Dem Congresswoman: Facts “Not A Concern” In Ferguson Case

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton spoke for most liberals last week when she told Sean Hannity of Fox News that evidence is “not a concern” when it comes to the Darren Wilson case.

Norton’s comments came after Hannity asked her point blank whether she had actually reviewed the evidence from the Ferguson grand jury.

Her answer? Of course not.

“The evidence, that’s for you, that’s for the pundits, that’s not where I am,” she said, before launching into a familiar leftist screed about racism and police-community relations.

Hannity continued to press Norton about the circumstances of the case, pointing out that that Michael Brown had robbed a store prior to being stopped and that several witnesses testified that he charged Officer Wilson before the fatal shots were fired.

But Norton would have none of it, insisting that she didn’t want to “talk about the case” and preferred to focus on “what we should do going forward.”

Like too many of her left-wing acolytes, Norton prefers to stoke outrage rather than engage in a serious discussion about what happened in Ferguson.

The fact is that this tragedy could have been avoided if Michael Brown had simply followed orders instead of attacking a police officer and grabbing his gun. That kind of reaction is simply asking for trouble.

But far be it from leftists to let little things like facts get in the way of a valuable political opportunity.

The Media’s Hypocrisy On Criticizing Politicians’ Families

Republican Party staffer Elizabeth Lauten resigned from her post as communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher of Tennessee after criticizing Malia and Sasha Obama on Facebook last week.

Lauten’s post took issue with the Obama girls’ behavior at the annual pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey, saying that they were dressed like they wanted “a spot at the bar” and that they should have shown more “class”.

Lauten later issued a half-hearted apology, in which she admitted that she failed to consider how “hurtful” her words could be. The apology wasn’t enough, and yesterday she announced that she would be stepping down from her job.

Lauten’s comments about Sasha and Malia were uncalled for and inappropriate. But some liberal commentators are taking things a step further, declaring that personal attacks like this are a trademark of the Republican Party. According to Hot Air, a guest on CNN claimed that Republicans are uniquely apt to attack their opponents’ families because Republicans in general tend to be angrier and more irrational.

This is a completely ridiculous. If anything, it is Democrats who routinely smear their enemies’ families with personal attacks.

Remember the way the Bush twins were treated? Jenna faced constant ridicule for simple mistakes like sticking her tongue out at the White House press corps and for tripping and falling at a college party, leading to allegations that she had a drinking problem. Saturday Night Live even did an entire sketch mocking the twins in 2004.

And what about the Bristol Palin? During the 2008 presidential campaign, the press even went so far as to speculate that Palin’s fifth child was in fact Bristol’s.

It’s not just cable news and The Daily Show that attack Republicans families. When John Roberts became a Supreme Court justice in 2005, the Washington Post ran an entire editorial criticizing the clothing of his four and five year old children.

Elizabeth Lauten was out of line in publicly criticizing the appearance and behavior of Sasha and Malia Obama. But she was merely following in the tradition of the media and the Democratic Party.

Jay Leno Cancels Gun Show Appearance Under Pressure From Anti-Gun Groups

Comedian and former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno pulled out of a scheduled appearance at the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s 2015 SHOT Show in Las Vegas under pressure from leftist gun control groups.

Leno dropped out just hours after the Newtown Action Alliance began circulating a petition calling on him to cancel. Several hundred people had already bought tickets to his performance, which the NSSF was calling the “highlight” of the event.

According to Town Hall, the most recent SHOT show attracted 67,000 people and pumped $73 million into the Las Vegas economy. More than 1600 companies were involved in the event, which included a performance by the magicians Penn & Teller.

Leno’s spokesman claims the comedian had accepted NSSF’s invitation without knowing that the NSSF was part of the “pro-gun lobby”. The spokesman also said Leno did not receive any payment for the gig, although the NSSF has since disputed that claim.

The NSSF responded to Leno’s cancellation with a statement criticizing the “bullying political tactics” of gun control groups.

“We are clearly disappointed by Jay Leno's decision not to perform at the 2015 SHOT Show State of the Industry Dinner. He unilaterally cancelled his promised appearance due to pressure from the anti-gun lobby, which included false statements about our industry and its commitment to genuine firearms safety, which we attempted to personally correct with him, but to no avail. We are not deterred by their publicity seeking nor are we unfamiliar with the bullying political tactics of the gun control groups that seem to have as little respect for the First Amendment as they continually demonstrate with regard to the Second Amendment.”

Is Pennsylvania’s New Gun Law Anti-Conservative?

