Andre's Executive Order

I promised this one a while ago. With luck, today starts another string of my actual daily entries instead of good intentions separated by silences. Back to gun control. Let's be clear, gun control is popular. It is also politically toxic. What's the difference? Well if you actually ask most people if they want gun control, a vast and staggering majority will answer yes. People generally understand that guns are dangerous equipment and should be handled the same way as any other similarly dangerous hardware. We're not just talking progressives here, we're talking about a good majority of Republicans, NRA members, and the whole kit and kaboodle. But there are two elements embedded in this popular idea that usually bring any legislation to a screeching halt. The first reason gun control is politically toxic is that while almost everyone wants gun control, the same people are highly suspicious of that control being determined by anyone other than themselves. The reason for...

Let's talk gun control. Americans love their guns. Until just a few weeks ago, gun control was a toxic subject on capitol hill. The reason for that is that politicians can't really tell who the gun loving Americans ARE. It is actually nearly impossible to be certain where someone stands on gun control regardless of their other political views. A good chunk of Democrats are just a protective of their firearms and right to have them as Republicans tend to be. The only thing that is certain when dealing with guns is my first sentence above – American love their guns. Conventional wisdom says: Put the topic down and back slowly away if you value your political career. But avoiding election consequences aside, there are some facts that makes reasonable gun control difficult to completely dismiss. The statistics on gun violence in America are staggering. We're talking 12-15 times as many injuries and fatalities than the top 25 industrialized nations COMBINED. We are not suffering...

Over 70% of the American population supported Arizona's proposition 1070, and the Republicans are going to town over Obama's suit that temporarily shut the majority of the bill down. Clearly the Obama administration is against the States and the will of the people. Well wait a minute. Five points that render Fox News' spin on it kinda suspect. First, the proposition didn't actually give police officers any more power than they had under the current federal immigration law. The law required new behavior from existing officers - all of which involved charging the immigrants with a new crime that would have placed those prisoners in local jails before INS got them instead of turning them directly over to INS. Realize Joe Arpaio, the 30 year sheriff of the county where this law originates is AGAINST this law. He's not a liberal, he's convinced that this law gives him nothing but additional red tape and costs. Second, this law effectively amends and extends the Feder...