Bush on the Edge ("There is Almost No Enthusiasm for Her [Harriet Miers'] Nomination...")

Washington Times ^ | 10/26/2005 | Tony Blankley

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

< /snip>

Those who claim that it is only Washington eggheads and activists who are disillusioned, misunderstand and underestimate the consequences of such Washington-based problems. The current Washington Republican negativity to Mr. Bush is as a stone thrown into a lake -- it will ripple outward until it causes waves on the distant shores of the heartland.

< / snip>

More importantly, the president is perilously close to duplicating the estrangement his father experienced from his congressional allies when George H.W. Bush raised taxes in 1990. Just a year out from congressional elections, Republican congressmen and senators are in the process of making the practical judgment whether to distance themselves from the president to save their skins. I don't blame them. (After all, it's not as if he is currently championing their principles and policies domestically.)

If they decide in the affirmative, their constituents will hear criticisms rather than support of the president for the next 12 months. The most dangerous time for any politician is not when his opponents say rude things about him, but when his own partymen do. They will start out respectfully disagreeing, but will build to more flagrant rhetoric as their Democratic Party opponents start raising and spending more money and start rising in the polls.

< /snip>

First, withdraw the unfortunate nomination of Harriet Miers. Not only is there almost no enthusiasm for her nomination, I have never seen as much outright hostility and even anger at an appointment from a president's own party. Replace her with a highly qualified, full-blooded, proven conservative nominee. (Any number of his appointments to the courts of appeal will do.)

Then he can have a principled fight between conservatives and liberals...

< /snip>

[AFPhys]

"gun owners" will NEVER gain by electing Demodogs.

If any of them ever believe such, they are far greater fools than I can possibly imagine.

Hitlery, and the rest of them, will say anything to get elected, but please point out to me a SINGLE piece of significant national legislation that ANY demodog has proposed and guided through into law that has expanded the rights of gun owners, or detered taking additional rights away.

As you know, I can point out MANY significant pieces of legislation on the other side of the issue that HAVE been emplaced primarily by Demodog supermajority support along with a smattering of liberal Republicans. They aren't going to change their stripes in this, or in any of their other major "talking point" issues until they are utterly out of power, and that time is not likely to arrive for quite a while yet.

[BCR #226]

We aren't gaining anything now with the current status quo either... so should we just sit here and take it? I think not.

If it's such a concern for you, I suggest that you get on the phone to the RNC and the elected officials in Congress and let them know that the gun owners are fed up. They've had 11 years to do something since we the gun owners gave them Congress and they have done NOTHING. We have given them 19 years after we were stabbed in the back in 1986 to fix the screw up that Reagan signed his name to and we have seen nothing. More and more gun owners are becoming upset at the lack of action by the people WE got elected.

Sure, the firearm manufacturers protection act was a good move but what did it give us, the gun owners? Not much really. We still got stabbed in the back with BS amendments and studies. We're tired of it. More and more gun owners are sitting out elections or writing in protest votes... case in point, watch what happens in the Governors race in Virginia on the 8th.

The President won by a slim margin in the last election... what do you think is going to happen if gun owners keep getting ignored? We are the most crucial voting block in the Republican party yet, we are considered the red headed step child so to speak.

We aren't fools, we are sending a message. We are tired of the status quo.

The "Demdogs" as you like to call them know that gun control has cost them dearly. They are moving away from it and they intend to court the gun owners by introducing legislation to increase the chances of getting Warner elected as President in 2008. But that is okay, keep the status quo and I'm sure that the gun owners will stick with the Republicans...(/sarcasm)

You ask for legislation proposed by Democrats... okay. How about a repeal of the 1968 GCA introduced in 1971? I forget who introduced it but I know it was a democrat. It got squashed by the Republicans in committee. Yes, that's right, the Republicans voted against it.

Listen, I understand your fear of the Dems winning. I have the same fear but the gun owners are just tired of getting out and working our butts off for campaigns and voting on empty promises.

The 2008 Presidential election is most likely going to be a match between Allen and Warner. If that election were held today, the gun vote would go to Warner giving him the win. Allen is good on the 2nd Amendment but Warner has proven himself better. Allen MUST author some serious pro-gun legislation and he MUST get it passed and signed into law...

