Arizona state Senator Lori Klein, who has never been harassed by Herman Cain (Credit: YouTube/Fox News)
Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein is Herman Cain’s Arizona state chairman and also the sinking candidate’s single best asset. If I were him, I’d immediately start booking Klein on cable TV as a campaign surrogate, because her impressive spin work is right now being sadly wasted.
Lori Klein, an Arizona state Senator and Cain’s Arizona state chairman, told CBS News she stands by Cain.
Says she has known him for 12 years and he’s “never been anything but a gentlemen – and I am not an unattractive woman.”
That’s a slam-dunk argument, right there. And she’s not even done!
Klein suggested that if Cain is innocent he should sue White for libel and went on to attack the media for digging up the allegations. She also said that in politics, “we want a virgin to do a hooker’s job.”
Yes! Herman Cain is a hooker. But a hooker with a heart of gold, and the constitution to resist harassing or assaulting Lori Klein, a noted attractive woman!
Klein is, of course, an expert in what constitutes appropriate, professional behavior among adults, as she proved when she took a loaded gun out of her purse and pointed it at a newspaper reporter who was attempting to interview her in a state Senate lounge.
Lori Klein is a rising star in the GOP. Remember her name. Or she’ll shoot you, for being a Mexican.
[Via Ben Smith]
Attorney General Eric Holder (Credit: AP/nrailadonate.org)
While an apologetic Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. went before a Senate committee this week to talk about a failed gun-walking program, the National Rifle Association was gearing up its campaign to get Holder fired.
In a new, slick 1 minute and 55 second television ad flush with with Fox News footage, the NRA expressed outrage over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm’s gun-running operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. Under the supervision of ATF officials, the operation let guns get into the hands of criminals on both sides of the Mexican border. The NRA claimed Holder perjured himself before Congress and lied about what he knew about the operation and urged the White House to fire Holder. Holder has adamantly denied lying.
The NRA has homed in on Operation Fast and Furious in order to advance its agenda of undermining not just Holder but the president. The misguided operation, run by ATF officials reporting to the Justice Department, encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell weapons to “straw purchasers,” with the hopes of tracing the weapons to the Mexican cartels. ATF lost track of many of the guns, and some surfaced at crime scenes on both sides of the Mexican border, including one involving the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last year in Arizona.
Bent on getting this latest ad circulated, the NRA is soliciting funds to air it, and has posted this on the website:
“Watch the video and see how Eric Holder’s lies are destroying freedom and costing lives. Please make a donation to help NRA-ILA air this video across America. And please, forward this video to family and friends!”
The group’s outrage over guns getting into the hands of the bad guys under Fast and Furious would be slightly more plausible if the NRA ever expressed any concern about U.S. gun laws that effectively armed the Mexican drug cartels with heavy weaponry.
The NRA’s critics note that the powerful gun lobby, based in northern Virginia, has essentially accomplished the same evil as Fast and Furious by lobbying hard — and taking legal action if necessary — to water down tough U.S. gun laws and regulations. The NRA is particularly determined to undermine its nemesis, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces gun laws.
The NRA has adamantly fought ATF regulations that require gun dealers in four Southwest border states to report sales of two or more assault weapons to one person within five days. The NRA also helped derail the confirmation of Obama nominee Andrew Traver for director of ATF, which has been in dire need of stability. The NRA opposes strict handgun control laws in such cities as Washington that have high rates of gun violence.
“I think the NRA has to have something to scare their members about and attacking Obama and more specifically Holder is part of that plan,”said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center in Washington.
Rand says the NRA has conveniently homed in on the guns in Operation Fast and Furious, while ignoring “the hundreds of thousands of other guns that have flooded Mexico and killed tens of thousand of Mexicans.” And she noted that the NRA has been mum about news in recent days that a similar ATF gun-walking operation — Operation Wide Receiver — was pursued under the Bush administration and Attorney General Mike Mukasey.
“They’re not upset about that,” she said. “They’re directly threatened by another Holder-Obama administration,” and using it to help fundraise.
Few contest the downside of Operation Fast and Furious.
“This operation was flawed in concept, as well as in execution,” Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. “And, unfortunately, we will feel its effects for years to come as guns that were lost during this operation continue to show up at crime scenes both here and in Mexico. This should never have happened. And it must never happen again. ”
“The American public needs to know the whole truth on this,” said NRA president Wayne LaPierre in a video last June. “The fact is, that brings us to the consequences, these guns are now, as a result of what they did, in the hands of evil people and evil people are committing murders and crimes with these guns against innocent citizens.”
The whole truth is that lax U.S. gun laws — supported by the NRA — are what have helped the Mexican drug cartels to arm themselves and slaughter law enforcement officers, rivals and innocent people.
“The NRA has been devoted to assure that our gun laws remain anemic, ” said Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. ”The NRA is not really interested in stopping the gun trafficking.”
Mari Morneau, of Gilbert, shoots at Caswells Shooting Range Tuesday, April 6, 2010 in Mesa, Ariz. On Monday, April 5, 2010, Gov. Jan Brewer has signed into law two bills supported by gun-rights activists. One of the bills signed Monday would broaden the state's current restrictions on local governments' ability to regulate or tax guns and ammunition. The other bill declares that guns manufactured entirely in Arizona are exempt from federal oversight and are not subject to federal laws restricting the sale of firearms or requiring them to be registered. (AP Photo/Matt York) (Credit: Matt York)
Do libraries in Maricopa County, Ariz., need to be guarded by private security officers with guns? Yes, probably, because everyone should be armed at all times, especially when they are defending our library books or collecting late fees. Only then will we be free, and safe.
