Today's edition of quick hits:
* The Senate held an emotional, marathon hearing today on gun violence.
* Hadiya Pendleton's heartbreaking death: "A 15-year-old girl who performed at President Obama's inauguration last week was shot dead Tuesday while hanging out with friends after school in bullet-scarred Chicago."
* A story that broke during today's hearing: "Three people were shot and wounded Wednesday, one of them with life-threatening injuries, when a gunman opened fire at a Phoenix office complex, authorities said."
* Mark Kelly, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-AZ) husband, seems to think Republicans might be inclined to support universal background checks, but not an assault-weapons ban or a ban on high-capacity magazines.
* More on this on tonight's show: "Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border Wednesday, unnamed U.S. and regional security officials told international news agencies."
* Brutal: "A violent tornado that ripped through Adairsville, Ga., on Wednesday, killed at least one person, overturned cars, littered Interstate 75 with debris, and forced officials to shut down a 10-mile stretch of the road, officials said."
* Alabama hostage standoff: "Police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home with the kindergartener."
* Bipartisan support: "Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.) on Wednesday became the first Republican to cross party lines and back former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), President Obama's pick to be the next Defense secretary."
* Jonathan Cohn has a terrific, wonky piece on why, under the Affordable Care Act, most consumers will pay less in premiums, and those who may more will be "getting something for the extra premium dollars they pay up front."
* And in the state of Washington, state Republican lawmakers are on board with the electoral-vote scheme, but they have no chance of success -- Democrats control the governor's office and the state House.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Leave a Comment:
"And in the state of Washington, state Republican lawmakers are on board with the electoral-vote scheme, but they have no chance of success -- Democrats control the governor's office and the state House."
Hahahahahaha. Good luck with that. The Chair of the WA House Judiciary Committee is a friend of mine and there's no way in bullpucky he'll let that go anywhere.
Also in Washington State, Jim Nabors wed his partner of 38 years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/jim-nabors-stan-cadwallader-marry_n_2579630.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
What a sad comment on the state of public safety in the city of Chicago when a little girl gets gunned down.
So many places in America in the last 30 some odd years have been left to rot. Camden, New Orleans, Chicago.
Washington, D.C. used to be the murder capital of the world, but not anymore. Due to an extensive effort of urban renewal, many places around D.C. that I used to be scared to step foot in, are now places with thriving businesses. In the process, the murder rate has plummeted.
You look at cities that have been victimized by the wholesale deindustrialization by "free" trade: cities like Memphis, Baltimore, and Detroit, and you see what it's like when whole communities fail. Drugs and crime sweep in to replace the broken remains of what used to be a functioning community.
You look at a state like Illinois, where 4 of the last 7 governors went to prison, and you see an entire state that's harmed by corruption. A vacuum develops where leadership used to reside, and you see whole cities fail.
This shouldn't happen in the strongest superpower on earth. It is criminal that people are forced to be reduced to crime to survive. To be reduced to homelessness because they have an untreated mental illness.
We are all the product of our environment. When we create a toxic environment to live in, tragedies like this are inevitable. We will never prevent tragedies like this until we get serious about addressing the problems of poverty and income inequality. The longer we wait, the more tragedies will occur.
Washington, D.C. used to be the murder capital of the world, but not anymore.
That probably corresponds to the same time when they changed the name of the NBA team from "bullets" to "wizards".
At one time (mid to late 1990's) Baltimore was nearly tied with Washington DC as the city with the highest per capita murder rate. But the University of Maryland stepped forward to prevent this stain on the city and state and saved the day.
How did they do it?
Buy back hand guns? No.
Lock up criminals? No.
Change the treatment for the mentally ill? No.
Some how remove violence from the drug trade? No.
The University of Maryland implemented significant improvements for the treatment of gunshot wounds at their teaching hospital in Baltimore. Just as many people were shot, but fewer died so the murder rate went down.
Beware blind adherence to statistics.
But, if we want to improve the character of individuals we need to address the issue at the age when character is being formed -- from birth to puberty, with emphasis on the first five years or so. As has been pointed out by the Federal Reserve, aid to the parents of young children in the form of access to quality child care and preschool programs would be most helpful. Currently such programs are severely underfunded.
