Teabaggers to Descend on Grand Junction

I remember

When people got arrested just for having the wrong bumper sticker in the parking lot.

Now people are hinting at trying to get guns in to the President's town halls? That's just disgusting.

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by: redstateblues @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:04:03 PM UTC

flag@secretservice.gov

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by: Vincent Lynn @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:13:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And I remember when all the righties were saying

it was perfectly legit to keep people with tickets but the wrong bumper stickers out.  Hmmm guns vs Bumper stickers. I'm sure they'll find some way to convince themselves that bumper stickers are the bigger threat, unless they represent the "right" point of view.   How about "Guns don't kill people.  People with liberal bumper stickers do" ?!?!

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by: BlueCat @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:15:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Outside Obama's townhall yesterday in NH

there was a guy with a gun strapped to his leg. Perfectly legal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

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by: greality @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:22:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

First they came for the guys who were trying to kill the President

I'm sorry, I try to make jokes, but there's just nothing you can say at some point.

Right-wingers are angry because we're not yet fighting a civil war. Nothing short of that will make them happy.

"Have a Bobby bar! My dad made them." --Jon Huntsman Jr.

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by: sxp151 @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:52:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't blame the "right" per se

Yes- the far right hates Obama
Yes- there is a multitude of reasons.

But not very many really want to secede or revlot or fight a real civil war. Some, but not that many.

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by: MADCO @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 13:57:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

partake in the free guns being given away

Cue Laughing Boy: "Both sides are doing it, they're absolutely equivalent."  

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by: RedGreen @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:10:15 PM UTC

Ick.

Alex Jones actually makes me physically sick to my stomach.  Beck isn't far behind, and Ron Paul is a tool.

I carry all the time and I wouldn't dream of going anywhere near anything having to do with the President.

We are not in danger of a police state.  This gun thing is really, really, stupid.

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by: Laughing Boy @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:31:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agreed

If I was going to such an event I would not be carrying either.  Just common sense, the Secret Service shouldn't have to worry about me.  And anyone dumb enough to be threatening with a firearm when the Secret Service is around deserves whatever he may get.

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by: cologeek @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 20:55:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, the guy in NH

Was on private property, a church.

To carry to the Obama event, you'd be on school property.  I think it's illegal for anyone except law enforcement to carry a weapon on school property, but I might be wrong.

At any rate, nobody will get a weapon into the building.  You can't even bring a baby stroller in there.  I attended a Secret Service secured campaign event last summer, and we couldn't even bring in a can of bug spray.

Today, you're either going to get better or you're going to get worse, but you're never going to be the same.  Which one will it be?  --Joseph V. Paterno

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by: Ralphie @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 22:01:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You're exactly right.

But for that guy to have even made it an issue is terribly creepy.  Not a good topic to rooster about.  It's a gun, and it's not funny or poignant.

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by: Laughing Boy @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 22:20:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Creepy, yeah

But not illegal unless he tried to get into the event.

Had he tried to bring his weapon into the event, he would have been stopped and his weapon confiscated until after the event.

By the way, we got our bug spray back when the event was over.

Today, you're either going to get better or you're going to get worse, but you're never going to be the same.  Which one will it be?  --Joseph V. Paterno

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by: Ralphie @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 23:58:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Right, but...

...to make an issue out of a firearm like that shows me that you might not be mature enough to carry it.

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by: Laughing Boy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:38:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's brilliant

As long as you are talking about guns, you aren't talking about health care reform.

It is a brilliant way to divert attention away from the issue.  The screamers win because a better way is never discussed.  This is why the country is going into the crapper.  The screamers are winning the non-debate.

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by: Gilpin Guy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 01:09:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes, but...

Don't the Dems have a supermajority? Why ate they worried about a few crazy fringe lunatics?

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by: Laughing Boy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 01:44:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Why ate they worried about a few crazy fringe lunatics?

Because Democrats don't march in lockstep, and because the few crazy fringe lunatics -- Rush LImbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Chuck Grassley Rick Scott, Betsy McCaughey, Frank Luntz, among other fringe lunatics with giant megaphones -- are successfully using classic propaganda techniques to derail the debate with deliberate lies, misinformation and distraction. Honestly, you're proud of the "debate" your side is sponsoring?

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by: RedGreen @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 02:23:05 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Because

the few crazy fringe lunatics have used the age-old tactic of creating the illusion of greater numbers (like lighting hundreds of empty camp-fires). They've created a puffed-up "bandwagon" that has a gravitational pull greater than it's actual size, in part by using all of the right buzz words to play on American ideological tendencies. The Democratic "supermajority" consists of people who want to get re-elected, and the fringe lunatics have created the perception of a movement, that in turn creates the stirrings of a real movement, that those legislators now have to accomodate.

