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Common Sense Junction
Lawyer-ly Blog Headlines

  1. Bad advice of loss of gun rights, plea bargains to DV

    → Of Arms and the Law | 6 Feb 2012 | 2:13 pm MST

    State v. Nickolas Agathis, 2012 NJ Super. Lexis II (Feb. 1, 2012). Defendant was arrested for DV, plead to it, without being informed that under New Jersey law he would be permanently barred from obtaining a firearm purchaser ID card, effectively barring him from firearm ownership. His counsel and the judge informed him that he could reapply for the card at the end of probation. The appellate court relied upon Nunez-Valdez, a recent US Supreme Court ruling voiding a plea bargain where the defendant was told that the plea would not affect his immigration status, when in fact it subjected him to immediate deportation.

    The court had previously heard the case on direct appeal, and refused to grant relief. The intervening Supreme Court ruling (and, in a footnote, the decisions in Heller and McDonald) appear to have changed the situation. Note that both this and Nunez-Valdez hinge, not upon failure to inform the defendant of collateral consequences, but on the defendant being misinformed with regard to them.

    Hat tip to reader Alice Beard...



  2. The Rise of White-Collar Defense Practices at Large Law Firms

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 6 Feb 2012 | 2:07 pm MST

    (Orin Kerr) Writing in the Arizona Law Review, Chuck Weisselberg and Su Li have a very interesting article, Big Law’s Sixth Amendment: The Rise of Corporate White-Collar Practices in Large U.S. Law Firms. The abstract: Over the last three decades, corporate white-collar criminal defense and investigations practices have become established within the nation’s largest law firms. It [...]

  3. Hugh Hewitt: Rick Santorum, Bishop Olmsted, Eric Metaxas and Larry Arnn

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 6 Feb 2012 | 2:04 pm MST

    Much of my show will center on the president's attack on the Roman Catholic Church, and will feature a conversation with presidential candidate Rick Santorum --www.RickSantorum.com-- Phoenix Archbishop Thomas Olmsted,...

  4. Is the WaPo/ABC News poll “worthless”?

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 6 Feb 2012 | 1:46 pm MST

    [Posted by Karl] That’s the verdict from the normally easygoing Ed Morrissey.  While I agree with his biggest criticism of the poll, it is still possible to get something out of it. I agree with Ed that the recent tactic of not disclosing the party breakdown of the sample is simply absurd.  In an era [...]

  5. At the Wine Bottle Café...

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 1:37 pm MST



    ... you get the message.


  6. Should the government crack down on unpaid internships?

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 1:35 pm MST

    Or leave people alone to enter into whatever sorts of arrangements they find mutually beneficial?


  7. Place Your Bets

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 6 Feb 2012 | 1:26 pm MST

    (Dale Carpenter) The Ninth Circuit’s opinion on the constitutionality of Prop 8 is expected tomorrow.  Chris Geidner summarizes the issues the panel may address: The long anticipated appeals court ruling is expected to address three issues: (1) whether former U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker should have recused himself from hearing the case because he is gay and had [...]

  8. LIST: Vegetable and Herb Gardening 101….

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pm MST

    LIST: Vegetable and Herb Gardening 101.

  9. NO POSTHUMOUS PARDON for Alan Turing….

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 12:55 pm MST

    NO POSTHUMOUS PARDON for Alan Turing.

  10. IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Naomi Schaefer Riley reviews Andrew Rosen’s Change.edu: Rebooting For T…

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 12:37 pm MST

    IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Naomi Schaefer Riley reviews Andrew Rosen’s Change.edu: Rebooting For The New Talent Economy. Key bit: For-profits have largely opted out of the prestige game. The schools are not looking to turn away students. Their professors are engaged exclusively in teaching, not research. No one has tenure, so incompetence means dismissal. [...]

  11. BIG MARKETER IS WATCHING YOU: Surveillance Video Becomes A Tool For Studying Customers….

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pm MST

    BIG MARKETER IS WATCHING YOU: Surveillance Video Becomes A Tool For Studying Customers.

  12. How Do I Drone Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 6 Feb 2012 | 12:17 pm MST

    (Kenneth Anderson) Excellent feature article in New Scientist on the many, many ways in which drones are being used today in different places and functions around the world.  They include flying grids over Brazilian fields to see which ones need to be re-sown, in France to monitor tiny but important perturbations in high speed rail lines, and [...]

  13. TERRY TEACHOUT on turning 56….

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 12:03 pm MST

    TERRY TEACHOUT on turning 56.

  14. CHANGE: Civilian drones to fill the skies after law shake-up. The US Federal Aviation Administra…

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pm MST

    CHANGE: Civilian drones to fill the skies after law shake-up. The US Federal Aviation Administration allows for recreational use of remote-controlled air vehicles, but the Columbia Packing case blurs the line because the UAV became a surveillance tool. Commercial use is also illegal – last week real estate agents in Los Angeles, California, were ordered [...]

  15. Clint Eastwood's "Halftime in America" Super Bowl commercial features the Wisconsin protests.

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:58 am MST

    Click to jump to the exact part of the commercial:



    Say what you want about Eastwood's approval of the auto bailouts, I'm excited to see the statue of the Civil War hero Hans Christian Heg, which — you may remember — Meade defended on 3 separate occasions last year during the protests: March 2 (Meade removes a sign), March 13 (Meade removes a "Solidarity" T-shirt); March 21 (Meade washes off "Workers of the World Unite").

    And, by the way, Clint Eastwood played a crucial role in getting Meade and me together, so there was also that.


  16. Handgun rationing dies off in Virginia

    → Of Arms and the Law | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:55 am MST

    The House had already passed a repeal of "one gun a month," and today the Virginia Senate passed it. The governor has said he would sign it, so it appears that gun rationing is on its way out.



  17. MY WASHINGTON EXAMINER COLUMN HAS VANISHED, and people have been writing me. I inquired and got thi…

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:55 am MST

    MY WASHINGTON EXAMINER COLUMN HAS VANISHED, and people have been writing me. I inquired and got this response: “We’re transitioning to new CMS, new design and everything is totally screwed up at the moment.” I assume it’ll reappear at some point later today.