Currently, children of this age are largely dependent upon the means and whims of their parents. Since the parents of young poor children tend to be young poor and over-stressed (barely) adults, the results are predictable. That is, if it is me and Mom against the world when Timmy is three we should not be surprised when Timmy grows up to be some form of predator.
Yes, parents and extended families should provide a nurturing and supportive environment for their offspring. But when they are not in a position to do so, for whatever reason, waiting for them to get their act together punishes the child for the sins of the adults.
Kids do not pick their parents and they are only three once.
Oh, scandal! Did you hear that Gabby didn't "hand write" her remarks? Harpy Michelle Malkin has her panties all in a bunch over it.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/01/scandal-gabby-giffords-did-not-write-her-speech/61608/
Did you hear that Michelle Malkin moves her mouth and nonsense comes out? And she gets paid for it? I think she's missing the true "scandal".
Malkin is a troll.
I'd say she's missing any sense. She tries to say something outrageous to get attention. I just ignore her. If I see a clip of her or S.P. , I just no longer hear. I have a way of tuning out ads and such, too.
I'm usually multitasking. I tune out on that and focus more on the other thing.
Senator Durbin - 1
Wayne LaPierre - 0
LaPierre sounded like the prison executioner trying to explain his way into heaven...
Props to Mr. Wolff!
I too love the Ohio Players! I'm heartbroken that Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner is gone too soon. The Ohio Players are my album-loving, 70's-era soundtrack! Sadly, that era has passed forever with the death of Mr. Bonner who was the lead singer for the Ohio Players.
ONE MORE THING: Bootsy and Phelps Collins are also from Ohio! WooWoo!
Funk is Forever!
Gee I hope that the people in Georgia aren't expecting any Federal aid, given that their elected representatives and senators don't believe in it as a needed government function. Oh wait, they don't believe in it for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Georgia, along with their neighboring gulf-coast states have enough hurricane experience to know the drill.
Re: gun legislation and Chicago, just because I am so tired of hearing about how Chicago is proof that gun laws don't work, I did some digging.
FBI data on crimes known to law enforcement, 2010:
Chicago:
Houston:
So with about 55% of Chicago’s gang population per capita, Houston has saved itself a whopping 0.34% on its murder rate. If we were to nearly double the number of gang members in Houston, how many more murders can we assume would be likely to occur? Another 56 murders in the city of Houston would put its murder percentage slightly greater than Chicago’s.
Pretending that Chicago's only problem is murder is absurd. The problem is not that "only criminals have guns," which, by the way, simply isn't true; the problem is not that it is difficult to purchase a gun; the problem is that Chicago has long had a culture of gang violence, poverty, and drug abuse; these things lead to a high crime rate in general.
Sources:
http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Homicides_by_firearms.xls
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/table-8/10tbl08il.xls
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/table-8/table-8-texas
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment#Gangd
So what's your point? Forget about the guns and outlaw gangs?
I watched Gabby Giffords read her statement with great effort, yet eloquently represented the story of gun violence. Now we have another young person dead, another crazy man killing a school bus driver and stealing a 6 year old.
I am just hearing La Pierre fear up and anger people to buy more guns. He would be telling the truth if he just went up there and said "I need to keep the anger and fear level up to keep gun and ammo sales up".
He told a bunch of idiotic lies - again.
I hope to see a huge contingency of NRA members canceling their membership in a public way- there are other gun clubs out there.
There are many viewpoints that can not be written off as idiotic...
I defer to long standing members of the law enforcement community.
The recently enacted SAFE laws in NYS are NOT being championed by law enforcement in these parts. NYS just over burdened law enforcement and law abiding citizens in the name of feel good politics.
I said he lied, not different viewpoints! You seem to be an expert in twisting words into pretzels.
He presented himself as representing the opinion that the NRA membership does not want background checks. There is a large number of them (75% of NRA members support universal background checks!) that support background checks. He represents gun and ammo salespeople, more than NRA members.
There are obviously going to be some people that should not own guns, that is not happening now to the extent it needs to happen.
