Demonizing and silencing gun owners
Posted by Richard on September 26, 2008
I wanted to post about this yesterday, but Blog-City was down for a long stretch. By now you've probably seen or heard about Rep. Alcee Hastings' smear of Gov. Sarah Palin. But in case you missed it, Hastings issued a warning to a National Jewish Democratic Council audience (emphasis added):
“If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida said at a panel about the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats Wednesday. … “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through,” Hastings added as the room erupted in laughter and applause.
Stripping moose — did he mean skinning? In any case, his point is clear: hunters and gun owners are all dangerous racist bigots who will do who-knows-what to minorities.
When they're not demonizing gun owners, Democrats are trying to silence and intimidate them. For instance, last week Obama himself suggested that his supporters get more confrontational:
In an appearance in Nevada, anti-gun presidential candidate Barack Obama told his followers:
"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face," he said."And if they tell you that, 'Well, we're not sure where he stands on guns.' I want you to say, 'He believes in the Second Amendment.'" (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8999386&nav=168XYT17)
Barack Obama has gone beyond lying about his long anti-gun record. Now he is inciting his followers to lie for him and to be aggressive and confrontational with anyone who will not buy his lies.
Now his campaign is threatening radio and TV stations that air NRA-ILA ads about Obama's anti-gun record (emphasis in original):
As a staunch advocate of the First Amendment, I have to say that this is one of the scariest things I’ve seen since . . . well, since the last time Democrats used thuggery to try to squelch free speech.
Here’s the rundown. NRA does commercial highlighting Obama’s anti-gun record. Biased “fact-checking” site falsely claims that the NRA is being deceitful. Obama’s lawyer sends thuggish letter to networks threatening to try to get their license pulled.
Dat’s a nice broadcasting license you got dere. Sure would be a shame if anything was ta happen to it.
Xrlq thoroughly dismembered the Obama campaign's letter to radio and TV stations. And the "falsely" link in the Patterico quote above is to the NRA's response (PDF) to the WaPo claims regarding the ad. This morning, Instapundit posted a roundup of related stuff, plus the NRA ad in question. It's much like the radio ads airing here in Colorado, and none of the claims made in it were unknown to me — Obama's anti-gun history is pretty clear, extensive, and well-documented.
UPDATE: Don't miss that Gateway Pundit link in Instapundit's roundup, or Gateway's link to the St. Louis C of CC Blog. Democratic prosecutors and sheriffs in Missouri are suggesting that anyone who utters "false criticisms" of Obama may be arrested and prosecuted. Unbelievable!
What's next? Brown-shirted Obama youths disrupting McCain rallies and breaking heads?
Hathor said
Obama was a state representative from Chicago and as here in Philadelphia, no one is exactly running for office on a NRA platform. It is not an intellectual argument of what ifs, when most in the city feel differently in the city than of those in the rural areas. I see no violation of the 2 amendment, if our city wants to limit the quantity of guns during one purchase. You see law abiding citizens turn into criminals when the profit motive is high enough and they have no moral qualms about selling guns in neighborhoods of people they consider to be less than human.
I know you do not see it that way, but I wonder how would you would think if you lived in fear of not knowing if you ever see your child alive that evening when they left home in the morning. You can retort that it is not the guns fault but an abberration of society; but reality is what it is
Brown Shirts: I think thats a stretch.
blondegenes said
What kind of dimwits support and VOTE for a scumbag with a history like this?????
The same ones who talk openly about voting for Obama JUST because he’s “black”, without knowing ANYTHING about what his agenda is.
Hastings wants to keep all guns out of the hands of his constituents so they can’t possibly defend themselves from the criminals that ravage their homes and families.
Voters should be VERY AFRAID of Rep Alcee Hastings,,,
and LEARN HOW TO EJECT HIM FROM OFFICE!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcee_Hastings
“In 1981, Hastings was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence and a return of seized assets for 21 counts of racketeering by Frank and Thomas Romano, and of perjury in his testimony about the case. He was acquitted by a jury after his alleged co-conspirator, William Borders, refused to testify in court (resulting in a jail sentence for Borders).
In 1988, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached for bribery and perjury by a vote of 413-3. Voters to impeach included Democratic Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Conyers and Charles Rangel. He was then convicted in 1989 by the United States Senate, becoming the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate. The vote on the first article was 69 for and 26 opposed, providing five votes more than the two-thirds of those present that were needed to convict. The first article accused the judge of conspiracy. Conviction on any single article was enough to remove the judge from office. The Senate vote cut across party lines, with Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont voting to convict his fellow party member, and Arlen Specter voting to acquit.[1]
The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again, but did not do so. Alleged co-conspirator, attorney William Borders went to jail again for refusing to testify in the impeachment proceedings, but was later given a full pardon by Bill Clinton on his last day in office.[2]”