Great coverage of the USPSA National Championships at Downrange.tv, by Paul Erhardt. I especially enjoyed yesterday’s article on Dave Sevigny, the top shooter for Team Glock and the current favorite to win Production Division.
If you’re in to practical shooting, check it out.
I have watched almost all of the Democratic National Convention, and almost all of the Republican National Convention, in terms of the “important” speeches. After all of this, I’ve come away with this important “compare and contrast” on the key message of both parties for this election.
Democrats: America is broken, and we are the party to change (and therefore “fix”) America.
Republicans: Washington is broken, and we are the party to change (and therefore “fix”) Washington.
Now, people might think it’s a small difference, but it’s actually a the major tipping point between both campaigns. The Barack Show Obama and Joe “Political Insider” Biden want you to believe that our country and thus you are somehow flawed, and need to be repaired to meet the “promise of America”.
John “Maverick” McCain and Sarah “Cougar” Palin (Oh lawl, Maverick and Cougar) want you to believe that our government is broken, and that it needs to be fixed. Which of these two statements, a broken country or a broken government is the one that doesn’t subtly insult every American citizen?
I said that other day that my bottom line for not voting for Obama was even if you put all the other issues aside, I believe that he would be a disaster, a fiasco for our right to keep and bear arms. I’ve changed my mind. My bottom line reason for not voting for Obama is that he believes, his fundamental campaign platform is that America, this country, is broken and needs to be fixed.
That’s ultimately why I’m voting for John McCain – he and I may disagree on some policy issues, but John McCain has never even given a wiff of an impression that he thinks the United States is somehow “broken”. If anything in this country needs to be fixed, it’s our out of control government, and I think that maybe, just maybe, John McCain and Sarah Palin might be the ones to do that.
I liked it, the parts I remember. Frankly I was so beat last night that I dozed off here and there, and was only awoken when my wife would make noise about some particular thing he said.
The parts I saw, I really liked. I agree that he struck the right balance between experience and youth w/regards to him and Palin; and I actually felt last night that the Republicans could actually win this one. I felt like I was seeing a new John McCain, which prompted me to think “Johnny I hardly knew ya’ ” which is now prompting me to post this Dropkick Murhpys’ song.
Obama says he has more executive experience than Palin because he’s managed his campaign for the last 18 months.
Speaking on a cable news channel Monday night, the Democratic presidential nominee said he is better prepared to handle a disaster like Hurricane Gustav because of his pursuit of the White House.
“Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years,” Obama said.
Oh man, good job, you’ve managed 2500 people for like 18 months. Sarah Palin’s been Governor of Alaska for about as long you’ve been running your campaign, where’s she’s been responsible for 24,000 employees of Alaska, and a 10 billion dollar budget. So I wouldn’t go comparing your campaign to her being Mayor of Wasilla, because she’s been governor for about as long as you’ve been officially campaigning.
Honestly though, the McCain’s campaign’s retort is pretty much exactly what I was thinking:
“For Barack Obama to argue that he’s experienced enough to be president because he’s running for president is desperate circular logic and its laughable.”
I have to say though, I’ve been quite regularly tickled pink by the fact that Obama’s campaign has been reduced to comparing their Number 1 guy with our Number 2 position. Like I’ve said a lot in the past few days, you can really smell the fear coming off these guys.
Come on, you know someone had to make that joke. Consider this the blog equivalent of an ESPN highlight reel.
From Sarah Palin on Obama:
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word ‘victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign.
I might add that, in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they’re listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.
Or how about:
No, we tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
On the media:
Well, I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly these last few days that, if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.
But — now, here’s a little newsflash. Here’s a little newsflash for those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.
Can I get an “Oh snap”? Here are a couple more good ones:
With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.
To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the world’s energy supplies, or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, or that Venezuela might shut off its oil discoveries and its deliveries of that source, Americans, we need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And…
And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: We’ve got lots of both.
A little more on energy:
But the fact that drilling, though, won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines, and build more nuclear plants, and create jobs with clean coal, and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need…
We need American sources of resources. We need American energy brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers.
Okay, I think I’ll stop now. But I hope I adequately expressed my opinion here. To use the Internet slang: “Do want”.
Paul Helmke has been spotted on HuffPo lying about stuff again! Awww, we missed you, Paul. His post is “5 questions for Sarah Palin”, which is the usual gun control stuff. I’m in a good mood, so “feel the rythm, feel the ryhme, get on up, it’s fisking time!” (oh man, that was a ‘Cool Runnings’ reference, I’m so awesome – ed).
