There was a noise at the back door. A sudden crack. My muscles tightened. My heart was racing. My mind buzzed frantically. I looked at the clock. It was 2:47 a.m. I reached under the bed and grabbed the hammer I had stashed, the only decent weapon in the house. Might I actually have to use it? Might I have to defend myself and my family from an intruder? This can’t be happening.
Continue Reading Add comment October 6th, 2007
Shortly before 11:00 pm last Thursday night, Representative Michael R. McNulty (D-NY) gaveled the vote on H.R. 3161 closed. What appeared to be a final tally of 215-213 Nay, McNulty declared a 214-214 tie. This was followed by a chorus of "shame, shame, shame" and House Republicans walked out on the proceedings.
So what did the Democratic leadership do? While Representatives argued over the two different vote tallies, the Democrat leadership strong-armed Democrats who voted Nay. In a creative application of parliamentary procedure, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) then offered a “motion to reconsider,” which was seconded. This un-did McNulty's gavel and reopened the tally. In the time it took to “reconsider” the vote, the Democratic leadership managed to flip three votes. The final tally was recorded 216-212 Yea.
Continue Reading Add comment August 3rd, 2007
Since everyone is so hip on guns these days, let’s take a page from the Wild West and enact a policy that would make Wyatt Earp proud. The mandate could read as follows: “If you dare mess with the law, you’ll be dealt with. Not in the court of law, but immediately. In the bar, on the street, in the alley. Tried, convicted, dead and boxed all within a few minutes.”
We’ll encourage the good citizens of this valley to carry guns, as well, giving them full permission to take the law into their own hands if the situation so dictates. I’ve always wanted to wear a holster stuffed with a loaded six-shooter. I’m getting excited just thinking about the potential. I’ll dust off my “Billy The Kid” hat, slip on a pair of dingo boots and some chaps. In the winter I’ll wear a long dusty trench coat, or better yet, a shawl like Clint Eastwood in “The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly.” I’ll smoke thin cigars or chew incessantly on a tooth pick. If someone steps out of line, well, I might just pop a cap in their punk ass.
Continue Reading 5 comments August 2nd, 2007
This week I’ve spent a few hours watching the coverage of the Virginia Tech incident. In those hours spent in front of the television, sickened by the unfathomable horror of the incident itself and the media’s self-serving assault on the people of Blacksburg, I’ve noticed something about the students. The students of Virginia Tech love their university.
Continue Reading 22 comments April 20th, 2007
In the course of human events, the hot blood of our body politic boils over into catcalls and caterwauling on the way to greater truths. That’s another way of saying the great thing about a democracy, democratically speaking, is that we have a way of resolving issues over time—and sometimes even for the better.
Exhibit A: gun control and the killings at Virginia Tech.
Exhibit B: our Supreme Court’s decision to ban partial-birth abortion.
Absolutists—and you know who you are—will abhor the politics of both gun control and abortion, but I would argue that both issues are being resolved in a wrestling match that actually leans to the center and away from absolutism—and for the greater good.
Continue Reading 8 comments April 19th, 2007
