STFU FOP

Here’s one snippet guaranteed to raise my ire:

The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), together with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject national reciprocity for concealed carry.

The legislation, H.R. 38, is sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R) and would treat the concealed carry license of any one state as valid in the other 49.

H.R. 38 is titled the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.”

According to the FOP/IACP, “The legislation exempts any person with a valid photographic identification from state or local firearms law who asserts that they are lawfully carrying a firearm under the laws of their own state of residence.”

They claimed that national reciprocity for concealed carry would impact officers’ safety, and it “jeopardizes qualified immunity.” Concerning the latter, they wrote, “Qualified immunity protects officers from civil liability unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. Any action the officer may take in reaction to the knowledge that the person they have encountered is armed could place that officer in very real legal peril.”

Yeah, well fuck you.  If a state-issued driver’s license is valid (under the Constitution ahem), then so should firearms carriage, if it’s lawful in the traveler’s home state.

Basically, what your organizations are saying is that you cops should be the only ones carrying guns.

Sorry, but that’s not how it works.  Under the same Constitution — which, lest you pricks have forgotten, is something you swore to uphold and protect, despite the possibility of personal danger — We The People have the right to keep and bear arms.   Whether in their home state or not, and whether or not it frightens you.

The fact that some states (and their little minions) behave contrary to the Constitution is irrelevant, and your pathetic fear of armed citizens ditto.

As a general rule, I’m on the side of law and order, but not when it comes to my rights.  So STFU cops, and your bosses likewise.  (Just the word “International” in the chiefs’ organization title grates on me.)

And lastly, you bastards have been abusing your “qualified immunity” for too long anyway, and you deserve to lose it.

Actual Conspiracy

I’m not by nature a conspiracy theorist, until there’s proof — usually after the fact — that there really was a conspiracy.  Then I go, “I thought there was something going on.”  But I keep shtum as a matter of policy, because guys who find links between JFK’s assassination and Aristotle Onassis’s manipulation of the emerald trade in China (I swear, I once read such a piece SOTI)… well, really.

So last week the Brits discovered beyond all doubt that two actual spies were working for the Chicom government, and arrested them.  Then, mysteriously, “pressure was brought to bear” and all charges were dropped.

So read here about the Circle of 48, which explains the dismissal of the charges.  (Spoiler alert:  it happened because prosecution “would have angered the Chinese government”.)

And think about whether such a group exists here in the U.S.  It’s not so much a dotted line as it is a neon arrow.  We saw evidence of it before with the fake “Russian dossier” and the people within government who prepared it, used fake information to make it legal, leaked it to the press and tried to stymie a completely valid election.  And I’ll bet there are more being cooked up, as we speak.  You may suggest your own suspects as the dramatis personae  (people like that slimy little Brit Jonathan Powell, only with American accents).

Feel free to point out where I’m wrong.

No Such Thing, Blondie

Nobody but nobody can step on their own dick quicker than a Republican.  In this particular instance, metaphorically speaking, it was Attorney-General Pam Bondi who came out with this bullshit:

Speaking with the Trump administration Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi decried “hate speech” and vowed to “target anyone with hate speech.”

“There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech,” Bondi explained.

To quote the memorable line from the late Robert Redford’s movie The Sting:  “Try not to live up to all my expectations of you.”

One more time, with feeling:  There’s no such thing as “hate speech” — from a legal perspective.

In other words, I may say that Rep. Ilhan Omar (Communist-MN) is a foul pustule who should be whipped in the public square once per week — which I admit frankly is hateful speech, because I loathe the African-born bitch with a passion.  But if some federal badgeholder tries to arrest me for saying that, there will be gunfire.  Because what I said about the dreadful Omar is my opinion, and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

Now, if I say, “I’m going to murder that bitch Omar with my home-made bazooka next Tuesday” — yeah, that’s a threat and you’re not only welcome to come after me, you have to do so.

But “hate speech”?  Fuck that for a bowl of cherries.

Bloody hell, it just goes to show that no matter which party’s wearing the high-heeled jackboots, the outcome is always the same:  our rights get trampled.


Update:  I see that AG Blondie has been trying to “clarify” her statement.  Not buying it.  Fuck off, Pam.  Go after the real criminals — and if you don’t know who they are after all this time, GTFO and let someone better to come in and do your job.

Why, Indeed?

When it comes to disemboweling a government agency, it’s really hard to beat Matt Taibbi’s take on the CIA:

Before Trump was even a Republican nominee, a CIA Director relayed “concerns” to the FBI that “served as the basis” for years of grueling investigation that would paralyze his presidency; after his election, as we’ve learned all summer, CIA then cooked up a bogus intelligence report saying Trump won with Russian help; CIA leaked its balls off to papers like the New York Times about how Moscow worked to “install” Trump in the White House; CIA helped topple Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn by telling every reporter on earth he was a “clown” who said mean things about the CIA and secretly conspired with Russia; CIA warned foreign countries not to share intelligence with Trump because Russia held “leverages of pressure” on him; CIA stuck fictional campaign research about “compromising personal and financial information” Russia had in a report that was leaked to CNN in less time than it takes for fleas to mate; CIA accused Trump of treason; CIA got Trump impeached; CIA leaked stories that Trump let Russians kill Americans for sport; CIA banded together to call a true Hunter Biden story a Russian influence operation; CIA spent the last half-century overturning foreign governments and in this one is trying do the same at home, in such blatant violation of its charter that 77 million people last year voted to have it shot like a lame horse… But sure, yes, let’s make sure the CIA is at the President’s side when we’re trying to negotiate a peace settlement. What could go wrong?

Yeah, those days of relying on the “experts” in government agencies — any of them — are as gone as last year’s flatulence.

When The Punishment Is Worse Than The Crime

Here’s an absolute classic:

Furious driver throws £50 parking ticket on the floor – and gets fined £250 for littering

Of course, this is a Britishland special (clue: currency), and to be fair, the littering thing is a real problem Over There, hence the excessive fine.

The problem, however, is that if someone is found “dumping” (Brit-speak: “fly-tipping”), i.e. someone is caught emptying a truckload of old refrigerators or tires (tyres) on the side of a road or into a field, the fine for said offense is still £250 — which I put to you is not at all excessive, but in fact is inadequate.  Of course, the effort involved in removing said litter in this case is considerably greater, i.e. more costly than simply picking up a discarded parking ticket.

I liked the response of a Brit farmer who caught someone dumping trash in his field, whereupon he put his tractor in gear and simply pushed (okay, crushed) the offender’s van against the stone wall.  In a rare instance of actual British justice, he was not fined and when haled into court for “destruction of private property”, the magistrate basically told him not to do it again and stop being a bad boy:  case dismissed, despite the anguished yowls of the fly-tipper who claimed that without his van, he was out of business.  The response from the magistrate was brilliant:  “If your business is fly-tipping, then the community is well rid of it.”  (I wish I had a link, because the judge was actually funnier than my recollection provides.)

To return to the original offense for a moment:  that excessive £250 fine for littering could be called a “spite fine”, and is very common amongst the law enforcement classes, may their socks rot and their daughters run off with rock musicians.

On the other hand, the meter maid got off lightly in that the angry motorist didn’t punch her in the face.  I suspect that Milord Judge may not have been as relaxed in his judgment.