Category Archives: Congress

NRA not the problem…

This is a letter from a doctor in my home state of Rhode Island. Read my response below.

Doreen Ciancaglini: NRA vs. our children

                                     Doreen Ciancaglini: NRA vs. our children

Comments 10


                    April 18, 2013 12:32 pm

As a pediatrician, I spend much of my day providing guidance to the parents of my patients, to educate them regarding many issues, ranging from nutrition to safety. I was disheartened to see the defeat of the  bill on expanded background checks on gun sales bill. Most of us want less gun violence. Most of us want fewer gun fatalities, such as in the Newtown tragedy.

Most of us want our schools safe for our kids. How can this be accomplished? We have to make a start. The organization that promotes gun ownership at all cost, the National Rifle Association, is not primarily interested in these safety issues. They aggressively and actively lobby senators to reject any type of reform. They’ve duped some Americans into believing that it’s about their freedoms.

Their victory is a defeat for those if us seeking to keep our children safe.

As I and my colleagues continue to advise parents on child safety, we hope that part of our anticipatory guidance won’t have to include “since there are so many guns out there in the hands of the wrong people, just stay home.”

Doreen Ciancaglini, M.D. North Providence

 

Response:

The biggest problem supporters of the Second Amendment face is ignorance, (purposeful or otherwise), in terms of what it really means. After that, it’s just plain ideological.

This is evidenced in Doreen Ciancaglini’s letter of 5/5/13. In it she refers to the NRA as “not primarily interested in these safety issues”, referring to the defeat of the “background checks” bill. Now I don’t necessarily wish to school the good doctor on the “entire” text of that particular piece of legislation, or for that matter, the nightmares sure to arise out of legal challenges by way of the “HIPAA” statutes, (regulations I would hope she is familiar with), but I will take issue with her assertion on safety. It is a simple fact that there is no agency or entity which has done more to promote the safe ownership and handling of firearms in this country than the NRA. A simple google search would help the average person understand this. Regrettably however, and while I respect and admire her commitment to serve her fellow human being, Dr. Ciancaglini (and others) seem content to demonize that which they clearly do not understand. I wonder what her position is on, swimming pools, automobiles, alcohol, or even “fireworks and ball bearings”, none of which are directly associated with one of the “Bill of Rights”, or the foundational liberty which built and now protects the nation she practices in. The “reasonable discussion” continues to elude…

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Now what, Mr. President…

obamacare-cartoon-2-aPelosi: “We have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what is in it”. Do you all remember that shameful moment in American politics when a sitting member of Congress embarrassed herself and her Democratic colleagues with that revelation? Well it turns out that her party did ram that bill through, (The “Affordable” Care Act), and there is apparently little about it that’s “affordable”. In fact, long-time Washington player Senator Max Baucus likens the coming implementation of some of the main components of the new health care law to a “train wreck”.

From the fight over who exactly is to pay for the so-called exchanges from state to state, to the plethora of tax increases associated with the law, and as doctors are walking out of meetings in protest of what they say is a lack of discernible forethought in terms of the implementation of the five-year roll-out plan, “Obamacare” looks to be just as Baucus suggested, a “train wreck”.

For those of us who predicted this very nightmare scenario, there is some vindication in the knowledge that when you allow a government bureaucracy to be involved in what should be left to the private sector to hash out, it will always go badly. Regrettably however, there will also and always be victims of ill-conceived and unrealistic legislation like this.

Not sure where we go from here on out, but the road ahead looks bumpy to be sure, and will no doubt be far more costly than Candidate/President Barack Obama was ready to admit when he sold us this bill of goods.

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One of ten…

Newsmakers_4_12_13__Gun_Control_Debate_C_824510000_20130412125110_320_240For good or bad, gun-control is now front and center, largely as a result of the Sandy Hook tragedy. I have fought the Second Amendment battle on a number of fronts over the years and I keep coming away with a very disturbing observation. Ironically, it’s not exclusive to the argument over guns, but I continue to be floored by how little politicians know about many of the important issues of our time.

