Joe Horn and other Topics

Joe Horn was no billed today and the Houston Chronicle and local radio is all about good guys and bad guys.  The majority of the shouters of course think it was A-ok for poor old Joe (61 yo) to kill two people.  He’s a hero and everyone wants to be his neighbor.

I for one don’t wish any such thing.  I think Mr. Horn will regret the day he killed two people.  The justice system in Harris County has been broken for some time — ruling based on other than fair means.  It’s well documented.  The only reason to link to the Chronicle’s article (which will de-link in time) is to show what their commenters have to say.

One commenter in particular says that I should ‘eat crow’.  I don’t have to.  I never took the positions he claims I did.  I am disappointed.  I think there’s is a likelihood that vigilantes will take things in their own hands and no one will be safe.

I watch the Sunday morning political shows ontape because I can’t be bothered with the apologetic oil company commercials.  All day today, form network news types to the lowliest blogger on the right has been taking Clark’s comments out of context — even the News Hour tonight.  It’s depressing.

When asked today if Obama was patriotic, McCain couldn’t just say yes.

Lastly, McCain and Cornyn decide to take credit for the bill Bush signed today, even though they both opposed it.  Someone explain to me in non-spin terms how that works.  McCain gets “credit” when he didn’t even vote?

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A Less Difficult Patch

Dora hasn’t growled at Tam and Murph in the yard this weekend, and I have managed to keep them all separated.

Something very sweet happened tonight.  I was brushing Tammy.  She likes it but with reservations.  Murphy decided he wanted that attention.  I started brushing him and he loved it.  Tammy wasn’t jealous — just calm.   He really enjoyed it.

I think I need to change somehting else about my routine — brushing them all seems to be a calming element.  I also want to take Murphy and maybe Tam to the dog park.  I don’t trust Dora.  I can make up the time with her through walks.

Murph somehow lost his collar this weekend.  It may be time to get him a harny like the other two.

I watched a PBS program tonight on dogs.  It made me think about Dora.  She was probably trained to hunt and then when she got hurt, someone — maybe he owner — tried to fix her, but it didn’t work.  That’s when she was let go.  The horror of her pups being taken away and then being shot at must have been horrible.  She needs me to love her.  And I do — just not in the unconditional way that I had.   I used to mad crazy love her.  I was wrong.  I cannot let her attack Tam again.  I cannot let her bite me again — ever.

I hope to make an appointment for sometime this or next week.

 

Kathleen’s Gettin’ a Gun

Typical.  The SCOTUS rules that there is an individual right to bear arms and Kathleen is afraid.

Although my Dad and brothers hunted while I was growing up and my Dad kept a handgun in the house, I never had any use for guns myself. In fact, I hated the thought of them. One of the biggest fights I ever had with my husband was when the kids were little and he brought home a gun from the house he grew up in. I did not want a gun in the house. He bought a gun safe and assured me all was safe.

I use to think the NRA types were always overblowing (sic) the assault on 2nd Amendment rights. But what is clear is that when Democrats are in charge of appointing judges, we get rulings that restrict gun rights.

So, I started looking for a gun myself. I’ve decided to get my concealed handgun permit. I actually went into a gun shop last week. I told my best friend that I know it sounds irrational, but I really have the feeling that I should be getting a gun while the getting is good. I truly feel that if the Democrats get their way, law abiding citizens will eventually not have the right to own a gun. The Democrats are in charge of Congress now and if Obama wins he will appoint radical left judges to the Supreme Court who will continue to throw out the will of the people with judicial activism. Then we are, as they say, up a creek without a paddle.

It’s not overblown and it’s not irrational to believe that might happen anymore. It is reality staring us in the face.

I guess that means she is conceding the election in November.  Otherwise, why get one?

There are probably more who think the way she does and it will make not only the Joe Horn case, but other similar cases more frequent.

