Maybe I’m the last person to think of this, but… It finally dawned on me earlier, when thinking (for the four millionth time) “I need to call my congresscritters about that” – to PROGRAM THEIR NUMBERS INTO MY CELL PHONE.

No more “I’ll do it when I get home,” or “I need to go look that up” – bam. Right there between the in-laws and Pizza Hut.

The Constitution Party, which has very little to do with the Constitution, and everything to do with trying to turn return the country to the roots of its ‘Christian founding.’

Except for the part where that is totally not what happened.

What brought this up? I just got an email from the Constitution Party of Spokane, which read in part:

Constitution Party of Spokane County

Principle Over Politics

REFERENDUM 71

For those who may not be aware, earlier this year our state legislature passed, and our governor signed into law, a bill granting “same-sex domestic partners” the same rights and responsibilities as married spouses – in other words, homosexual marriage by a different name. On May 4, the Constitution Party of Washington published a press release voicing our party’s support for a referendum to overturn this egregious legislation. Subsequently, defenders of God ordained marriage have filed Referendum 71 which will subject this matter to the will of voters, but first, R-71 NEEDS TO COLLECT 120,577 SIGNATURES by next Wednesday, July 22.

Unless you want to bear the responsibility for a future generation growing up in a society that treats sodomy as the moral equivalent of marriage, then you need to be actively helping R-71 get the signatures it needs in this last week of the signature gathering period. Has R-71 been circulated in your church yet? If not, then consider it your job to approach everyone you know, and don’t know, before and after church this next Sunday. If you can take the petition to work or around your neighborhood, then that’s a plus. One of our party members has already gotten 40 signatures by approaching people after church and she plans to get 20 more this next week, plus another 20 at her place of employment. There is no excuse for her efforts not being repeated in every church in our state, certainly in our county, and for sure in “YOUR CHURCH.”

I have been told that petitions are available at Fourth Memorial Church (located at Indiana and Standard, just west of Hamilton, 487-2786). I found petitions at the Christian Supply store on Sullivan Rd. in Spokane Valley – call a Christian book store near you, they might have it. You can also request petitions online from protectmarriagewa.com.

NOTE: Remember to sign the back of the petition before mailing it in. The address to mail the petition to is at the bottom of the front page, but there is a box on the lower left of the back page that you must sign or the secretary of state will not count the signatures on the petition.

…

While it would be desirable to see public officials attending such a course, the Institute on the Constitution is primarily intended for the average citizen who needs to rediscover the principles of Christian liberty and limited government that our nation was founded upon. Without a firm grasp of those principles, how can we judge candidates for public office or their proposed policies? The Institute on the Constitution will reset your political compass to a “Constitutional” course.

I replied. I’m sorry, I had to.

In case you were unaware, marriage licenses did not exist at the time of the signing of the Constitution. In fact, the institution of government-licensed marriage (as differentiated from common-law marriage) was used for many years to suppress the rights of racial minorities to marry or to intermarry with whites. Is this really a scheme we should embrace under the banner of Christianity? Not my brand, that’s for sure.

I’d also quote a treaty – the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Tripoli – ratified under one of my favorite founding fathers, John Adams:

“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion – as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, – and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arrising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

I’d also point out that another favorite founder, Thomas Jefferson, requested three things be listed on his tombstone, the life accomplishments he considered most important:

AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

You might want to take a look at the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Statute_for_Religious_Freedom which makes it quite clear Jefferson, despite any Christian leanings, did not believe one’s religion (or lack thereof) should influence their civil rights.

I will continue to advocate for an abolishment of government-sanctioned “marriage,” period – and civil contracts for all. Protect the sanctity of marriage within “YOUR CHURCH” – where it belongs, and keep your religion out of government-enforced contracts.

It makes me sad that people with these views and misunderstandings of the founding have co-opted the name “Constitution Party” – I know many freedom-minded individuals who could have used it to do good.

I don’t know how I wound up on your email list, but please take me off.

In liberty,
Laurel [Mylastname]

And now I’m grumpy.

I received the following message from a good friend of mine earlier, and felt it was important to pass it along. Please redistribute generously – link here, repost, copy and paste to email, hang it up at the grocery store – this is a great idea, and needs to be spread far and wide.

