DiFi's "Assault" weapon ban has been pulled because too many Democrats in the Senate won't vote for it. This isn't a surprise - the Democrats from Red and Purple states aren't stupid (at least when it comes to re-election).
And so the situation makes me unhappy, because I don't understand their motives. They aren't dumb, and they can count votes. They may be ideologues, but they can count votes. I don't see the upside, and so I suspect that I'm missing something important.
It must be more than simply whipping up their base. The last 3 months have done serious damage to the re-election chances of Democrats in Red and Purple states, even without a single vote on new legislation. The panic buying of guns and ammunition is showing no sign of dieing down - people aren't going to forget this soon. So if the Democrats are going to pull a stunt like this, what's their upside that offsets the downside?
I don't see it.
Like I said, I must be missing something important because I don't think that the Democrats are this bad at politics. Certainly recent elections do not suggest that they are.
If they don't have the votes, then they need another mass killing. See if they don't get / manufacture one. There is no plan "B" for them in this. They will keep going until they achieve utopia.
ReplyDeleteThey got high huffing the blood of the children. They believed their own propaganda.
ReplyDeleteI suspect they'll try to portray the withdrawal of the assault weapons ban as a 'concession' on their part, and then demand that we accept the imposition of universal background checks on transfers and other punitive measures as a 'reasonable compromise' to match their 'concession'.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that ultimately, they will have conceded nothing at all, and that we'll have lost more, will (of course) not feature at all in their propaganda.
Yeah, there IS something missing... This is not their 'normal' agenda in action.
ReplyDeleteAs has been said, the AWB was the overreach that allowed magazine bans, universal background checks, private sale bans and backdoor registrations to seem like a "fair compromise."
ReplyDeleteThere is always the chance they are revealing a core incompetence. I would not call them 'stupid', as that would be dangerous. Still, even politically astute animals can make herd mistakes.
ReplyDelete+1 on Peter's comment, which is what I've predicted all along. They came out with an over reaching plan and then "compromise" down to just a bad plan. It works because Republicans can't stand being seen as doing nothing. Also doesn't hurt them that the people who vote for them often have memories shorter than the typical gnat.
ReplyDeletetwo things.
ReplyDelete1 - yes, they will say they gave now it is our turn and push harder for the rest.
2 - they want the UN to do the dirty work for them and will push to pass the UN arms crap to win.
Its the standard rope a dope.
ReplyDeleteA big part of this is to gather the wagons as it where... The majority of the anger was regarding the assault weapons ban which they knew they couldn't get through. So they pull it (at Feinies great displeasure) and in doing so get everyones blood cooled down so they can push the background check bill, and tag a little bit of universal registration on there. You know, for the children.
Universal Background Check, followed closely by This Isn't Working We Need Gun Registration.
ReplyDeleteWhat Peter said...and, I believe they overreached and screwed the pooch.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are giving them too much credit. They actually believe their own polling/propaganda. They actually believed that there was a constituency for gun control, so they tried for it. We knew better and watched them crash.
ReplyDeleteOf course they will say that they are "conceeding." That's what all political losers say. Our job is to tie this failed AWB around the tail of every single future gun bill and make them suffer for even trying.
You keep acting like this is some sort of Machiavellian plan when the obvious reality is that the gun grabbers are so out of touch with reality that they actually believe their own push polls. The reality is that we can pack hearings, meetings, and capital steps during rallies with volunteers. The gun grabbers have to buy rent-a-mobs from SEIU. We can threaten Senators politically while they can't.
At some point, Harry Reid needs to tell DiFi to shut up before she single handedly loses the Senate for the Dems. And Reid is being told by the vulnerable Senators to kill this now because they don't need the aggro.
JD is on to something.
ReplyDeleteThe UN arms control treaty has more teeth than most realize.
They are making noise with DiFi's failing bill with one hand while they get ready to pass the UN treaty with the other.
Most pro 2nd Amendment people will never realize what hit them.
I agree that it is part of the compromise.
ReplyDeleteDiFi's bill was such a monstrosity it stood no chance of passing - it is a diversion to keep people from realizing they will pass gun control in piece meal parts.
