Comments 10/15/06

The Week in Review: Kick Out the Republicans!

(Archive)
We’re coming down to the wire. And the latest polls say that Democrats will take the House and have a decent shot at the Senate.

Conspiracy Theories of the Right and the Left

(Archive)
Guest: Robert Parry, investigative journalist of Consortium News
Some conspiracy theories are proven: for example, the connections between the George H. W. Bush and Rev. Sun Myung Moon and between Moon and North Korea.
Others are unproven: the Right’s claim that Democrats are to blame for the information on Mark Foley coming out in October or that the Clintons killed Vince Foster. Or the Left’s claim that Bush intentionally caused 9/11.
What causes partisans of the Left or the Right to seek to place everything that happens in a paradigm where the other side can be blamed? How are we to distinguish between good journalism — getting the “inside scoop” on facts that powerful forces would conceal — and wishful thinking?

The Immigration Fence

(Archive)
Guest: Al Garza, Executive Director of the MinuteMen, Arizona Chapter
Will a fence be built between the US and Mexico? Even partially built? Is it worth the cost?

Gun Control Now!

(Archive)
Replay of show that aired October 5, 2006
Guest: Elizabeth Haile, Staff Attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
As I read what happened in Bart, Pennsylvania,
I just get more sad, more disgusted and more angry.
Here’s a briliiant idea, politicians: DON’T LET MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE HAVE GUNS!
Right now, we don’t have the facts of the case.
But I’d be willing to bet this man has a past history.
Owning a gun is a PRIVILEGE, not a RIGHT. And if you’re sick in the head, it is up to the authorities to keep guns OUT OF YOUR HANDS!
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Amish families who lost their daughters….. Maybe this will spur politicians to FINALLY take action.
And if you’re sane (and you’ve never committed a felony or a violent misdemeanor, and you have no restraining order against you) and you like to hunt, and you want to own a gun? Fine by me. You shouldn’t mind to submitting to a little background check and waiting a week to get your gun. What’s your rush? That is, if you have nothing to hide….Deer season is longer than a week. And if you need a gun for self-protection RIGHT AWAY, maybe you should call the police and tell them who’s threatening you!
And if you sell a gun to anyone who would have failed a background check if you had only done one? YOU should go to jail for AT LEAST 10 YEARS, pay wrongful-death damages, and, perhaps (with the permission of the victims’ families), have your jail cell lined with pictures of your victims so that you may be haunted by the innocent lives snuffed out because you were too “busy” or concerned about “profits” before doing a background check on a potential murderer.
Guns are not toys. I can’t believe I live in a country where, in some states, ex-felons are not allowed to vote but can still own guns.
As for the parents who allowed their six(!)-year-old child access to a gun to bring it to school, I want them in jail….for a long time! Ten years sounds about right to me…