"Trayvon could have been me?"

So our esteemed President could have been straddling someone who hadn't assaulted him, punching him in the face and into the concrete?

Was he channeling Joe Biden when he said this?

Quote of the Day

"If I had a city, it would look like Detroit." - Barack Obama

As channeled by Rep. Stacey Campfield

This is simply straight up Awesome

If you're a .mil guy and a history nerd like me....these photos will really resonate. Just stunning to look at our own era through a historical lens [pun intended].

See the rest of the collection here.

h/t TTAG

Never forget the true aim of the gun control cabal

We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily — given the political realities — going to be very modest. Right now, though, we'd be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal — total control of handguns in the United States — is going to take time. My estimate is from seven to ten years. The problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns sold in this country. The second problem is to get them all registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition — except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors — totally illegal.

Pete Shields, 1976 - Chairman of the National Council to Control Handguns [precursor to the Brady  Campaign]

h/t Reason

Reason goes on to write:

As the years passed, it became apparent that this was going nowhere; a different first “slice” would have to be found. In 1990, Violence Policy Center (VPC) announced that it had found it. The debate must be switched from small handguns to large “assault rifles.”

Handguns, VPC explained, had become a media and political nonissue, while calls to outlaw “assault rifles” would benefit from mistaken impressions, i.e., “the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun.” That rifles of all types were involved in about 300 homicides a year was beside the point. The search was for a target of opportunity, not a solution to crime.

For some, Patriotism is dependent on your sexual orientation

One of the Right's favorite fringe fundamentalist has preemptively come out [pun intended] against supporting Liz Cheney in her apparent run for the Wyoming Senate seat. I'm not fond of Cheney, the waterboarding fan-girl, but to tie one's alleged lack of patriotism on the fact that they support equal civil rights for all Americans....is laughable. But sadly the status quo in much of the GOP.

In 2009, she inartfully dodged two attempts to press her to declare her position on sodomy-based marriage, which in the end means just one thing: she’s for it.

Although I’m not aware that she has declared a position on ENDA, in 2009 she supported the State Department’s decision, in flagrant violation of DOMA, the law of the land at the time, to extend benefits to same-sex partners.

Said Ms. Cheney, “I think it’s wrong to discriminate, in those relationships, based on someone’s sexual preference.” Homosexual activists prefer her to Enzi for the sole reason that she just might be a “sleeper vote for LGBT rights.”

She supported the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which is driving values-based members of the military out of the service and ushering in militant homosexuals. Currently, 55-60% of  all sexual assaults in the military now, thanks in part to the DADT repeal, are committed by homosexuals.

Liz Cheney will be an undeniably appealing candidate, and conservatives will be tempted to turn a blind eye toward her support for the deviancy cabal. But we do so not only at our peril but at the peril of the future of our country.

George Washington famously said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness.”

The bottom line: Liz Cheney is not, under Washington’s definition, a patriot. She will throw her weight behind those who are placing improvised explosive devices beneath both of Washington’s indispensable pillars. When the roof collapses on us all, those who supported Liz Cheney will be partly to blame.

Bryan Fischer - American Family Association

Your Government wants to limit your ability to defend yourself *Updated*

While politicizing the Zimmerman trial [much like his boss], AG Eric Holder thinks that you don't have sovereignty over your body and your safety.

Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. (sustained applause)  These laws try to fix something that was never broken.  There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if – and the “if” is important – no safe retreat is available.

But we must examine laws that take this further by eliminating the common sense and age-old requirement that people who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely.  By allowing and perhaps encouraging violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety.  The list of resulting tragedies is long and – unfortunately – has victimized too many who are innocent. It is our collective obligation – we must stand our ground – (applause) to ensure that our laws reduce violence, and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent.

WSJ

What Holder and his ilk trumpets is the portion of SYG that calls for the victim to make an assessment of the level of danger that they are in [usually with the luxury of only a few seconds]. What the gun control cabal conveniently ignores, is that the 'duty to retreat' concept also requires a victim to make a split second assessment, as to whether or not they have a reasonably safe avenue to escape.

In both cases, the victim is required to assess the situation, and act decisively. But in both cases, this person is still the VICTIM. Call me a neanderthal if you like, but if someone assaults my person, or my family....they have made the decision that could forfeit their own life. And they'll live...or die...by that decision.

Massad Ayoob has an outstanding explanation of the ridiculous assertions being made against SYG in the media, and by the gun control cabal.

 

'Vigilantism' v. the Sheeple

Amidst the blathering by the profiteering race pimps, is the argument questioning why citizens should have the right to use lethal force to defend themselves. Even though Florida's Stand Your Ground law was rendered moot by testimony proving that Zimmerman's actions met the definition of self defense in any jurisdiction, the law itself is now "on trial" in the court of public opinion [and the complicit media], and being prosecuted by those who have a political agenda that seeks only to disarm the citizen and remove any equalizing instrument in the face of assault upon their person.

What gets ignored in the argument as posited by the profiteering sheeple, is why would the law abiding citizen have to incur the burden of risk when they are the party being assaulted in a criminal act?

And then we have our POTUS politicizing this case as a platform for gun control. Classy.

One Night in Bangkok

OK, so I was there a bit longer than that...but it didn't stop the song from running through my head, since many of my formative years were in the 1980's.

I've driven in Baghdad. You couldn't pay me enough to navigate the mean streets of Bangkok. Granted, in Baghdad, we were able to "persuade" other motorists to kindly yield for us.....[cue innocuous whistling....]. I found this photo online, as I didn't take any from a van's eye view myself, but is a pretty good representation of the traffic on every street we went down, while transiting between various point.

The countryside was much nicer, combing an odd sense of modernity and neo-medievalism. I'm not a huge fan of Thai food, but here had the opportunity to eat authentically, and had some really good [and spicy] dishes. Also had some I'd rather forget.

And reminiscent of Nazi Germany only in regards to decor, this guy looks at you from everywhere you find yourself.

Off the Net

At the airport departing for a National Lampoon Asian Vacation.........minus the vacation part.

I foresee very little internet in my immediate future.

As you recover from Independence Day merriment

Gaze upon the daguerreotypes of those who fought in the Revolution to secure that Independence.

More here

Military Logic and the Rebuttal

h/t SNAFU