Good luck and Godspeed on your final journey, Mrs. Parks.

Rosa Parks, American Hero, dead at 92.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:18 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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Via Yahoo!

Havana, Cuba, October 24, 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Wilma

Fidel Castro proves that he, too, can learn something from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 07:41 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Folks, Hurricane Wilma is makinging landfall as a 125 MPH Category 3 major hurricane near Marco Island, Florida. It is stronger than almost anyone predicted.

Please say a prayer for all the people too stupid or arrogant to get out of the way, of which there were many, (including members of my family in West Palm Beach).

After Rita and Katrina, you'd think people would learn.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 06:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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[The American military is on the eve of losing its 2,000th soldier in combat in Iraq after well over two years in action. In that time, 26 million Iraqi people have been given a say in the future of their country, and two rounds of national voting have proven that democracy has a chance in a part of the world that detractors said it would never take root.

In this environment, a vengful, spiteful woman would still sacrifice it all -- 26 million Iraqi lives, and the sacrifice of 2,000 American soldiers-- in hopes of some sort of twisted revenge against the one man she holds responsible for her son's death. For one man, she would sacrifice nations. Her name is Cindy Sheehan.

This post was originally released August 9, 2005.]

Let me make this perfectly clear: I loath Cindy Sheehan.

I despise everything she stands for, and love the ideals she stands against. I hate how she dishonors her brave son's memory. I cringe when she utters stupid talking points—“why did the president kill my son?”—and I cannot stand the fact that she egotistically thinks she is more important than the tens of millions of people she would undermine in her quest for vengeance. Clearly, her arrogance knows no limits.

The most important mother in the world.
Cindy Sheehan thinks she is the most important mother in the world.

She is holding a vigil to speak to the president—again—even though she has made it abundantly clear in her comments to the news media that she has nothing new to offer other than clichés. She wants the troops to pull out of Iraq now, no matter the future costs or the wasted sacrifices. She wants Bush to personally account for her son's death. She wants Bush to personally tell her why her son died. She, she, she. Well guess what Cindy?

You are not the only mother who has sent a son off to war. You are one mother of the more than 1,800 troops who died serving their country in a military they volunteered to join, knowing that they could be sent off to war. There are thousands of other mothers who have had their sons and daughters wounded in combat. There are mothers for each and every one of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, from more than a dozen nations, that have served in Iraq in an effort to bring democracy and hope to that region.

Nor are you more important than the mothers of the 25 million Iraqis that your son Casey was trying to bring freedom. You didn't understand his courage or commitment, and you can't understand why someone who lay down their life for a stranger. That is your problem Cindy Sheehan, and you dishonor your own son's memory every time you open your mouth to fight against everything he gave his life for.

Nor are you more important, Cindy Sheehan than the mothers of the tens of millions in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and other nations tasting freedom for the first time because of brave men like your late son.

Despite what you think, Cindy Sheehan, you are not more important than any of these millions of other mothers, though you would make all their sacrifices in vain to bring down a President.

Vengeance, not Justice. Hatred, not Hope.
Your son died trying to bring freedom to an oppressed people. I can think of no more noble sacrifice. But you, Cindy Sheehan, you want revenge for your heartache, and you don't care who gets hurt in the process.

That is why you, Cindy Sheehan, can go to hell.

You decided, in a mind warped by your association with head cases like Code Pink and Veterans for Peace, that George W. Bush made your son patriotic and gave him the heart to serve his country, and that George W. Bush made him volunteer for military service, and that George W. Bush forced him to want to make the military his career, and it was George W. Bush that made him re-enlist. And of course, George W. Bush pulled the trigger on the RPG in the Sadr City slum that took his life.

Cindy Sheehan doesn't give a damn about the millions of Iraqis her son was trying to bring freedom. Cindy Sheehan doesn't give a damn about the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that have rotated in and out of Iraq in that same quest. Cindy Sheehan doesn't give a damn if Iraqis are ruled by themselves or if they are tortured by tyrants. She is petty. She is vengeful. She wants revenge, and she doesn't care who gets hurt or who dies in the process.

I am ashamed for Casey Sheehan. He understood that there are things in this world worth giving up your life to create, and he made that sacrifice. His mother Cindy, full of hate, seeks only seeks to destroy.

I can understand her grief, but I cannot forgive the fact that she is willing to threaten the lives of others and give our enemies hope to satisfy her need for revenge.