As an example, I was watching WPRI’s Newsmakers recently with Guests, Rhode Island  Rep’s Finn and Chippendale, discussing proposed gun-control legislation coming out of Smith Hill. Firstly, Miss Finn’s “observations” on the availability of data concerning firearms incidents nationwide were almost comical. She was apparently attempting to cite CDC stats, or some lack thereof, and simply flubbed it badly. Her assertions were completely inaccurate and she seemed wholly ill-equipped to make her case. Not to be outdone, Chippendale shanked one of the simplest questions out there, and a favorite of the Liberal television media, concerning “the line” between what Americans can and should be allowed to own. Tim White cleverly threw out the poll-tested “What about bazooka’s?”, to which Rep. Chippendale simply had no discernible retort. The factual and necessary answer would have been that the “National Firearms act of 1934” and subsequent “Gun control Act of 1968” addressed those issues, banning and/or regulating ownership, use, and importation of such/certain weapons. One would think these are questions our elected representatives should be able to answer with ease, thus allowing a more robust debate for “We the People” to consider.

Nevertheless, our freedoms seem precariously balanced in the hands of those who let their emotions and/or political ambitions trump fact and reason. Dangerous ground I would say, as there are another nine Amendments in the BOR. I’m starting to think there should be some sort of test for those who wish to speak for us.

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The Politics of Gun Control…

gun-control-posterWhen you ask the average American, “Are you in favor of background checks for people buying guns?”, the obvious answer will be yes. As with all “polls” however, when you adjust the question to reflect the hidden details, you get a different (and more educated) answer. My point is that the President’s assertions about American’s feelings on gun control are skewed and highly political to say the least. Moreover, how in the world can we have a logical discussion on making our children and our nation safer, when our ideological chief executive’s contribution is to exploit the parents of Sandy Hook by flying them around from sound-bite to sound-bite on Air force One.

If there is anyone out there who believes the President of the United States cares about anything other than positioning himself politically by attempting to demonize and divide the opposition, please remove your head from the partisan sand before you suffocate.

“This is not about me.” Really Mr. President? I think this is all about you.

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“We ourselves must Pilgrims be”…

220px-James_Russell_Lowell_circa_1855Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right,
And the choice goes by forever ‘twixt that darkness and that light.” –
James Russell Lowell

The issues of our time are daunting to be sure. It’s often hard to even get our minds around much of it. And whether it’s our narcissistic and ideologically driven President, or a media constrained and indecisive Speaker of the House, we are just not getting our money’s worth out of Washington. To watch these self-centered opportunists juggle our children’s future would be laughable for all the pandering and posturing, that is if it weren’t so down-right irresponsible. And so it falls to “We the People” to look beyond this political cartoon to the truth, for posterity sake.

There is good and bad in this, the good obviously being the God-given freedom to change our representative government by way of the vote when necessary. The bad news is that ignorance of fact and history, as well as a growing entitlement mindset, drive that vote for some. The result is often the slow but inevitable decline of a once powerful nation. Nevertheless, for some of us the battle continues as we refuse to give up on that “American Dream”, a dream framed by the Founders and nurtured by wiser generations than ours. Change may be a constant, but it is only good when defined by faith, principle and Liberty.

I began this post with some poignant words from Lowell and I will close with them. In the end, we have choices…

“We ourselves must Pilgrims be,
Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea,
Nor attempt the Future’s portal with the Past’s blood-rusted key.” – James Russell Lowell

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Just answer the question…

U.S. Senator John McCain gestures as he arrives to address the third session of the Republican National Convention in TampaSenator Ted Cruz (D) Texas, has a political affliction which could be characterized as a form of leprosy in Washington. You see when he speaks, the truth seems to slip out, and when he defines issues in the context of the Constitution he swore an oath to uphold, he is immediately lambasted by cowards on both sides of the aisle. It seems any “Bill of Rights” question he asks is immediately taken as some kind of umbrage by the Liberal recipient. Now I’m pretty sure a working knowledge of our Constitution is somewhat of a prerequisite for the privilege of serving as an elected official, or at least it should be. So why was Senator Feinstein so “offended” when Cruz asked her a simple Constitutional question? The answer itself is simple.

