Meet Assault Weapons' Ban supporter - Alberto Gonzales

[Township75]

Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales told the Senate on Tuesday that he supports extending the expired federal assault weapons ban.

Gonzales also said he wants Congress to reauthorize the Patriot Act this year, despite complaints that it is too intrusive.

"I believe the USA Patriot Act has greatly improved our nation's ability to detect and prevent terrorist attacks," Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee in written answers to questions left over from his confirmation hearing.

Gonzales, who served as President Bush's lawyer during his first term, is expected to be confirmed when the Senate returns after Bush's inauguration on Jan. 20. He would be the nation's first Hispanic attorney general and replace John Ashcroft.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/01/18/national1435EST0622.DTL&type=printable

[No Exit]

1. What can I say, except HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I remember seeing posts on internet forums last summer, in which the pathetic, naive sheep would say things like, "I'm waiting to see if Bush lets the assault weapons ban sunset... if he does, I'll vote for him."

All I can say is, it's pathetic how stupid Bush supporters are.

[Wickerman]

2. wow, that ought to spin the heads of some our

Gungeon trolls and zombies. :wow:

[slackmaster]

5. I would bet a pint of Guinness Stout he doesn't even know what it covered

And what it did not cover, just like about half of the population.

Being a member of the "more equal than others" class he can get any weapon he wants for himself, or full-time armed security guards.

He doesn't give a shit about the little people like us.

[alwynsw]

7. That's a sucker bet.

ANd I think you're being generous by stating that only half the people know what the AWB did and didn't do. I doubt you'd find the knowledge base that high in Congress.

[aikoaiko]

20. I don't think it will be a suprise....

... the executive branch has consistently said it would sign the renewal of the AWB if it got to his desk. This guy is just backing up the shrub.

Even Replubicans remember (as do I) that Bush the elder signed the import ban of 1989 and Ronald Reagan banned new machine guns which in effect made it next to impossible for the average joe/josephine to purchase one on a working person's salary.

[alwynsw]

3. Is anyone surprised?

Gonzales is the worst of both worlds: a right winger and a lawyer.

It appears more of the current regeime's agenda is showing.

[slackmaster]

4. Not I

Are things looking more and more like the conditions that led to the French Revolution to anyone else yet?

[iverglas]

9. I dunno

Had somebody elected that Louis guy?

[NorthernSpy]

15. yes

Had somebody elected that Louis guy?

Gawd did! At least, that's what they thought back then. And I imagine that many people in the French hinterlands fully accepted that.

[iverglas]

16. continuing the analogy ...

Had somebody elected that Louis guy?
Gawd did! At least, that's what they thought back then. And I imagine that many people in the French hinterlands fully accepted that.

Assuming for a moment that they did accept it (as I'm sure they did), but they weren't very happy with gawd's choice -- what was to be done?

Tell gawd they were rebelling, and would be having no more of his choices?

Telling gawd to bugger off, and beheading his chosen one, is one thing. Telling the majority of one's fellows, out there in the hinterlands, to bugger off, and beheading their chosen one, is a slightly different thing.

Now ... since gawd actually selected Louis, rather than electing him ... one might have had an analogy to stand on for beheading the selected head of state, in a country not too far from where I am, four years ago ...

[NorthernSpy]

18. perceived legitimacy of authority

Telling gawd to bugger off, and beheading his chosen one, is one thing. Telling the majority of one's fellows, out there in the hinterlands, to bugger off, and beheading their chosen one, is a slightly different thing.

Why? I figure that the French monarchy seemed every bit as legitimate to most of its subjects as the current American government does to most of us. Did the majority of French endorse the Revolution? I was under the impression that much of France remained conservative. Revolutionary classes are very often not majorities of the total population.

[iverglas]

19. fine

Off with his head. No objection from me!

I do think we should not ignore the fact that there is an option available in the case of my southern neighbours that has not been available to most revolutionary classes: vote the bastard out. That was really my initial point.