A terrorist RPG killed the body of Casey Sheehan. It took his mother to try to kill his legacy.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:40 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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1 If I edited your post to make it in line with my feelings... nothing would be changed. Your post perfectly describes all my feelings about this horrible, irrational, selfish woman. On a side note, I'm glad she started saying all those crazy things, or else the MSM would still be following her around and putting her on the news every night.

Posted by: Kevin at October 24, 2005 04:18 AM (24kgX)

2 The Iraqis want democracy, let them fight for it themselves like everybody else. By the way, thanks for supporting the Soviets in WW2. I guess democracy wasn't so important to you back then. Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite. - Joseph de Maistre

Posted by: Freedom at October 24, 2005 05:31 AM (lGolT)

3 Casey Sheehan's mother doesn't give a damn about him either. He stood, and died, for everything she opposes; her debasement and deceit is evinced in the very act of holding him up as HER sacrifice, supposedly imposed on her by the President. Loathing is too mild a term for the repulsion I feel toward her.

Posted by: Cindi at October 24, 2005 09:11 AM (/sHpt)

4 As Tammy Bruce would say... Cindy Sheehan is in the depths of malignant narcissism. She does not want to move to the stage of reintegrating into society; she only wants to harm society as she believes she herself has been harmed. The woman is a waste of skin and mentally sick. The woman would make a great nazi (both are leftist).

Posted by: William at October 24, 2005 09:20 AM (yheG2)

5 Just hazarding a guess, but maybe Casey enlisted and re-enlisted in part to get away from his lunatic mother, in addition to being a patriot.

Posted by: SicSemperTyrannus at October 24, 2005 10:42 AM (qmJpf)

6 SicSemper: I would too.

Posted by: Abbie at October 24, 2005 12:37 PM (GYmoM)

7 Try to download and watch this documentry. It is very interresting it is called 'The Power Of Nightmares'by BBC http://ia300024.us.archive.org/1/items/ThePowerOfNightmares/

Posted by: Tony at October 24, 2005 02:21 PM (AhA/U)

8 There's nothin' quite like the family values crowd wishing a woman to hell. I love the smell of fresh indictments in the morning. -D

Posted by: Denise at October 24, 2005 03:07 PM (7eK/j)

9 Sir you have put into words exactly how I feel about this communist 'liberal' traitor...as a vet with 3 honorable discharges and years of service and killed communists in many places, seems to me it should start here too....a liberal is a closet communist... Thank you

Posted by: BlackWatch at October 24, 2005 06:49 PM (NnrlE)

10 To freedom and denise...."what a bunch of maroons" Bugs Bunny

Posted by: Jerry at October 24, 2005 08:45 PM (uP3Vk)

11 Unfortunately the 2000th soldier to die in Iraq misses the fact that the military refuses to list the almost 8000 soldiers who died of wounds suffered in Iraq but died out of the country. Still more unfortunate is the need to loath anyone in regards to Iraq. As senior officials continue to make clear, the administration the war was a mistake on many levels. Because we lost young people for nothing; intelligence was bent for political purposes; Iraq totters into civil war; and would be terrorists blossom in the chaos. Meanwhile here at home we turn on each other (even a mother who, regardless of her politics, is stricken with grief)and become less like a proud moral nation and more like a bickering 6th grade class.

Posted by: Paul at October 24, 2005 10:57 PM (jtuFd)

12 Got any credible sources for that claim of 8,000 troops who died out of country...the Lancet perhaps? Or was it from your friends in Code Pink outside of Walter Reed calling our troops baby killers and murderers? It seems like a story that big would have been picked up by the NY Times or similar oganizations in a heartbeat, if they were real. We lost young people for "nothing?" The vast majority of 25 million Iraqis who are no longer under the thumb of Saddam might just disagree.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at October 24, 2005 11:14 PM (0fZB6)

13 Thank you, Confederate Yankee, for answering that last post by Paul the leftist, as well as for your entire column. You are a great American. Anyone that thinks that any one of our great military that gave his/her life for Operation Iraqi Freedom was a waste has a twisted world view. These leftist/socialist/communists are pathetic. They cry out about Hitler, oppression, civil rights violated, etc. when it comes to their own country but when some other dictator, whom they somehow praise and idolize (e.g.: Castro, Saddam, Chavez, Mandela), does all of the above and more, they turn their heads. Starve their own people, no complaint. America comes to help and 18 Marines get slaughtered, no problem. Hypocrisy at its best. They view things through their prism where if their hero Bill Clinton was doing the bomb dropping at 30,000 feet (Kosovo), they have no problem. Oh, the hypocrisy...

