Rep. John Lewis Speaks As House Democrats Demand Gun Votes Before GOP Cut The Cameras
In the wake of the Orlando mass shooting that killed 49 and wounded another 53, one of the latest polls showed that over 90 percent of Americans want expanded background checks for gun purchases, 87 percent would support a ban on owning guns for felons or people with mental health problems, and 85 percent would ban people on federal watchlists from buying guns. Similar numbers are found among Republicans and Democrats in support of preventing people on the terrorist watchlist or "no fly" list from buying a gun. This is just one poll, yet the numbers are similar in others, which makes sense considering that mass shootings have become the norm.
Despite the numbers, Senate Republicans just voted against four gun bills on background checks and to prevent terrorists from getting access to guns. This came only after Senate Democrats filibustered for 15 hours just to get Republicans to bring the bills to a vote.
Today, House Democrats are holding a sit-in to force similar votes, but Republicans there aren't about to let that happen, so in response, they called a recess and even went so far as to shut off the C-SPAN cameras so that those Americans can't witness Democrats trying to carry out their wishes and do their jobs.
This is today's Republican Party. So beholden to the NRA, other gun lobbyists and gun manufactures who line their pockets with blood money they won't even allow taxpayers to see Democrats trying to do what the American people want.
Republicans have tried to distance themselves from their nominee, Donald Trump, and tried to pretend he's extreme, yet the American people know he merely uses a bullhorn instead of the GOP dog whistle, and that he is very much the monster they've crafted carefully over the years. Trump has voiced the view that the media should be censored when they dare to disagree with things he does and says. Similarly, here are House Republicans, paid by the taxpayers, literally censoring what those taxpayers see in Congress.
Worse, they're doing so because Democrats are trying to do something, anything, to stop mass shootings and bloodshed while Republicans are basically making sure even more lives are at risk day, after day, after day.
Soon To Be Ex-Senator, And Never Future President, Marco Rubio
Last week, Marco-Air-Between-My-Ears-Rubio made a handful of his absurd excuses for not doing anything about making it harder for terrorists to buy guns in the U.S., something that is easier for them to do than it is for many Americans to, say, vote.
Speaking from, and for the benefit of those existing in the FOX "News" bubble, Rubio said this about the terrorist attack in San Bernardino:
“When this first came out– without knowing anything about the case — the first thing [the left] started talking about was gun control,” Rubio said. “I don’t hear anybody talking about bomb control. They put bombs and left bombs behind on the scene of attack [sic], intending to kill even more people than they did with guns.”
Given that Rubio is, as I alluded to, an airhead, we shouldn't be surprised that after a mass shooting where people died of massive bullet wounds, Rubio would require more information before he could make the assumption that the cause of those deaths were in fact guns. At least that's the dumbed down version for FOX viewers who may not be aware that Rubio gets lots of money in the form of campaign contributions from the NRA to make these stupid excuses in the first place.
After you get past the amazement concerning that statement, let's proceed to the next one:
“I don’t hear anybody talking about bomb control. They put bombs and left bombs behind on the scene of attack [sic], intending to kill even more people than they did with guns.”
To point out the obvious, we have "bomb control" already in this country. That's why you can't go to the local bomb store to get one the same way you can get a gun with gun stores on every corner in America. You can't go to Walmart and grab a bomb along with a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, some toys for the kids, and a gun.
Rubio's next point:
"They put bombs and left bombs behind on the scene of attack [sic], intending to kill even more people than they did with guns.”
The key word here being "intended." They may well have intended to kill even more with those bombs, but luckily they didn't, for whatever reason. Bombs take time to build, set up, and set off, while guns are quicker and much easier. At least in this case they were. But Rubio is still waiting to analyze the evidence on this.
But getting back to Rubio's original feigned outrage:
“I don’t hear anybody talking about bomb control."
There is one form of control over bomb making that people have talked about, people in Congress, to be specific. But (surprise!) Rubio isn't one of them.
After the bombing at the Boston Marathon, efforts to search for clues were impeded because of a law that prevents the tracing of explosives, the reason being that the NRA, who again, gives politicians like Rubio lots of money, have blocked it just as they have any laws that deal with guns. Laws like those that would keep terrorists from buying guns, which Rubio and the GOP voted to block just days ago.
After the marathon bombing, then Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, introduced a bill that would require background checks to be run on anyone buying explosive powder. That was back in 2013.
Well, guess what? The bill is still sitting there and no action has been taken on it. Back when S. 792 was first introduced, I wrote a blog post on it, entitled "Will Rubio Have The Guts To Vote For Background Checks On Explosive Powders Used In Bombings?" Of course, he never got a chance to vote on it because it's barely moved. But when Rubio did in fact hear Reid "talking about bomb control," did Rubio do anything about it? Of course he didn't. He's either just plain ignoring the existence of that legislation now, or he's completely unaware it does exist, which might not be too surprising given that he rarely shows up for work in the Senate anyway.