A few of Kathleen’s commenters have threatened me personally in the past — she conveniently deleted all of those comments — but I feel safe with the pups I have.  Oh, and that bat.    And while Dora has a problem with Tam now, if someone tried to put one toe on my property, I’ve got three rather large dogs who have proven they will protect us.  I see it this way:  no stranger can turn Dora, Tammy or Murphy against me.  The bat is questionable, but I’m sure it’s loyal to me — being a baseball fan in good standing.  Get a gun?  Not an option ever.

Thankfully, this is a big city and I doubt Kathleen and I would ever cross paths — if she ever pulled her gun on me, I’d easily take it from her.  I’m sure that’s nothing she’s thought about.

So, you go girl.  Get that gun and the training involved.  And remember you did it out of spite.

Fat White Men

I generally like Red, White and Blue, but tonight it is altogether too white, too fat and too male.

The white guys who whine about their status all the time (links? not tonight) are not under represented.

The fat dem is Mark White.  The fat republican guy is just fat.  Oh, it’s Jack Raines.  He’s still fat.

Nothing new.

I’m going to watch Basquiat.

Joe Horn Testifies

The Grand Jury heard Joe Horn’s testimony today, but the only word of that is from his attorney.

I’m just not so sure that the Grand Jury will be fair.  Everything argues against it.

With the SCOTUS decision today, I think that this sort of case will come up more often.

I’m not happy about it.  Guns are not the solution.

I keep thinking about this being a turn of the century sort of thing.  I can only hope to live to see how all of this works out.  I have to watch my neighbors and hope that they won’t shoot me — hope that some random person with a gun doesn’t get mad at me for driving 55 on the freeway.

Sure, Joe Horn, an “old” man killed two people.  As it turns out, he shot them in the back.  But for most people, he is a hero.

Help your neighbor?  If everyone is armed, I trust no one.

Blog Friends

From reader D@R (who also named sweet Murphy) a cool pic of little saved-feral Kim Chee with a familiar skunk named Petunia.

Also, one of my old students came around this afternoon and wanted to advertise his city and started a WordPress blog just today. If you like, visit and leave him a comment — he goes by — crap I forgot the name of his blog.  I’ll leave this up for tonight, but will get it fixed at work tomorrow.

 

I’m little more than useless these days.

A Difficult Patch

I hesitated to write about this, but I think now it’s ok, since I see a clearer path.

Sweet Tammy has cancer.  We’ve decided that taking her to Gulf Coast (don’t get me started about them) for daily anesthesia and radiation for three weeks is not an option.  We’re going to go with weekly chemo in the form of an injection at our vet and see how it goes.  If it makes her too sick or changes her quality of life too much, we’ll just let her live her life.  Her time here with us is limited either way.  We want it to be as happy as possible.

The week of separation that Tammy needed because of her stitches from the biopsies had some very negative consequences.  When Tammy first came to us she was happy and healthy — without a collar — and we told her to go home.  She came back about a month later much worse for the wear.  I put her in the backyard, and unfortunately a neighbors’ dog got in and attacked her.  I got bit in the process of separating them and Tammy and the neighbors’ doge went to the pound.  That’s when I got a tetnus shot.

Tammy stayed in the backyard and Dora in the house and front yard for a while after that.  My good friend Anne-Marie convinced me that they should be friends.  We worked at it and through walks and short meetings, Dora and Tammy became friends.  They stayed in the house together, went out in the yard together for years.

When we got Tammy’s diagnosis, I decided to keep Murphy.  Murphy and Dora get along ok, not perfectly, but well enough for everything to be ok.

On Friday night, Tammy’s stitches had fallen out and her biopsy incisions healed, so I let her out in the front yard with Murphy and Dora.  A few seconds later I let them all back in and Dora attacked Tammy.  I tried to separate them, but Dora bit me on first my right, then my left elbow as I tried to keep them separated.  Dora went crazy.

My elbows are badly bruised, but I’m ok.  I’ve kept the pups segregated — Dora in one space, Tammy and Murphy in another.  We called the vet and got a referral to an animal behaviorist.  Dora and I will make an appointment next week.

When Dora is in the living room, Murphy’s barks don’t bother her.  When she’s in her new room, that barking makes her absolutely crazy.