Posted by: DJ at October 24, 2005 11:32 PM (Xd0mm)

14 I, on the other hand, loathe her. But not "in regards to Iraq". I loathe her because she gives comfort to our enemies worldwide, demoralizes our brave soldiers, and weakens American resolve at a time when unity is most important. I also think her actions increase terrorist activity, causing additional deaths and casualties, but I have no proof.

Posted by: Kevin at October 25, 2005 08:18 AM (24kgX)

15 Paul, Your comment about of soldiers dying in the states instead of in-country is a load of manure. Specifically, the Sgt. who died & is counted as #2000 died in the states from wounds rec'd in-country about 2 weeks previous. How does that square with your preconceived notions? I've got my mind made up, don't confuse me with the facts????

Posted by: Vet's Grateful Son at October 26, 2005 06:06 PM (o+3dL)

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As you know, we're trying to raise funds so that we can replace an aging Dimension L733R computer that is on it's last legs. I want to thank each and every one of you who has donated to the Confederate Yankee Blog Drive so far.

Unfortunately, I'd like to do what us conservatives are always accused of doing anyway: I'd like to misappropriate these funds.

WTF?

Yes, "where are those funds?" No, not campaign contributions, but something far more insidious. I hope Ronnie Earle doesn't find out.

After church this morning, my wife and I were discussing a mission she volunteers for called the Hope Chest (part of my volunteering is working on its web site, which isn't ready yet). Think of Hope Chest kind of like a Goodwill, before Goodwill had buildings and was operating out of private homes and garages, and you won't be far off.

Anyhow, were trying to do some fundraising for the Hope Chest for the holiday season, and we're waiting on our appropriations committee to get funds for supplies we need for the drive. Well, someone in the process is dragging their feed and we might not get funded in time, so I'd like to take the money you guys have graciously donated for a replacement PC and use it for the Hope Chest. Yes, I'm evil like that.

I will get reimbursed by the church, and I'll put that money directly back into the Confederate Yankee Blog Drive computer fund in a few weeks.

If anyone who has donated has a problem with this please let me know.

Thanks for every dime. It will get spend on a PC, jut not as quickly as I thought.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 02:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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For several weeks I've tried to withhold judgment of President Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers. Even at the beginning of this debacle I never held the illusion that she was the most qualified of candidates, but the question for me was, would she be qualified enough.

I have been firmly underwhelmed by the arguments of Will and Krauthammer and other pundits, just as I've annoyed by the tone deaf defenses of Miers by the administration.

I wanted to hear from the nominee herself before I offered my opinion of her suitability for the Supreme Court.

Now I have.

I've had several days to digest her 57 pages of answers to Senate Judiciary Committee, and time to read commentaries from other pundits that I respect, and I have now formed an opinion that I think I can be comfortable with.

I oppose the Miers nomination.

I do not oppose her for her convictions; I oppose her because she appears to have none.

I do not oppose Harriet Miers for having the wrong academic pedigree; I oppose her for not being able to write a cogent, or even a comprehensible, opinion.

I am sure that Harriet Miers is wonderful human being and a good friend, but she does not belong on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:08 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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After reading this post at Michelle Malkin's site, I felt a bit embarrassed that a story like this happened on my turf, and I completely missed it. I shouldn't have felt bad, because our local North Carolina media was doing all it could to ignore the story of a former North Carolina State visiting professor who called for nothing less than the genocide of every last white person on the planet.

Dr. Kamau Kambon

The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, collectively known as the Triangle, has a handful of major regional media. Those I frequent are:

• WRAL-TV (Raleigh)
• WTVD-TV (Durham)
• The News and Observer newspaper
• WPTF talk radio

As expected, the area also has a slew of smaller media including alternative and college newspapers, the local NPR affiliate, and even a rumored Air America outlet, though I don't know of anyone that has actually heard it. Collectively, they have little overall community impact.

Of the regional media I monitor --The News and Observer, WRAL-TV, WTVD-TV, and WPTF, only the Bill Lumay show on WPTF talk radio discussed the story before Malkin's Friday column, with a segment on Thursday afternoon.

Using Malkin's post as a template (but not using her as a direct source to keep from offending tender liberal sensitivities), I alerted the N&O, WRAL, WTVD, and WPTF radio of the story via email.

I'd missed WPTF talk radio earlier in the week, but the host himself, Bill Lumay sent back an email confirming they'd discussed the issue on Thursday afternoon.

