GOP Newest War: Native American Rights — "Damn Foreigners" Right, Right...???

Native Americans Left High and Dry

(Thanks to Sens. McCain and Flake (R-AZ)

Professing to Stand With All Americans 

(Only the Ones they Pick and Choose)

This story was forwarded to me - it's a great piece and an issue I didn't know anything about, and I bet you didn't either.

From the NY TIMES here.

Date and Place: About an hour east of Phoenix near a mining town called Superior lies Oak Flat, Arizona. 

Story in part: Three hundred people, mostly Apache, marched the 44 miles from tribal headquarters to begin this occupation on February 9, 2015. The campground lies at the core of an ancient Apache holy place, where coming-of-age ceremonies, especially for girls, have been performed for many generations, along with traditional acorn gathering. It belongs to the public, under the multiple-use mandate of the Forest Service, and has had special protections since 1955, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower decreed the area closed to mining — which, like cattle grazing, is otherwise common in national forests — because of its cultural and natural value. President Richard M. Nixon’s Interior Department in 1971 renewed this ban.

The key: Despite those protections, in December 2014, Congress promised to hand the title for Oak Flat over to a private, Australian-British mining concern. A fine-print rider trading away the Indian holy land was added at the last minute to the must-pass military spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). By doing this, Congress has handed over a sacred Native American site to a foreign-owned company (a foreign entity) that may be the first time in our nation’s history.

Until this NDAA, that swap always failed due to a lack of support. But this time was different. This time, the giveaway language was slipped onto the defense bill by Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, both from Arizona, and at the 11th hour. That tactic was successful only because, like most last-minute riders, it bypassed public scrutiny.

Transparency, right Mr. and Mrs. Gee Old Poops? You bet cha’ as Palin would say. Damn right, I suppose.

Continue at the NY TIMES line above, and thanks for stopping by, and oh, yeah, remember to Vote GOP in 2016 and help preserve America for Native Americans, right? 

Oops...!!

Attention all Hardline, Rightwing, Ultra Conservative GOP Christians

Sign Holders Believe in Christianity and Other Religions are Not Allowed or Tolerated

One is the Nation's Laws, the Other is Ethical and Moral Guidelines

This subject has always interested me and made me explore more about the meaning and differences between “Man-made laws vs. God-made laws” more so today the topic divides the country more than I have ever seen in my lifetime. And bashing other religions, fair game - worse, those who profess to have no preference. Now the USSC is back in the thick of it - in our bedrooms as the article outlines ... as if Hobby-Lobby wasn't enough about controlling a woman's right to choose her own birth control and not her frigging boss or business manger or company or corporation — yuk.

A lot of references are out there to explore – sadly, Christian hardliners will only cite one source, their Bible, while ignoring all others: It's the Bible or nothing.  

Source #1: Quite detailed and has this opening headline:

20 Jesus Biblical Quotes That Would Make A

 "Christian Right-Winger’s" Head Explode

My fav quote out of those many well-known ones is this:

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” [Luke 6:41 KJV]

That is Jesus’ famous quote about hypocrisy explaining more so today why conservative Christians say one thing and mean another. For example: they talk about the sanctity of marriage between “one man and one woman” while their leaders cheat on their own spouses, some seek gay sex (on the down low), some talk obsessively about rape, some cheat on taxes, some abuse drugs (prescriptions or not), and some engage in illegal acts. Yet, they’re the first to throw a non-violent, first-time drug offender in prison or claim a rape victim was “just asking for it, or the birth is God’s will.”

Please ready the others at the link – they are keepers.

Source #2: “For the Last Time, the Constitution is Not Based on the Bible” – a fact. Please read the whole article.

What is my point, if anything: To me, hardliner Christian conservatives are just that, hardliners and hardcore and rigid and will not budge on anything they perceive that somehow interferes with Bible teachings.

Folks the backbone of our country is not religion other than saying clearly:  [… we have the freedom of religion to worship anyway we choose or not, and government cannot write laws about that]. And, that is precisely why it’s in the Constitution – which is the law of the land and not based on any Bible verses in any sense or as the conservatives love to say sign above says; "God law." I have always wondered, which law are they talking about?  

These are my views and I am sure many will disagree 100% - and that too my friends, is their right.