A few examples of stuff that would give him a big win would be:

1. Nationwide CCW.
2. Repeal of the 1986 MG ban.
3. Repeal all mention of "sporting purpose" in gun law.
4. Create a burden of proof for accusations of domestic violence for the Lautenburg act.
5. Allow surplus M14 rifles to be sold through CMP to the citizens of the US.

Those 5 alone would give him a huge advantage against Warner. However, if he helped to push to get the 2nd Amendment incorporated under the 14th Amendment, he'd ensure his victory.

But you just keep the status quo... We will take our votes elsewhere.

Mike

[AFPhys]

Looks to me like the Republicans earn a solid C, Dems a solid F

United States Senate

 Gun Owners of America Scorecards for 108th, 107th, 106th Congress -
 My consolidation... leaving out "-" & "+" ... 
       [ I may have made a few errors - sorry if so]
? = "not rated" (why??? - especially Edwards- three times!!? and Nelson 2x)
       it is quite odd to me that D's managed to be unrated five times as much as R's...

ALABAMA

ALASKA

SESSIONS
SHELBY

R CCC
R BBB

MURKOWSKI
STEVENS

R ?CC
R DDC

ARIZONA

ARKANSAS

KYL
McCAIN

R CCC
R FCC

PRYOR
LINCOLN
HUTCHINSON

D  ?**
D FFF
R  *BC

CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

BOXER
FEINSTEIN

D FFF
D FFF

ALLARD
CAMPBELL

R BBB
R BBB

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

DODD
LIEBERMAN

D FFF
D FFF

BIDEN
CARPER
ROTH

D FFF
D FF*
R  **F

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

GRAHAM
NELSON
MACK

D F ?F
D ??*
R  **C

MILLER
CHAMBLISS
CLELAND
COVERDELL

D   ??*
R  A**
D  *FF
R   **B

HAWAII

IDAHO

AKAKA
INOUYE

D FFF
D FFF

CRAIG
CRAPO

R BBB
R BBB

ILLINOIS

INDIANA

DURBIN
FITZGERALD

D FFF
R  FFF

LUGAR
BAYH

R FFF
D FFF

IOWA

KANSAS

GRASSLEY
HARKIN

R CCC
D FFF

BROWNBACK
ROBERTS

R BBB
R CCC

KENTUCKY

LOUISIANA

BUNNING
McCONNELL

R BBB
R CCC

BREAUX
LANDRIEU

D FFF
D FFF

MAINE

MARYLAND

COLLINS
SNOWE

R DDD
R CCC

MIKULSKI
SARBANES

D FFF
D FFF

MASSACHUSETTS

MICHIGAN

KENNEDY
KERRY

D FFF
D FFF

STABENOW
LEVIN
ABRAHAM

D FF*
D FFF
R  **D

MINNESOTA

MISSISSIPPI

DAYTON
COLEMAN
WELLSTONE
GRAMS

D FF*
R B**
D  *FF
R   **B

COCHRAN
LOTT

R DDC
R CCC

MISSOURI

MONTANA

TALENT
BOND
CARNAHAN
ASHCROFT

R B**
R CCC
D  *F*
R  **C

BAUCUS
BURNS

D FFD
R BBB

NEBRASKA

NEVADA

HAGEL
NELSON

R CCC
D FFF

ENSIGN
REID
BRYAN

R BB*
D FFF
D  **F

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY

GREGG
SUNUNU
SMITH

R CCC
R B**
R  *AA

LAUTENBERG
CORZINE
TORRICELLI

D F*
D ??F
D *FF

NEW MEXICO

NEW YORK

BINGAMAN
DOMENICI

D FFF
R DDD

SCHUMER
CLINTON

D FFF
D FFF

NORTH CAROLINA

NORTH DAKOTA

EDWARDS
DOLE
HELMS

D ???
R D**
R  *CC

CONRAD
DORGAN

D FFF
D FFF

OHIO

OKLAHOMA

DEWINE
VOINOVICH

R FFF
R DDD

INHOFE
NICKLES

R AAA
R BBB

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

SMITH
WYDEN

R DDD
D FFF

SANTORUM
SPECTER

R CCC
R CCC

RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH CAROLINA

CHAFEE
REED

R FFF
D FFF

HOLLINGS
GRAHAM
THURMOND

D FFF
R B**
R  *CC

SOUTH DAKOTA

TENNESSEE

DASCHLE
JOHNSON

D FFF
D FFF

FRIST
ALEXANDER
THOMPSON

R DDD
R C**
R  *BB

TEXAS

UTAH

CORNYN
HUTCHISON
GRAMM

R ?**
R BBB
R  *BB

BENNETT
HATCH

R DDD
R CCC

VERMONT

VIRGINIA

JEFFORDS
LEAHY

D DDD
D FFF

ALLEN
WARNER
ROBB

R CC*
R FFF
D  **F

WASHINGTON

WEST VIRGINIA

CANTWELL
MURRAY
GORTON

D FF*
D FFF
R  **C

BYRD
ROCKEFELLER

D FFF
D FFF

WISCONSIN

WYOMING

FEINGOLD
KOHL

D FFF
D FFF

ENZI
THOMAS

R AAA
R BBB

CONSOLIDATION:

SENATE	#As	#Bs	#Cs	#Ds	#Fs	#?s	CumAvg.
