You’re On The Terrorist Watch List And Can Still Get A Gun

If you’re on the terrorist watch list in America you may not be able to board a plane or get a visa, but you can get your gun. Nine out of ten who tried were successful because there was no legal way to stop them.  One person on the list was able to buy 50 pounds of explosives, according to a report out next week from the Government Accountability Office.

Gun purchases must be approved unless federal officials can find some other disqualification of the would-be buyer, like being a felon, an illegal immigrant or a drug addict.

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It’s The Free For All

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Sotomayor Resigns From All-Woman Club

Because of pressure from Republicans, Sonia Sotomayor has resigned from Belizean Grove, the women’s group for high achievers.

In a letter to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the federal appeals court judge says she is convinced the club does not practice “invidious discrimination” and that her membership in it did not violate judicial ethics.

But she says she didn’t want questions about it to “distract anyone from my qualifications and record.”

Belizean Grove is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the all-male Bohemian Grove (r), the white, patrician, all-male Republican …

Republican Party Less Popular Than Dick Cheney

Maybe Dick Cheney should keep talking to bring his party’s popularity up to his 26% level.  A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows the party is viewed favorably by just 25%, down from 29% in April. Greg at Plumline puts it in perspective.

There a couple of takeaways here. First, it appears that Cheney is doing a better job of making his own case than the current crop of GOP leaders are doing on behalf of the party as a whole, even though he’s no longer in office. And second, it gives the lie to the notion that Cheney’s …

On Friday’s Radio Show…

• What is this group from which Judge Sotomayor just resigned? Alan talks with Belizean Grove founder Susan Stautberg.

• RIP for the GOP? Alan analyzes the causes behind the Republican Party’s decline in popularity.

• Former comedian Alan Colmes (yes, that Alan Colmes) rates the president’s performance at the Radio-TV Correspondents Dinner.

• It’s the Friday Night Free-For-All!…

The Latest Dispatch From The Party Of “No”

Longtime GOP operative and former Reagan attorney general, Ed Meese, has been brought on by The Party of No (TPON) to throw stones at the Sotomayor nomination.  This shows that (a) The Republican Party is still in reactive, not proactive, mode, offering nothing of their own to the national debate, and (b) They don’t know how to pick their battles, since Sotomayor will most likely be confirmed.  All they’ll try to do is dirty her up, and that won’t help them expand their soiled,  white, male tent.

Meese and his old guard cronies will continue the tired old argument about  …

Limbaugh Says He’ll Send Sotomayor And Her Club “A Bunch Of Vacuum Cleaners”

Because Sonia Sotomayor is a member of a women’s group, it must be a gathering of domestic helpers, according to Rush Limbaugh. The comment, “I think I’m going to send Sotomayor, and her club, a bunch of vacuum cleaners to help them clean up after their meetings,” is followed by a self-satisfied smile.

Did I ever hear Mr. Limbaugh or any other conservative mock the highly successful men who are members of the Bohemian Grove, the male-only group upon which Sotomayor’s group is based?…

Sick

The AP reports on a new discovery in the James von Brunn investigation:

Child pornography was found on a computer belonging to the white supremacist charged with shooting and killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the FBI said in court documents.…

Bush Pulls A Cheney

I’ve been praising George W. Bush for saying, unlike his former partner in crime, Dick Cheney, that Obama “deserves my silence.”  It appears as though the former president has had a change of heart.  In particular, Bush went after Obama on health care.

“There are a lot of ways to remedy the situation without nationalizing health care,” Mr. Bush said. “I worry about encouraging the government to replace the private sector when it comes to providing insurance for health care.”

Asked by the evening emcee at the 104th annual Manufacturer and Business Association meeting if he …

On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) shares his candid opinion of President Obama’s efforts to protect gay rights.

• Alan analyzes the sorry double-standard of Republicans who only accept apologies by members of their own party.

• You’re being watched: Alan explains why every American should be concerned about government snooping.…

GOP: Apologies For Thee But Not For Me

Conservatives are big on demanding apologies when the offender is or is perceived to be on the left, and then they’re very big saying the apology isn’t good enough when it’s offered.  But when it comes to their own behavior, there is less due diligence.  They didn’t get upset about the half-assed non-apology by the South Carolina senator who compared Michelle Obama to a gorilla.  And when another GOP operative from that state did a racist joke about aspirin being white and working, he apologized three times on Twitter, probably realizing each time that more needed to be said. …