Hello, Tuscon… crazy person, hello… Virginia Tech? etc., etc…
The other lie was the first "news conference", where he said "only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun". That is absolutely not true. The guy in Tuscon was stopped while he reloaded. Smaller size magazine would have saved at least one person in that case.
I honestly don't know why I respond to you Lisa. You always do this.
Kind of funny listening to the NRA talk about the 2nd Amendment and not hearing one peep about Slave Patrols.
The idea that our Constitution was amended to allow citizens to fight their own government with weapons, rather than voices and votes, is ridiculous beyond words.
The 2nd Amendment was crafted to maintain the economic security of Virginia and the Carolinas through well-regulated militias; a.k.a. Slave Patrols. The 2nd Amendment was crafted to further support Slavery.
I'm sure the Gun Cult doesn't care at all about the Slave Patrol origin of the "sacred" 2nd Amendment. The worthless troll (Silver3)who posted the same lengthy list of dubious "quotes" eleven times on the "Giffords to Congress..." thread certainly wouldn't care.
Huh? "Gun Cult"?
What does that even mean? Does that refer to everyone who owns a firearm?
From what I understand, James Madison's 1st draft of the 2nd Amendment said, "A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free country,etc. The word country was changed to state by the southerners. I guess they needed the militias to minimize slave uprisings.
Lisa, dear,
A gun cult is made up of people who are so emotionally attached to their firearms that they lose all ability to think rationally when discussing them. You will agree that it applies to the people who are choosing the deaths of other people's kids as freedom's price, cheap at twice the price, rather than allow anything to interfere with their ability to purchase more firearms than they can shoot.
As with several of the items in the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment was a response to specific complaints against George III and his royal governors. A list of these complaints can be found in the Declaration of Independence.
The Second Amendment addressed the fear of a tyrannical governor using outlaw gangs to attack settlements that stood up for their rights against the governor. The royal governor of North Carolina was notorious for such behavior, using criminals, disgruntled Native American war bands, escaped slave groups, and pirates to attack settlements as punishment.
His most famous 'enforcer' was Black Beard, who in return was allowed to use NC as a safe haven to attack shipping from Virginia and South Carolina.
The Second Amendment was designed to allow and encourage settlements to form militias for defense against pirates and outlaw gangs, not to fight the legitimately elected government. Today, these militias are the National Guard.
"His most famous 'enforcer' was Black Beard, who in return was allowed to use NC as a safe haven to attack shipping from Virginia and South Carolina"
Now I am going to take an exception here for Blackbeard's sake. Blackbeard was never anyone's "enforcer", he was solely out for his own good (or greed). He gave kickbacks to the governor ( and maybe a judge or two) of North Carolina that's all. No one and I repeat no one was the boss of him. Please do not sully his nasty reputation. Also Blackbeard died in 1718 well before George III was born.
@ entropy
The 2nd amendment hasn't been repealed... and has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean the right of individual citizens to bear arms. That is what is relevant now.
It does not mean "any individual can own any kind of gun they desire", regardless of criminal record or mental state.
You will note that the farthest right wing member of the SC specifically stated that the government was allowed to control who owned weapons and which ones they could own.
Lisafp,
If we can own any arm without restriction, I want a tactical nuke. Oh, and some nerve gas too, my neighbor's dog has been seen wandering in my front yard of late.
(Note the Second Amendment does not contain the word 'gun'.)
For home defense, ya know.
Of course, if you want to bring up reasonable limitations on arms, we can start with reasonable restrictions on fire rate and clip size.
Scalia said a handheld rocket launcher is probably protected because it fits the criteria of being handheld so it complies with the 'right to bear arms.' He said it in an interview with Chris Wallace. This is the reason a cannon isn't protected.
MtnWoman54,
There are nuclear fission bombs that fit in a backpack and can be borne by a single person. Are those protected as well? How about a phosgene gas (nerve agent) generator?
Both are 'arms' and can be carried by a single person.
Scalia is legislating from the bench, arbitrarily declaring one type of weapon 'protected' and another not. Determining reasonable restrictions on arms is the job of legislatures, not the courts.
Since I am not afflicted with any form of Patriolatry, I realize that there is nothing magic or holy about the 2nd Amendment. By all rights, it is a dead letter. The way the Gun Cult uses it as an excuse to foment insurrection should put more nails in its coffin.