Weasels Passing as Penguins: Science Which GOPers Don't Trust (So, Wassup)

No Offense to Robin Lord Taylor Who is a "Great Penguin on Gotham"

but Rep. Trent Gowdy (R-SC) a "Poor Committee Chairman"

Now, shortly after the HILL grilling (which was a horrible 11 hour show) Gowdy strikes again. This time with a crazy-ass PR scheme. So, will it work? With the brain-dead GOP base, probably yes. You see, the GOP-run House Penguin has spoken (here from Daily Kos), and I can't stop laughing.  The headlines: 

Gowdy: "That scheming Hillary caused our public humiliation"

As I said, in all cases like this, the GOP base will assume that since one of their “leaders” has spoken, it must therefore be true ... or as Pharaoh Ramses I mandated (in the movie at least) when he banished Moses:  “So let it be written, So let it be done.”

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy.

Welcome to Loony "Ben" America: Guns #1 Topic as if Nothing Else Matters

        

    

Hey, Dr. Ben Carson - I watched you on Meet the Press (Sunday, October 25, 2015) and I have to say that no one and I mean no one is advocating or has advocated taking “away our guns...”

I greatly dislike the NRA and I used to have a life membership (no more) – their tactics are narrow and selfish. I also dislike radical gun advocates in general who are inflexible. And, I would not change one single word in that poorly written (grammar-wise) Second Amendment (we need to clarify the militia part); but we for sure need sanity where insanity now rules the topic and where rationality has taken a back seat to these kinds of Americans we see all over the place.

This is and has always been my position on guns, but I must still ask regarding the photos above all across America:

WHY THIS ARROGANT DISPLAY? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?

I say: None whatsoever....​

Gowdy Benghazi Committee (Witch Hunt for Hillary's Head): Did You Check This, Too

Rep. Chaffetz (R-UT): Says he absolutely voted to cut funding for embassy security

Based on his words, not mine, I ask:  “Will the Gowdy witch hunt committee address this, I wonder?” 

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) acknowledged that House Republicans had consciously voted to reduce the funds allocated to the State Department for embassy security since winning the majority in 2010 (at least 3-4 times the record shows).

CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien asked (click here for the actual clip) the Utah Republican if he had “voted to cut the funding for embassy security.”

He said: “Absolutely. Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country. We have… 15,000 contractors in Iraq. We have more than 6,000 contractors, a private army there, for President Obama, in Baghdad. And we’re talking about can we get two dozen or so people into Libya to help protect our forces. When you’re in tough economic times, you have to make difficult choices. You have to prioritize things.”

Hey, Rick Perry – how about one of your infamous “oops” right about now, okay?  One word: disgusting to say the least.

Gun Violence is "Mental Health" Issue Says 99.999% of GOP: Check the Nearest Mirror

Michael Savage - Radio Nitwit and Blowhard

(who loves T-rump)

T-rump 2 Thumps Up for Savage

(mutual love affair)

First up is Savage saying from the Daily Caller, here in part:  Winston Churchill’s back — and this time he’s the classiest of class acts. 

At least so says radio talk show host Michael Savage, who praised Donald Trump as the “Winston Churchill of our time” during the real estate billionaire’s appearance on Savage’s radio show back in July. Savage, who said he is supporting Trump’s presidential candidacy, talked voter identification laws, immigration and the Iran nuclear deal with the man who is currently leading most Republican presidential primary polls.

Now, T-rump (name I call him) returns the favor - here from Media Matters:

Trump Says America Would Have "Common Sense" If Far-Right Radio Host (Michael Savage) Headed NIH

Folks, I rest my case.

Battle Hymn of the Republic (ans): Delivered by Paul "Marathon" Ryan

Original Lyrics in 1861, then Published in 1862

Modern Version Every Time a GOP Bill Comes Up for Debate

Short and sweet: This man for Speaker of the GOP Louse? *GMAFB* ... Consider:

In 2010, Ryan specifically said he would not vote against something “then write to the government to ask them to send us money… I did not request any stimulus money.”

In reality, Ryan penned at least five letters to two Federal departments seeking grants under Obama’s Recovery Act.

Talking to a reporter later in Ohio, Ryan again said, “No, I never asked for stimulus” (even though he got called out for telling this same lie).

Hoping to make the problem go away, Ryan even later said in a prepared statement that he “didn’t recall” his efforts, because they (the requests) were “… treated as constituent service requests.”

I can't stop laughing. Yeah, that Paul Ryan.