The News & Observer, ran a story today, and actually credited bloggers with fanning the flames.

To date neither of the regional television news stations, WPTF-TV (Durham) or WRAL-TV (Raleigh), have deemed to give this story any notice at all.

Nationally, on the Washington Times has given this story mention in an editorial today.

In North Carolina, the only other mention of Kamau Kambon was in passing in the Wilmington Journal, "Part of the BlackPressUSA Network," which was happy to mention that:

Dr. Kamau Kambon, co-director of the Bennu Cultural Center and Blacknificent Books and More in Raleigh, spoke at a pre-Millions More Movement conference at Howard University on developing new black media for effective activism, that was carried by C-SPAN last Friday.

Dr. Kambon said the black community must develop new systems of ensuring not only bits [sic] survival, but liberation, as it faces the challenges ahead.

Apparently the reporter, Cash Michaels, didn't think that the "exterminate white people" portion of Kamon's C-SPAN commentary was worth mentioning, unless that is what he meant with his comment about how the black community could ensure it's survival.

Apparently in this day and age, it is fine to be a genocidal racist psychopath, just as long as you happen to have the right skin color and ideology.

Note: Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom interviewed Kamon yesterday.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 05:45 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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I've never seen such a simple graph make me giggle so hard...

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Via LGF:

In Alexandria, Egypt, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian church and rioted to protest the release of a DVD that portrayed Muslims attacking Christian churches...

It is getting harder and harder to think of Islam as anything other than a poorly written and over-extended joke.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:37 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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When I made my guestimate on October 9 that the Pakistani quake might lead up to 100,000 dead, I'd hoped that that figure would be substantially off.

Sadly, it may not be:

The top United Nations top relief coordinator Jan Egeland, incensed by what he saw as a woefully inadequate international response to the most difficult relief operation the world has ever seen, called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to stage a massive airlift to get survivors to safety.

That would mean helicopters, the only means of getting quickly deep into the rugged Himalayan foothills of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province where 51,000 people are dead. That toll, in addition to some 1,300 who were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, is still expected to rise substantially. Pakistan said the number of injured, now 74,000, could also leap because large quake-hit areas had not yet been reached.

Our own weather woes and political scandals de jour have all but erased this from the American mind. You can keep up with the rescue and recover effort at the South Asia Quake Blog.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:22 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Update:

You guys are just wrong...

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:54 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 I actually like fishsticks...um, ok, I have 31 cents and a blob of lint in my pocket. Oh, and a pink pony tail holder. Not enough? What about for the handcuffs?

Posted by: Theresa at October 21, 2005 11:17 AM (RzGwM)

2 Funny, Phin looks as if he is enjoying the bondage . . .

Posted by: oddybobo at October 21, 2005 12:07 PM (6Gm0j)

3 "fillet o' phin"...new at Burger King.

Posted by: Josh at October 21, 2005 01:30 PM (S6Wcf)

4 Sniff sniff. Evildoers.

Posted by: sadie at October 22, 2005 02:31 AM (xV63t)

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Is it a bad sign that Arlen Specter has requested that Harriet Miers SCOTUS hearing be moved here?

La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, CA. source

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The web is running wild with reports that U.S. soldiers desecrated the bodies of two Taliban terrorists by cremating them, and then used the action to taunt other terrorists.

According to Jason Coleman, some liberal blogs are claiming that the bodies were intentionally placed facing west as an insult.

That is demonstrably false, and easily proven.

Warning: graphic photo below the jump. more...

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:00 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:44 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Via CTV, eh?

Hurricane Wilma was downgraded to a still powerful Category Four storm on Wednesday night, but forecasters say it could regain strength as it rips across the Atlantic.

As of 11 p.m. EDT, the centre of Hurricane Wilma was about 380 kilometres south-east of Cozumel, Mexico. The storm was heading west-northwest at 13-kilometres per hour, and a turn toward the northwest was expected Thursday.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Syracuse Professor Dr Boyce Watkins, author of What if George Bush was a Black Man?, compared the rioting of Toledo gang members to the Boston Tea Party just minutes ago on Hannity & Colmes.

It was the first time in recent memory that both Hannity & Colmes seemed to think that their guest was an idiot.

As Drudge might say, "Developing..."

Update: Ian Schwartz at The Political Teen has the video.

A partial transcript, picking up at the 2:00 mark:

Sean Hannity: But I don't understand the few people here... How do you.. you can't say poverty caused people to throw rocks at ambulances.