Since Roe vs Wade passed 55 MILLION AMERICANS, not 800,000 have been aborted!!!
And where is the cries instead there are CELEBRATIONS!!!
This is for every American born since January 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court determined that abortion is a right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Congratulations. You survived. But 55 million of your generation did not. Look around as you go about your day at work, at school. Every third person under age 40 is missing. Brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, neighbors.
Roe v. Wade is hailed as a great achievement that expanded reproductive rights. Notice those who do this hailing have already been born.
Forty years on, little is said of the millions gone. But their absence is not without consequence for your diminished generation.
MSNBC is reportedly “reviewing” the situation after it aired a selectively-edited video that appeared to show the father of a Newtown, Conn. shooting victim being heckled during a legislative hearing — even after replacing the clip in a story on its website.
MSNBC host Martin Bashir aired the edited video on his show Monday with an audience member shouting, “the Second Amendment shall not be infringed!” during the testimony of Neil Heslin, father of Sandy Hook first-grade victim Jesse Lewis, at a Connecticut hearing.
Omitted from the video was Heslin asking, “why anybody in this room needs to have one of these assault-style weapons or military weapons or high-capacity clips.” He added after a pause, “Not one person can answer the question,” at which point the audience reacted.
I am so devastated and shock about the terrible, horrific tragedies that have been accruing in this country. This needs to be addressed by having background checks and to eliminate the amount of high capacity magazines should also be addressed to a limit less than 7 or even 5. This is just common sense to write into our laws. The second amendment is in the constitution and always will be but there should be more regulations to protect the people. Please Congress, act now.
The second amendment was a great negotiation between the northern states and the southern states. The southern states had mandatory militia service of white males in order to maintain a police state to keep Africans in slavery. If the new constitution did not allow the militia to have guns, then the system of slavery could not be maintained. The second amendment was added to allow for the militias in the south to maintain slavery. That's it - simple. There was much flowery talk about tyranny and watering the tree of liberty and all that, but the second amendment was in response to the southern militias desire to keep slvery as a viable system.
Shorter La Pierre: If there is a storm, a tornado, any natural disaster where the people are cold and hungry, they're going to want something so that they can take from others what the others have. They're going to want to eat their guns, they're going to want to use their guns to keep warm.
About those tornados in GA and the three in VA, this is January, guys. Tornados are associated with thunderstorms that occur in the summer. Even the dimmest denier must realize that when you have tornados in the middle of winter that something is going wrong. Shall we acknowledge that global warming is occurring?
It easy for felons to get gun rights restored. You know what it's called - "Federal Firearms Disability." Strange name.
Several states automatically restore gun rights to felons convicted of non-violent crimes. In other states and violent crimes, felons can petition the courts. If a felon has voting rights restored, gun rights are automatically restored.
The NY Times did an article:
Felons Finding It Easy to Regain Gun Rights
They highlighted some people who had their gun rights restored:
From the ATF website:
Many of us are under the impression that a felon cannot legally get a gun but it isn't true. i think this would make an informative segment on the show.
@dkm
I'm not your "dear" so curb the condescension. It just seems that if one has a different view on this site, that one must be radical. To state that one is "choosing the deaths of other people's children at freedoms price" if one doesn't just go along with certain gun restrictions is a knee jerk reaction to a complex issue.
The previous ban on "assault weapons" was ineffective. Look at long term studies.
Automatic weapons are already banned. Many don't understand that semi automatic refers to it loading into the chamber. The trigger still needs to be pulled each time.
Biden's statement that Law Enforcement overwhelmingly supports this... I'm hearing just the opposite. It will tax resources, is ineffective, and the overwhelmingly consider that if someone is hell bent on mass killing, where there is a will, there is a way. Remember Kansas City?
These cases are most often tied to 1)School Bullying and 2)Extreme mental illness.
I'm for universal background checks... NYS USED TO have reasonable gun laws. The process for obtaining a handgun permit was somewhat rigorous.
It would be nice to make informed decisions in congress....
"I'm for universal background checks."
Talk is cheap. You are still an obvious Neo-Confederate, and should be treated accordingly.