To many people, this is exactly how democracy is supposed to work. Unfortunately, what is lost in this version of the democratic process is reason applied to data in service to human well-being. It is the triumph of loud and obnoxious noise instead.

Beep-Beep!

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by: Road Runner @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 02:29:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You don't need...

a single Republican vote.  

If the bill is so obviously great, why are they caving to such a small minority of complainers?

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by: Laughing Boy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 03:05:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's not caving LB

to want to have an intelligent discussion of a crucial issue that involves everyone.  It is called Democracy and to those who think that Republicans can contribute it is known as accommodation.  I will accommodate your point of view if you will listen to mine.  Instead of a reasoned dialogue with bipartisan contributions we get carefully scripted rage designed to elicit emotion without thought.

I am particularly shocked that allowing doctors to bill for end of life counseling is now considered an evil beyond all evils and "death panels".  I just spent five days in the Boulder County hospice with my father-in-law and I have nothing but respect for the professionals who help without trying to get another $100,000 in unnecessary medical treatment from the patient.  We were fortunate that Boulder County has a really active hospice program and my father-in-law was able to stay at home until the end.

It is about more than passing legislation and "winning" which is a Republican obsession.  It is about bringing a country together and moving forward.  That's why this is about more than super majorities.  The brutal reality is that Republicans don't want to be part of America if they aren't in control.  

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by: Gilpin Guy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 03:25:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't think it's that simple.

BTW, the end of life thing is apparently out of the bill (or one of them) now, along with the public option.

Is it worth doing if it's going to end up being a symbolic victory at best

Off topic, what do you think of doctors being given a tax credit for each uninsured patient they treat?

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by: Laughing Boy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 03:34:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sounds great - I'll drop my coverage tomorrow...

If I'm uninsured, the doctors will all flock to my cause.

I'd rather get people insured, and lower the cost of insurance, than subsidize a single person's health care.  But at some level of income we're going to have to subsidize some people if we want everyone insured.

In health care reform, everything is tied together.  Requiring insurers to cover people with preconditions leads to requiring coverage to prevent short-changing the insurers.  Requiring coverage leads to figuring out how to cover those near poverty, which leads to talk of subsidies.  But we want to minimize subsidies and the expenses of so many people on health care, which means adding mechanisms to control insurance costs.  Considering those mechanisms leads to public options, exchanges, co-ops, negotiated drug pricing and best practices boards.

Pull any one piece out of the middle of this puzzle and you cause one interest to go out of balance, and the whole reform effort could fail for it...

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:11:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's not and/or.

If you could have a list of doctors willing to see uninsured for free and they were happy to do it, would that be a good thing

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by: Laughing Boy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:28:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nothing is"out of the bill" Congress is NOT in session

LB, speculation is not congressional action...that statement is being repeated on so-called "news" show.  It is simply not true.

 For politics, geezers are golden.
by: BlueCat @ Tue Aug 16, 2011 at 19:19:14 PM MDT

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by: dwyer @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 12:32:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My response to your post

with subject heading "You don't need..." is the post above it to which it was responding.

The bill isn't "great," by the way. It's a mess, because a mess is all that is permitted in this country. "Great" would be single payer universal health care, which costs less than our system, covers more people (everyone), and achieves better health care outcomes by every statistical measure.

But even the smallest step toward sanity is a match in the powder keg of ignorance that dominates this country. The answer to your question, again, is that politicians are scared shitless of throwing matches into powder kegs, even when the combustable involved is pure ignorance.

Beep-Beep!

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by: Road Runner @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:20:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

They're your guys.

Tell them to grow a pair.  You don't need one single R vote.

You have 15 months, better get busy.

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by: Laughing Boy @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:30:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah, right.

They're not "my guys." They're Democrats. I mean, it makes just as much sense to say they're all my guys, R's and D's, since we're all Americans. And, of course, Islamic Jihadists are my guys too, since we're all homo sapiens. What they really are is a bunch of individuals who belong to a particular political party for particular reasons, and act according to a swathe of cross-cutting motivations of their own. Sometimes, on the margins, the political organization to which they belong manages to trump those other conflicting motivations. But that's just not a given.

Beep-Beep!

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by: Road Runner @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 05:03:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bet: 2010 mid-terms

House of Reps: D's maintain 50+ majority (R's cliam victory for winning any seats at all)
Senate: D's increase majority by at least 1

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by: MADCO @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 14:20:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Because the few crazy fringe lunatics

are plotting to fucking kill us?

We've had Republicans killing cops, Republicans killing doctors, Republicans killing exercising women, Republicans killing sex workers, and Republicans killing security guards at the holocaust museum.

Now they're threatening to kill Obama, his wife, and his "stupid daughters." And threatening Democratic congresspeople in general.

