Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Pentagon Shootout, Nobody Killed
ABC News reports that "two police officers were injured by a suspect who opened fire outside the Pentagon tonight after the officers asked him for an access pass, police said. The encounter left the suspect, who did not speak before opening fire around 6:40 p.m., in 'pretty critical' condition, Pentagon Police Chief Richard S. Keevill told reporters. The suspect was identified as John Patrick Bedell, sources told ABC News and The Associated Press, which added that he was 36 years old. Keevill would only say the suspect was 'an American citizen, as far as I know.'" Tweet
Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act To Be Signed By Governor
The Billings Gazette reports that legislation "asserting that firearms made, sold and kept only in Wyoming are exempt from all federal gun laws is set to become law after it easily cleared the Wyoming Legislature on Wednesday. Supporters say the bill is mainly a symbolic shove against the federal government, and it remains to be seen whether the fight will carry over to the courts or even to Wyoming streets. The Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act passed the state Senate without objection on Wednesday. Gov. Dave Freudenthal has indicated that he will sign the bill into law. Two other states, Tennessee and Montana, have enacted similar laws. Wyoming’s Firearms Freedom Act, though, is harsher than those laws, as it states that any state or federal official who tries to enforce any federal gun law on a firearms made and sold in Wyoming could face a $2,000 fine and up to a year in prison. While that might conjure up images of Wyoming sheriffs arresting U.S. marshals who try to enforce federal laws on Wyoming guns, state Rep. Allen Jaggi, R-Lyman, said the bill was mainly intended to be a symbolic assertion of Wyoming residents constitutional rights. 'I think unless we have some overzealous federal officers, this is not a real big deal to them,' said Jaggi, who authored the legislation. 'I’m hoping that nothing really happens except that other states see, ‘Hey they did it — let’s do it. Let’s assert our state rights.’ A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cheyenne did not return a call seeking comment late Wednesday afternoon. Ironically, the legislation also toughens state gun laws: it bans convicted felons, mental patients and people younger than 21 from being able to buy Wyoming-made firearms."
As I have pointed out previously, though the Act's title implies that it is only a bill increasing the right to own firearms, if passed this bill would amount to much more than that. It is specifically meant to bolster the Second Amendment at the same time as it counters the interpretation of the Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution) by the Supreme Court that for the most part presumptively allows Congress to pass all sorts of federal legislation. The Wyoming Act explains in its own legislative findings that the "tenth amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere the constitution and reserves to the state and the people of Wyoming certain powers as they were understood at the time that Wyoming was admitted to statehood in 1890... The ninth amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the constitution and reserves to the people of Wyoming certain rights, as they were understood at the time Wyoming was admitted to statehood in 1890... The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the ninth and tenth amendments to the United States constitution, particularly if not expressly preempted by federal law pursuant to article 1, section 8 of the United States constitution. The United States congress has not expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of firearms, firearms accessories and ammunition." Finally, it states that the "second amendment to the United States constitution reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the time the original states ratified the bill of rights to the United States constitution, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract between the state and people of Wyoming and the United States as of the time the Act of Admission was agreed upon and adopted by Wyoming and the United States in 1889."
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Oklahoma Supreme Court Throws Out State Abortion Law
The AP reports that the Supreme Court of Oklahoma "issued a ruling late Tuesday that the measure violated a constitutional requirement that bills deal only with one subject. The bill would have required a woman receiving an abortion to have an ultrasound and listen to her doctor describe the image and regulated the use of RU-486, among other things." Tweet
U.S. Circulating Tougher Iran Sanctions At U.N.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that the "United States reportedly wants the U.N. Security Council to make existing Iran sanctions airtight and to add sanctions targeting its central bank. The new sanctions would ban transactions with the ousted individuals and entities, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Previous sanctions stopped short of an outright ban. The proposed sanctions also would add Iran's central bank to the list -- a demand of Israel's. Such an action would effectively cut off Iranian financial transactions from dealings with the West. According to the Times, the sanctions are likely to be diluted. Diplomats from Russia, which in recent weeks has suggested it favors enhanced sanctions, say these go too far." Tweet
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Is Lincoln’s Reputation Deserved? A Debate Between Harry Jaffa And Thomas DiLorenzo
To read the transcript of the debate visit http://www.independent.org/events/transcript.asp?eventID=9.
To listen to an audio of the debate visit http://www.independent.org/events/audio_detail.asp?eventID=9.
My own assessment of the debate is that pro-Lincoln Harry Jaffa had great opening remarks. As for anti-Lincoln Thomas DiLorenzo, his primary speech was more interesting than anything else. If the debate simply ended with the opening remarks, however, it would have illustrated little in terms of making a judgment on who won the debate. The rebuttals were more interesting than anything else. When it came to the short rebuttals, I thought Jaffa did much better, that his rebuttal more directly addressed issues brought up in the course of the debate and displayed a breadth of historical knowledge. In fact, Jaffa's short response on the Fugitive Slave Law that followed the official five minute rebuttals was a great example of a direct response to DiLorenzo that DiLorenzo had no good response to in return. In fact, in the Q & A back and forth, I think Jaffa came across as much more historically aware. The bottom line is that DiLorenzo's initial speech was unconvential and very interesting, and Jaffa's initial speech was likewise informative, but the rebuttal and Q & A definitely gave Jaffa the uppher hand and made him the winner of this debate in his ability to respond and show his breadth of historical knowledge.