Incidentally, my congressman – Walt Minnick – is one of the Blue Dogs, so I started my work on this effort by calling his DC office today. I plan to make more calls tomorrow.

Patriots,

We’ve got a country to save.  We wont be able to fight everything and win, but we can’t let what happened with the $787 Billion stimulus pork ‘n waste package happen again.  But unless we mobilize now, it will.

The Markey-Waxman “Cap-and-trade” Energy Tax bill, in the current form being considered by the House Energy and Commerce committee, would, according to the Heritage Foundation, have the following catastrophic effects by 2035:

1. Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion annually;

2. Destroy 1,105,000 American jobs per year on average, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 2,479,000 jobs;

3. Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation;

4. Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 74 percent;

5. Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent;

6. Raise an average family’s annual energy bill by $1,500 annually; and

7. Increase inflation-adjusted federal debt by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional federal debt per person, again after adjusting for inflation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants the U.S. House to vote at the end of this week on the Waxman-Markey National Energy Tax (House Bill 2454).  We must kill the bill there, in the House of Representatives, before it reaches the Senate where it could passes with near certainty before being signed into law by the President.

We can’t settle for calling our own representatives–especially if where you live, your Congressional Representative is a far-Left Liberal.  We can’t hope it’ll be good enough if every single Republican in the House of Representatives votes against Waxman-Markey because Democrats have the majority.

We must target Democrats in order to stop this thing, but not just Any Democrats.  Democrats that are moderate-to-moderately Conservative.  Fortunately, they already identified themselves by forming the Blue Dog Coalition.

According to Wikipedia, their ideology (largely born out of the necessity to get votes in conservative regions like Texas and other southern states, and states in the heartland like Indiana), “the Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in finding a compromise between liberal and conservative positions. The Blue Dogs are viewed by some as a continuation of the socially conservative wing of the Democratic party prominent during the presidency of Harry S Truman.[citation needed] However, the only stated policy position of the Blue Dogs is fiscal conservatism…

“Despite the Blue Dogs’ differing degrees of economic and social conservatism, they generally work to promote positions within the House of Representatives that bridge the gap between center-right and left-wing politics. Blue Dogs are an important swing vote on spending bills and as a result have gained influence in Congress out of proportion to their numbers. They are frequently sought after to broker compromises between the Democratic and Republican leadership, generally lending a more conservative character to US politics.”

Here is a complete list of those sitting Representatives in the House, and their telephone numbers.  We need to call ‘em up, ASAP, and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 2454.

All numbers, area code 202:

* Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
225-2801
* Baron Hill (IN-9), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
225-5315
* Charlie Melancon (LA-3), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
225-4031
* Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip
225-6401

* Jason Altmire (PA-4), 225-2565
* Mike Arcuri (NY-24), 225-3665
* John Barrow (GA-12),  225-2823
* Marion Berry (AR-1), 225-4076
* Sanford Bishop (GA-2), 225-3631
* Dan Boren (OK-2), 225-2701
* Leonard Boswell (IA-3), 225-3806
* Allen Boyd (FL-2), 225-5235
* Bobby Bright (AL-2), 225-2901
* Christopher Carney (PA-10), 225-3731
* Ben Chandler (KY-6), 225-4706
* Travis Childers (MS-1), 225-4306
* Jim Cooper (TN-5), 225-4311
* Henry Cuellar (TX-28), 225-1640
* Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), 225-5406
* Lincoln Davis (TN-4), 225-6831
* Joe Donnelly (IN-2), 225-3915
* Brad Ellsworth (IN-8), 225-4636
* Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), 225-2542
* Bart Gordon (TN-6), 225-4231
* Parker Griffith (AL-5), 225-4801
* Tim Holden (PA-17), 225-5546
* Frank Kratovil (MD-1), 225-5311
* Jim Marshall (GA-8), 225-6531
* Jim Matheson (UT-2), 225-3011
* Mike McIntyre (NC-7), 225-2731
* Mike Michaud (ME-2), 225-6306
* Walt Minnick (ID-1), 225-6611
* Harry Mitchell (AZ-5), 225-2190
* Dennis Moore (KS-3), 225-2865
* Patrick Murphy (PA-8), 225-4276
* Glenn Nye (VA-2), 225-4215
* Collin Peterson (MN-7), 225-2165
* Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), 225-2611
* Mike Ross (AR-4), 225-3772
* John Salazar (CO-3), 225-4761
* Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), 225-2965
* David Scott (GA-13), 225-2939
* Zack Space (OH-18), 225-6265
* John Tanner (TN-8), 225-4714
* Gene Taylor (MS-4), 225-5772
* Charlie Wilson (OH-6), 225-5705
* Melissa Bean (IL-8), 225-3711
* Mike Thompson (CA-1), 225-3311
* Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), 225-6131
* Jim Costa (CA-20), 225-3341
* Adam Schiff (CA-29), 225-4176
* Jane Harman (CA-36), 225-8220
* Joe Baca (CA-43), 225-2823