DEMODOGS	0	0	0	4	131	11	0.03
REPUBLICANS	9	37	62	27	17	2	1.96

Looks to me like the Republicans earn a solid C, Dems a solid F

I would certainly like to see a higher score, but you're not going to ever convince me you'll do so by electing more Demodogs.

We have to work harder to get ever more conservative Republicans in the Red States, and to replace any and all Demodogs with any R - even solid RINOs like the Maine gals yield far higher positive results than ANY D, the highest rated of whom (Jumpin'JimJeff) rises to exactly a "D" rating.  Without my including him in the Dem's score, they would only have a single incident above an "F" and a 0.01 cume!

Please say uncle on this! I spent a lot of time making this consolidation for you and others.

The most important thing we must do is to get a president who will select USSC justices who will eventually strike the gun laws down as unConstitutional.  That is not going to be Hitlery or any other Demodog, including the one you chose in your remarks. (Allen is FAR more likely to select a strict constructionist for the court - NO Dem pres is ever going to nominate such a conservative justice!)  The Senate is also at least somewhat important in this effort because of the confirmation process, but not nearly as critical as the Presidency and the USSC.

[BCR #226]

What you don't seem to understand is this... I appreciate your position and I don't want to see the Dems win either... BUT, the Dems are working on an effort to take the gun owners away from the Republicans. This is going to be very evident starting next year. The only way to stop it is to have the republicans trump the Dems on the gun issue by getting stuff repealed and enacting pro-gun legislation. That isn't happening. The Dems however are making plans to do exactly that and guess what? If the Republicans don't vote for this stuff, then the gun owners will leave in droves. They will most likely leave anyway when they realize that gee, it's the Dems that are putting forth the legislation.

The only way to stop them is to beat them to the punch. Gun owners don't see the Republicans doing much on the issue so they are becoming less enthusiastic about voting and supporting Republicans across the board.

If the Republicans haven't established a VERY strong pro gun legislative record by the next Presidential election, they will not win. If you want to keep the Dems from achieving a strong and long standing majority in Congress and the White House, help get the Republicans behind some strong pro-gun legislation and get this stuff passed into law. Otherwise, the Dems are going to win this battle. And face facts, for many gun owners, they don't care what party someone belongs to if that person introduces and votes for repealing gun control and such. They will support that person no matter how that person is on other issues.

As for your report card, here's the problem... yeah the Dems earn an F and the Republicans earn a C... The party that gets their grades up first and starts getting A's will walk away with the big prize. Like I've stated over and over again... the status quo on guns won't cut it anymore.

Here in Virginia, the Republican Governor candidate has snubbed gun owners in a very bad way. He is likely to lose the election because of it. I've been working every day to limit the collateral damage to the other candidates in the state as much as possible but it honestly doesn't look good for many Republicans running in Delegate races.