In view of your being “a lifetime member of the NRA,” what is your reaction to the disclosure that the NRA has been paying a woman to spy on gun violence prevention groups and the victims they represent for over 10 years?
Except that she wasn’t being paid by NRA, so you know, you’re not getting off to a good start on that one. Next please.
Most Americans, including President Bush, support banning military-style semiautomatic assault weapons. What is your position?
Paul, I’m confused. Didn’t you send an email to your three supporters back in ’04 telling them about how President Bush was blocking the AWB from being renewed? So…which is it exactly? Does he support it or does he oppose it? Man, you guys are confusing me with all the double talk.
Do you agree with Senator McCain that the “gun-show loophole”(allowing individuals to buy guns at a gun show with no background check from so-called “private sellers”) should be closed?
That would be the same position that McCain has since retreated from, right? That position?
What did you mean when you described “attacks on our Second Amendment rights” as equivalent to gangs and drug use as something that would “harm family life.” [Eagle Forum Alaska questionnaire, 7-30-06.] Does this include efforts by groups like the Brady Campaign to make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons?
Well, seeing as your definition of “dangerous weapons” is “guns” and your definition of “dangerous people” is “people with guns”, I’d reckon that she does agree. And seeing as in the past, members of the Brady Campaign and other anti-gun groups have resorted to threatening to shoot pro-gun activists, or calling us “whackos”, I’d say she’s pretty spot on in comparing your tactics to gang activities.
Do you agree with Senator McCain (as he stated on the floor of the Senate on January 21, 2004) that background check approval records for gun purchases should be kept for 90 days instead of 24 hours, that ATF should be able to require gun stores to conduct inventory audits, and that crime gun trace information should be more widely available to law enforcement and the public? [See Senator McCain’s statement on the Senate floor, 1-22-04.]
Reaching pretty hard with that one, aren’t you? Especially since McCain now supports Tiahrt, and making sure that the NICS data isn’t abused by the authorities.
You know, it’s times like this I almost feel bad for Paul Helmke. I mean, they’re getting trounced on every front, and sure they must feel good about Obama promising a new assault weapons ban, but it must be frustrating when you’re desparately clinging to any shred of relevancy you can get your grubby little mitts on.
It cracks me up that the left, the side of the debate that is supposed to be about equality and fairness is so blatantly racist that they don’t even realize it.
Now imagine she wasn’t the daughter of a prominent Republican politician but an average person. Now imagine she was black.
It doesn’t take a genius to get the inference there – that if she were black, she’d be poor and unable to raise the child without state assistance, and the Republicans would castigate her for it. Now, whether or not it’s true that Republicans would openly deride her if the situation were different isn’t the matter at hand, but rather the implied racism of the post. Right there, it assumes that if Bristol Palin were black, she’d be poor, she’d be on welfare, or any number of other things that cast an incredibly negative stereotype of African-Americans.
Of course, this is coming from HuffPo, so I’m not exactly surprised that they’re so blatantly racist.
All registered for SHOT ’09. I know that January is pretty far away, but I just completed my registration online, and I cannot wait to go back. Last year was a little bit like drinking from a fire hose, so I’m excited to go back this year with a more disciplined approach and focus, and an even better pair of shoes.
If you’d like to see my coverage of last year’s show, you can click this link to view all “SHOT SHOW” related posts.
Just like last year, you’ll be able to get the scoop on all the new products and guns here at Call me Ahab months before you’ll read them in any magazine!
I hope Obama wore his asbestos underoos last night because they were scorched off by Sarah Palin. Of course, the reaction from her opponents was immediate and predictable, consisting primarily of “waaaaaaaashesaidmeanthingswaaaaaaa“, but as Tam points out these guys would complain that didn’t wear a life-vest if she was walking on water.
My overal impression was solid though – I thought she started out a little shaky, but then she settled into her speech and really got rolling. Did she attack Obama and Biden’s campaign? Absolutely she did, but then again, that’s kind of her job. Besides, pointing out that Obama hasn’t authored any major legislation during his entire legislative career is true, so it kind of makes the Democrat campaign look bad when they get all butthurt over it. (ed – can I use the word “butthurt” in serious political posts?)
Ultimately though, the speech last night reinforced my belief that she’s going to clean Greasy Joe Biden’s clock in the vice presidential debate. Governor Palin came off as professional, composed, and confident – yes, she was playing to the home crowd at the RNC, but at the same time I think that her speech made a direct impact on the “mother” demographic across the country.
This is going to be an interesting election.
Like Joe, I dig the music.