Because he does the NRA's bidding along with the rest of the GOP, we can count on Rubio to keep on ignoring the evidence staring him in the face and continuing to put the nation and lives at risk, be it from one of our now nearly daily mass shootings, or at the hands of terrorists, foreign or domestic. For the love of NRA money, and/or for "positive political developments" for the benefit of one Marco Rubio, he is happy to play dumb, just as he's claiming he sees no evidence of bigotry toward Muslims in this country while the GOP frontrunner who is beating him in the polls is falsely screaming to his supporters that they all want to kill Americans. (So are Rubio and the rest of his party, for that matter.) Rubio also claimed on a recent campaign stop that terrorists have no interest in coming here to buy guns, while ignoring the fact that it's so easy to get guns here the terrorists even made a video about it for their followers, and while ignoring the fact that one of the guns used in the Paris terrorist attack were traced to his home state of Florida.
Rubio loves to hold himself out as one worthy of the Oval Office when there is evidence everywhere to the contrary. Because, among many other reasons, so far all he's proven is that as a President, he would rather play dumb in the face of clear evidence and leave American lives at risk.
And we've seen how that worked out the last time a Republican was in the White House.
In spite of all this, the Florida GOP, basically all but an owned subsidiary of the National Rifle Association, is forging ahead with more gun friendly legislation against the will of their own voters. Because they parrot the talking points of the NRA and its lobbyist Marion Hammer that the only answer to the gun problem is more profits for gun manufacturers guns.
The Republican Party loved to crack jokes about "Hope and Change" back when President Obama campaigned on it, and in spite of everything he's done to back up his campaign promises, they now paint a picture of a world no one else sees, a fictional account of a doomed American under his direction. Because lies are all they have to offer.
But it's no longer a joke, and now that another Presidential race is approaching, the GOP has gone off the rails. The fine line between the traditional "establishment" and the extremists has disappeared and one need look no further for evidence than the current crop of 2016 canddiates. They have little to offer beyond the same things they've brought us for years, but with the added benefit of unlimited campaign cash thanks to Citizens United. Tax cuts for the rich, all but complete domination of corporations over people, cuts to everything that even resembles a safety net for the victims of years worth of GOP policies that widened the income inequality gap, targeting women and health care.
Yes, their vision for America is a dark one for all but the wealthiest at the top, but they've added a new and frightening twist to one of the things they worship the most.
Guns.
The Republican Party has always been basically owned by the NRA, but in the wake of what are now routine mass shootings in this country, they've kicked their gun worship up a few notches. Their illogical view that the only solution to daily gun violence is more guns has taken an extreme and ugly turn since last week's latest mass murder at a college in Oregon. Just look at the reactions to it that some of the GOP Presidential candidates had, starting with the one who was once viewed as the "establishment" candidate, and "The Smart One," because he put the shortest possible summation on the usual GOP solution: To do nothing.
Jeb! Bush, An NRA Lobbyist, And A Funeral Home Owner/Legislator In 2005, Making It Much Easier For "Stuff" To Happen
It's probably a plus that Jeb! Bush only has two feet to put in his mouth at once, otherwise it would be getting pretty crowded in there by now.
He recently claimed his brother kept us safe when in fact George W. Bush let 9-11 happen on his watch while ignoring the warning signs, and said his brother proved it by dancing on the graves of the victims standing on the rubble of the World Trade Center, spewing beatitudes through a bullhorn among first responders who his administration told the air was safe to work in. (Many have since died and last week the GOP refused to reauthorize a health program for them, something Jeb! has ignored when questioned about it.)
He joined Donald Trump in using the term "anchor babies" but took weeks to denounce Trump's claim that most Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers and took weeks to defend his wife over comments Trump made about her, and followed up by high-fiving Trump afterwards in a debate.
He echoed his inner Mitt Romney to claim that black voters can be easily won over with the promise of "free stuff," the same black voters he once claimed he would probably do nothing for.
But last week he topped them all by reducing a mass murder to a talking point and merely shrugging off the deaths of nine people in the latest mass shooting in this country, something that has become a horrific routine confined to the U.S.
Last week Americans were witnesses to a new low in gun violence when two journalists were shot and killed and another wounded, on live television. That brought the number of mass shootings to one per day so far in 2015. The NRA, with help from Congress, has largely blocked statistics on shootings, but a number of independent groups and individuals now keep a running tally, a trend that began when David Waldman started tracking them over at Daly KOS. (You can see his latest entries here.)
As with every mass shooting in America, the NRA went silent the day of the shooting, but then came out swinging soon after to attack anyone and everyone who dared to point out the role that the gun played in those deaths.
Also, as with every shooting, right-wing bloggers joined in on the attacks, but only after following their familiar formula for reactions to gun violence: First, check the race, sexual orientation, and political affiliation of the shooter, or if that doesn't fit their narrative, find anything that can be used to blame the victim for his or her own death, followed by just a general trashing of the victim, and/or the victim's family. In the case of the shooting of the Virginia journalists, they went with all of the above.
Andy Parker, father of slain journalist Alison Parker, responded in interviews soon after his daughter's death by saying he would do "whatever it takes" to end gun violence, and went on to write an op ed for the The Washington Post, where he rightfully called out members of Congress for their inaction and support of the NRA:
The Jeb Bush "I'm A Conservative, Really!" tour brings him to Nashville today where he will court all the gun toting extremists during the NRA's annual convention there.