It would take a little over three hours to call of these numbers straight through, so feel free to break it up.  Just be sure to call as many as you can as soon as you can, especially the numbers at the top!

Feel free to modify this script to suit what feels comfortable to you.  It runs about a minute and 42 seconds.

“Good morning,

My name is <NAME> and I’m calling about the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill that the Speaker of the House is urging a vote on as soon as possible, an issue that affects all Americans and not just those in your district.  Like those Americans, I care deeply about the environment and being responsible as we try to re-grow our prosperity in this country, but I strongly feel this bill is the wrong way to do it.

According to credible economists and their peer-reviewed academic research, this piece of legislation will kick our economy while it’s down.  At a time when we should be doing everything we can to make this the best place in the world for people to come and start a business, and create jobs, we’re going to make energy so incredibly expensive that they can’t afford to hire anyone.  And for families already struggling–whether by having to string together two-part time jobs or get by on unemployment–they will see their gasoline, heating and electricity bills shoot through the roof.

I know the sponsors of this bill have said otherwise, but I am telling you, I know other wise.  And I am also telling Representative <NAME> to vote against this legislation.  There aren’t too many issues more important than this one, and I’m afraid that how each Representative votes on this bill will matter to me and everyone that I know when it’s time for us to vote during the mid-term elections next November, 2010.

Thank you for your time.”

And for good measure, give Republican House minotiry leader John Boehner’s office at a call at (202) 225-6205 to reinforce, and remind his staffer that we’re out here, watching, and that we wont tolerate any give from the party in the House on this bill.  Remind his staffer that his and their re-election counts on standing strong against this bill.

I truly hope that you’ll join me in my mission to stop this madness, and tell everyone you know to help you too.

Thank you for your time.
- Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles

Dairenn, I really appreciate your work in putting this together. You are a friend of liberty… now MOVE OUT OF CALIFORNIA! :)

The Girl Child and I just walked over to The Sister’s house. On the way, I passed a car parked at an apartment complex sporting this bumper sticker:

It’s a Che Guevara quote: “The true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love.”

I didn’t have a piece of paper, and I didn’t want to paraphrase, so when I got to The Sister’s house I looked up a couple of quotes I’m familiar with and wrote them down. I’ll be leaving this note on the car when I pass back by:

“I carried out a very summary inquiry and then the peasant Aristidio was executed. …It is not possible to tolerate even the suspicion of treason.” – Che Guevara 1956

“Hatred [is] an element of the struggle. …A relentless hatred of the enemy, impelling us over and beyond the natural limitations that man is heir to and transforming him into an effective, violent, selective and cold kiling machine. Our soldiers must be thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy. We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it: to his home, to his centres of entertainment; a total war.” – Che Guevara, “Message to the Tricontinental”

FEELING THE LOVE? STUDY HISTORY, not BUMPER STICKERS.
<3, A Revolutionary

This is better than the time I left a note because someone had a bumper sticker that said “It doesn’t take a war to power my bicycle.” The bumper sticker was on their truck.

Breastfeeding, that is.