I also trust that you aren't looking at the company we are in and seeing any revolutionary classes ...

[iverglas]

8. aw, I'm cut to the quick

Does being a left-winger and a lawyer just kinda cancel me out?

Sh - what was that? Did somebody say something?


on edit: hastening to add that I would have been cancelled out back when I was a lawyer ... so I guess I'm really not here now.

[Billy Ruffian]

6. Gives us a great opening

What better chance to grab a large number of voters from the repubs than to come out as the pro-gun party? Oppose the scary looking gun ban, and get back all the firearms owners.

There's no doubt that the repubs are statists.

The Democratic party is the party of freedom, and should embrace the notion of freedom WRT firearms, too.

The AWB was a failure. Before the AWB, only a few folks were interested in military style rifles. After the AWB (and continuing, since a new AWB has been proposed in the last congress) the sales of semi-auto military lookalikes greatly expanded.

We could take this issue away from the repubs. We never should have let them have it in the first place.

[iverglas]

10. and there's always that really big hole you could crawl into

Bush just didn't do a damned thing to stop all those abortions in the whole 4 years he's been president, so just look at the opening that gives ya.

What better chance to grab a large number of voters from the repubs than to come out as the anti-choice party?

[Billy Ruffian]

11. invalid comparison

a progun change would be advancing individual rights.

an anti-abortion change, which I oppose, would restrict individual rights.

Crawl into your own hole.

[iverglas]

13. ah, but

Abolishing all speed limits would be advancing individual rights.

Just think of the votes that *that* could get you.

(Never mind that red herring division of powers stuff; just propose to use the federal spending power to "blackmail" all the states to go along with it.)

[iverglas]

14. invalid objection

If the criterion is how many votes it would get -- which it was -- it wouldn't matter if it involved smothering the first-born child of every parent less than 5'6" tall.

If you want to introduce other criteria for what policies should be adopted, feel free. You can expect that someone else will then, too.

[Buster43]

12. Who gives a crap

if he supports or doesn't support the AW ban. The AW ban is dead. At least that useless piece of legislation is died.

[NorthernSpy]

17. but under the heading of "security legislation"...

... it could come roaring back. Or sneaking back, buried on page one million of some giant omnibus bill.

If there's ever a "useful incident", we might well see the son of AWB come forth, with the full support of a lot of conservatives.

Any destruction of liberties -- anything at all you can imagine us doing to ourselves, we're just one useful incident away from it...

[skippythwndrdog]

21. Nice playmate the gun grabbers have there.

Hmmm, seems that authoritarian "shitheel(TM)" has views on guns that are in line with those of the gun banners.

[slackmaster]

22. I heard he has anti-choice leanings too

Those gun banners sure are scummy people.

[skippythwndrdog]

23. How can they be against so many freedoms?

Could they possibly be (dare I utter the word) "authoritarians"?

[enfield collector]

25. nail hit on head I'd say.

[Paladin]

24. Ain't Going To Happen

Some people will believe anything....

Gonzales isn't going to do anything about assault weapons, any more than Dubya did. Gonzales is a right-wing ideologue, a loyalist in the service of an administration that's bought and paid for by the gun industry and its lobbies. Do you really suppose that the NRA and the GOA are going to mount campaigns to coerce their Republican (and few Democratic) legislative whores to keep Gonzales from assuming office as a result of his comments? Not bloody likely.

Still, it's not a total loss. Yet another right-wing politico has done you gun militants yet another favor: a nice new dose of the frantic paranoia that has fueled your movement since its beginning. Say thank you to the nice man.....

[iverglas]

26. yeah, imagine

Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales told the Senate on Tuesday that he supports extending the expired federal assault weapons ban.

And some people believed him. Or say they did. That seems to be the real story here, eh?

Newsflash! Republican politicians don't lie! Stop the presses!

Oh damn. I seem to have been reading worldnewsdaily again ...