  18. Deconstructing Romney: Maybe Mitt Should Get a PIG?

    → Power Line | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:48 am MST

    (Steven Hayward) Okay, so as we saw with Romney’s off-the-cuff disaster about not being concerned about poor people last week, he’s not exactly another Great Communicator.   But if he wins, maybe he could do America and the presidency a service by shutting up.  From The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents: There are two main reasons for the development of the presidency as we know it today. The first is that the

  19. NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Study: Nanodiamond Coatings Safe For Implants. “Nanodiamonds designed to t…

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:30 am MST

    NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Study: Nanodiamond Coatings Safe For Implants. “Nanodiamonds designed to toughen artificial joints also might prevent the inflammation caused when hardworking metal joints shed debris into the body, according to an early study published this week in the journal Acta Biomaterialia.”

  20. BRIDGET JOHNSON: Eric Cantor: ‘Not Washington’s Role to Somehow Pick Another Way to Jack Up the…

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:21 am MST

    BRIDGET JOHNSON: Eric Cantor: ‘Not Washington’s Role to Somehow Pick Another Way to Jack Up the Economy.’

  21. From Wilson to Obama

    → Power Line | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:06 am MST

    (Scott Johnson) Steve Hayward has been been touting his new book on the presidents from Wilson to Obama in a good-humored sort of way, but the book makes a substantial contribution to the subject. The book is officially published and available in bookstores next week, though it is shipping now from Amazon. The book comes with recommendations from Jonah Goldberg, Ed Meese and Michael Barone. Here is what I said about it

  22. HYBRID UPDATE: Toyota boosts fuel-economy rating for Prius Plug-in to 95 MPGe….

    → Instapundit | 6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am MST

    HYBRID UPDATE: Toyota boosts fuel-economy rating for Prius Plug-in to 95 MPGe.

  23. 4-year-old boy who loves toilets gets the gift a dual-flush toilet from Kohler Company.

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 10:28 am MST

    Front-page news in Milwaukee.
    Jim and Michele Kruse first noticed their son's admittedly unusual interest when he was about 18 months old and, having spotted a line of portable johns, wouldn't leave until he had inspected each one.

    The parents, understandably, had reservations about this new enthusiasm. But they decided to go with the flow. They used portable toilets to help teach Dustin his colors. Michele encouraged his interest in reading by scouring libraries for books on toilets....
    Blah blah blah... free toilet... famous at the age of 4 for loving toilets. (Incredibly cheap PR for Kohler, which would really like you to watch the video of the child who loves their toilets.)


  24. Appeal in Moore v. Madigan (Ill ban on carrying)

    → Of Arms and the Law | 6 Feb 2012 | 9:56 am MST

    No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money, has the story. The case challenges Illinois' effective ban on all carrying of handguns. The trial court dismissed the case, with some extremely sloppy reasoning (along the lines of "McDonald just dealt with possession in the home, so anything beyond that is outside the right to arms" and "rights are not unlimited, this is a limitation, therefore it is valid" and even "I think plaintiff will lose at trial, so I dismiss his case right now."

    A notice of appeal was filed within hours, so we can hopefully look forward to another stunning Seventh Circuit ruling.



  25. And Then They Came for Sugar . . .

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 6 Feb 2012 | 9:31 am MST

    (Jonathan H. Adler) On CNN and in Nature, the case for regulating sugar like alcohol and tobacco.  What’s next, caffeine?  How would law professors get anything done? (Oh snap.)

  26. Legal Ethics Forum Symposium on the Legal Education and the Legal Profession

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 6 Feb 2012 | 9:25 am MST

    (Jonathan H. Adler) This week the premier legal ethics blog, Legal Ethics Forum, is hosting a symposium on “Legal Education’s Response to the Economic Realities Facing the Profession.” In this symposium, “scholars on the legal profession from the United States and around the world will post contributions about the implications of economic pressures on the way we teach [...]

  27. Pretty lame....

    → Of Arms and the Law | 6 Feb 2012 | 9:23 am MST

    AG Holder claims he's never discussed Fast and Furious with President Obama, DHS Sec Napolitano, or Sec. of State Clinton. I suppose cabinet meetings deal with things more important than agencies committing acts of war against an allied nation....



  28. Complusion Equals Conscience

    → JustOneMinute | 6 Feb 2012 | 9:12 am MST

    HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius takes to USA Today to explain the Administration's decision to force religiously-sponsored groups to violate their beliefs an include contraception in their employee insurance. She opens with a typical liberal fantasy: One of the key benefits...

  29. "Weapons are allowed inside only after they have been hammered into plowshares."

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 9:05 am MST

    A local church uses this — citing Isaiah 2:4 — for its "no weapons" sign:



    Enlarge to see the text clearly.

    (Here's where were talking just the other day about Wisconsin gun laws and these "no weapons" signs.)


  30. "America secretly loves whipping itself up into a frenzy over this sort of thing, but it wasn't just the rightwing press expressing outrage..."

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 8:54 am MST

    "... even Pitchfork was in on the act. 'In the few bars Madonna was kind enough to grant her during the biggest television event of the year, MIA's message to America was simply, "Fuck you"' it complained, somewhat innacurately (surely the message was 'I don't give a shit', otherwise she'd have just said 'fuck you'). It went on to conclude that: 'It wouldn't be the worst idea [for MIA] to draw as much focus as possible back on to her music.'"

    Writes Tim Jonze in The Guardian, embarrassingly choosing the word "inaccurately" to spell inaccurately.

    This is all so stupid. First of all, listen to the recorded song, or just read the lyrics. "I'mma say this once, yeah, I don't give a shit" is in the original song, so it's not as if MIA was going off script and inserting some spontaneous self-expression. Even though Madonna has famously sung "Express Yourself" — and even sang a bit of it during last night's big show — MIA didn't suddenly come up with an opinion and decide to spit it out to the world. And the word "shit" wasn't even vocalized. If you think you hear it, you're only hearing it in your head because it's the word that rhymes and obviously follows "I don't give a," and there was a hissing "shhhh" sound in the instrumentation that was used for a bleeping effect.