Now, I already knew breastfeeding rocked, from personal experience:
- I don’t have to mix bottles in the middle of the night
- None of us even really wake up in the middle of the night, since we also co-sleep – no new-parent sleep-dep zombies here!
- I’m not worried about SIDS, because breastfeeding and co-sleeping all but eliminate it
- I don’t have to haul formula-feeding supplies along wherever we go
- It’s cheap
- My baby didn’t get the flu everyone else had (including me, though I’m convinced my comparatively short bout was also thanks to my breastfeeding immune system)
- Breastmilk almost instantly cleared up a slight eye infection (blocked tear duct?) she had
- I already weigh almost 10lbs less than when I got pregnant

What I did not know, at least not in such detail:

Research shows breastfeeding decreases the incidence and/or severity of the following illnesses in childhood (and in many cases also into adulthood):
- Ear infections
- Bacterial meningitis
- Respiratory infections and viruses
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
- Asthma
- Allergies (nasal and skin)
- Urinary tract infections
- Gastrointestinal infections
- Diarrhea
- Lymphomas, leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease
- Autoimmune thyroid disease
- Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
- Necrotizing enterocolitis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Obesity
- Bacteremia
- Celiac disease
- Botulism
- Pneumonia
- Lung disease
- High blood pressure
- Anxiety/stress
- Bed-wetting
- Nearsightedness
- Increased intellectual, developmental, and cognitive aptitude

For the nursing mother, breastfeeding can help protect against the following diseases:
- Breast cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Uterine cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Type 2 diabetes
- Osteoporosis
- Lupus
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Obesity

In fact, just having a baby has been shown to reduce my chances of breast cancer by an average of 7%, with a bonus 4.3% for each year of breastfeeding.

Furthermore:

In 2001, the USDA concluded that if breastfeeding rates were increased to 75 percent at birth and 50 percent at six months, it would lead to a national government savings of a minimum of $3.6 billion.

…

The AAP says each formula-fed infant costs the healthcare system between $331 and $475 more than a breastfed baby in its first year of life. The cost of treating respiratory viruses resulting from not breastfeeding is $225 million a year.

The multi-study report estimated that breast cancer rates could be cut by more than half if women increased their lifetime breastfeeding duration. The National Cancer Institute reported the national expenditure on breast cancer treatment in 2004 was $8.1 billion, meaning extended nursing could save upwards of $4 billion a year.

For each year of breastfeeding, a woman decreases her chances of getting type 2 diabetes by 15 percent, reported a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005. So if we consider the woman from the aforementioned example, in her six years of breastfeeding she’s earned a 90 percent reduction in her risk of developing diabetes.

The National Institute of Health estimates that between 10 and 11 million American women have type 2 diabetes. The estimated cost of their treatment and lost wages is roughly $78 billion a year. This expenditure could be cut drastically by increased extended nursing rates.

For the national Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), supporting a breastfeeding mother costs about 45 percent less than a formula-feeding mother. Every year, $578 million in federal funds buys formula for babies who could be breastfeeding.

A year of purchasing formula can cost a family between $700 and more than $3,000. Many women who go back to work soon after giving birth might think the expense of formula is worth the convenience. The extra medical issues of formula, for mother and child, make the cost more than monetary.

For employers, formula-feeding results in more health claims, more days off for sick children, and decreased productivity. It benefits employers in the long run to provide a time and place for mothers to pump breastmilk. A few minutes off the clock is more than made up for by the lifetime of health enjoyed by nursing babies and mommies.

So, let’s review: Breastfeeding is good for babies, good for moms, good for family finances, AND good for national finances. And, judging from my rapidly-shrinking pant size, it’s MILF-tastic. ;) What’s not to love?

Encourage the expecting moms you know to breastfeed, y’all.

Source for the info in this post: Nursing By The Numbers

It seems to me like your doublespeak on gun rights means one of three things:

1. You’re stupid.
2. You think I’m stupid.
3. You’re a liar.

I’m inclined to believe it’s a combination of the last two. See, here’s your agenda (the good one with the “battlefield” language, just for old times’ sake):

Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

And here’s what you’re telling America via the press (story via Uncle):

“I believe in common sense gun safety law, and I believe in the second amendment,” Obama said at a press conference Sunday.

“And so, lawful gun owners have nothing to fear.

“I’ve said that throughout the campaign. I haven’t indicated anything different during the transition, and I think that people can take me at my word.”

Which words, Obama? The ones where you say you want to take away the manner in which I buy many of my guns (private sale, aka ‘the gun show loophole’), restrict the usability of those guns in my home (making them ‘childproof’), and flat-out ban guns I own (that part is a no-brainer)? Or the ones where you say that, as a lawful gun owner, I have “nothing to fear?”