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed a firearms pre-emption law last month, which will allow citizens to sue local governments whose gun regulations exceed state law.  The NRA says it is “the strongest in the nation”.

While I certainly applaud putting limitations on gun control, preemption laws are not the right way to promote gun rights. Gun rights are important, but so is local democratic decision-making.

The idea of preemption is that federal laws are more important than state laws, and state laws are more important than local laws.

This puts serious limits on the power of local government. States often use it to force cities and towns to comply with state rules on things like zoning and special education funding.

The federal government uses preemption as well, usually in ways that hurt conservatives.  In 2011, the Supreme Court cited preemption as a reason for striking down an immigration law that had been passed by voters in Arizona. Senate liberals have tried to use it to force states to ease access to abortion.

These types of decisions should be left up to local voters, not career politicians. Most conservatives would agree. Yet the NRA has been pushing preemption laws not only in Pennsylvania, but also throughout the country.

In its effort to protect the freedom to carry guns, the NRA has to be careful to preserve other freedoms as well.

America’s Youngest State Legislator Ever Is An Eighteen Year Old Republican Woman

Last week, West Virginia elected America’s youngest state legislator, eighteen-year-old Republican Saira Blair.

Just a freshman in college, Blair beat her Democratic opponent Layne Dieh by a landslide, winning sixty three percent of the vote to his thirty percent.

And she did it by running on a proudly conservative platform, expressing strongly pro-life and pro-gun views.

“I fully support the Second Amendment, I believe in protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. It’s time that we stopped treating our citizens like terrorists and terrorist like citizens,” she wrote on her campaign website. “Simply stated, firearms allow our law abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families. Our constitutional right shall not be infringed!”

She was endorsed by guns rights organizations like West Virginia Citizen’s Defense League and the NRA.

Blair is also staunchly pro-life. She believes that life begins at conception and that tax dollars should not fund abortions. Unlike her father, Republican West Virginia State Senator Craig Blair, she does not support the use of Plan B contraception.

And, she believes in responsible job creation. In an interview with Time Magazine, she explained why she wants to make West Virginia a right-to-work state. “I’ve watched too many people get a high school and college education and then leave the state because they cannot get a good paying job,” she said.

Blair recently told Fox News that many young Republicans are too afraid to speak up about their fiscally and socially conservative values because of the criticism they will receive on social media.

Blair’s historic win shows that there is nothing wrong with being a proud young conservative. She will be a fresh voice in West Virginia state government and will undoubtedly go on to do great things.

PETA: Pro-Hunting Yearbook Photos Could Lead To School Shootings

The animal rights organization PETA is publicly criticizing Broken Bow High School in Nebraska for allowing seniors to pose for yearbook photos with hunting rifles and other sport shooting equipment.

The organization says that the photos “glamorize killing” and that they “are particularly egregious coming on the heels of the recent deadly rampage at a Washington high school.”

In a leap of logic that is shocking and disrespectful even for a far-left activist group, PETA claims that hunting and school shootings are linked because “time after time, when young people are involved in school shootings, they have a history of abusing animals.”

This is a complete non sequitur. Responsible hunting is a far cry from torturing animals, and it certainly doesn’t lead to school shootings. Broken Bow’s policy for these photos, as put forth by Superintendent Mark Sievering, specifically states that the portraits must be taken off-campus and staged “in a non-threatening and tasteful manner.”

Speaking with Fox News, Sievering elaborated further on the policy. “Hunting is a very important activity in this area,” he said. “We are a rural community and a number of our families participate in hunting, fishing, skeet shooting, trapshooting — it’s part of life here.”

Only a small-minded bigot would think that a child that grows up in an environment that appreciates responsible hunting is automatically destined to participate in a mass shooting. PETA’s comments show that they know very little about hunting and even less about America.

The NRA’s Risky Ratings Stunt

The NRA dropped Connecticut Republican Mark Greenberg’s rating from an A down to an F earlier this month after he said that he would support universal background checks.

This type of thing helps the NRA get attention, but it could do more damage than good in the long term. The NRA shouldn’t go after candidates who otherwise support gun rights just because of their stance on background checks. Especially when they are Republicans.

Whether or not you support criminal background checks — personally I think it would depend on how they were enforced — the fact is that most Americans do. By being so strict on the issue, the NRA risks giving power to the gun control interests and opening the door to even tighter infringements on the Second Amendment.

The NRA is so afraid of getting criticism from the open carriers and the fringe groups that they forget about the mainstream voters who determine elections. Greenberg is in a tight race to take over a seat that is held by the Democrats. Couldn’t the NRA have been a little more lenient?