well.

In the race to evict Babs Boxer from her “Don’t Call Me Ma’am” pulpit, two out of the three Republican Primary candidates seem to be pro-gun. Unfortunately, there are still republicans who vote like the third candidate.

From the NRA-ILA:

There has been much interest in the Second Amendment positions of the candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge anti-gun incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer. Two candidates – Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore – strongly support our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Unlike Barbara Boxer, Carly Fiorina is a gun owner, proud NRA Member, and strong Second Amendment supporter. She would give California’s millions of gun owners a strong voice in the U.S. Senate. Chuck DeVore is also a proud supporter of gun rights and had a solid pro-gun voting record in the California State Assembly.

Image above: Chuck and Carly

Image below: Campbell with another gun-grabber

In contrast, the other candidate – Tom Campbell – has cast many anti-gun votes during his political career. In 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton launched an all-out assault on the Second Amendment, then-Congressman Tom Campbell supported a ban on the purchase, sale and transfer of commonly-owned semi-automatic rifles (mislabeled “assault weapons”). He also voted to impose a national waiting period for handgun purchases and against establishing an instant check system as an alternative. Even worse, Campbell voted to regulate gun shows out of existence. And if that’s not bad enough, he voted against allowing off-duty and retired police officers to carry concealed firearms!

California gun owners need to have a clear choice in the general election against anti-gun incumbent Barbara Boxer. If Tom Campbell is the Republican nominee, you will unfortunately be stuck with the status quo.

I’m not sure which pro-gun candidate I support, but I have the notion that Carly has a better chance to oust the gun-grabbing Boxer. Of course, Campbell was a no-go from the start.

Shamelessly purloined from an idea in a Cafe Press advert via Wizbang.

Via American Digest:

10. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.

9. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

8. I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

7. I voted Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can’t tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don’t start driving a Prius.

5. I voted Democrat because I’m not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies through abortion so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

4. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.

3. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.

2. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

1. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass it’s unlikely that I’ll ever have another point of view.

Republicans running for Governor in the California primary, pits one definite anti-gunner against another potentially wishy-washy candidate. Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is primarily responsible for kicking firearms stuff off eBay and making PayPal anti 2A as well. Steve Poizner, despite recent sudden right turns is not likely to make RKBA in California a priority. Poizner, to his credit, denounced the draconian California ammo regulation monstrosity, AB962, in an appearance on a talk-radio show.

Rummaging through pro-gun forums, I found the consensus to be roughly as I stated above. Some forums actually talk about Democratic front-runner, former California Governor and current State Attorney General, Jerry Brown as being better for guns than either of the Republican candidates. Brown, you may recall, filed an amicus brief in favor of the pro-gun position in the Chicago Gun Case, currently before the SCOTUS. Brown’s motivations for doing so are not clear, but basically he should be under suspicion since most, if not all of his politics are far-left.

While Whitman’s anti second amendment status is well-known, Poizner may just be a chameleon, only displaying pro-gun colors to get votes. And, we just can’t trust Brown on ANYTHING.

California Gunners — you’re SCREWED AGAIN! (I say ‘you’ instead of ‘we’ because I hope to be a resident of Arizona by the next California gubernatorial inauguration.)

I agree with fellow California gun blogger (and friend) DirtCrashr. We just have to sigh heavily and head to another state to get our gun fixes.

Michael Barone via The Patriot Post”

Over the past 14 months, our political debate has been transformed into an argument between the heirs of two fundamental schools of political thought, the Founders and the Progressives. The Founders stood for the expansion of liberty and the Progressives for the expansion of government. It’s an argument that has been going on for a century but was largely dormant over the quarter-century of low-inflation economic growth that followed the Ronald Reagan tax cuts. It’s been raised again by the expand-government policies of the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders. Those policies, thoroughly in line with the Progressive tradition, have been advanced by liberal elites in government, media, think tanks and academia. The opposition, roughly in line with the Founders tradition, has been led by the non-elites who spontaneously flocked to tea parties and town halls. … The conservative rebellions of the late 1970s and middle 1990s were focused on taxes. The tea partiers are focusing on the expansion of government — and its threat to the independence of citizens. … By passing the stimulus package and the health care bills, the Democrats produced expansion of government. But voters seem to prefer expansion of liberty.