December 22

In case you missed it, John Boehner's Plan B failed, he still has no idea what he's doing, and neither does Mitch McConnell.

Congress is on recess until after Christmas.

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Mosque arsonist tells court: 'I only know what I hear on Fox News'

 

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Here's most of Wayne's speech today, thanks to Steve Benen (update: full video from Joe Patrice).

By the way, the armed Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy assigned to Columbine was out getting lunch when the shooting started, but he returned in time to fire at Dylan Kleibold from a distance and miss. Clearly, we need TWO armed guards at every school.

To commemorate Wayne's little diatribe, here are the results of a PPP poll showing 63/64% support for assault weapons/high capacity magazine bans, 76% support for closing the gun show loophole, and 93% support for mandatory criminal background checks before selling guns.

Finally, I don't know about you, but there's no institution I trust more than the NRA to pick and train the appropriate armed volunteer to stand guard at my kid's school. I'm sure that their Playtime for Pedophiles National School Shield Program, which Wayne proposed today, will be a resounding success.

Update: As Wayne was speaking, news was breaking of a shooting in rural Pennsylvania where four people were killed (including the shooter) and three state troopers were injured (thanks Lonesomrobot)

So, four dead, including the shooter. At least five persons wounded or injured including apparently at least three PA State Troopers.

If only there'd been trained men with guns who could have stopped this…Oh, dear.

You know, I wonder what games the shooter played for fun.  

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According to conservatives, the Sandy Hook school shooting should be blamed on 

1) Abortion Pills

2) Not Enough God in Schools

3) Teachers' Unions

4) Video Games

5) Too Much Sex on TV and on the Internet

6) Public Schools

7) Gun-Free Zones

8) All-Female School Administrations

9) Moral Decay

10) Mental Illness

11) Anti-Religious Secular Bureaucracy and Secular Judiciary

12) Gays

13) Hollywood

14) Humanism

15) Liberal Policies

16) Un-armed Teachers

and 17) Jon Stewart.

For some reason, semi-automatic battle rifles didn't make the list.

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Democratic House Candidates Now Have A Nearly 1.2 Million Vote Lead Over The Republicans

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President Obama has formally announced his nomination of Senator John Kerry for Secretary of State.

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Margaret & Helen: Why Bother With Books? School Lockers Really Should Become Gun Lockers

GOPsters fighting the war on sceince have blood on their hands

First, consider this, from Nate Silver:

An American child grows up in a married household in the suburbs. What are the chances that his family keeps a gun in their home?

…the odds vary significantly based on the political identity of the child's parents. If they identify as Democratic voters, the chances are only about one in four, or 25 percent, that they have a gun in their home. But the chances are more than twice that, almost 60 percent, if they are Republicans.Whether someone owns a gun is a more powerful predictor of a person's political party than her gender, whether she identifies as gay or lesbian, whether she is Hispanic, whether she lives in the South or a number of other demographic characteristics.

Now take note of this piece by Alex Seitz-Wald, published in Salon back in July. (h/t Maggie Koerth-Baker at BoingBoing)

Over the past two decades, the NRA has not only been able to stop gun control laws, but even debate on the subject. The Centers for Disease Control funds research into the causes of death in the United States, including firearms — or at least it used to. In 1996, after various studies funded by the agency found that guns can be dangerous, the gun lobby mobilized to punish the agency. First, Republicans tried to eliminate entirely the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the bureau responsible for the research. When that failed, Rep. Jay Dickey, a Republican from Arkansas, successfully pushed through an amendment that stripped $2.6 million from the CDC's budget (the amount it had spent on gun research in the previous year) and outlawed research on gun control with a provision that reads: "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." More »