Boyce Watkins: I'm not saying that poverty causes peope to do anything, but the fact is that if you just look at the symptoms and you don't look at the cause, then you're always going to wonder,well What in the world's making people behave that way? You don't have the right to judge people who are in situations you don't understand...

Sean Hannity: Yes we do, yes we do...

*crosstalk*

Boyce Watkins: No, No...

*crosstalk*

Sean Hannity:.. we, we have the right to discern. sir, you are rationalizing -- hang on a second, I'll let you talk -- we have a right to discern
right and wrong, and people, good people, don't like those people who were marching [neo-nazis in a parade. --ed] and good people find it repulsive that people who are there in a community to help save lives have their windsheilds pelted out with rocks. Good people can discern right and wrong, you don't throw rocks at police cars sir--

Boyce Watkins: But good people will support programs that will give the angry youth opportunities so that they don't feel angry. You think this riot is because of... *crosstalk* This riot wasn't due to the neo-Nazis...

Alan Colmes: Boyce, hold on... Boyce this is Alan Colmes in New York. you can't make any excuses for this behavior, and the best thing that could have happened *crosstalk* -- hold on, and I'll give you a full chance to respond -- the best thing that could have happened to these neo-Nazis when they came to Toledo would be ignore them, and unfortunately, that's not what happened.

Boyce Watkins: I agree with you. I agree with you, but the thing is that if you simply look at the actions and you don't try to understand what is really going on, you're going to wonder why they're behaving this way. If you look at the Boston Tea Party for example--

Alan Colmes: You compare this to the Boston Tea Party?

Boyce Watkins: Yes, yes, becuase the fact is that you can look at the Boston Tea Party and say oh, well those thugs they're stealing tea, what wrong with them? But the fact is that there was a reason they were doing this--

Alan Colmes: A movement like the Boston Tea Party? You can't make that analogy!

Boyce Watkins: No-no-no-no. You don't define it as a movement, but the fact is that those peope who ae suffering do. And I'm not saying that all this was justified--

Alan Colmes: You're making excuses for them!

Boyce Watkins: No, I don't judge... I believe in a safer America, but if you want a safer America, you must have a fair and equitable America, in which everyone is given access to the same american Dream that you--

Alan Colmes: You're making it sound, Dr. Watkins, as if poverty somehow excuses the kind of behavior we're showing on our screen.

Boyce Watkins: Poverty, Poverty is not an excuse, but it s partly an explanation. And there's a diffrence between being poor and being trapped in poverty. And so until we as a country fully address the poverty issue, we're going to have another Katrina situation, we'e going to have another Toledo situation, we're going to have another Rodney King sitation...

Alan Colmes: That's a fine line between excuse and explanation.

[italics mine]

Yeah, gangbangers throwing bricks at squad cars is the exact same thing as colonists protesting excessive taxation without representation.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:07 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Via (yeah, I know) NewsMax:

"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan is urging fellow Democrats not to support "pro-war Democrat" Hillary Clinton for president, saying she sounds too much like conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in her support for U.S. efforts in Iraq.

In an open letter posted to Michael Moore's web site, Sheehan blasts Hillary for backing the Iraq invasion, saying, "I think she is a political animal who believes she has to be a war hawk to keep up with the big boys."

Letter at Slugzilla's here.

I guess that outburst answers any lingering questions about Cindy's intelligence...

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:32 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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...And now comes the hard part... what Ace calls "the shaking of the cyber cup."

While I'd love not to do it, this little slice of the blogosphere has to be cobbled together somewhere, and for the past year, that has occurred on a battle-weary Dell Dimension L733R, circa 2001, which has seen far better days. My wife and I, and our increasingly computer-savvy daughter, all jockey for time on this single and rapidly-aging desktop PC.

Yes, shamefully, I don't have a full-loaded WiFi-enabled laptop with 22' chrome rims. I'm an embarassment to pajama pundits everywhere.

So please consider this:

Over to the right are a Paypal donation buttons for this site.

If each of you frequent readers could see your way click over and donate a couple of bucks or three, it would go a long way towards getting a dedicated Confederate Yankified computer (sorry, no General Lee-type paint scheme, unless you guys go really nuts), which will give me more time to research and write quality posts to keep you entertained.

Is that a good "bang for your buck," or what?

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 06:44 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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...And she's rocking with enough power to scour Bedrock off the map.

