Author: Trish

Manchin Not Afraid to Shoot It Out with the NRA

Trish

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is gunning for the NRA, which recently urged West Virginians to pressure their elected official to get in line. Manchin, who supports extending background checks to buyers at gun shows and online, was previously supported by the NRA because of his voting record on their issues. Now he is on their public enemy list.

Manchin: ‘What other purpose do we have here? Why do we ask to be policy makers when we’re afraid to engage?’

On the Morning Joe show, Manchin debuted his own new ad, and explained he didn’t go to Washington to serve the NRA.

“What other purpose do we have here?” Manchin asked. “Why do we ask to be policy makers and be involved in the public process when we’re afraid to engage? I’m not. I’m not afraid to engage. The worst they can do is defeat me and send me home to my family and the state I love, West Virginia. That’s a pretty good consolation. What are we afraid of?”

Manchin added that the strategy of the NRA and Gun Owners of America is to use lies and innuendo to work up the gullible and keep those donations flowing in.

“The only thing they use against me is: ‘we just don’t trust government,” Manchin said. “Well, I’m sorry if you don’t like it. Get involved and make it better. Don’t just sit and curse the wind. But they don’t want to get involved, they just want to keep this paranoia going on.”

A Ten Point Loss Is Welcome News for Florida Gov. Rick Scott

Trish
Why is this man smiling?

The news was all good for Florida Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP) in a recent Quinnipiac University poll…if you consider losing re-election to any competitor by at least six points to be good news.

In a match-up with former Gov. Charlie Crist (who is considering running against him as a Democrat), Scott would lose 47 – 37. But that’s six points lower than he would have lost in March, according to the poll.

If he were running against U.S. Sen Bill Nelson (D – Fla.), he would still lose, 48 – 38.

Against former state Sen. Nan Rich (D), Scott would lose less badly: 42 – 36 percent. Of course, 84 percent of those polled said they didn’t know enough about Rich to form an opinion on her.

Scott also earned the highest approval ratings he’s seen, showing that a PR charm offensive that included basically paying teachers off is working. A whopping 43 percent of those queried approved of his job performance.

Best of all, only 50 percent of voters say Scott does not deserve to be re-elected.

If you’re wondering why what might be seen by others as reason for a stiff, commiserating drink is making Scott so happy, Quinnipiac explains.

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Anybody Remember Terrorism?

Trish

…as I listen to the debate about the disclosure of two government programs designed to track suspected phone and e-mail contacts of terrorists, I do wonder if some of those who unequivocally defend this disclosure are behaving as if 9/11 never happened — that the only thing we have to fear is government intrusion in our lives, not the intrusion of those who gather in secret cells in Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot how to topple our tallest buildings or bring down U.S. airliners with bombs planted inside underwear, tennis shoes or computer printers.

Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and contrarian, being right for once.

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Trish

You can’t have 100-percent security and also have 100-percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We’re going to have to make some choices as a society.

— Pres. Obama, getting real again. He added, “One of the things we’re going to have to discuss and debate is how are we striking this balance between the need to keep the American people safe and our concerns about privacy. Because there are some trade-offs involved.”

Someone Finally Puts Issa’s Past in Play

Trish

And if I were Republicans, I would say to Issa, in the parlance of his old business, “Please step away from that car.”

— David Axelrod, Democratic strategist, asserting that Republicans are approaching overreach concerning the IRS. Axelrod was alluding to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who, prior to being in Congress, was charged with grand theft auto, investigated for arson, arrested on weapons charges, and convicted of carrying an unregistered and concealed firearm.

Town Where Once a Man Was Killed for Being Gay Now Shields Its Residents from Westboro Baptist Hate

Trish
Photo taken by Calvin Knight of the Lakeland Ledger

Somewhere, Ryan Skipper is smiling.

No, Ryan Skipper is laughing, high-fiving, and doing the chicken dance. Or maybe that’s just us, upon hearing the recent state of affairs in Lakeland, Fla.

One person who might not have gotten the anti-homophobia message is Sheriff Grady Judd

The same place where, in 2007, 25-year-old Ryan Skipper was bound and brutally stabbed, leaving his car so bloodied that the his murderers, who planned to steal it, drove it off a dock instead — all because, as they told investigators, Ryan was gay — the very same Lakeland citizenry has now massed together to fight off the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its nonsensical hate-mongering against homosexuals.

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