    So the only issue is the giving of the finger. I remember when the America Online movie discussion forum was afire with the discussion of the finger back when "Titanic" came out and the Kate Winslet character gives the finger. Here's an old "Straight Dope" column from 1998 discussing whether it was historically accurate — or as they say in England "acurrate" — for Rose to give the finger in 1912? ("[T]he middle-finger/phallus equation goes back way before the Titanic, the Battle of Agincourt, or probably even that time Sextillus cut off Pylades with his chariot.")

    Are we going to get all heated up about the finger again? Because that would be really stupid. A throwback to 1998. But what the hell. We are that stupid. We are getting all jazzed up about "Titanic" again right now:
    Fans crashed multiple servers trying to secure advance tickets for the now sold-out Feb. 14 preview screenings of Hollywood's "Titanic in 3D," producers said.
    You want to know my opinion? I think giving the finger is completely appropriate.


  31. Dyslexia — "a bias in favor of the visual periphery" — is also an aptitude at grasping the whole picture quickly.

    → Althouse | 6 Feb 2012 | 7:50 am MST

    But:
    Whatever special abilities dyslexia may bestow, difficulty with reading still imposes a handicap. Glib talk about appreciating dyslexia as a “gift” is unhelpful at best and patronizing at worst.
    So then... the expression "differently abled" can only be used patronizingly. Because if you really meant it, that would be patronizing!

    An amazing paradox!


  32. In Goldman We Trust?

    → JustOneMinute | 6 Feb 2012 | 7:38 am MST

    The NY Times picks up the pom-poms for a PR decision that makes no sense: Blankfein to Speak Out for Same-Sex Marriage By Susanne Craig Lloyd Blankfein, the chief of Goldman Sachs who has become a lightning rod for Wall...

  33. Wonder dog

    → Power Line | 6 Feb 2012 | 6:51 am MST

    (Scott Johnson) The current issue of the New York Times Magazine publishes Melissa Fay Greene’s article “Wonder dog.” Greene is a gifted writer. This is an incredibly moving article with heroes including an adoptive mom, two service dog trainers, and a Golden Retriever named Chancer. The family to which Chancer is dispatched measures time in two phases: Before Chancer and After Chancer. Check out the story and you’ll see why. After reading

  34. Obamacare against the Church, cont’d

    → Power Line | 6 Feb 2012 | 6:31 am MST

    (Scott Johnson) In a USA Today column this morning HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius defends the Obamacare regulation requiring almost all Catholic institutions to provide health insurance including contraception, sterilization and abortifacients morning. She isn’t that forthcoming describing the regulation, but that’s what the column is about. What does she have to say? Not much. Her lips are moving, but she’s not saying anything — sort of like the boss. Sebelius doesn’t defend

  35. Fathers and Schools: Presidential Parallels

    → Power Line | 6 Feb 2012 | 5:29 am MST

    (Steven Hayward) Michael Medved has an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal reflecting on the strange continuity that this election marks the seventh in a row featuring either a privileged son or a man with no relationship with his biological father, and wonders why: In one sense, these extreme backgrounds now dominate the presidential process because that process itself has become so extreme. A rising politico can no longer wait for

  36. Voter Fraud by Illegals

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 5 Feb 2012 | 11:12 pm MST

    The story is a couple of days old, but voter fraud is always timely. But who would have ever guessed it possible that illegals might be engaged in voter fraud??? Oh, right. Me. And pretty much all of you too.

  37. At the Thin Ice Restaurant...

    → Althouse | 5 Feb 2012 | 9:32 pm MST



    .... come on out and have a seat!



  38. Hugh Hewitt: "Obama Plays His Anti-Catholic Card"

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 5 Feb 2012 | 8:03 pm MST

    My Monday Washington Examiner column asks whether Catholics will vote to re-elect an anti-Catholic president?The article I cite in the column on the Blaine Amendment and the burst of post-Civil War anti-Catholicism by F

  39. Street Robberies and You

    → Blog O'Stuff | 5 Feb 2012 | 6:40 pm MST

    Over on Survival and Emergency Preparedness I've posted about a current thread on Arfcom, "Street Robberies and You - The Basics." This thread started out by "BurnedOutLEO" is one of the very best essays I've read on dealing with violent criminals.

    Go read it.


  40. Madonna: greatest half-time show ever or...

    → Althouse | 5 Feb 2012 | 6:17 pm MST

    ... greatest show ever?


  41. Super Bowl Open Thread

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 5 Feb 2012 | 4:28 pm MST

    (Jonathan H. Adler) And don’t forget the commercials! UPDATE: And speaking of commercials, some have already sparked controversy. Ford is unhappy about GM’s 2012 Mayan Doomsday ad. Also, an ad GOP Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra is running during the Super Bowl on Michigan stations has also sparked controversy.

  42. Hugh Hewitt: Romney and the Anti-Establishmentarians

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 5 Feb 2012 | 4:19 pm MST

    Mitt Romney's powerful win in Nevada --certain despite the fiasco of the counting-- combined with his likely triumph in Colorado will mean that he has won the four of five contests in Red-States-That-Turned-Blue-2012...

  43. Georgia Administrative Law Judge Rejects Claim That President Obama Isn’t a Natural-Born Citizen

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 5 Feb 2012 | 4:07 pm MST

    (Eugene Volokh) This is the litigation I mentioned when the judge allowed it to go forward earlier this year; the judge has now ruled on the merits that the fact that President Obama’s father wasn’t a U.S. citizen doesn’t keep President Obama from being a natural-born citizen: Anyone born in the U.S., with narrow exceptions (such as [...]

  44. Recommendations for First Amendment textbook

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 5 Feb 2012 | 11:34 am MST

    (David Kopel) Next spring semester, I will be teaching a First Amendment class. So I request advice from commenters about what textbooks they liked, or did not like, and why. For the recommendations, please ignore entirely the textbook’s treatment of the religion clauses. Denver University has a separate class on them, so my class will be entirely [...]

