Daily Archives: January 8, 2012

MSNBC: Time to retire Buchanan (an open letter, reposted)

I first wrote this on July 1, 2009. Finally, a possible result.

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Dear MSNBC,

I know it is appropriate to have a range of opinions among the talking heads representing a news agency, and MSNBC certainly does have a range. Pat Buchanan, regular commentator on two or three MSNBC news shows, probably serves at the most conservative individual in the MSNBC panoply.

But he has to go now. Continue reading MSNBC: Time to retire Buchanan (an open letter, reposted)

Interesting Intelligent Design and Evolution Spat Going On

Mike Haubrich, of Tangled Up in Blue Guy blog, has documented a discussion between a biologist, a commenter, and the Discovery Institute (a creationist “think” tank). No apes were harmed during this incident, but one of them may be rather embarrassed. It’s quite intresting, have a look: Cornelius Godsplains Science to a Scientist

More Speculation on Bachmann’s Future

Aaron Blake at the Washington Post wrote this a couple of days ago but I missed it. It is still rather speculative, but the basic idea is that she would win if she ran for re-election to congress (a risky prediction given upcoming redistricting) but notes that her money supply has dried up and the shine is off her candidacy.

The fundraising prowess that Bachmann showed in her 2010 reelection campaign never really translated to the presidential campaign, for whatever reason. Yes, Bachmann raised decent money, but it seemed that as her campaign wore on, she became less and less a hero of the tea party movement. Given her poor showing in Iowa, we have to wonder whether she will retain the kind of cause celebre status that helped her raise an astounding $13 million for her last House reelection bid.

The redistricting is interesting, because Michele lives in the part of her district where she would have less support than other areas, and a redrawing of district boundaries in Minnesota will be required to make her district smaller. So, there is a certain chance that she’d find herself living (and thus required to run) in a district that wouldn’t vote for her.

What is needed, if she runs, is a better DFL strategy. So far the DFL has tried candidates that have features that make them more Bachmann like … former Republican, conservative, minister, etc. etc. What is needed here is are true liberal who is fast on his or her feet and can make people like them regardless of policy … a young and upcoming Paul Wellstone or Al Franken. A loss with a lot of important things said and severe damage done to the credibility of the Tea Party philosophic is the worst thing that can happen in such a case, and if Bachmann stumbles and the stars align just right, a victory by such a candidate over the Darling of the Tea Party would be awesome. And unlike everyone else I know, I don’t use the word “awesome” lightly!

Glock … the book, the gun, the gun nut.

There is an interesting interview with Paul Barrett, author of Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun, published here. What I find most interesting about it is the way gun owners as a group are characterized. At several moments in time, private ownership of Glock pistols increased significantly for reasons that one would normally find explaining the behavior of toddlers, or dogs, or monkeys in an experimental setting, not sentient adult humans. For instance, the cops start using Glocks, and gun owners automatically want to use what the cops use. Or, a made up fictional Glock (the Glock 7) is described in a Lethal Weapon movie, where everything about it is wrong (remember, it’s fictional) and this enrages gun owners who run out and buy Glocks. And so on and so forth.

Now, one of the things that seems to rive Glock sales is the fact that they have been used in an increasingly larger number of tragic and horrific massacres on American soil. Somehow, the association with angry carnage and hateful violence makes American gun owners want one.

Glocks hold more ammo than other pistols, can be fitted with super-large ammo holders, and have a trigger that is very smooth making it easier for untalented amateurs to be better shots. Glocks should be banned.

A sad anniversary

One year ago today, nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green was shot to death by Tuscon resident Jared Lee Loughner, using a 9 mm Glock automatic pistol with a high capacity ammunition clip. Seventeen other people were shot in that incident, a total of six of whom died. One of the injured was Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords, whom had already been “targeted” for removal by radical elements of the Republican Party. It is not clear that Loughner was acting as an agent of these radical elements, but it was widely thought at the time that his decision to attempt an assassination of the congresswoman was spurred on by the hateful and violent rhetoric, often laced with references to firearms, of the Tea Party Movement.