If “We the People” desire a fair and balanced debate on any issue, it should be noted that Liberals are not at all interested in those types of debates. Talking points and (sensationalism for effect) are the time-tested and proven strategies of the Left. Questions and accountability are seen as unnecessary considering their “superior” intellectual abilities and usually elicit a form of annoying whining, inevitably followed by dodging the question altogether, much like we saw in the Cruz/Feinstein exchange.

Considering this political quandary, my message to politicians like McCain, Graham, Reid and Feinstein is, the founding documents were written in part to remind elitist fools who would be masters of the “low information voter”, that they must answer the question. Moreover, if Senator Ted Cruz is a “crazy bird” for asking the tough and relevant questions other politicians run from, then I shall send him an appropriate amount of bird seed so he may continue to defend my son’s Constitution.

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Not just in Rhode Island…

second-amendment-rifleThe fight for Second Amendment rights in Rhode Island is always interesting. The Ocean State’s unique political landscape lends itself to all kinds of curious interpretations. As a general rule, Rhode Islanders tend to be the quintessential procrastinators, prone to reactionary politics. That said, firearms owners in the state are a passionate bunch when roused. Appropriately and for the purposes of this writing, I think it’s important to identify the two opposing groups on the matter of gun control here in Rhode Island.

Firstly, the states entrenched Leftist politicians oppose the right to “keep and bear arms” as outlined in the federal Constitution and reinforced by an even less debatable state application. Their foremost agenda is “registration” as a means to eventual confiscation. Truth be told, if you hang around in political circles long enough, you’ll hear them say that very thing. Regrettably, their media sanitized efforts are often disguised by a blatant mischaracterization of the Amendment itself, as well as the exploitation of murdered innocents as an acceptable means to the aforementioned end. This is the most despicable kind of political gamesmanship, made even more indefensible by a deliberate end run around the Constitution(s) these elected officials swore an oath to defend.

On the other side there are the ardent few defenders on Smith (Capitol) Hill. Emboldened by a rising tide of awakening gun owners, folks like Representative Chippendale (R) 40 and Costa (R) 31 are often hampered by boatloads of media misinformation, political pandering and a lack of understanding on the part of the general public when considering the true intent of the Second Amendment. It’s always troubling when some in this camp go on about hunting and sport shooting, neither of which have anything to do with the Amendment. This ignorance, willful or otherwise, only makes the task of countering a well-organized and focused opposition more difficult. Ultimately, factual unity around the Second Amendment’s true origin and meaning provides the clarity necessary to understanding how “the right” facilitates/protects additional benefits like hunting and other sporting uses of firearms. Moreover, every gun-owner who values his or her time at the range or in the woods should understand that while the Second Amendment was not drafted for “recreational” purposes and/or reasoning, many of these cultural traditions as well as the God-given right of self-defense, are also protected by way of our founders wisdom, experience and the subsequent Constitutional right to “keep and bear arms”.

Please take some time to read “your” founding documents, as well as the letters and papers of those who wrote them. You will discover they are anything but outdated. In fact, the content could not be more necessary and applicable to our current national posture.

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Filibuster Fallout…

john_brennan_apRand Paul put the “represent” back in representation recently, with his old style “filibuster” on the floor of the Senate. Evidently this didn’t sit well in “Obamanation”. Following a very short and terse letter from AG Holder, another Constitutionally challenged glory seeker, basically acknowledging he was asleep in U. S. History class, John Brennan eventually took “the oath” of office for the position of CIA Director with his hand on a copy of the Constitution without Amendments. This crew just can’t get it right, not even when trying to be sarcastic.