  45. At the Pink Lady Café...

    → Althouse | 5 Feb 2012 | 11:14 am MST



    ... settle in for a long afternoon.


  46. Does Mitt need Newt?

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 5 Feb 2012 | 9:28 am MST

    [Posted by Karl] Anyone who thought Newt Gingrich might go gently into that good night after an apparent shellacking by Mitt Romney in Nevada was mistaken, to put it mildly: He said he expects to be at parity with Romney by the April 3 Texas primary and “we will go to Tampa,” site of the [...]

  47. Online Audio Spelling Quiz

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 5 Feb 2012 | 8:50 am MST

    (Eugene Volokh) A few months ago, I asked if anyone could recommend a site that can provide an audio spelling quiz for kids. One of the commenters recommended SpellingCity.com, and we tried it with great success. You (using your parent or teacher account) can set up spelling lists for your kids — there are many you can [...]

  48. Super Sunday Open Thread

    → JustOneMinute | 5 Feb 2012 | 6:32 am MST

    I admire Tom Brady, but Go Blue.

  49. Defending the Humanities, or, Sisyphus

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 4 Feb 2012 | 10:38 pm MST

    (Kenneth Anderson) These days the defense of the products and output of the humanities – literature, criticism, the academic study of the arts and letters, etc. – is not an easy task.  At least it is not an easy task if one’s position is doubly, or even triply-conditioned:  First, a defense would have to be of critical [...]

  50. Romney Easily Wins Nevada

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Feb 2012 | 8:43 pm MST

    Looking more and more inevitable every day. I have an idea — hardly an original one, but one I believe in — that would make a Romney ticket semi-exciting. I discussed it with some like-minded folks last night. I think I’ll save it for Monday, but feel free to speculate in the comments.

  51. When Is A Hack Not A Hack?

    → JustOneMinute | 4 Feb 2012 | 4:44 pm MST

    The FBI explains that 'Anonymous' didn't actually hack into an international conference call: Regarding the conference call, an F.B.I. official said Anonymous had not in fact hacked into it or any other bureau facilities. Instead, the official said, the group...

  52. What Happens In Vegas Will Go National

    → JustOneMinute | 4 Feb 2012 | 4:41 pm MST

    Let's have a big Nevada caucus open thread.

  53. Hugh Hewitt: Nevada and Ohio

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 4 Feb 2012 | 8:02 am MST

    Mitt Romney is going to win. Big. Again.Newt has scheduled a press conference for after the results are in, but I will be very surprised if, as the National Journal suggests, Newt is going to quit the race. He will...

  54. Hugh Hewitt: Catholic Bloggers and the President's Assault On The Church

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 4 Feb 2012 | 7:51 am MST

    There is a vast universe of God-blogs, and within it many systems of Roman Catholic blogs, like Father Z's, Harvesting the Fruits of Contemplation, Beginning to Pray, and thousands of others.Each of the authors of these...

  55. Ron Paul campaign denies white supremacist ties

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am MST

    [Posted by Karl] Only the naive thought stories like this were going away: Political hacktivist group Anonymous claims to have found emails linking Texas Rep. Ron Paul to an American white supremacist group, a claim the Paul campaign says is completely untrue. Las Vegas-based group American Third Party Position (AP3) — whose stated goal is [...]

  56. Newt, Fannie And Freddie

    → JustOneMinute | 4 Feb 2012 | 6:39 am MST

    The NY Times says that Netw was tied uo with Fannie Mae and freddie MAc during his time in Congress. Highlights include the early revolving door: Mr. Gingrich’s senior advisers were important as well, with a handful of his aides...

  57. Hugh Hewitt: Eric Metaxas at the National Prayer Breakfast

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 3 Feb 2012 | 2:09 pm MST

    I will play excerpts from Eric Metaxas' remarks from yesterday's National Prayer breakfast yesterday.If you haven't yet read Metaxas' best-selling biography Bonhoeffer you should. The president also spoke....

  58. How About That Obama Recovery?

    → JustOneMinute | 3 Feb 2012 | 11:28 am MST

    We get a good jobs figure and a LOL drop in workforce participation [explained here].

  59. Susan G Komen Races Away From Their Cure

    → JustOneMinute | 3 Feb 2012 | 11:01 am MST

    In a reversal of fortune, the Susan G Komen charity will continue to give money to Planned Parenthood. My goodness - if I were a corporate treasurer or otherwise in the public eye I would never give a dime to...

  60. Hugh Hewitt: I Said That?

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 3 Feb 2012 | 10:59 am MST

    The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis drew my attention to a March, 28 2007 interview with NRO's Kathryn Jean Lopez about my 2007 book on Mitt Romney, which included this exchange: Lopez: Is there anything you don't like about...

  61. Sockpuppet Friday (UAW Bailout Fact-Checking Edition)

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 3 Feb 2012 | 8:23 am MST

    [Posted by Karl] As usual, you are positively encouraged to engage in sockpuppetry in this thread. The usual rules apply. Please, be sure to switch back to your regular handle when commenting on other threads. I have made that mistake myself. And remember: the worst sin you can commit on this thread is not being [...]

  62. Hugh Hewitt: The Growing Protest Against Obama's Anti-Catholic Throwdown

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 3 Feb 2012 | 7:08 am MST

    The Wall Street Journal's headline is that "Contraception Mandate Outrages Religious Groups," but that is actually understated.The president's attack on Catholics and Catholic institutions --from Boston College int he...

  63. Hugh Hewitt: Steyn and Lileks, Alan Sears and John Graham

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 2 Feb 2012 | 2:08 pm MST

    Thursday regulars Mark Steyn (which character would he be on Downton Abbey) and James Lileks (I know which character he is) help us cope with a rush of The Donald news, and Alan Sears, founder and president of the...

  64. Cato: armed civilians are tough targets

    → Of Arms and the Law | 2 Feb 2012 | 10:45 am MST

    By Clayton Cramer and David Burnett (head of Students for Concealed Carry). Here's a summary, and here's the study.

    Cato has also established a webpage to track defensive gun uses.



