{"id":9756,"date":"2012-12-18T04:38:07","date_gmt":"2012-12-18T12:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=9756"},"modified":"2012-12-18T04:38:07","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T12:38:07","slug":"open-thread12182012-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/18\/open-thread12182012-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–12\/18\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m still down.  I\u2019m current with replies.  Tomorrow I hope.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s took me 5:04 (average 5:42).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Fantasy Football Report<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the playoff bracket from our fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.<\/font><\/p>\n

\"18Fantasy\"<\/font><\/p>\n

The underdogs (but not the progressive ones), won both games.  I hope that trend does not continue.<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>So we have found real reason to find hope in the determination to effect change that followed the murders of 20 children and seven adults in Newtown, Conn., last Friday<\/a>. President Obama said it unequivocally on Sunday<\/a> \u2014 the enormity of controlling the culture of guns and the epidemic of gun violence \u201ccan\u2019t be an excuse for inaction.\u201d <\/p>\n

Yes, Mr. Obama has said that before, after two previous mass killings during his tenure, and did nothing. The hurdles are just as big as they were before, but there are signs that people are willing to rethink their views. <\/p>\n

Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Warner of Virginia, Democrats with \u201cA\u201d ratings from the National Rifle Association, have both said it is time to talk about restrictions on gun sales and ownership. Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman and now morning host on MSNBC, said Monday<\/a> that the Newtown killings had changed his mind about gun control. <\/p>\n

This incident is so horrific that the NRA has been mute, too fearful to go to CT and hold a pro-gun rally, like they did after Columbine and Aurora. This is the best time there has been to act, because only the vilest Republicans will not be afraid to oppose reasonable firearms regulation now.<\/font><\/p>\n

From MSNBC<\/a>: <\/font>The Great Gun Divide<\/p>\n

 <\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n

I agree that there need be nothing to threaten the legitimate rights of gun enthusiasts who use them for legitimate purposes. As a former hunter, I can assure you that an assault weapon and an automatic pistol with a 30 round clip make for lousy hunting weapons.<\/font><\/p>\n

From US News<\/a>: <\/font>Pursuing an archaic legal theory that punctuated pre-Civil War disputes between the federal government and states, South Carolina state Rep. Bill Chumley last week pre-filed a bill<\/a> for the upcoming legislative session that would criminalize implementation of President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform law.<\/p>\n

If his bill becomes law, any state official caught enforcing the healthcare law would be guilty of a misdemeanor and "must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."<\/p>\n

Federal officials caught enforcing the law, however, would be given stiffer punishment under the proposal.<\/p>\n

Any federal employee or contractor enforcing the law "is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both," the bill proposes.<\/p>\n

Nullification and InsaniTEA are still alive and well in SC.<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"18Cartoon\"<\/font><\/p>\n

A shame for past Democrats.  A plan for present Republicans.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m still down.  I\u2019m current with replies.  Tomorrow I hope. Jig Zone Puzzle: Today\u2019s took me 5:04 (average 5:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do? Fantasy Football Report: Here is the playoff bracket from our fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends. The underdogs (but not the progressive ones), won both games.  I […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-personal","category-politics","category-35-id","category-3-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}