Jacob Sullum on Magical Thinking After the Charleston Massacre: "If Congress had passed some common-sense gun safety reforms after Newtown," President Obama said on Friday, "we don't know if it would have prevented what happened in Charleston." Actually, says Jacob Sullum, we do know: Had the bill to which Obama was referring been enacted, it would not have stopped Dylann Roof from murdering nine people at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church last week.

Rolling Stone cover model formally sentenced to death for #BostonMarathon bombing. #Tsarnaev pic.twitter.com/8tsBokhrsW

Sheldon Richman on How Gun Control Harms Black Americans

Or at least theyt USED to!  Im having to rethink a LOT of things right now.  About a year ago I started weaning myself off of "liberal" when I mean "progressive."

Nowe theres this: THAT WAS FAST — THE ERA OF BIG PROGRESSIVISM IS OVER: In July of 2007 during a CNN/YouTube-sponsore…

Nice to know I'm not alone.

EDIT TO ADD:

Ive always HATED the phrase “government is the word we give to the things we choose to do together,” Liberals and conservatives use much different sets of words, according to an extensive textual analysis of chat rooms, news websites and State of the Union speeches. 

More thoughtful analysis to follow but my head's still spinning trying to figure out how "established by the state" means "NOT established by the state."

TV NETWORKS IGNORE REVELATION OF JONATHAN GRUBER’S CLOSE TIES TO WHITE HOUSE:

All three network morning shows on Monday ignored the revelation that Jonathan Gruber, an ObamaCare architect who called Americans “stupid,” had closer ties than the administration previously let on. According to the Wall Street Journal, there were 20,000 pages of e-mails. Writer Stephanie Armour explained, “The emails show frequent consultations between Mr. Gruber and top Obama administration staffers and advisers in the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on the Affordable Care Act.”

Too bad – ignoring the issue causes some of us to remember how loudly virtually all of old media were cheerleaders for Obamacare in 2009.

RELATED: And of course, “WH continues to deny Jonathan Gruber was very involved in O-care.”

VERONIQUE DE RUGY: Yes, Jonathan Gruber Is an Obamacare Architect. Gruber is the Todd Akins of Obamacare, except unlike Akins, Gruber really did matter…a lot.

It was ever thus:  We'll just have to pass it…

Why yes, it IS a target rich environment.

After being contacted by CNN, Walmart, Sears and Kmart have all decided to drop all merchandise from their shops and online that bear the symbol of the confederate flag

YOU OPPOSE THE CONFEDERATE FLAG. NOW WHAT? “I can’t help but notice that no one is calling to rename the Woodrow Wilson bridge right by my house, even though Wilson’s racism was personal, political, focused on eugenics and far more recent than any Civil War-era leader,” Mollie Hemingway writes at the Federalist.

Plus this: “I wouldn’t put Confederate kitsch up in my house, but mainstream media figure Claire Shipman and former Obama press secretary Jay Carney put up Communist kitsch in their house. There is something intriguing about how the elite left tolerates art celebrating those who killed 100 million people in the last century, but seeks the erasure of anything associated with the Confederacy.”

NOT MUCH TO SAY IN DEFENSE OF CONFEDERATES: But to be fair they didn’t kill a hundred million people.

When Anti-Racists Adopted the Confederate Battle Flag

unrelated but fun: EVERY STATE FLAG IS WRONG, and here is why.

the next few days.  Or they may come fast and furious.  My mind has been awash the last few days with myriad questions and none of them are resolving.  Perhaps I need to visit Walden Pond .... or throw myself into a frenzy of research and writing (NOT a valid solution - research and facts are becoming useless in this day and age) ... or go the opposite drection and increase particiapation in distractions - FFL, Civ, etc.

First Amendments issues about.  Here's an easy one:  “THIS WAS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TARGETING SPEECH BECAUSE IT COULD”:  DoJ’s Gag Order On Reason Has Been Lifted — But The Real Story Is More Outrageous Than We Thought.

The silencing of opposing thought is, to say the least, troubling.  The masses either don't know of it (see above) or cheer it:

OBAMA TO MOSQUE PROTESTERS AT RAMADAN DINNER: ‘Stop Yelling and Start Listening.’

As Andrew Klavan pointed out way back in 2009, for the left, it really all boils down to demanding the other side simply shut up, doesn’t it?

AMERICA’S SHAMEFULLY TRANSPHOBIC POTUS: Obama Annoyed By Undocumented Transgender Heckler, Snaps ‘You’re in My House!’ (With video.)

“Miley Cyrus Claims She’s ‘Least Judgmental Person Ever,’ Calls Christians ‘Insane Motherf–kers.’”

“Oh, Miley.  Thanks for giving us the best example of what ‘tolerance’ looks like in Hollywood: it looks a lot like contempt,” Bristol Palin responds at Patheos.