  65. Mitt Romney, Loose Cannon

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 2 Feb 2012 | 8:17 am MST

    [Posted by Karl] Newt Gingrich is easily branded as a loose cannon.  Indeed, I’ve done it, because it’s true.  However, frontrunner Mitt Romney is far from immune from self-destructive gaffes: Obsessive attention to detail suffuses Mitt Romney’s candidacy for president, from the number of times staff members check the microphones at his rallies to their [...]

  66. Hugh Hewitt: "Catholic Backlash Against Obama Grows"

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 2 Feb 2012 | 7:47 am MST

    That is the stunner headline in the National Journal of all places.My Townhall.com column is an open letter to the Catholic bishops, but it may be overtaken by events as Axelrod must be sounding every alarm he can to...

  67. Regulating Sugar

    → JustOneMinute | 2 Feb 2012 | 6:00 am MST

    CNN and CBS report on a push to regulate sugar like alcohol and tobacco. From CBS: Should the government regulate sugar, just like it regulates alcohol and tobacco? A new commentary published online in the Feb. 1 issue of Nature...

  68. Going Around, Coming Around

    → JustOneMinute | 2 Feb 2012 | 4:22 am MST

    Former CIA head Gen. Hayden tries to control his lesser impulses as he watches Eric Holder squirm: (CNN) -- Schadenfreude -- joy at the misfortune of others -- is a bad thing. So I've been trying to resist temptation these...

  69. Ann Coulter Says, and I Am Not Making This Up: “Three Cheers for Romneycare!”

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 2 Feb 2012 | 12:48 am MST

    I get her point that a state mandating purchase of health insurance is not unconstitutional in the same obvious and insulting way as a mandate from Congress is. That said . . . Three cheers for Romneycare? Really? Even his most avid supporters can barely muster one, let alone two. And Ann is giving three? [...]

  70. Another Major Holder Scandal — Just in Time for His Appearance Tomorrow!

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 2 Feb 2012 | 12:10 am MST

    Just when you thought Eric Holder was really in trouble over Fast and Furious, you learn that he’s potentially in trouble over something else: A U.S. Justice Department source has told The Daily Caller that at least two DOJ prosecutors accepted cash bribes from allegedly corrupt finance executives who were indicted under court seal within [...]

  71. Blog beginning on the Waco tragedy

    → Of Arms and the Law | 1 Feb 2012 | 5:50 pm MST

    Mike McNulty has established a blog relating to Waco. Mike was the producer of the Oscar-nominated "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," and played a major role in reopening the case. Among other things, he managed to discover that the Texas Rangers had an "evidence locker," more like a warehouse, of evidence in the case.

    I did some public records requests for him, and the results were most peculiar. The Rangers said that they had picked up the evidence in their capacity as deputized US Marshals, and couldn't turn it over without the Marshals' Office consent. So I sent a FOIA to the Marshals, and they denied knowing anything about it. I went back to the Rangers, and they said, if I remember, that the US Attorney had control of it. So I made a FOIA to the Executive Office of US Attorneys, and they denied they had any control. At that point the head of Texas DPS, which is over the Rangers, got involved and really blew the thing open.



  72. Social media and criminal cases

    → Of Arms and the Law | 1 Feb 2012 | 10:53 am MST

    Investigator (and former policeman) Paul Huebl has some interesting thoughts on the subject. These may be good approaches for a firearms owner charged under, for example, the New York laws.



  73. States of Disapproval

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 1 Feb 2012 | 8:15 am MST

    [Posted by Karl] Jim Geraghty (among others) , relying on Gallup, notes Pres. Obama’s job approval rating for 2011 is anemic in most swing states. Just as notable are Obama’s disapproval numbers in swing states, as they show an incumbent underwater, often with majority disapproval: IA (45.6/45.9); PA (45/47.8); VA (44.5/49); NC (43.7/48.5); FL (43.6/47.8); [...]

  74. The origin of the Sullivan Act

    → Of Arms and the Law | 31 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm MST

    NY Post: The Strange Birth of NY's Gun Laws.

    I researched the Sullivan Act for an amicus brief. Tim Sullivan started it out as a very narrow bill -- it just made unlicensed concealed carry a 3 year felony, rather than a misdemeanor. Then NYC's medical examiner lobbied him to pul all the other provisions in, and he agreed. But when he spoke on the floor, which he hated to do, he only talked about the three year penalty.

    Even as first enacted, in 1911, it was nothing like what we see today. It required some dealer paperwork, but not registration. There was no provision forbidding open carry. It applied only to handguns. The permits were "may issue" to the max -- as in a felony could get one, if the judge allowed it. (The only bars were to juveniles and non-citizens_/



  75. US Attorney Dennis Burke and Fast and Furious

    → Of Arms and the Law | 30 Jan 2012 | 3:32 pm MST

    A very interesting article on his background. As a Senate aide,

    "And he began working on gun control. DeConcini said Burke helped draft the Anti-Drug Assault Weapons Limitation Act of 1989. A five-year battle ensued, ending with President Bill Clinton signing the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it a federal offense to possess certain semiautomatic rifles manufactured after the law's passage.

    DeConcini said Burke fostered the measure in concert with a key figure in the White House, policy analyst Rahm Emanuel, who years later would become chief of staff for President Obama. Emanuel now is mayor of Chicago.

    "Dennis was the one who worked with everyone on the Judiciary Committee to line up these members and votes," DeConcini said. "Dennis had all these pictures of these guns -- the Streetsweepers and the AK-47s. And it passed by one vote. A lot of it was not my eloquence on the bill, it was stuff that Dennis had done."

    The law was adopted shortly before Burke left his Senate job for a position in the Clinton White House as a senior policy analyst for law enforcement and drug issues, again working with Emanuel.

    According to preserved e-mails, Burke continued handling firearm issues, discussing whether executive orders could be used to extend the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act requirement for background checks.
    . . . . . . .
    During a news conference in 2010, Burke complained that scores of guns from Arizona were being recovered in Mexico. "We have a huge problem here. We have now become the gun locker of the Mexican drug cartels." What Burke did not mention was that his prosecutors had allegedly instructed ATF agents to let some of those weapons "walk" across the border.