At what point should we start getting worried about a few crazy fringe lunatics? Cuz after we're all dead, it's too fucking late.

"Have a Bobby bar! My dad made them." --Jon Huntsman Jr.

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by: sxp151 @ Fri Aug 14, 2009 at 04:57:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I am quite tolerant of lunacy

This is beyond rural "this is how we do things in the country" libertarianism--this is dangerous.

Somebody of stature within the conservative movement needs to speak out, before this gets out of hand.  

Dissent good: threats bad.

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by: Danny the Red (hair) @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:17:24 PM UTC

Everybody's doing it!

SEIU and ACORN and Organizing for America are just as nuts as the right-wingers showing up in such small numbers at these town halls.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...

The Secret Service is investigating a man who authorities said held a sign reading "Death to Obama" outside a town hall meeting on health-care reform in western Maryland.

The sign also read, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids" ...

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by: RedGreen @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:21:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And another guy in LA

Made threats against Obama and against the Federal Building - he's currently holding the LA police / SWAT at bay, parked in front of the Westwood Federal Building.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 21:11:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Are they really giving away free guns though?

What's the catch?  Do I have to listen the the death panel/birther speakers? I guess they are counting on people with half a brain to shoot themselves so that they can collect their guns back.

But seriously, I want a free gun, how do you get one?

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by: Vincent Lynn @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:22:13 PM UTC

The gun is free

but you have to buy the ammunition. That's how they get you.  

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by: RedGreen @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:23:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

In a similar story...

Hewlett Packard and Smith & Wesson announced a merger based on mutual admiration for each other's business plans  

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by: Vincent Lynn @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:25:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

With Gillette as a minority stakeholder

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by: RedGreen @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:30:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You get a free gun if you take the concealed carry/defensive handgun course

Nice weapon (Springfield XD) and a good package, certainly not free though.

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by: Danny the Red (hair) @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:42:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

free guns exaplained

see https://www.frontsight.com/fre...

You actually pay almost $1200- but you get over 5000 of stuff- (UNBELIEVABLE!)

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by: MADCO @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:47:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

But wait, that's not all...

...we'll include a discount coupon for an attractive casket for any family member who accidently shoots themselves or another while handling your loaded and unlocked weapon.

If it's a child under 7, (the statistically most-likely family member to be wounded or killed by an unsecure firearm) we'll add brass trim on the casket for FREE!!!!.

And if that wasn't enough, we'll provide a list of Pro-Firearm lawyers who will agree to take your case when your angst-driven teenager takes your unsecure weapon to school and blasts away at any classmates who've taunted him in the past.

They are also available to take your case for when that same firearm is stolen from your home, and used to commit a felony in YOUR community!

(Yes, it's Snark x 30. But almost every "Gun Expert" on this site advocates AGAINST trigger locks, safes, or any other means of securing firearms against unauthorized use. You can have your 9mm or 45.cal pacifier in your house, but if I have to live in the same community with you, you need to lock it up!!!)

((Libertad - please respond with something you've stolen from Sen Brophy, and claim its' your own....))

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten." Calvin Coolidge

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by: SSG_Dan @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 19:59:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

... and even chruch!

Yes Dr. Piazza! Sign me up for your Greatest Course Offer... Ever! I understand for a single payment of $1,199. I will receive the following Courses, Knife, Gun, Gear and Bonuses valued at $4,000 ... including:

Front Sight "Any Gun Will Do-- If You Will Do" Logo Shirt. I have had so many reports of people seeing our students proudly wearing their Front Sight shirts all over the country. Our students wear them to shooting ranges, gun shows, rock concerts, Disneyland and even chruch! You too will enjoy proudly flying Front Sight's colors. Shirt Value: $30. Wearing it to your liberal brother-in-law's house party... Priceless!

Remember I told you to sit down when you read this and be prepared to act on it immediately!

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by: RedGreen @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 20:00:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Jason Chaffetz

ugh.  Saw the last edition of "freshman year" and I'm surprised he could talk with his lips so firmly puckered on Boehner's ass. Hope he has a good supply of chapstick.

Just do whatever the seniority says, kiss their asses and vote how they tell you to, don't think for yourself, and some day you'll be minority leader yourself!  

.

" The webinar is free, however, there are only 250 spaces available "

Some douche

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by: Fidel's dirt nap @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 20:00:28 PM UTC

If Dems had done this under Bush

they would have been arrested FOr example: the guy Cheney had arrested.

judge elected officials by their actions, not by their rhetoric

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by: Ray Springfield @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 20:53:19 PM UTC

No, they wouldn't have been arrested

They'd have been picked up some dark and stormy night, and if they were lucky some lawyer would find out which military detention facility they were being held in (without charge).

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 21:13:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]