Apparently Maricopa County has guards — private security firm employees, not county employees, with guns — proper guns — at most of its libraries.
“In large buildings with multiple rooms and lots of people, you need to have some feeling among the staff, as well as the public, that it’s a secure place, particularly where it’s used a lot by children,” said library-district director Harry Courtright, who retired Friday.
[...]
In his 12 years with the district, Courtright said there have been no incidents of a guard drawing a gun.“And they shouldn’t have to, because they have the training. But that gun makes a difference to the people who are coming in the building who might want to do something that could be bad; they see an armed guard, and the reality is they back off and they don’t do things – it’s a preventative thing,” he said.
Right! Which is why all large libraries in big cities have armed private guards in them. Right, Phoenix libraries?
Interviews with officials at city-run libraries in the Valley that don’t belong to the county district indicate that armed guards are uncommon.
In Mesa, library-security guards are unarmed. The topic of arming them has never come up, said city spokeswoman Lily King-Cisneros.
“If there is a problem, they call the police,” she said.
Chandler’s libraries have a simple behavior policy to follow up on negative behavior, Manager Brenda Brown said.
Chandler employs security guards sparingly: Park rangers help during high-traffic times at the Downtown Library, while at Hamilton and Basha branches, both located on school campuses, security guards are present for a few hours following schools’ closing times. None is armed.
“Most of our behavior issues take place downtown, and police are less than a block away. We call them quite often and quite frequently,” Brown said, adding that stolen bikes are a common problem but threats to librarians are rare.
Phoenix, which has 16 libraries, trains its own guards, who are city employees and unarmed.
Incidents are rare even at the Burton Barr Central Library, where the surrounding neighborhood has a high number of homeless people, said Lupita Barron-Rios, acting deputy director for public services.
“For the most part, we don’t have a lot of incidents that require calling the police,” Barron-Rios said.
Barron-Rios said police are called when a patron’s car or bicycle is stolen.
Of course, none of these minor behavioral issues and occasional thefts would happen at all if literally every person in that library, from the children to the librarians to the homeless people, was carrying a clearly displayed handgun. It’s just a fact.
Is this armed guard program controversial? It wasn’t, until one library made a fuss.
Doesn’t Southwest Regional Library in Gilbert, Ariz., look like a lovely place? Looks can be deceiving! This library is suffering from a rash of “hostile encounters with irate patrons over late fees and other issues,” which is why the town decided to reinstate the guards they let go for funding reasons last year. But! “Town officials contend that the library district never told them of the plans to arm the guards once funding was restored …” I feel like town officials should’ve understood that they’re dealing with Maricopa County, here. There were going to be guns involved, no matter what.
[Via Michel Marizco]
Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the 28th annual National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference, Thursday, June 23, 2011, in San Antonio. Perry is considering a run for president. But he received a tepid reception Thursday following speeches by Democratic Hispanic leaders. They denounced some of Perry's most prized policies as openly hostile to Hispanics. Among those issues is a requirement for tougher enforcement of immigration laws. (AP Photo/Darren Abate) (Credit: Darren Abate)
Why doesn’t Rick Perry respect the Second Amendment rights of his constituents? The Texas governor and possible 2012 candidate is having a huge prayer-and-fasting party at Reliant Stadium in Houston, and despite the governor’s avowed support for the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves with firearms, guns will not be allowed at “The Response.”
Reliant Stadium apparently has a blanket ban on “weapons,” as if a handgun were a common cigarette or outside beverage.
A Perry constituent asked about bringing his licensed concealed weapon to the prayer festival, and received this response from event organizers:
Thank you for your question. According to the Reliant Stadium, weapons are prohibited. The following text can be found on our website: http://theresponseusa.com/faq.php
“What should I bring?
The Response is encouraging people to fast during the event, however there will be limited food vendors and water for sale. Bring a Bible and a notebook.
Stadium regulations prohibit: signs, flags, soliciting/promotion material, noise makers/instruments, coolers, tobacco, illegal substances, weapons or pets.”
Will a Bible and a notebook protect your family from a terrorist? Only if your family keeps those objects in their shirt pockets and the terrorist fires small-caliber bullets directly at their chests!
Our tipster then emailed the governor’s office directly to ask permission to bring his gun, and received this response, which totally dodges the issue: ![]()
As you can see the governor’s office is assigning blame for this travesty to the event organizers, who are passing the buck to the operators of the stadium. What ever happened to personal responsibility? If guns are banned at Reliant Stadium (which is owned by Harris County, making it basically a public park), why not hold the event somewhere that respects the wishes of our Founders?
If Rick Perry won’t even allow guns at his prayer festival, which will be attended by Good Christian Texans, what will he do with our guns if elected president?
At least five people are dead and one person has been wounded in a series of shootings in southwest Arizona.
The shootings happened Thursday morning in Yuma County.
Yuma police Sgt. Clint Norred tells the Yuma Sun that the shootings were connected and are under investigation. It’s unclear whether there’s been an arrest or what the motive may have been.
Norred says four of the fatal shootings occurred in the county and one happened within Yuma city limits.
Police haven’t confirmed the identity of the victims.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
YUMA, Ariz. – Yuma police say five people have been killed in a shooting that has forced authorities to close schools and the courthouse.
Details about the shooter and victims were not immediately clear.
Yuma police Sgt. Clint Norred tells The Associated Press that five people were killed in the Yuma area. It’s unclear if there were others who were injured.
Norred says police originally responded to a shooting call around 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
The Yuma Sun reports the Yuma County Courthouse and schools in the area have been placed on lockdown.
(The Associated Press) (from Broadcast News Ltd.)
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