Phoenix police estimate there were a dozen people with firearms outside the Obama event today.
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) just appeared on Chris Matthews show basically gave a big thumbs up to the idea of bringing fire arms to public political events. WATCH the video.
A tweet from SEIU’s Andy Stern: “We should not lower our expectations on health care. We won the election and a bad plan could lose the next one-America needs real reform.”
TPM Reader LAG has a question …
In a stunning amount of irony, Mansonite Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was released from prison this week, after 34 years in prison. The gun she pointed at President Ford had no bullet in the firing chamber– unlike Sarah Jane Moore, she never even pulled the trigger or fired. Presumably, these gun nuts showing up for the health care events have their weapons actually loaded. I repeat, Fromme did *34 years in prison.* Where, may I ask, was the Secret Service today? Far be it from me to tell them how to do their job, but letting armed extremists near the President of the United States would appear to not be in their job description. Were the AR-15 guys questioned? Detained? Quite frankly, given the history of political violence in this country, I would think that the operative policy would be to disarm these guys first and ask questions later. The legal standard for determining what is a threat to the President is rather low, as these things go (as I recall, requiring only a threat and an apparent ability to carry it out– Francisco Duran, while he fired his gun, never got within a hundred yards of President Clinton, who was behind several walls at the time. He’s doing 40 years in prison.). What is going on here?
Allow me to share a few thoughts on this. First, it’s important to say that not only has none of these guys tried to fire their weapon at the president (or anyone else), to the best of my knowledge none of them were within the protective perimeter of the event. In other words, at the event today, no one was in the hall where the president was speaking. They were all in crowds outside the auditorium where he was speaking — probably across the street, or something like that. Read More
Obama and Biden reportedly working on turning their shotgun marriage into a committed long-lasting relationship. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
According to local police, approximately a dozen people carrying firearms outside the Obama event yesterday.
And now the health-reform opponent carrying an AR-15 Assault Rifle (or perhaps the group he’s affiliated with) has produced a Youtube video which leaves little question where they stand — “We will forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority with a vote.” Watch the Video.
Jon Stewart to Obama: Are you a Jedi or is health care reform kicking your ass?
As we track the escalating number of incidents of right-wing fringers bringing guns to Obama events or other health create town hall events, we are, unsurprisingly, seeing various conservative websites mocking the public concern. “Oh, those Dems, they go all wobbly just because a few upstanding citizens show up with legal firearms.” Call it the new girly-manism, it’s a sign that Democrats are so many political panty-waists because they’ve never seen the gun culture up close or just get easily rattled.
It’s true that there are some regional divergences at work here. Weapons just don’t get carried around in public in say New Jersey or Connecticut the way they do in the South or especially the west.
But let’s be honest about what this is about. The right — the modern American right — has a very troubled history with political violence. The ideological pattern is clear going back at least thirty years and arguably far longer. A simple review of the 1990s, particularly 1993, 1994, culminating in many respects in the tragic 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal building in April 1995 tells the tale. Mix in the militias, the thankfully inept attempt on President Clinton’s life a few months before Oklahoma City (see Francisco Duran) and it’s all really not a pretty picture. Read More
Did NJ Gov candidate Chris Christie (R) start his chats with Karl Rove back in 2003? Seems so. At least they were spending time together.