Via Fox News:

Hurricane Wilma strengthened into a Category 5 monster early Wednesday packing 175 mph winds, and forecasters said a key reading of the storm's pressure showed it to be the most powerful of the year.

Wilma was dumping rain on Central America and Mexico, and forecasters warned of a "significant threat" to Florida by the weekend.

The storm's power multiplied greatly over the last day. It was only Tuesday morning that Wilma grew from a tropical storm into a weak hurricane with 80 mph winds.

Wilma's pressure readings Wednesday morning indicated that it was the strongest hurricane of the season, said Trisha Wallace, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Wilma had a reading of 892 millibars, the same reading as a devastating unnamed hurricane that hit the Florida Keys in 1935.

"We do not know how long it will maintain this Category 5 state," Wallace said.

Not long, I'd hope. Idaho sure sounds nice...

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 06:43 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 Ah hell! Here we go again. I live in the Gulf Coast of Fla and we are keeping one eye on this one, but with our nightly temps in the 50's, it's doubtful that it will churn this way. HOWEVER, I am from South Florida and my entire family (except my kids or course) is THERE! Aggggghhhh! Either they are hoping it will pass north of them, or I am about to have a house full of family in two days. Double Aggggghhhhh! Whatever happens, just say extra prayers the next few days! Idaho here I come (oh, wait a minute, I HATE Idaho)

Posted by: Michelle at October 19, 2005 08:27 AM (1ojLZ)

2 Michelle, My sister-in-law, her husband and my two small nieces just moved to West Palm a month ago, so I'll be saying a prayer for all of you. Folks, if you don't mind, I've got a "bleg" up I'd entice you to respond to. Thanks!

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at October 19, 2005 08:36 AM (g5Nba)

3 I live in North Central Idaho. Peak winds for the next two days is forecast at 10 MPH. You HATE Idaho? Fine with me. You are welcome to visit for special events but unless you are a relative of mine or close friend I would just as soon you stayed away. Good luck on you upcoming wind storm.

Posted by: Joe Huffman at October 19, 2005 09:19 AM (aFOA0)

4 notice to gulf coast people don't tell us about your weather next jan. when we in chicago are in 12" of snow by the way i like snow.

Posted by: yochanan at October 19, 2005 11:42 AM (ywZa8)

5 Hate Idaho? Great! Stay away and tell John Kerry and his vulgar sugar mommy to do the same. But I'll still say a prayer for you.

Posted by: kelly at October 19, 2005 12:16 PM (AISkQ)

6 Sorry that you will have to facing more storms. We love living in Northern Idaho and we will be glad to have lots of snow and cold weather if it means more people like you will not be moving here. Good luck to you

Posted by: Sandy at October 19, 2005 02:12 PM (6mUkl)

7 Michelle: wait a minute, I HATE Idaho Don't your worry your tortured little head. Idaho couldn't care about your foolish hatred one bit. I live here in the panhandle (of Idaho, thank the Lord), and I find it amusing to see you people who live in the path of these annual stormfests whimper and moan like some miserable dirty little Bangladeshi. Pack up and move! Or can't you tell that God isn't particularly sensitive to your "sunshine state."? I mean, we here in the rest of the country can save you once or twice, but we tire of doing the same thing over and over again, year after year. (The definition of insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing, expecting different results.) Carla F Bonners Ferry, Idaho

Posted by: Carla Fussell at October 19, 2005 07:45 PM (wjJFD)

8 Um, how did this turn into a Florida vs. Idaho thread? I used to work for a company called MCMS based out of Nampa, and the folks in ID were always very nice. I have family (or after Wilma, that may read I had family) in West Palm Beach and Jacksonville. CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at October 19, 2005 07:53 PM (0fZB6)

9 I live in the panhandle of Florida, and I LOVE Idaho. Y'all have the best potatoes, and the drive from Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls is a great trip, and aside from your nasty weather, I can't think of a single reason I wouldn't live there, personally. But, we don't whine down here...we just deal. Hurricanes are just part of life down here on the coast. Nor do we expect y'all to save us, not that folks from Idaho bear the brunt of rescuing hurricane evacuees anyway... But hey...thanks for reminding me why I love the South.

Posted by: catzmeow at October 20, 2005 09:41 AM (j2vfb)

10 I didn't mean to contribute to a FL vs. ID fight. I have nothing against people who live in FL. I have some relatives and friends there. It's just that part of what makes ID wonderful is that there aren't many people here. That and we don't have hurricanes and seldom get tornados or earthquakes. Forest fires can be a pain however... Best wishes on your upcoming confrontation with Wilma. I have relatives in Tampa and a friend near Jacksonville and I'll be thinking about all of you.