    In fact, just one month after Burke's appointment as U.S. attorney was confirmed by the Senate, Operation Fast and Furious was secretly launched in Arizona.
    . . . . . .
    In an April 2010 e-mail to a colleague, Burke predicted that the operation would have a huge public impact: "It's going to bring a lot of attention to straw purchasers of assault weapons," he wrote. "Some of these weapons bought by these clowns in Arizona have been directly traced to murders of elected officials in Mexico by the cartels, so Katie-bar-the-door when we unveil this baby.""



  76. Case on use of machine gun in crime

    → Of Arms and the Law | 30 Jan 2012 | 2:19 pm MST

    Story here. Federal law provides a 30 year mandatory minimum for use of a full auto in a violent crime. The question is -- does it require that the defendant knew it was full auto? (In this case, a real AK).



  77. LRGC 5th Annual Kalashnikov Match

    → Blog O'Stuff | 28 Jan 2012 | 3:09 pm MST

    This morning I participated in Langhorne Rod & Gun Club's 5th Annual Kalashnikov match. The match is open to shooters with "capitalist rifles" ;) but is meant primarily for AK shooters. For example, due to the AK's stock sights, most targets are kept to 100 yards to less, although we did shoot at torso-sized steel plates from 200 yards from behind a barricade.

    I shot my Century Arms Vz-2008 (Vz-58 clone) which for the purposes of the match was classed with the AKs. I came in 2nd overall in points, and won the final stage, which is shooting at a piece of wood lath at 25 yards, with the goal of cutting it in half. As winner of that bonus stage, I won $30, which covered my match fee, gas, and tolls, with some money to spare.

    I bought the Vz-2008 a few years ago. The first time I took it to the range I had nothing but problems. It seems that when it Century's subcontractors parkerized it the finish was too thick, so I got constant jams and stuck cases. I took the rifle home, degreased it and put Flitz on the bearing surfaces, then worked the action about 50 - 100 times to polish the insides. The next time out it had some malfunctions, but once I got approximately to the 200 round mark it started functioning well. I've put about 600 rounds through it since then with no malfunctions at all.

    My Vz-2008 is basically stock. I did wrap the metal folding stock with paracord to protect my cheek, since it has the cross section of an I-beam, and put a Russian-style recoil pad on the butt to increase the very short LOP. I also replaced the incorrect and basically useless AK-style slant muzzle brake Century installed with a Czech military-style muzzle brake from CNC Warrior. The Czech-style brake is noisy but very effective at taming muzzle flip. The rifle has a milled receiver but weighs about as much as an AK with a stamped receiver (~6.4 pounds) empty. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the Vz-58 here.

    AIUI, semiauto Vz-58s have become pretty popular up in Canada since they are less restricted than AKs.

    As one of the top two shooters I got an invite to LRGC's annual invitational practical rifle match in April.

    All in all, a pretty nice Saturday.



  78. Getting Back Into Archery

    → Blog O'Stuff | 27 Jan 2012 | 8:05 pm MST

    In my teens and twenties I was into archery. Back in junior high school, I was in the archery club, and brought my recurve bow with me to school on the bus. I suppose nowadays that would result in the local SWAT team being called out. Anyway, last month my 7 year old daughter expressed an interest in learning how to shoot a bow, so I got her a youth set from Three Rivers Archery. Naturally, if she was going to be shooting a bow I wanted in on the action.

    However, when I strung the one bow I still had, a 55# draw Martin Howatt Hunter recurve, I realized that I was way over-bowed with it. I hadn't shot a bow for probably about 15 years and therefore, I'll need to work my way up to shooting a bow at that draw weight.

    So, I picked up the current issues of Primitive Archer and Tradional Bowhunter magazines, as much for the ads as for the content. After considering several options I ordered a 40# Magyar Horse Bow from Seven Meadows Archery. Service from SMA was fast and I shortly had the bow in hand. The picture below shows it with the Martin.




    One of the reasons I decided on a horsebow is simply that it's different. I didn't have any interest in getting a modern compound bow, so I was looking at traditional longbows and recurves. The horsebow is just neat, so after reading several reviews online I went with this one.

    The bow was made by Istvan Toth in Hungary. The limbs are fiberglass, while the rigid tips, called siyahs, are made from ash. (Traditionally, the limbs would have been made of a laminate of wood and horn held together with fish glue.) The handle and limbs are covered in leather, and both sides of the grip have an ash side plate, so the bow is ambidextrous.

    I'm shooting cedar arrows with 100 grain field points and turkey feather fletching, bought from Three Rivers Archery. The bow shoots them fast and straight. There is a bit of hand shock when shooting, due to the siyahs reaching their forward position and stopping abruptly. I don't find it objectionable.

    Traditionally, horsebows were shot with a thumb release. In this style of shooting the archer draws the bow using his thumb, wrapped around the string and supported by his index finger. Doing so requires the use of a thumbring made from metal, horn, or leather. I bought a leather thumbring along with the bow but found it very uncomfortable to use for more than a few shots. So, I've added another layer of leather and will be trying it out again. In the meantime, I've been using a Mediterranean release, which should be familiar to most Western archers. Shooting this way, the index finger is on top of the arrow nock with the middle and ring fingers below it.

    So far my shooting has been limited to about 10 yards. If I can get accurate out to about 20, I may take the Toth bow deer hunting on private land where I can get short range shots. In Pennsylvania the minimum legal draw weight for deer is 35#. With a 40# draw and sharp broadheads, penetration should not be a problem.

    Here's another pic of the bow, resting on top of my target. I shot this using some old Easton XX75 aluminum arrows I had left from the 90s.




    Considering I was able to do this after a 15 year lapse, I'm happy with my shooting. It'll only get better with more practice.

    Aside from shooting the horsebow and teaching my daughter how to shoot, I'm also working with a friend in processing an oak which fell on his property into bowstaves. We're planning to make a couple of flatbows at first.  I bought a copy of The Backyard Bowyer: The Beginner's Guide to Building Bows for my Kindle, and it provides some good instruction on making simple self bows and backed bows. I'll post more on this after we've made some more progress.



