Gun control and the worst argument ever...

FactCheck Blasts NRA Mailer on Guns

It seems that not many people in America these days are fond of having an honest discussion of the issues. Rather than lay everything out in the table in an honest way, the partisans on both sides twist words, misstate figures and bend the truth to fit their agenda. Although a rational person would tell you that this kind of discussion does nothing to help the country (in fact it probably harms the country), the folks on the far-left and far-right don't seem to care.

A great example is the issue of gun control. It seems to tough to get factual information from either side on this issue. They are so blinded by their agenda that they will sacrifice the truth in order to get what they want. The anti-gunners throw out figures with out sources (90% of the guns used by drug cartels in Mexico come from the US), and some of the pro-gunners resort to outright lies that are easily refuted (as seen in the link above).

My favorite so far has to be Mr. Geraghty's found here refuting FactCheck's outlining of the NRA's blatant lies.

"For starters, FactCheck.org takes Obama at his word that he "believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms." Many gun owners are not so willing to give the benefit of the doubt, as Obama spent most of his adult life in a city with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, and, according to every record of the past 20 years, never uttered a word of objection. If a candidate claimed that he strongly opposed legal gambling, and yet lived in Las Vegas for 20 years, voters would be understandably skeptical. "

So because Obama lived in a city that had stricter gun laws, we should all believe that he is lying to us when he says he supports the second amendment? What kind of argument is this? Did they not teach critical thinking in any of the schools Mr. Geraghty attended?

I hate to break it to Mr. Geraghty, but there is a reason we have local government, and that is so local governments can govern as they see fit for their situation. I thought this was a huge conservative rallying point? Maybe people in the city don't object to stricter gun laws (I live in Baltimore, and if I want a gun I can have one) because they see the chaos that can sometimes take place when there is no control over who does and doesn't have a gun. The situation in the city is different than that of a rural town in Iowa. But this is besides the point. The point is that just because Obama lived in Chicago or NYC doesn't mean that makes him a liar. You can't go arguing against points or views of his that he never even stated. This is a dangerous precedent.

People need to get real. By lying to benefit your side of an "issue", you are doing the country no benefit. America faces real problems, so instead of trying to stir up vitriol over a non-issue such as "Obama's getting rid of the second amendment", try helping. If you really feel your rights are under attack, tell us why, and give us some evidence. Don't just tell us your rights are under attack because you think that Obama secretly wants to attack them but just hasn't told us yet. You sound like a damn crazy person, and your friends should point that out, otherwise they are bad friends.

If you think you need a fully automatic machine gun with a 150 round clip, please tell us why (i.e. hunting T-Rex or fighting the invasion of Mongols that have surrounded your house). Then we can balance that need versus the need of all the people who don't want crazy folks walking around with tools that will allow them to massacre people. The economy is getting tough and clearly some people are taking out their angst in the wrong way (i.e. murdering innocent people). An honest discussion of gun control is the least we could do.

Genius...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Baracknophobia - Obey
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Jon Stewart continues to deliver. I can't say anything about the hypocrisy and ignorance of certain folks (many of which reside at Fox News) that he doesn't beautifully expose in this clip.

I really hope these numbers are wrong...

Americans split on North Korea action

"A slim majority of Americans, 51 percent, said the U.S. should take military action against North Korea, while 46 percent of Americans opposed the use of military force against what is often described as the most isolated nation in the world. More than half, 58 percent, of Americans said that North Korea is a long term threat, while 25 percent described the nation as an immediate threat and 17 percent believes it poses no threat at all."

You gotta be kidding me. Have the American people learned nothing over the last 8 years of shotgun diplomacy????? Military action? This "satellite launch" (regardless of whether or not that's what it actually was) was no direct threat to America, so why the hell would we take military action??? If anyone would be taking action, it would be Japan, and they didn't even deem it worthy of shooting down the damn missile.

A majority of people in this country must think that taking unilateral military action doesn't cost money and lives and tarnish our international image, because that seems to be their option number one whenever it comes to addressing our non-allies. No wonder a majority of people around the world see America as the number one threat to world peace. I believe it's probably surveys such as this that drive such a commonly held notion.

Wake up people. War-mongering is so Bush-era.

Or should I say, the Bush years called, they want their ignorant war-mongering population back.

The great "Der Takin' ur GUNS!" myth

Police official: 3 officers killed in Pa. shooting

So... some crazy guy that lost his job decided to kill some public servants and blame it on the fictional attempt by the "Obama administration" to take his "rights" and "guns". How many other crazy folk out there probably sympathized with this guy?