Your words don’t mesh, in my world. It’s really a very simple concept. I own the guns you want to ban. I’m pretty confident you know that. Which, again, says to me: You think I’m stupid, and you’re a liar.

Keep talking, though – I’m sure Midway and Ammunition to Go and Stag really appreciate the business in the holiday season. Every time you open your fool mouth you just remind us how great of a stocking stuffer another lower receiver or 500 rounds of 5.56 can be!

A statement from H-S Precision:

To Our Valued Customers:

H-S Precision has received comments relating to individual testimonials in our 2008 catalog. All of the testimonials focused on the quality, accuracy and customer service provided by H-S Precision.

The management of H-S Precision did not intend to offend anyone or create any type of controversy. We are revising our 2009 catalog and removing all product testimonials.

Sincerely,

The Management of H-S Precision

Considering the good folks at Remington were not impressed with the whole thing and were (still are? hopefully?) willing to 86 their relationship with H-S (something they already demonstrated they’ll do, when they cut ties with Zumbo)… you’d think The Management would have come up with something a little more… substantive.

I’m actually more pissed off now that they’re deliberately refusing to address the fact this is about one very specific endorsement from one very specific individual. They’ve had over a week to come up with something to say, and that’s the best they could come up with? Fine – If they want to protect their best buddy Lon “Women and Children” Horiuchi, so be it.

It is, without a doubt, time to boycott H-S Precision and – more powerfully – those who deal with H-S Precision. Tell them why. And, as Uncle reminded us in the Remington post, vote positively with your dollars as well – reward those who take action against H-S – and tell them why as well!

Okay, I have been sick for ten days now, finally went to the doctor this morning, and he has me drugged up on codeine. By drugged up I mean I took one Tylenol-3 and am high as a kite. (Yes, yes, this is confirmed safe for pregnancy.) This is why being anti-drugs to the point I don’t even usually take Advil is awesome. One Tylenol-3! Whee!

The downside is I am now incapable of properly articulating my incredulity (and outrage) at H-S Precision, Inc. having chosen to promote their business with a ringing endorsement from none other than Lon Horiuchi.

Hat-tip to Commander Zero, Ahab, Uncle, War on Guns (who actually called H-S to confirm), Tam and a billion others.

Lon Horiuchi. Seriously.

The next day, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot Randy in the back while he, Harris, and Weaver’s 16-year-old daughter Sara were outside, attempting to retrieve the body of Sammy Weaver, which was placed in a shed after being recovered the previous day. As the three ran back to the house, Horiuchi fired again, but this time hit Weaver’s wife Vicki in the head as she held their 10-month-old daughter Elishiba at the door. Vicki Weaver collapsed on the floor, dying instantly with her bloody but uninjured daughter in her arms. A Justice Department review later found the second shot was unconstitutional and the lack of a request to surrender was “inexcusable”, since Harris and the two Weavers were running for cover and could not pose an imminent threat. The task force also specifically blamed Horiuchi for firing at the door, not knowing whether someone was on the other side of it, along with those who had decided on the special rules of engagement allowing shots to be fired with no previous request for surrender. [WIKI]

Are they STUPID? I am not alone in thinking Horiuchi ought to be in prison, or perhaps in front of a firing squad, so I cannot imagine what idiot at H-S thought associating their business with him was any sort of a good idea. Somebody there is either very, very ignorant (and unaware of Google) or a very provocative asshole.

Either way, H-S better have a really good explanation for this, fast, or they’re on the fast track to Zumboland. I can’t imagine their .gov customers even like Horiuchi enough to want to actually associate with him, you know?

Also – as neighbor Joe points out, McMillan is a great alternative for high-end stocks made by a company that doesn’t suck. (I have a feeling Joe might my special indignation about Horiuchi, considering he’s rather a persona non grata in our home state of Idaho.)

In case y’all didn’t notice this, I don’t let things go down the memory hole.

After my last response to Koji, his frat-brother running mate Joey Meehan jumped into the fray, deleting everything I’d written, everything Koji had written, and everything my friend Dan had written. He left intact, however, a couple of posts that added nothing to the discussion and instead served just to (lamely attempt to) insult me. Brilliant!

