Charles Krauthammer’s Religious Epiphany
Posted: February 2, 2017 Filed under: Law & Justice, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: Antonin Scalia, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, Harry Reid, Majority leader, Merrick Garland, Mitch McConnell, Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Party (United States), SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Washington Post Leave a comment
He guaranteed Neil Gorsuch elevation to the Supreme Court.
…Donald Trump for winning the election. Hillary Clinton for losing it. Mitch McConnell for holding open the high court seat through 2016, resolute and immovable against furious (and hypocritical) opposition from Democrats and media. And, of course, Harry Reid.
God bless Harry Reid. It’s because of him that Gorsuch is guaranteed elevation to the court. In 2013, as Senate majority leader, Reid blew up the joint. He abolished the filibuster for federal appointments both executive (such as Cabinet) and judicial, for all district and circuit court judgeships (excluding only the Supreme Court). Thus unencumbered, the Democratic-controlled Senate packed the lower courts with Obama nominees.
Reid was warned that the day would come when Republicans would be in the majority and would exploit the new rules to equal and opposite effect. That day is here.
The result is striking. Trump’s Cabinet appointments are essentially unstoppable because Republicans need 
only 51 votes and they have 52. They have no need to reach 60, the number required to overcome a filibuster. Democrats are powerless to stop anyone on their own.
[Read the full story here, at The Washington Post]
And equally powerless to stop Gorsuch. But isn’t the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees still standing? Yes, but if the Democrats dare try it, everyone knows that Majority Leader McConnell will do exactly what Reid did and invoke the nuclear option — filibuster abolition — for the Supreme Court, too.
Reid never fully appreciated the magnitude of his crime against the Senate. As I wrote at the time, the offense was not abolishing the filibuster — you can argue that issue either way — but that he did it by simple majority. Read the rest of this entry »
On Morning Joe, Charles Koch Slams Harry Reid’s ‘Vitriol,’ ‘Dishonest Attacks’
Posted: November 3, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Ben Carson, Democratic Party (United States), Harry Reid, Iran, Majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Party (United States), White House 1 CommentIn an interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe, billionaire Charles Koch went after Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for his nonstop and occasionally personal attacks on him and his brother.
“I’m kind of like Martin Luther when he was on trial, and he said, ‘Here I stand. I can do no other.’ I mean, I dedicated my life to this,” Koch said. “The ideas we’ve been talking about transformed my life, and so it’s my mission. I feel a moral obligation to help other people learn these and transform their lives.”
“It’s frightening for the future of the country to have these public officials try to hurt and destroy private citizens who oppose what they’re doing rather than have a conversation and maybe find, as we’ve done with the White House, find areas where we can work together on things we agree to make the country better instead of this vitriol and these dishonest attacks.”
Read more at The Corner
D.C. Issues First Gun Carry Permits
Posted: January 28, 2015 Filed under: Self Defense, U.S. News | Tags: 2nd amendment, Civil Rights, Concealed carry, Concealed carry in the United States, Firearm, Guns, Legislator, Majority leader, Republican Party (United States), Right to keep and bear arms, Self-defense, Terry Bruce (Kansas politician) 2 Comments
Approves 8 Applications, Denies 11
Stephen Gutowski reports; The District of Columbia has issued its first concealed handgun carry permits. As of January 26, there are eight civilians who can legally carry a firearm in the nation’s capital. Currently, more permit applicants have been denied than approved.
“The City Council adopted a ‘may issue’ law which featured a myriad of restrictions, imposed 18 hours of training requirements, cost $110 in application fees, and required applicants prove to city officials their need to carry a firearm. It has been widely criticized by gun rights activists.”
“We’ve had 69 applications, of which 3 were canceled at the request of the applicant,” Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said. “So far eight licenses have been approved and issued.”
Veteran firearms instructor Gerald Vernon
The District was forced to adopt a legal framework allowing civilians to carry firearms after a federal judge declared the city’s previous ban unconstitutional last July. The City Council adopted a “may issue” law which featured a myriad of restrictions, imposed 18 hours of training requirements, cost $110 in application fees, and required applicants prove to city officials their need to carry a firearm.
“So far eight licenses have been approved and issued.”
It has been widely criticized by gun rights activists. The city began accepting applications several months later on October 23rd but established a 90 day review period.
The eight people legally allowed to carry a gun within city limits represent about .00001 percent of the 646,449 people the Census Bureau estimates reside in the city.
[See John R. Lott’s More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, Third Edition (Studies in Law and Economics) at Amazon]
The MPD did not provide any information about where the eight permittees reside, but there are non-residents represented among the 69 people who have applied for a permit. Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 