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Epic Fails are all the rage in popular culture, so let's visit some Epic Fails that affected the pro-RBKA Democratic community in 2010...Epic MYOB FailDr. Chris OkonkwoThis Ocala, FL pediatrician was asking Amber Ullman a series of question before providing medical care to her daughters when he asked Amber if there were any firearms at home. When she hestitated to respond, Dr. Okonkwo turned her children away. Perhaps he should pay more attention to the scrapes, bruises, coughs, colds, and wheezes of his patients rather than asking if their parts are exercising their Constitutional rights.
Epic "One Gun a Month" FailGovernor Deval Patrick (D-MA)Apparently hoping to use the recent "one gun a month" legislation in New Jersey as momentum behind his own efforts, Gov. Patrick lobbied strongly for a similar law in Massachusetts, only to see the bill die a slow, lingering death in the state legislature. He may try again in the future, but for now, victory is sweet.
Epic John 8:12 FailTrijiconIn apparent defiance of military rules against religious proselytation, Trijicon supplied the military with ACOG scopes encoded with secret references to Bible verses. Some of these scopes wound up at gun shows, but others wound up on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. A CENTCOM spokesperson said that such inscriptions do not violate policy, but this stunt sure got the Marines concerned. In the end, Trijicon agreed to stop putting religious code on its scopes, but they should have known better in the first place.
Epic Nonconsensual FailMajor Lee BarnesThis would-be rapist in Florida forced a woman to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint, but during the assault, she pulled his handgun out of his pocked and shot him in the leg. Barnes limped off to seek medical treatment, but wound up behind bars facing multiple felony charges and $1 million bail. Just be glad she didn't aim a little higher, genius.
Epic Assault Weapon Definition FailWashington Senate Bill 6396This latest attempt to outlaw "assault weapons" within Washington state sought to label not only semi-automatic rifles but even some pump-action shotguns as "assault weapons," flying in the face of conventional wisdom that gun-control advocates only meant for the term to apply to semi-automatic firearms with a predetermined number of safety/cosmetic features. At an end this bill's life is, and not too short it was.
Epic "Government Is The Problem" FailAshtabula County, OhioTo be fair, Ashtabula County's financial woes are a complex matter, and our best goes to the people of the county, but the staggering unemployment rate, the reduction of deputies from 112 to 49, the availability of only one patrol car to the sheriff's department, and one judge's advice to county residents to "arm themselves" in the absence of decent law enforcement tells us that something is terribly wrong. Reducing government is clearly not the answer for Ashtabula County.
Epic Venti FailBrady Campaign to Prevent Gun ViolenceThey tried. Oh, how they tried. The Brady Campaign took dead aim at Starbucks Coffee's lack of a "no guns" policy at all of its franchises nationwide. They protested coffee shops, they circulated petitions, they grabbed a lot of face time in the media. All for naught. While it is probably not prudent to
force a business to allow concealed handguns on its premises, it's great to see Starbucks refuse to cave under the pressure from gun-control advocates.
Epic Zero Tolerance FailEvelyn Matroianni, principal of PS52 (Staten Island, NY)Principal Matroianni suspended a fourth-grader for bringing a toy gun to school in February of this year. Clarification: it was a LEGO toy two inches long and wholly incapable of firing any bullet whatsoever. But in Staten Island's school district, apparently this obvious plaything is enough to land an elementary school student in big trouble.
Epic Composure FailMayor Richard Daley of ChicagoA little over a month before the Supreme Court made its ruling on
McDonald v. City of Chicago, Daley was asked some reasonable questions about the inability of state and municipal handgun bans to combat crime in the Windy City. Daley responded, in part, by picking up a rifle and saying how effective it would be "If I put this up your butt" and suggesting that justices who were attacked by armed thugs on the street would come around to his way of thinking. Embarrassing.
Epic Pro-RKBA Blogging FailYOUR HUMBLE WEBMASTER!!It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Unwind from the Texas Democratic Party State Convention last June in Corpus Christi by getting a little fresh air. Use the metal detector on the beach (sorry, no pirate gold this time). Eat some fresh seafood. Rent an electric buggy and tool around the port. Visit the aquarium and get friendly with a cowshell ray. While I'm recuperating from my stint on the statewide Resolutions Committee, guess what happens? The Supreme Court issues its ruling on
McDonald proclaiming that the Second Amendment applies to the several states, not just to the Federal government. I should be reporting on this the very moment that the justices issue their ruling. Why should SCOTUSblog have all the fun? But no, I'm tooling around in a dune buggy named "Taffy" with a hot pink interior and girl's eyelashes on the headlight covers. In all fairness, however, last year has been really rough on me for a variety of reasons I will not go into here, and I'm not quite out of the woods yet. But still...
Best wishes to all for a Happy New Year!