Naturally, the man who brought us Stand Your Ground will be bragging up what a great thing that law has been for Florida. You can see that among an entire laundry list of pro-gun talking points expected in his speech here.
"In his speech to the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum (Bush) will discuss the importance of second amendment rights and, more broadly, individual freedom and the freedom to defend liberty when it’s threatened by government intrusion/regulation," his staff said in an advance of the forum."
"He’ll address the current challenge our country faces under the Obama Administration, where the government is getting too big and too intrusive. Governor Bush will highlight many of the laws he passed as governor that served as a model for many other states’ gun laws."
This is pretty standard stuff we've heard from just about every Republican when they kiss the ring of Big Gun. But Bush's signature SYG law hasn't been used to guard against the phantom government intrusion he warns about, and he knows this. SYG in Florida has been used to guard against black teenagers in hoodies armed with Skittles, and black teenagers playing loud music, though it didn't work so well for the black woman who fired a warning shot when she feared for her life in a domestic dispute with her husband. We all know who went to jail in that case.
The families of the victims and the living victims of that law probably wouldn't agree that SYG is the golden ticket to liberty, but Bush doesn't much care for people who disagree with him.
Case in point, Michael Schiavo, the husband of the late Terri Schiavo, whose case Jeb placed himself in the middle of back in the 1990's, when Mr. Schiavo tried to honor his wife's wishes that she not remain on life support for the rest of her life while in a vegetative state.
Mr. Schiavo would no doubt disagree that Jeb Bush is the champion of "defending liberty when it's threatened by government intrusion" he's claiming to be before the powers that be in the NRA today.
Bush’s last-ditch effort involved the Department of Children and Families. Attorneys for the state agency made motions to intervene based on thousands of anonymous allegations of abuse against Terri Schiavo. Bush ordered the mobilization of officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement—in essence his own police force—and they readied to seize Terri Schiavo if a court order allowed it. “I requested that FDLE in concert with the Department of Children and Families be prepared to enter,” Bush told reporters, “if that was going to be the option available to us”—which it wasn’t, because judges said no. “We were ready to go,” a Bush spokesman told the Miami Herald....
...Today, looking back, what makes Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, angriest about the case is Bush’s letter to McCabe. Even after 18 months of legal wrangling, even after her death, even after the autopsy—after all that—the governor asked a prosecutor to initiate a retroactive criminal investigation of his client. It struck Felos as “odd,” “bizarre”—“personal.”
That, Michael Schiavo said this month, is what makes Jeb Bush “vindictive.” “Knowing that he had no standing in this, he made it worse for everybody,” he said. “He made life, for a lot of people—the nursing home people, the local police, lawyers—he made everybody miserable.”
What makes him “untrustworthy,” he said, is that he fought the courts as long as he did just because he didn’t like the decisions they kept making."
If this isn't government intrusion, I don't know what Jeb Bush's definition of government intrusion is.
It seems he doesn't like government intrusion unless he's the one intruding, and if it's politically motivated, all the better for Jeb, no matter who gets hurt in the process.
“To allow people to go into a riot while concealing a gun without a permit is the definition of insanity,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. “The bill is crazy. It’s absurd.”
And yet the Florida House approved a bill to do just that. Because what Florida law enforcement wants no longer matters when the NRA holds the puppet strings in Tallahassee. It's not enough that they demanded people be allowed to arm themselves during emergencies like hurricanes, so they expanded it to include riots:
HB 209 would allow people with clean criminal backgrounds to conceal firearms without a permit during emergencies — including riots and civil unrest like the 1996 racial disturbances that rocked St. Petersburg — declared by the governor or local officials.
Supporters of the bill say it's intended to give gun owners the opportunity to protect their property while they are evacuating from a disaster or crisis, such as hurricanes, floods or worse.
Lots of people have "clean criminal records" until they don't. Allowing people to carry weapons into emergency and heated situations like hurricanes and riots would be a real good way to acquire a criminal record, but by then it's a little late to say "You know, we probably shouldn't have let that guy carry a gun." But then I suppose the bigger picture is that the more laws like this the NRA can shove through, the easier it will be to get away with just about whatever you want.
By the way, for those of you keeping score, carrying a gun during a hurricane was the premise for the Florida Stand Your Ground laws in the first place. So I guess the legislature is making sure the Stand Your Ground Laws have their own Stand Your Ground Laws just in case there's any confusion about just legally shooting away when weather turns ugly.
When the Florida legislature's day job has pretty much become taking away people's rights that have historically led to things like civil unrest, I suppose this kind of thing shouldn't surprise anyone.
If Florida GOP legislators get their way, two of their newly proposed gun bills ths year could make that statement true for more than just SYG. It could become a nightmare for teachers, students, and their parents at schools all over the state.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is taking time out from doing whatever is necessary to block Floridians from getting affordable health care to target another issue: A law that blocks guns from being purchased by 18, 19, and 20 year olds.