* GMAFB: Give Me a Frickin' Break 

Crazy Gun Laws We Worried About Are Now in Our Collective Face

The Most Infamous Quote of All

When this more common scene

Becomes this Recent Scene

(back away from that item a-hole - I saw it first -)

From this national story from Daily Kos here, in part:

The woman who drew her pistol and opened fire at a Home Depot, as it turns out (and not surprisingly) was that she was not being personally threatened when she fired at the alleged shoplifter running from the store…!!

[My insert: no shit Sherlock] … Thousands if not millions of us who advocate of common sense gun rules knew something like would happen and it did and believe it: it will happen again – fear does sell and a gun makes one feel empowered to be a Rambo or citizen “cop” or whatever – they are not…

Police confirmed on Wednesday that a concealed pistol license (CPL) holder was not being threatened by a fleeing shoplifter when she decided to fire multiple shots at him in a Home Depot parking lot.

And experts interviewed Wednesday doubted the shooting could have been justified. [I might add: That might land her in jail and it should, or some very stiff penalty. What if some innocent bystander had been shot, or worse, shot and killed]?  

Here are a couple of choice bits from the reporting by the Detroit Free Press on this story:

1.  To use a concealed weapon in Michigan, a CPL holder needs to think that there is an imminent danger of death, great bodily harm or sexual assault, or think there is a similar danger to someone else, said Rick Ector, a firearms trainer who runs Legally Armed Detroit. He added that a gun is “truly a tool of last resort.”

2.  “In that situation personally, there’s no way I would be shooting my gun,” said another instructor, Dawn Martin, with the Kalamazoo-based Viper Security Enforcement Inc.

3.  “It’s my worst nightmare as a CPL instructor,” said Doreen Hankins, owner of Detroit Arms, which holds CPL classes. “You have to know the entire situation before you pull that handgun out.  I don’t see that a shoplifter at Home Depot fills any of those criteria.” 

Hankins, further said about the shooting and CPL holders, “None of it makes sense. Even if it were law enforcement, they wouldn’t do that. You are not a police officer. You are not a person out there protecting the public at large.” [I and millions agree and have raised this very concern and especially with more and more asinine right to open carry laws].

Imagine it were you running to your car after getting an emergency call and a shopper saw you running - and they shot you. A simple “Rick Perry oops” would not suffice – and that is my point.

Three Cheers for Congress and Staunch Gun Lovers: Hip, Hip, Boo Hoo

NRA Long Ago in a Far, Far Away Place

NRA and Backers Today

Congressional Reaction to Any Rational Gun Control Talk

President Obama gave great remarks following the latest mass shooting on campus in Oregon – his words have meaning, I wonder who is listening?

An excellent article here from Vox.com ... some editing and inserts by me to fit the blog (and with no malice whatsoever). The Vox message is just as clear as intended, and their lead-in sentence is catchy: “The federal government is willfully ignorant about guns.” More from the main site:

“When you don't know enough about something, your reaction is probably to research it — on Google, on Wikipedia, at the library. The federal government is supposed to respond in a similar way when it has questions about certain laws and policies. So if there's a public health crisis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is usually charged with looking into the matter by funding studies and research that look into the best policies to deal with the issue.”

The kicker as it were: “Back in 1996, Congress approved a budget restriction that stated, "None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control." The ban remains to this day, and it was later extended to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), another federal agency that studies public health issues.”

“The ban was originally intended to stymie advocacy work in favor of gun control, its supporters say. But the CDC, concerned of any political backlash, effectively halted all significant research on gun violence. And Congress has held the ban in place for the past couple of decades.”

“As a result, CDC research funding for gun violence fell by 96 percent between 1996 and 2012. Further, major public research funding for gun violence prevention is estimated at $2 million annually, yet by contrast, in 2011, NIH devoted $21 million to the study of headaches.” As they say, go figure.

“The ban doesn't apply to some agencies, like the National Institute of Justice, but it does apply to two big research arms of government, seriously curtailing the amount of money that can flow to studying gun violence. Public health researchers argue it's stopped more scientists from entering the field, since there's a good chance they may not be able to get the resources they need to conduct studies on gun violence.”

Directly related here and published by the Washington Post of an excellent research report on data collected by Mother Jones looking back at the weapons used in the last 30 years of mass shootings in the U.S. show that legal weapons are the norm and excellent chart to see.

I conclude: “Lock and load” and “Rock and Roll” and all thanks the NRA and other such 100% “guns for everyone, all the time, and any place they choose openly carry advocates” – give them a big round of applause – please take a bow, and thank you so much (tongue in cheek summation).  

Thanks for stopping.