Did OP accuse me of saying ALL Republicans think that way or something? If he did he needs a new prescription cause I never said anything of the kind.
In fairness, while it'd be a stretch to say that it's a universal trait among conservatives, I'd wager that pretty much everybody knows someone who is conservative and has openly stated that minorities have a high privilege in our society and that you're better off if you're born a poor black child. (Must be all those times they've seen "The Jerk")
I personally know 5 such idiots who openly subscribe to that philosophy. None of them could be accused of being able to form a well reasoned argument, but I guess I still have more respect for them than your average, whiny Ayn Rand enthusiast.
No, he claimed that only morons think that way. Apparently an awful lot of Republicans are morons...but we already knew that.![]()
Did OP accuse me of saying ALL Republicans think that way or something? If he did he needs a new prescription cause I never said anything of the kind.
I certainly have heard that. Quite a bit, unfortunately.
It always baffles me coz I've driven by the pockets of poverty that are right here and those people are not exactly living the dream. They live in squalor.
There certainly are a lot of crazys involved in mass shootings: Woo Tang Clan at VTU, Aurora,Tuscon & Newtown to mention four. Better mental health care might have stopped all four of those of those shooters. All of them clearly were in la la land, and were known to be nutbars, but nothing definitive was done to get them off the streets. Background checks might have stopped Clan, but the evidence is less convincing in the other cases. Adam Lanza used his mother's perfectly legal AR-15 to commit his atrocity. The kid who shot and killed a teacher and himself earlier this week used a gun from his home.
As I say, background checks might stop a few people from committing a tiny percentage of crimes. But they are no panacea. Especially when the problem I've been pointing out is gang bangers "airing out" somebody's "crib" for belonging to the wrong gang. And your example of domestic shooters, similarly, might preclude a microscopic percentage of those incidents. But with 300 million guns already out there, a really motivated shooter wouldn't find background checks to be much of a hurdle. And your hypothetical is also limited to guys with "a few" TROs against them. What about everyone else?
The leading cause of death for young black men in this country is murder. Murders committed overwhelmingly by other young black men. We can nibble around the edges of this problem 'till the cows come home. But we won't make any significant progress. So by all means let's have background checks. But also let's not kid ourselves about their efficacy.
Lets speak of true rather than pleasant things. I'm talking about random crime. I'm not talking about gangsta's offing other gangsta's. For that, and as you say and as I've said, you need better policing and leadership from the city. Places like NYC for example have brought crime way down, in all neighborhoods not just the wealthy ones. Different crimes are going to need different solutions. I'm not too sure why Chicogoans put up with so much crime, nor why they aren't demanding accountability out of the mayor, city council, etc. In my example, when the murder rate hit triple digits in Boston people wanted to call out the national guard. Maybe there's been a similar outrage in Chi-town but I haven't read about it. Regardless the model for turning around murder rates is out there (Boston, NY, etc). All these cities (Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, New Orleans, etc) need to start implementing it immediately. If Ray Kelly is out of a job shortly, he should be getting his first phone call the next day from Rahm Emmanual.
Lets speak of true rather than pleasant things. I'm talking about random crime. I'm not talking about gangsta's offing other gangsta's. For that, and as you say and as I've said, you need better policing and leadership from the city. Places like NYC for example have brought crime way down, in all neighborhoods not just the wealthy ones. Different crimes are going to need different solutions. I'm not too sure why Chicogoans put up with so much crime, nor why they aren't demanding accountability out of the mayor, city council, etc. In my example, when the murder rate hit triple digits in Boston people wanted to call out the national guard. Maybe there's been a similar outrage in Chi-town but I haven't read about it. Regardless the model for turning around murder rates is out there (Boston, NY, etc). All these cities (Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, New Orleans, etc) need to start implementing it immediately. If Ray Kelly is out of a job shortly, he should be getting his first phone call the next day from Rahm Emmanual.
But the next mayor of NYC may reverse all the gains made by the last two mayors. THAT will not be good for business.
But the next mayor of NYC may reverse all the gains made by the last two mayors. THAT will not be good for business.
Lets speak of true rather than pleasant things. I'm talking about random crime. I'm not talking about gangsta's offing other gangsta's. For that, and as you say and as I've said, you need better policing and leadership from the city. Places like NYC for example have brought crime way down, in all neighborhoods not just the wealthy ones. Different crimes are going to need different solutions. I'm not too sure why Chicogoans put up with so much crime, nor why they aren't demanding accountability out of the mayor, city council, etc. In my example, when the murder rate hit triple digits in Boston people wanted to call out the national guard. Maybe there's been a similar outrage in Chi-town but I haven't read about it. Regardless the model for turning around murder rates is out there (Boston, NY, etc). All these cities (Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, New Orleans, etc) need to start implementing it immediately. If Ray Kelly is out of a job shortly, he should be getting his first phone call the next day from Rahm Emmanual.
Whatever his impulses (dumping the aforementioned Ray Kelly for example) I find it hard to believe the citizens of NYC will accept a return to 70's-80's type urban decay. That ship has already sailed. Above ideology people want competence, especially in cities where the govt is a lot closer to the people. IMHO any city that has gotten a pretty good handle on violent crime will toss their political leadership if they see any backsliding. You get too used to feeling safe, clean streets, etc, and that's a good thing. I can't speak to places where people seem to be numb to a high body count though.
For the first time in months, House Republicans are facing no immediate cataclysmic deadlines, and GOP leaders are struggling to come up with an agenda to fill the 19 legislative days that are left in 2013.
Need evidence? The House votes Monday evening and will finish its work week Wednesday. After that, the House is out of session until Nov. 12. Internally, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and senior Republicans aren’t discussing coming back early from the scheduled recess, but instead, they are wondering if they’ll cancel some of the remaining days in session.
Throughout leadership and the House Republican Conference there’s a sense of bewilderment and confusion about what leadership will move to next. The fiscal fights with President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats have pushed the GOP’s numbers to barrel-scraping lows. And there’s a real sense that Republicans could lose control of the House next year.
The Boner needs more time in the tanning booth. He wants to look orange as a pumpkin in time for Halloween.![]()
A Nevada assemblyman came under fire Monday after a YouTube video surfaced in which he told a Republican gathering he would vote to allow slavery if that is what his constituents wanted him to do.