If you listen to or read the debate, go ahead an leave your own comments as to what you thought of it.
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Massachusetts Democrat Delahunt To Retire
The Boston Globe reports that "Representative William Delahunt will not seek re-election to Congress, the seven-term Democrat will announce tomorrow, ending a nearly 40-year career in elected office and giving Republicans hope of capturing the seat, which stretches from Cape Cod to the South Shore." Tweet
Former Gitmo Detainee Is Said To Be Senior Taliban Commander Running Afghan Battles
The AP reports that a "man freed from Guantanamo more than two years ago after he claimed he only wanted to go home and help his family is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to the U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, two senior Afghan intelligence officials say. Abdul Qayyum is also seen as a leading candidate to be the next No. 2 in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy, said the officials, interviewed last week by The Associated Press. The story of Abdul Qayyum could add to the complications President Barack Obama is facing in fulfilling his pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo by sending some prisoners back to their home countries or to other willing nations, while putting others on trial. U.S. intelligence asserts that 20 percent of suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison have returned to the fight and the number has been steadily increasing. Qayyum's key aide in plotting attacks on Afghan and international forces is another former Guantanamo prisoner, said the Afghan intelligence officials as well as a former Helmand governor, Sher Mohammed Akundzada. Abdul Rauf, who told his U.S. interrogators he had only loose connections to the Taliban, spent time in an Afghan jail before being freed last year." Tweet
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Jon Stewart On "New York Crimes": Cogressman Charlie Rangel And Governor David Paterson
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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Republican Congressmen Hensarling And Pence Propose Federal Spending Cap As Amendment To The Constitution
The two Congressmen write in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that they are "proposing a Spending Limit Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment would limit spending to one-fifth of the economy (our historical spending average since World War II). The limit could only be waived by a declaration of war or by a two-thirds congressional vote. As with other constitutional amendments, Congress would be given the authority to enforce and implement it. But for the first time, the federal government would have a limit on its size and scope. The Spending Limit Amendment does not promise a particular spending plan about what programs to restrain and by how much. Rather, it puts a legal constraint on lawmakers present and future. Some will say it should not be done now. But if not now, when?
Our spending problems are tantamount to generational theft and fundamentally alter the American ethic. We cannot have both unlimited government and unlimited opportunity." To read the full article visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704231304575091622911663494.html.
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Hamas Leader Disowns Son After Announcement Of Spying For Israel
MSNBC reports that a "senior Hamas leader publicly disowned his son Monday, days after the young man announced he had secretly spied for Israel and helped authorities hunt down members of the Islamic militant group. Hamas Web sites published a letter late Monday by Sheik Hassan Yousef that the militant group said was smuggled out of the Israeli prison where he is serving a six-year sentence. In the letter, he said his family announced its 'complete renunciation' of Mosab Yousef. The father said he was sorry to take such a step but said he had no choice after his son 'disbelieved in God...and collaborated with our enemies,' he said. The elder Yousef, who helped found the militant Islamic group two decades ago, was humiliated last year when his eldest son announced he had converted to Christianity. Then the son told an Israeli newspaper last week that he had helped Israeli intelligence foil militant attacks and hunt down Hamas leaders — including his father. Mosab Yousef told the Haaretz daily said he spied for Israel for a decade before fleeing to California in 2007. Mosab Yousef is publishing a memoir, 'Son of Hamas.' Monday's announcement means the family now considers their son to have never existed. He loses his inheritance and the family will never speak to him, or about him, again." Tweet
Senator Jim Bunning Continues One-Man Block On More Spending
The USA Today reports that "Senate Democrats continued to pile on Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., today even as they moved ahead in planning an end-run around the unemployment and health benefits bill he has been singlehandedly blocking since last week. Bunning derailed the one-month extension of the various unemployment programs again this morning -- this time after fellow Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tried to advance the $10 billion measure on the floor." NPR reports that "on the floor of the Senate, Republican Jim Bunning of Kentucky just defended the position he's taken that has delayed an extension of jobless benefits for the nation's unemployed and has forced the furlough of about 2,000 federal workers. Saying that he has blocked votes on the legislation to underscore his opposition to the ongoing growth in federal debt, Bunning read a letter from 'Robert in Louisville,' who told the senator that even though he hasn't been working regularly in the past two years he supports what Bunning is doing. 'This country is sooner or later going to implode because of the massive amount of debt run up over the past 40 or 50 years,' Robert wrote, according to Bunning. 'Why now?' Bunning said he's been asked, regarding his objection to the legislation. 'Why not now?' And, he added, if the Democratic majority and many Republicans want to force action on the legislation, they should use the Senate rules to override his objection."
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Jon Stewart Mocks CNN Anchor For Tsunami Coverage
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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