This kind of insane banter needs to stop. So far there has been literally ZERO indication that the "Obama administration", AKA our government, is planning on taking away our right to own a gun. Trust me, if they were, I would be none to happy. I'm not a Ruby Ridge militia type dude, and although I believe in intelligent gun control (AKA not letting people buy bazookas and assault rifles with no logical purpose in todays world besides killing people, background checks, etc), I still own a gun. We just need to be honest here and focus on the actual problems we're facing today (the economy, crummy schools, sky-rocketing health care costs) instead of made-up problems that don't even exist.

Even our politics are taking hold in Afghanistan!

Afghan leader accused of bid to 'legalise rape'

Choice exerpts:

In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home, according to UN papers seen by The Independent.

"The law regulates personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and sexual relations among Afghanistan's minority Shia community. "It's about votes," Ms Karokhail added. "Karzai is in a hurry to appease the Shia because the elections are on the way."

Even the law's sponsors admit Mr Karzai rushed it through to win their votes. Ustad Mohammad Akbari, a prominent Shia political leader, said: "It's electioneering. Most of the Hazara people are unhappy with Mr Karzai."

Glad to see, much like America, politics seem to dictate the day in Afghanistan. Glad to see this is the democracy we get in Afghanistan (and don't get me wrong, it is democracy; sadly, it doesn't look all that different than the Taliban rule that everyone hated so much). Maybe this will wake people up to the fact that "democracy" isn't some abstract, kumbaya, cute bunnies and feel-good TBS movies cure-all. If you disagree with the fundamental beliefs of a society or culture, throwing a little democracy on top isn't going to solve that. I truly wonder if this salient fact is resonating with anyone who keeps wonder why our experiments in nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan aren't going as planned.

Maybe next time we decide to venture out in the world to try and spread democracy and our way of life we'll think twice and make some investments here at home instead. I think we might get a better return on our tax dollar.

Who actually voted for this lady?

Bachmann Blasts Obama's "Economic Marxism," Calls For "Orderly Revolution" To Save Freedom

Seriously. What the hell is wrong with people in Minnesota? Does this lady do anything productive? She seems to just run her mouth incessantly spewing forth bat-shit crazy ideas and saying inflammatory things just to get in the news. Then the one piece of legislation she puts forth is the "let's not get the mark of the beast", no international currency for the U.S. bill, which no one was talking about doing anyway. What the hell world do these people live in? There are real problems in this country. This isn't time to start getting your policy ideas from the Left Behind series (no offense to Kirk Cameron, what up Kirk?).

Here's a few gems for you:
"If Tim Geithner is successful under President Obama, and they move us to an international currency," Bachmann warned, "Then we have no hope of standing on our own as a sovereign nation with our own economic system. It's over. We can't do that."
Since when was that the plan lady? Quit trying to rile up the fundamentalist Christians and get people in a frenzy. More fear-mongering.

This is our very freedom, and we have 230 years, a continuous link of freedom that every generation has ceded to the next generation. This may be the time when that link breaks. And I'm going to do everything I can, I know you are, to make sure that we keep that link secure.
Really? You think we have a bigger chance of losing our freedom under Obama versus the last 8 years? Need I remind you of a little thing called the "Patriot Act". How about warrant-less wiretapping? You have to be kidding me. Wait, but let me clarify. Were you talking about the freedoms afforded to us by the Constitution (AKA the ones that were trampled on for 8 years), or the freedom to continue trampling on those freedoms and running the country into the ground?

Bachmann: Do we get into an inner tube and float 90 miles to some free country? There is no free country for us to repair to. That's why it's up to us now. The founders gave everything they had to give us this freedom. Now it's up to us to give everything we can to make sure that our kids are free, too. It's that serious. I hate to be dramatic, but--

Hannity: It's not -- you are not overstating this case, Congresswoman, and you don't need to apologize for it. And as a matter of fact, it's refreshing. And I can tell you, all around this country, on 535 of the best radio stations in this country, people are saying "Amen," "Hallelujah", "where have you been?"

Hold on second. Did I miss something? Are all the rest of the countries in the world dictatorships now? I thought I slept 8 hours last night, but I must have been sleeping for a lot longer. Or maybe Bachmann is another one of our chosen leaders who has no idea that something exists outside of America. I am sure people in the UK, Japan, Chile, Canada, France and Turkey would all like to believe they live in a "free" country.

I also like the part where she tries to pretend that she hates "to be dramatic", and then Sean Hannity backs her up. Talk about a match made in heaven. They should get matching straight jackets if they think what they are doing isn't high drama.

They can't be serious...

Seriously? Republicans? You're still using 9/11 as campaign propaganda? I would say you guys are getting desperate, but you've been doing the same thing for the last 7+ years.

F*cking pathetic.