  79. After Rethinking Gun Control, Next Steps

    → Blog O'Stuff | 26 Jan 2012 | 6:47 pm MST

    In my last post I discussed Jared Silverman’s article, Rethinking Gun Control. I wanted to follow up on that with some recommendations on what a new Jewish American gun owner might want to buy after getting some training.

    In my opinion, the most versatile gun that one can own for defense is a handgun, for the simple reason that it can pull double duty as both a home defense weapon and one that can be kept with you when you’re out and about. A gun is like a fire extinguisher, it’s only useful if you have one available (and know how to use it, of course).

    Luckily for the modern American gun owner there is a wide choice of handguns available for self defense. For new shooters, I recommend buying one with the following characteristics:

    1. Semiautomatic
    2. Firing the 9mm Luger/Parabellum/NATO cartridge
    3. Made of stainless steel or have a good rust-resistant finish

    Semiautomatic pistols are those which fire one bullet per pull of the trigger and which are fed from a detachable magazine which holds the ammunition (with the exception of some antique designs we won’t consider here). Common examples of modern semiautomatic pistols are the Glock 17 and 19, Springfield Armory XD-9, and the Smth & Wesson Military & Police 9. All of these have plastic frames with metal parts made of either stainless steel or finished with an anti-corrosion treatment.

    I’m recommending a semiauto as opposed to a revolver because they are easier for new shooters to fire accurately, plus they hold more ammunition, which would be important if dealing with a group of assailants. They are also easier to maintain, and modern designs handle abuse and neglect better than revolvers.

    I recommend choosing a pistol which fires 9mm ammunition because the 9mm is widely available, affordable, effective, and does not recoil very much, so it’s easier for new shooters to become proficient with.

    The stainless or rust-resistant finish is important because it reduces (but does not eliminate!) the amount of maintenance the owner must perform.

    Don’t rush into buying a self defense pistol. It’s an investment of several hundred dollars, so if at all possible, try to handle a variety of guns and see which one feels most comfortable in your hands. If possible, go to a range where you can rent and shoot them to see which one you like best.

    For example, the pistols I mentioned above are all high quality, reliable designs. However, I’ve found that Glock don’t fit my hand well (which is a shame because they are extremely reliable and relatively inexpensive). When I decided I wanted a modern, polymer-framed semiauto pistol I shot my father’s Smith & Wesson M&P-9, and then handled one side by side with a Springfield XD-9, an example of which I’d fired before. After handling the S&W and the Springfield next to each other I decided to buy the Springfield because it felt just a little bit better in my hands. I’ve been very pleased with it.

    After you’ve chosen what gun to buy, then you should lay in a good supply of ammo and get training. Over on The High Road, we use the expression “BA/UU/R,” which stands for Buy Ammo, Use Up, Repeat.

    Part of the training you need to take is making yourself familiar with the laws in your jurisdiction regarding the use of deadly force.



  80. Rethinking Gun Control

    → Blog O'Stuff | 23 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm MST


    It is about time that an article like this appeared in a mainstream Jewish publication. It is well past the time when Jewish Americans should be carefully reexamining their support for gun control.

    The author of the piece, Jared Silverman, is a Jewish attorney in West Orange, NJ. 

    The news from northern New Jersey this week was not good. Several Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices were thrown at Congregation Beth El in Rutherford early on the morning of Jan. 11, igniting a fire in the second-floor bedroom of the rabbi’s residence above the synagogue.
    This was the fourth anti-Semitic incident in Bergen County within a three-week period. A fire was intentionally set at a synagogue in Paramus and anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered at synagogues in Hackensack and Maywood.

    Silverman also notes that Alan Dershowitz has warned that anti-semitism is becoming increasingly mainstream.

    It should not be news that Jews are at risk of violent acts from others who hate us. After all, we only have a several thousand year history of being enslaved, expelled, and slaughtered by non-Jews. Sometimes this was at the hands of thugs and others at the hands of governments. Regardless, Jews have the right to defend themselves. Having that right, they should have the means to do so.

    Unfortunately, Silverman goes on to state that, 

    I believe guns should be licensed and their owners properly trained. I also want to emphasis that there is a difference between ownership and the right to carry. It is difficult to get a permit to carry a concealed gun.

    As Jews, we have often been the victims of officially-sanctioned oppression. Giving the same people who might someday want to do you harm a say in whether or not you have the tools to resist them is simply foolish.

    Now, I do agree with Silverman that any new firearms owner should get training on how to safely, effectively, and legally use a gun. I disagree in that such training should be mandated by the government, for the same reason I'm against licensing. It is all too easy for training requirements to be setup in such arbitrary and capricious manners that they are impossible to comply with, as recently seen in Chicago.

    Further, Jews should not wait until they are the victims of anti-semitism before arming themselves. By the time that happens it could be too late. On top of that, competence with firearms takes time to develop and is perishable skill. You need to know how to use it, and use it well, before the time comes when you need it.

    Silverman's view on the difficulty of obtaining a carry permit is colored by his experience as a NJ resident. In NJ, it is difficult to legally purchase a firearm but damn near impossible to get a carry permit. However, in most of the United States, Americans are able to get a permit to carry a firearm as a matter of right, although in many states that right is conditioned on getting trained. On the other hand, the neighboring state of PA has no training requirement for a license to carry a firearm, while AK, VT, and AZ do not require law abiding citizens to get a license to carry a gun for protection.

    Regardless of training requirements, Jews should get a license to carry a concealed firearm, as long as doing so is possible. Antisemetic crime is not confined to the home, indeed as Silverman described at the beginning of his article, Jews should be prepared to confront it at synagogue, and elsewhere.

    In some of my prior posts to this blog I have stated that "Never Again" requires more than harsh language. If we as Jews are serious about preventing another Shoah (Holocaust), we have no one to depend on but ourselves.