Posted by: Joe Huffman at October 20, 2005 11:03 AM (aFOA0)

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Law enforcement officers, like members of the military, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders are the sheepdogs that keep the wolves at bay. These men and women and their families make sacrifices every day that those of us they protect will never fully understand.

Because of all that these families do for us, when I find myself squaring off against the bereaved widow of a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty, I do not enter into such opposition lightly.

Mark Tucker, a Wake County, NC sheriff's deputy, was gunned down by Matthew Charles Grant, a felon who didn't want to go back to prison for being the possession of a weapon. Deputy Tucker's widow, backed by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, filed suit yesterday against Cary Jewelry & Pawn, saying via a press release:

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence today filed a lawsuit on behalf of the widow of a Wake County, North Carolina Sheriff's Investigator, charging that a gun shop's negligence helped arm his killer.

Investigator Mark Tucker was shot in the face with a shotgun and killed on February 12, 2004, by Matthew Grant, a convicted felon. The suit seeks to recover damages from Cary Jewelry & Pawn, who supplied Grant's friend, Van McQueen, with the 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun that was used to kill Investigator Tucker. Grant is also a named defendant.

The suit was filed in Wake County court and claims that Cary Jewelry & Pawn, of Cary, North Carolina, negligently and illegally sold the murder weapon to an obviously dangerous person.

In November 2003, Van McQueen and Matthew Grant went to Cary Jewelry & Pawn to buy a firearm. McQueen planned to purchase a firearm as a straw buyer for Grant, because Grant was a felon prohibited from buying guns, and in return Grant promised to buy McQueen a beer. McQueen was mentally deficient and was obviously intoxicated, and the shop's clerk refused to sell him a gun. Three days later, McQueen returned to the pawn shop with Grant, again wanting to buy a firearm. Although his home address was a local mission, McQueen had $120 in cash to buy the weapon. This time, even though the same clerk who had seen McQueen intoxicated three days earlier was on duty, the shop completed the all-cash sale. McQueen then transferred the shotgun to Grant, who used it to shoot Investigator Tucker in the face, killing him. Grant was arrested, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Investigator Tucker.

"The evidence in this case clearly shows that the gun dealer irresponsibly and illegally sold a shotgun to a man it knew to be dangerous," said Daniel R. Vice, Staff Attorney with the Brady Center. "The gun dealer chose to make a quick buck rather than protect public safety – greed and recklessness caused the death of a brave law enforcement officer."

The commentary in the press release does indeed sound damning when presented in such a manner. The truth, however, is another matter entirely.

The Brady Center hopes to use this case to accomplish via the courts what they have failed to do so legislatively in over a decade of futile attempts, which is to further restrict the ability of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. They are more than willing to exploit the loss of a bereaved widow in their cynical attempt.

The fact of the matter is that according to the case laid out by the Brady Center, Cary Gun and Pawn seems to have followed the law exactly as it was written.

Let's follow this through the press release case presented point-by-point.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence today filed a lawsuit on behalf of the widow of a Wake County, North Carolina Sheriff's Investigator, charging that a gun shop's negligence helped arm his killer.

Investigator Mark Tucker was shot in the face with a shotgun and killed on February 12, 2004, by Matthew Grant, a convicted felon. The suit seeks to recover damages from Cary Jewelry & Pawn, who supplied Grant's friend, Van McQueen, with the 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun that was used to kill Investigator Tucker. Grant is also a named defendant.

The suit was filed in Wake County court and claims that Cary Jewelry & Pawn, of Cary, North Carolina, negligently and illegally sold the murder weapon to an obviously dangerous person.

These opening paragraphs outline the basic premise of the case according to the side bringing the suit. According to Brady, a negligent gun shop sold a Mossburg shotgun to “an obviously dangerous person.”

But by what standard can we consider the pawn shop negligent, and by what standard was the purchaser of the firearm an “obviously dangerous person?” Obviously, these are legal standards that must be satisfied, not emotional standards. Even this early on, the Brady case, as presented appears paper-thin.

The Brady release continues:

In November 2003, Van McQueen and Matthew Grant went to Cary Jewelry & Pawn to buy a firearm. McQueen planned to purchase a firearm as a straw buyer for Grant, because Grant was a felon prohibited from buying guns, and in return Grant promised to buy McQueen a beer.