Then, Joey said:

Joey Meehan wrote at 7:33 pm:

Dan & Laurel,I am sorry if you two are taking offense to our standpoint on the issue. We feel that the college environment poses too many threats towards violence enough, let alone with firearms involved. We both understand that there are pros and cons for both sides of the argument; however, we have told you once what we are standing for and we would both appreciate it if you two would discontinue posting your concerns on this issue. This is not a myspace blog. If you have any other concerns with campus policy and our standpoints, please feel free to post another question. We encourage everyone to get involved. Thank you.

Joey Meehan

Joey,

I would expect transparency out of ASUI Senators, as well as ownership of prior statements. Thus, now that you have deleted the entirety of my exchange with Koji under the pretense of decluttering your group’s wall, I assume you won’t object to me posting a simple link to where I’ve copy and pasted everything Koji and I said:

[link to Facebook group]

Your constituents do have a right to know where you stand on this issue, do they not – as well as a right to see how Koji speaks to those who challenge him?

Chris – my apologies, next time I’ll try to use smaller words to make my points easier for you to understand.

Cheers and good evening, everyone!

Laurel, you exacerbate me with the exuberance of your vociferous. If such a misuscule issue is going to abhor your from voting for a candidate, then how can you muster the gumption to vote for anybody at all. My commendations for you would be to run for ASUI senate yourself, however from what I have read you have excessively proven you are far more contented to be a petulant, shortsighted, CRETIN!

Laurel, your response to me makes no sense…would you like to try and articulate a more coherent response, or should all of us just settle on the presumption that you are in fact “touched”? = )

Joey Meehan
Today at 7:42pmhey

i appreciate ur concern with the issue. stop leaving aggressive posts on our wall. for one it is disrespectful. were not trying to argue with u so u need to relax. for two it makes our group look like shit because we have two people talking shit back and forth on the wall. u dont see us throwing facts and opinions at you. show some respect.

—

Dan Ritter
Today at 7:56pm

The problem here Mr. Meehan is exactly what you just said…you aren’t throwing facts back at me. Koji, your boy, was making you look bad. I’m looking for reasonable people to represent me, not people who 1) dodge the question 2) complain that I’m being aggressive 3) have nothing constructive to say

—

Joey Meehan
Today at 7:57pm

then were not ur guys

Koji Moy wrote at 5:45 pm:

wow…is this an nra meeting?

Koji Moy wrote at 6:03 pm:

One question for both of you little lovebirds..
Would Virginia Tech allow the posession of concealed weapons on campus?
how about Northern Illinois University?
you may have legitimate points and clearly have deeply investigated this issue;however, i do not feel that there is a clear necessity to carry a weapon on campus. End of discussion

1. Wait, let me get this straight: If a man and a woman share common views, that means they’re “lovebirds?” Would you like to bring any other sexist allegations into this discussion, or are you done now?

2. Should I infer from your reference above to your status as a Delta Chi brother that this kind of discourse is condoned by your fraternity?

3. Do you believe it is appropriate to resort to ad hominem attacks against somebody who challenges your stance on something, especially when the people challenging you are those you are asking for a vote? You do realize you are insulting people you would serve as a representative, right?

4. Since you are missing the point completely: Both Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University have policies prohibiting carry on campus. And somehow, the murderers at both universities (and every other murderer who enters a “gun-free zone”) passed through the magic forcefield of said policies and killed people anyway. Could this possibly have anything to do with the fact that criminals disobey laws… and those who would seek to carry legally in defense of themselves and those around them were disarmed?

5. Perhaps you are unaware, but this IS an issue that will be coming before the Idaho legislature again this year, and will almost certainly be discussed at the ASUI Senate. It is also being discussed, legislated and litigated across the country. (Allow me to point you at http://concealedcampus.org/ for more information.)

It is entirely inappropriate for someone seeking the office of ASUI senator to be both utterly ignorant on an issue and unwilling to conduct a discussion about it. Such an attitude is contrary to the whole point of representation, and dangerous to the legislative process.

I truly hope individuals on BOTH sides of the concealed carry issue will ask for higher standards from their ASUI Senators than you are offering with your candidacy.