It will be much harder to defeat a 'reasonable' bill like mag limits.
They wish to be re-elected. If they vote for gun control they won't be.
ReplyDeleteMy take on it:
ReplyDeleteThe donks were using the gun discussion to keep the talk away from other far more dangerous discussions like 'How's the hope n' change thing working on the economy?' or Libyagate or Obutthole Care or any other donk failures about to hit the fan.
It's worked too: the lefties and gun grabbers are happy because they think they 'had their discussion on guns', and St. Barkie failed because too many ignernt redneck knuckledraggers still cling to their bibles n' guns.
The far right conservatives are happy because they scuppered that idiotic 'discussion' by refusing to argue with idiots.
I predict the next non-issue to divert the stinking masses' attention will be gay marriage, or a half assed attack on the first amendment as the donks try stifle free speech they and the gays disagree with.
I really hate to say it but it is true: People get the gov't they want and the one they deserve.
It may be related to this: The Russians think we're wrecking the world on purpose.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is that it pins the problem on Democrat's incompetence (perhaps better said: short term thinking).
There WILL be electoral consequences of this. They're spending (burning?) political capital, maybe in prodigious quantities. What are they getting for it? I just don't see the upside for them.
The fact that I don't see it is what concerns me. Either they're fiendishly subtle or they're idiots. I don't think I like wither of those choices.
Has anyone bothered to ask the question how many of these Dems actually own shares or are funded by ammunition companies or gun manufacturers?
ReplyDeleteWhat better way to drive profits and the stock price up than to scare people into a false sense of coming scarcity.
I might be giving them way too much credit though.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this is odd. They are burning capital with no obvious gains. Not that I mind them throwing DiFi under the bus. She's past her expiration date anyway, but I don't like that I can't figure out why they are playing it the way they are. It's entirely possible that they really are that stupid and naive, but they are generally better and playing the politics than that.
ReplyDelete"I don't think that the Democrats are this bad at politics. Certainly recent elections do not suggest that they are."
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, they didn't really have to be any good at politics to win most of the recent elections, they just had to be less bad at politics than the Republicans. That's not a terribly high hurdle for anyone to overcome - we don't call them the stupid party for nothing, after all.
As far as DiFi's AWB, while I think they may have gotten a little overconfident, I suspect it was never really expected to get even as far as it did, and was meant more as a distraction and a way to advance the goalposts so that the follow-up bills (magazine limits, private sale ban, etc.) could be presented as "compromise" positions and to help paint any resistance to those as being "unreasonable".
So what's the over/under on another convenient mass shooting happening in Colorado between now and Nov 2014?
ReplyDeleteOr am I being too fatalistic?
At least give them credit for honestly hating/fearing guns. We can argue over why they hate and/or fear guns, but let's not pretend that they don't actually feel that way.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, they are stupid enough and living in such a bubble that they think everyone else believes the same thing they do. It's a shock to their system when reality intrudes.
We can pretend that they are Machiavellian SOBs, but the reality is that they just hate and fear guns. They will use whatever tactics they can to advance their agenda, but let's not pretend that it was some deep layed plan.
If we continue to stomp them silly, we can destroy gun control for a full generation. We managed to do it once, we can do it again. Hopefully with one more generation, guns will be so socially acceptable we'll never have to do this again.
Generic Democrat legislative practices:
ReplyDelete1) The reverberations inside their echo chamber prevent intrusion by any external signal.
2) They do not understand "overreach" because they don't have to. Their media partners soften radical proposals and provide cover for the rest.
3) Because of their media allies, prodigious burn rates on political capital are irrelevant; account balances can be restored quickly.
4) Sacrificial lambs are willingly slaughtered, knowing Republicans will eagerly embrace lesser proposals to demonstrate they believe in "bipartisanship."
Democrats, like Asians, believe in the "long game" and are willing to invest years, decades and lifetimes to achieve their goals. Republicans and conservatives have no clue what to do after lunch. Democrats, like water, flow around obstacles; Republicans, should they be capable of identifying obstacles, form a committee to investigate funding for an engineering plan to build a bridge over the obstacle.