At this point, the Brady Center must establish that it should have been apparent to the employee of Cary Gun & Pawn that this was a strawman sale. Some Monday morning lawyers would opine immediately that when two people enter a store to purchase a firearm, that obviously it should be apparent that a strawman purchase is underway. That is an erroneous assumption.

Most people are not experts in a wide range of subjects. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and as a society we rely upon the expertise of others every day of our lives. We trust pilots to move us in large metal tubes hurtling through the skies, trust doctors to diagnose our ills and sometimes cut into our bodies, and insurance agents to make sure our families are well provided for using formulas and tables we don't always understand. In a nation with 200 million firearms, quite a few Americans know quite a bit about guns.

When members of our families and friends decide they would like to purchase a firearm for target shooting, hunting, or self-defense, they often chose to bring along their own "expert"—often an uncle or a friend—to help them make what they hope will be a wise decision. Because of this, many firearms purchases involve a seller, a buyer, and a third party.

Third party involvement does not mean a strawman sale is imminent, nor is it illegal, or even improper.

The release continues:

McQueen was mentally deficient and was obviously intoxicated, and the shop's clerk refused to sell him a gun. Three days later, McQueen returned to the pawn shop with Grant, again wanting to buy a firearm.

We have two incidents here.

In the first incident, the clerk notices that the prospective buyer, McQueen, is probably intoxicated. The clerk does exactly what he should morally and legally, and refuses to sell McQueen a firearm.

The Brady Center does not help us understand why the clerk should have judged McQueen "mentally deficient," and does not explain whether this deficiency was a permanent condition, or a temporary condition brought about by substance use.

In the second encounter, three days later, McQueen is sober. While the clerk was correct in not selling a firearm to McQueen when he had been drinking, there is no law on North Carolina books that I am aware of that tells a seller or buyer that he must wait a predetermined number of days to purchase a firearm after he had had an alcoholic beverage. As McQueen had not been drinking on the day he tried to make the second purchase, the Pawn Shop clerk had no compelling legal or moral reason to deny the sale at that time.

Although his home address was a local mission, McQueen had $120 in cash to buy the weapon.

Is there a burden of proof upon the seller to verify that the place of residence cited upon the criminal background check is not only valid, but palatable? The obvious answer is no, and even implying such a charge speaks to issues of race and class, where someone literally from the wrong side of the tracks cold be denied their rights as American citizens based upon where they call home.

This time, even though the same clerk who had seen McQueen intoxicated three days earlier was on duty, the shop completed the all-cash sale.

Again, McQueen at this point was dead sober. As there is no statute mandating how many days a purchaser must wait to buy a firearm after imbibing, nothing remotely criminal occurred. All-cash sales, carried out in school lunchrooms across the country, are also not an actionable offense.

McQueen then transferred the shotgun to Grant, who used it to shoot Investigator Tucker in the face, killing him. Grant was arrested, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Investigator Tucker.

McQueen committed a crime by transferring a weapon to a felon. Grant got more time than he deserved. He got a lifetime. He should not be allowed that lifetime, and I'd like to see any cop killer face a mandatory death sentence, but unfortunately, I don't make the laws.

The Brady release concludes:

"The evidence in this case clearly shows that the gun dealer irresponsibly and illegally sold a shotgun to a man it knew to be dangerous," said Daniel R. Vice, Staff Attorney with the Brady Center. "The gun dealer chose to make a quick buck rather than protect public safety – greed and recklessness caused the death of a brave law enforcement officer."

Mr. Vice and I must have different definitions of the word "clearly."

The sale of a shotun to Van McQueen was an issue of judgment, an issue well inside the confines of the law as this case is presented, if oe that had a tragic ending. However, unless the clerk can reasonably be assumed to be psychic, there was no apparent compelling reason for the clerk to withhold the sale of a shotgun to a man simply because he had ingested a few beers some days in the past and went shopping with another person.

The "quick buck" theory—all $120 of it—would hardly seem to be enough of an incentive to build a credible "it's all about the Benjamins" case, especially with only one Benjamin ($100 bill) was involved.

This is less of a legitimate legal case than it is a cynical attempt by the Brady Center to use the grief of a widow to try to generate self-serving P.R. and raise funds. Consider me less than impressed, and more than a little disgusted at their tactics.

My heart goes out to Patricia Tucker for the loss of her husband. I hope she can find peace, but this is a case that she should not win. If she does, we all lose.

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