Gun owners have been quite patient but they are fast losing that patience. Miers was not a good choice for Bush simply because like so many people in the past, he stated he'd nominate a solid conservative for the bench... Miers gave money to Al Gore... that and that alone showed gun owners that most likely we were going to take it in the back end once again.

That is why we along with the pro-life groups got up in arms over it (pardon the pun). We are all tired of the lip service from the Republicans. We are tired of the back stabbing and the out right lying from our elected officials. Want to keep the Republicans in the majority and in control? Help convince them that the status quo will no longer suffice. Like I said, we've been extremely patient over the years but now, we are done with it.

Mike

[AFPhys]

Please let me know when GoA change their score card to reflect growing praise for the Demodogs.

The fact is, the real important battlefield now is not legislation, but the courts. We must have more justices on the USSC who will rule that the 2ndA means what it clearly says, and in that regard, Miers appeared just fine (but let's drop her as that's now irrelevant, and unprovable on either side of the issue).

IF ---- major big IF --- the Demodogs were to propose proGun legislation despite their overwhelming history against it --- the R's will jump all over themselves approving it by probably about 45Y-10N or better ... If the D's mustered even a 20Y-25N vote, I would be quite surprised given that EVERY ONE OF THE D SENATORS* has an "F" rating now! That type of support isn't going to translate to any major GunOwner support, nor should it, regardless of who "wrote" the legislation. If ANY ONE of those Demodog Senators "gets their grades up first and starts getting A's", I'll eat my hat!

GunOwners taking aim at the Republicans is the least productive way of accomplishing the change we're interested in. We're finally on the cusp of finally having the clout to gain the change you're interested in, and you're losing patience? Wrong answer --- for you, and for those GunOwners you're trying to influence.

As I said earlier,
Please let me know when GoA change their score card to reflect growing praise for the Demodogs.

[BCR #226]

Something to think about... Feingold has reversed his position on the 2nd Amendment. During the Clinton years, he on many occasions proclaimed the 2nd refered to state rights not individual rights. During the Roberts confirmation hearings, he proclaimed the 2nd protected an individual right. The move is happening, don't be disillusioned by prejudices towards the Democratic party.

I agree on the issue about the courts. Our elected officials are so spineless that they won't make a move... I'll be honestly surprised if the Republican majority votes in favor of any pro-gun legislation submitted by the Dems. The partisanship is just too ingrained now.

Not to mention that if the Republicans DO vote for Dem legislation, we still lose. We cannot allow the Dems to take the lead on the issue. The Republicans will lose at least half of the gun owner base... which would guarantee that the Republicans would lose control of Congress and the Presidency for decades.

We as gun owners have no choice but to take aim at the Republicans. We've given them 71 years to repeal the 1934 National Firearms Act... they haven't done it. We've given them 37 years to repeal the 1968 Gun Control Act... They haven't done it. We've given them 19 years to repeal the 1986 machine gun ban... They haven't done it. Get the idea? Gun owners have stayed with the Republicans like an abused wife stays with an abusive husband... We've just finally started getting tired of the constant lying and abuse.

I got a call from the Republican party today wanting money. I flat out told them that I couldn't donate because I have to save up $30,000 for the M60 machine gun I would like to buy. I'd be happy to donate to the party if the gun was more affordable but gee, they've been so spineless about submitting legislation and passing it to get these bans repealed that I am forced to choose between the firearm or donating to the same old song and dance. I'm buying the gun.

If they repealed the 1986 MG ban, they'd get quite a war chest from appreciative NFA owners such as myself. They won't though and I'm not giving up my rights and hobby to donate to them.

I won't have to let you know when the GOA changes their report card... you'll be hearing all about it when the bills get submitted. Believe me, I know this is going to happen for a fact. I'm trying to fight this with all my might but if the Dems are going to do what the Republicans won't, I can't stop the gun owners from showing their appreciation with donations or votes... I've been warning the GOP about this for a while now.

The status quo is going to make the Republican party extinct... we've got to do something... I hope you will urge your Representatives and Senators to wake up and do something... I'm honestly tired of trying as are millions of other VOTING gun owners.

Mike