Now any lack of understanding/outright ignorance on the part of President Obama and company in terms of our Liberty and the documents which outline it, should come as no surprise to anyone who is not completely and utterly brainwashed. Leaving out the Bible and any hint of recognition of a higher authority than one’s self however, speaks volumes to the arrogance and abuse of power tendencies of this Administration. What’s more, all efforts made by the White House to frame the argument(s) of our day, make these facts plain. The inmates are clearly running the asylum…

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Holder’s Constitutional Conundrum…

imagesWith every new gadget that makes defending freedom easier for our gallant military, comes the unintended consequences which can sometimes challenge the very same freedom. Whether it’s high-tech computer surveillance, or a “Predator” drone bringing America’s enemies to extreme/fatal temperature by way of a strategically placed AGM Hellfire missile, we must be vigilant to make sure this technology is never used to circumvent the rights of citizens here in the United States. Appropriately, one would think the Constitution addresses these types of questions, and one would be right. Of course this doesn’t apply if you’re Attorney General Eric Holder, the chief law enforcement officer in the land, and someone you’d think would know his Constitution.

I listened recently as Holder came before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain a letter sent by his office to Senator Rand Paul, advising him the Obama Administration would consider drone strikes against American Citizens. Senator Ted Cruz prodded Holder for a simple yes or no answer to the question of Constitutionality when considering the use drones against a civilian, and in the absence of any “imminent threat” to national security, or due process. Simple right? Not so much…

senate-stakes_jpeg1-1280x960In typical Obama Administration fashion, Holder danced around Cruz’s questions for what seemed like an eternity, obviously struggling with the absolute power he and his boss believe was bestowed upon them via the elections of 2008 and 2012. In the most refreshing display of political courage I’ve seen in some time however, Senator Cruz was relentless in his pursuit of a “straight answer”, and eventually corralled Holder into what kinda sounded like, “ok already, it’s un-Constitutional damn it!”. Bravo Senator. I never thought I’d be writing this, but simple Constitutionality is a breath of fresh air in Washington these days…

And the Liberty death clock ticks on…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQQOyzWen4

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The Dow and a few notes…

untitledThe Dow closed at its highest level ever today, and true to form my in-box exploded with praise for Obama and company. Well far be it from me not to dampen the little Lefty illusion with a soaking dose of reality. Ultimately, (and as usual), a quick lesson is necessary in that the stock market is not the economy and vice versa. They are very different entities with very different points of reference and influence. I’m no financial advisor however, so I won’t attempt further instruction. That said, let’s look at some numbers.

When we examine this “paper tiger” economy the President is touting as a success, we see a sputtering engine, beleaguered by inexperience and ineptitude at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and struggling for the fuel only a confident free market can provide. The last time the stock market was close to these numbers, the United States economy was in a far different place. It was 2007 and a gallon of gas was around $2.50. Americans were making about $6000.00 a year more, and there were around seven million folks unemployed compared to thirteen million today. There are twice as many people on food stamps today than in 07, our debt was nine trillion and consumer confidence was at 99 percent as opposed to 69 percent today. Additionally, much of our so-called economic growth in the last five years, has come bolstered by the Fed printing capital and restraining interest rates at dangerously low levels.

Bottom line is, don’t break out the champagne just yet. The stock market will correct, and the effects of this administrations failed college application will continue to contract an already weakened and hollow economy. Regrettably, the worst is still ahead of us…

Late Note: The Socialist South American dictator, arguably responsible for the deaths of many in the Venezuelan opposition, as well as the theft of billions in civilian property, is dead. I’m sure Joe Kennedy and Sean Penn are grieving this very minute.

Note 2: According to the answering service, White House tours have been cancelled due to “sequestration”. The President of the United States is throwing a tantrum. Childish, unnecessary, and inexcusable.

Note 3: In acknowledgement of the recent movement by college students/campuses around the country to divest in fossil fuel companies, will all students please turn in all electronic equipment manufactured and operated by way of fossil fuels immediately. Better yet, you may send all Apple notebooks, iPads and iPhone 5’s to my business address. Thank you.

Wake up kids, before it’s too late!!!

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