    So where do you start? The largest organization providing firearms instruction is the National Rifle Association. (Indeed, it was founded in 1871 to promote marksmanship training. The NRA only became active in gun control politics in the past 40 - 50 years.) You can find courses local to you at http://www.nrainstructors.org/searchcourse.aspx/. Information about the content of the various courses are available at http://www.nrainstructors.org/CourseCatalog.aspx.

    The NRA is obviously the largest and best known organization working to protect your right to keep and bear arms. One that should be of particular interest to Jews, though, is Jews For the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. And if you think the NRA is radically pro-gun, you should check out JPFO. ;)



  81. Skyrim

    → Blog O'Stuff | 17 Dec 2011 | 4:45 pm MST

    Back in the 90s I did a bit of computer gaming, e.g., Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem 3D. However, it's been several years since I did any gaming. After seeing a thread about Skyrim which made the point that it allows you to participate in sword and sorcery fantasy more effectively than movies, along with posting a link to an in-game video, I decided to give it a try.

    I'm running it on my Microcenter Powerspec B707 PC that I got last year. However, I had to upgrade the video first, which in turn required a new power supply. Today I picked up an EVGA nVidia GeForce GT520 PCI-E video card and a 650W Antec power supply. Swapping the PS was simple and adding the video card presented no problems. It's replacing the box's onboard video; I didn't replace an older video card.

    As for the game, wow! I watch virtually no TV and I've been to the theater maybe six times in the last decade. There have been a couple movies which I eventually saw on TV that I'd wished I'd seen in the theater, but as far as I'm concerned, Hollywood could drop off the face of the Earth and I wouldn't miss it one bit. Skyrim, in contrast, has me looking at getting back into gaming. I figure I'll play it for awhile and then start looking at other games.




  82. New Mobile Format

    → Blog O'Stuff | 4 Dec 2011 | 9:13 am MST

    This morning while poking around in my Blogger Dashboard I saw that they now offer a mobile device viewing option, which I’ve enabled for both Survival & Emergency Preparedness and Blog O’Stuff. Hopefully, this will make both blogs more accessible to mobile users.



  83. Income Inequality, Job Creation, and OWS

    → Blog O'Stuff | 28 Nov 2011 | 11:39 am MST


    One of the memes being pushed by the socialist left and their current lackeys in the Occupy Wall Street/Philadelphia/Oakland/etc. movement is income inequality, or more specifically, that income inequality in and of itself is bad. This is simply wrong.

    Like it or not, certain professions are worth more in a monetary sense to society than others. For example, engineering generally pays more than social work, because society places more value on the engineer's product than that of the social worker. Likewise, someone working in finance may earn more than an engineer. And generally, those who create jobs for others are also compensated more than someone who does not create any jobs.

    If someone earns more than me, that's no skin off my back. Good for him. If he makes $1,000,000 per year while I make $100,000, dragging his income down because "$ARBITRARY AMOUNT is enough" does not improve my lot. Even it it did, that would not make it right. Just because somebody has something I want doesn't make it right to appropriate it for my ends. The best word to describe such conduct is theft.

    One thing the collectivists have either forgotten, or more likely never learned, is that a rising tide lifts all boats. Despite a vast gulf in wealth between the richest and poorest in this country, even the poor are much better off than they were even a couple decades ago. "Poor" people in the US generally have running water, TV (often with a cable or satellite hookup), plenty of clothes, and cars. Hell, a lot of them are fat because they sit on their asses and eat junk food.

    Only if someone makes his money dishonestly or at the expense of others, e.g., Bernie Madoff, should we be concerned with how he made it, how much he made, and whether he needs to return it. Unless that's the case, we should encourage entrepreneurship, which results in more jobs, which in turn results for more prosperity for more people.

    Now, one thing which does need to be stopped is crony capitalism, in which politicians rewards their donors with lucrative contracts, tax laws, or loans made to credit-unworthy borrowers. E.g., General Electric not paying any income tax, or the ill-advised loans to Solyndra. However, crony capitalism isn't the result of income inequality, it's the result of corrupt politicians implementing big city machine politics on a national scale.

    Another thing which the OWS-types fail to understand when they complain that "rich S.O.B.s" haven't started any companies to give people jobs is that starting such a company nowadays subjects you to a regulatory nightmare, pretty much regardless of what industry you're in. When starting a company not only do you need to come up with working capital you also need to retain the services of accountants and lawyers so that you can ensure that you abide by a mountain of laws because the Federal government is involved in all aspects of your business. And this is of course on top of the regulatory B.S. you need to deal with on a state and local level. More than a few entrepreneurs with good ideas have basically said, "fuck it, why bother?"



  84. Packing and the Friendly Skies

    → Blog O'Stuff | 22 Nov 2011 | 7:54 am MST

    Here's an interesting article describing why if you must fly, having a firearm in your checked luggage may be the best way to prevent your bags from being pilfered.




    {H/T Sipsey Street Irregulars.}


  85. Best Comment I've Read Yet About the Cain Sexual Harrasment Claims

    → Blog O'Stuff | 4 Nov 2011 | 1:20 pm MDT

    Posted by KeithC on Arfcom:


    This fucking country, I swear. Two unnamed women say - through lawyers - that a man may have "made them feel uncomfortable during their interactions" and the press is pissing all over itself to make it into a "J'accuse!" moment. Meanwhile, a man who openly admits to snorting coke, hanging out with "college revolutionaries", mentoring under a racist preacher who condemns America at every turn and starting his "community organizing" career in the living room of a guy who's actually blown shit up on American soil in the name of communism is elected to our highest public office, where he presides over running guns to narcos, instructs his DoJ to file suits against states looking to protect themselves from foreign invasion but to avoid investigating civil rights violations of black guys swinging pipes and telling whitey to "vote the right way" and then supports "proud Marxists" as they close businesses and burn public property. Yeah, it was a run-on sentence but it's runaway lunacy so I think I can be forgiven. And that was just the "last week's news" version of the crap he's done. 
    Yeesh.

    Link.

    The liberal media is scared shitless of Cain, so they're pimping this story for all it's worth while ignoring the very real, documented failings of their preferred candidate.




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