Bottom line is, I think I have to have Dora separated from now on.  She’s damaged — something that happened to her before I got her — I just didn’t know the extent until now.

What happened on Friday smashes all of those together photos that I took of the three of them.   It smashes my hope for these pups living together.

And don’t even get me started on the visit I got from BARC this morning.

Dan Quayle’s Right Wing Welfare Girl is Back!

YaY!  The Murphy Brown Potatoe womanis on the job to criticize Michelle Obama.  She (Michelle) was on The View this morning.  Given that I have a real job (i.e. I don’t freebase off of the National Review) I didn’t see it.  Lucky me though, I read about it (more than one source, though I admit one was Wonkette) and will watch some clips tomorrow.

Lisa  — I’m not going to copy and paste — pulls in Hillary and Laura in her ‘analysis’ but not Cindy McCain.  I wonder why?  Oh, yeah, that’s right — a good poke at Hillary is always fun and praising Laura Bush (who brought up two drunken daughters) always works for people like Lisa.  Cindy McCain is more difficult to use as a contrast to Michelle Obama, so Lisa avoids the comparison.

Lisa  cheapens the idea that Michelle Obama can be a down to earth mom and wife and still be a professional.  She is yet another voice on the right trying oh-so-hard to pull Michelle Obama down to the level where they think she should be.  Writing propaganda for a living is far easier than working at a hospital or a law firm.

But here’s the kicker.  Lisa criticizes Michelle Obama for what she wears and . . . wait for it — the muscle tone of her arms.  Ok, I’ll copy and paste this part:

She is an attractive woman, whose height gives her a commanding presence, and it is clear that she puts effort into toning those upper arms. So the dresses look good; but this is not about pretty. She is in her forties, and the sleeveless sheath is the province of younger women, and/or socialites; it works for cocktails or a barbeque, but not church or work.

ZOMG  Michelle Obama COVER THOSE ARMS!1!!!11!!! 

Please read the whole thing by Lisa and wonder about how much gas money she got for it.

I’ve added another site to my blogroll.  It is called Michelle Obama Watch. Its purpose is to catalog and dispell all of the smears against her.  My  hope is that is has a short life.  That’s one hope that I doubt will come true though.

Next Best Thing to Pandering

Cindy McCain will be on GMA tomorrow  on ABC, and during the interview she reportedly states that she doesn’t know why Michelle Obama said what she did in a speech in Madison earlier this year, but that she (McCain) has always been proud of her country.  So, instead of taking the high road al la Laura Bush, or twisting Michelle Obama’s words like Sean Hannity has done several times a day, every day for months, Cindy McCain decided that her best path was to claim ignorance, which in turn leaves doubt.  And by doing so, she feeds all of the talkers, encouraging them to keep up their nastiness.

Of course, I tend to agree with many others (here’s a very good one — Down with Tyranny!) that these attacks on Michelle Obama are going to backfire on McCain — especially if he doesn’t try to rein in the very visable people pushing them.  His campaign really needs to stick to the issues because personal attacks — particularly attacks on someone’s partiotism — are just not going to work this time.

Not. This. Time.

Obama ’08

Legal Expert Not So Honest?

Gerald Treece has been the legal expert ‘go-to guy’ for the media in Houston for years.  My impression of him, whenever he gives his opinion, has always been that he was fair.

Recently, I’ve heard him a couple of times on Dan Patrick’s radio show.  What I heard from him today has given me seconds thoughts about just how fair, much less accurate, he actually is.

He and Patrick were discussing the SCOTUS case regarding Gitmo from last week.  After briefly trashing Justice Kennedy, Treece said that he was really surprised by the decision because ti was the Democrat Congress that had passed the MCA.

Ooops!  That’s wong.

I’m not going to change my opinion of him based on that one statement (no matter how telling it is).  But it’s hard to figure out how someone in his position — big dog in a law school, often on radio and television because of his legal expertise — could get something so wrong by accident.  By using the term Democrat the way he did — perhaps he was playing to his audience.  By trying to say that the congress was controlled by the Democrats in 2006 smells like what other Republicans have been trying to do in the run up to the election — blame everything on the Democrats.