Ayn Rand was pointing out the hypocrisy of those who profess to be “nonjudgmental” as far back as the chapters written in 1962 for her book The Virtue of Selfishness, and the cult of “nonjudgmentalism” has only been accelerating in the years since. Today, how much do you want to bet that the majority of the “Fire the CEO!”, “Has Justine Landed?” and “Destroy the Pizza Parlor!!!” leftwing crowd will casually claim that nonjudgmentalism is their personal credo, even as they remain increasingly on hair-trigger alert for new ways to be offended, followed by new targets to destroy?

I'm so sad and lost right now.

I AM OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER ALL OF THESE: Seven Liberal Pieties That Only the Right Still Believes:

1. The Right to Offend
2. The Value of a Liberal Education
3. Government Should Stay Out of the Bedroom
4. Live and Let Live
5. Support for Israel
6. Support for Human Rights
7. The Dignity of the Working Man

THE EVOLUTION OF GOOGLE SLOGANS:

The evolution of Google slogans: 2004 Don’t Be Evil 2010 Evil is hard to define 2013 We build military robots 2015 I heard that @instapundit

— Craig S. Bell (@craig_s_bell) June 22, 2015

THE LAST REBELS: 25 THINGS WE DID AS KIDS THAT WOULD GET SOMEONE ARRESTED TODAY: “Come on, be honest.  Tell us what crazy stuff you did as a child.”

Twitter, in four sentences

June 22, 2015 By Terry Teachout

• How dare you talk about A when B is infinitely more important?

• If I disagree with you, you’re almost certainly arguing in bad faith and probably evil as well.

• You are personally responsible, in toto and in perpetuity, for everything that your friends, colleagues, and/or ancestors have ever said, done, or thought.

• Sentences #2 and #3 do not apply to me.

SCHLICHTER THESIS CONFIRMED:

Shot:

● Sexy Conservatives Will Out-Breed Barren Liberals

—Kurt Schlichter, Townhall, April 20, 2015.

Chaser:

● HuffPo Writer Refusing To Have Children So She Doesn’t Spread Her White Privilege “Biologically”…

—Weasel Zippers,

I love this graph because it tells you everything you need to know about the business of law over the last 45 years.  Every year since 1967 the IRS has collected and released data about the tax returns of two different groups of lawyers: solo practitioners and law firm partners.  The categories are a little wonky, because “law firm partner” includes two person partnerships in Ames Iowa and wall street mega firms, but this type of longitudinal data is a goldmine even if it has a few warts.  Here are the different earnings (in nominal terms) from 1967 to 2012:

HILLARY LECTURES ON WHITE PRIVILEGE, IS TOLD HOW SHE CAN END IT.

Hillary Clinton on Charleston: ‘We Can’t Hide’ From Truth of White Privilege http://t.co/yfKBzAdSmi (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/raFOD2ugce

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) June 20, 2015

So… Resign and let a non-white get the nomination, @HillaryClinton https://t.co/xUhOGyxmsE

— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) June 20, 2015

 

@AaronWorthing @HillaryClinton @Mediaite I nominate Elizabeth Warren

— preka (@preka99) June 20, 2015

SHOULD HILLARY GIVE BACK WAL-MART COMPENSATION BECAUSE THEY SOLD CONFEDERATE MERCHANDISE?

To paraphrase our Insta-host the other day, maybe the MSM might ask her about this — nahh, why would they start now asking her tough questions?

UH-OH: HILLARY CLINTON CONFEDERATE FLAG PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MERCHANDISE SURFACES ON EBAY.

FLASHBACK: “HILLARY WHITE POWER CLINTON:” “Congratulations, Hillary Clinton, you win the prize for the first Democratic Bigot Eruption since I’ve been keeping track of this,” notes Media Matters Senior Fellow.

A few Christmas' ago we were opening presents at my athiest FiL's house.  My steps (R) was opening a present from his leftist aunt and uncle.  How proud they must have been.  It was a t-shirt.  Bright red.  R grabbed the shoulders and pulled it out of the box for all to see - Che's beamig visage screenprinted on the front.

R looked first at me - in horror.  Then he glanced downawrd and voiced what to the untraind ear was a heart-felt  "thanks" as he put the shirt  back in the box.  

I've never seen it again.  Figure he keeps it next to his Confederate Battle Flag hoodie and his Swastika windbreaker.

1. 

The south had slavery in 1840.  Did the north go to war over it?  No.

The south had slavery in 1850.  Did the north go to war over it?  No.

The south had slavery in 1860.  Did the north go to war over it?  No. 

Not until April, 1861 - when the southern states attempted to seceed from the union.

2.

Suppose you and I have a disagreement over burger joints.  I believe Joint A is the best and beileve we we should go there now in the same car.  YOU believe Joint B is best and propose we go there in seperate cars.  As you turn toward you vehice I throw you tothe ground, bash your head it the ground, beat you near unto death, set fire to your car and then throw you into my trunk and drive you to Joint A. 

How does this resolve the question of which is the better burger joint?