{"id":73120,"date":"2019-09-05T18:39:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T22:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=73120"},"modified":"2019-09-05T18:39:11","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T22:39:11","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-september-4th-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=73120","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, September 4th, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, September 4th, 2019…but before we begin, we mark the passing of a very dear, if not terribly old friend, Abigail McKee:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For 12 wonderful years, Abby brought us enormous joy in a very small package.\u00a0 But right decisions are often the toughest, and this one was no exception.\u00a0 If all dogs go to Heaven, Abby’s already up there enjoying herself with the rest of the McKee pack.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, we present an abbreviated edition of\u00a0The Gouge<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up,\u00a0<\/strong>here’s one infringement of the 2nd Amendment we won’t have to worry about fighting…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beto O\u2019Rourke vows mandatory buyback of assault weapons if elected president<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…’cuz Beto’s got about as much chance of even sniffin<\/em><\/span>‘ the White House as Jeffrey Epstein does of testifying against Bill Clinton in court.\u00a0 By the way, Are we the only one who’s noticed the more Beto speaks, the dumber he sounds?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since we’re on the subject of those who dig themselves a deeper hole every time they open their mouth, the\u00a0WSJ<\/em>‘s Holman Jenkins details how…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hurricane Comey Was a National Disaster<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

The bureaucratic rules he flouted are designed to protect the country from people like the FBI chief<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“…Let\u2019s not pretend to know more than we do. It is impossible to say<\/em><\/span> for sure that Donald Trump would not<\/em><\/span> be president if not for Mr. Comey\u2019s unwarranted interventions in the Hillary Clinton case<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is impossible to know<\/em><\/span> what course Mr. Trump\u2019s ideologically noncommittal and weakly partisan administration might<\/em><\/span> have followed had it not been weighed down by the<\/em><\/span>(wholly-<\/span>fabricated<\/span><\/em>)<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>Russia incubus<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> The New York Times reminds us this week that Mr. Trump was widely understood by the electorate to be \u201csubstantially more moderate than his party.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is impossible to know<\/em><\/span> how Mr. Trump\u2019s own<\/em><\/span> behavior and calculations\u00a0would have been different<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0if he had been greeted with the usual presidential honeymoon rather than a concerted campaign to portray him as a Russian stooge<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But one judgment<\/em><\/span> we are ready to render<\/em><\/span> on Mr. Comey\u2019s tenure: If he had chosen a different career<\/em><\/span> (say, driving instructor) and never joined the FBI<\/em><\/span>, I doubt<\/span> we\u2019d be lamenting his absence now<\/span><\/em>. Indeed, it seems overwhelmingly likely<\/em><\/span> that the country would be better off today without his heedless and ill-advised decisions<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Though a precedent from U.S. history<\/em><\/span> doesn\u2019t leap to mind, one from popular culture does<\/em><\/span>: Maxwell Smart<\/em><\/span>, the bumbling master spy with the inflated ego and talent for disaster<\/em><\/span> from the TV show \u201cGet Smart.\u201d As Mel Brooks, creator of the rollicking 1960s sitcom, told a reporter at the time, \u201cNo one had ever done a show about an idiot before<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> I<\/span><\/em> decided to be the first<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Jim Comey was not only the first<\/em><\/span>, he was also the worst<\/em><\/span>…though Bob Mueller<\/em><\/span> comes in a close second<\/em><\/span>, seeing as he willingly participated<\/em><\/span> in a play he had to have known to be a farce<\/em><\/span> from the get-go<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up, also writing at\u00a0NRO<\/em>, Kevin Williamson offers this helpful primer for…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

How to Spot a Serious Gun-Crime Proposal<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

There is not much cause for a panicked crackdown on the legal sale of firearms through firearms dealers<\/span><\/a>. But demagogues benefit from panic<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“T<\/strong><\/span><\/span>here was another<\/em><\/span> massacre, this one in Midland and Odessa, Texas. As usual<\/em><\/span>, tragedy<\/em><\/span> was followed by stupidity<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, in its poetical mode, observed that the crime \u201cclashed with the typically serene and dusty rural landscape of the region<\/span><\/em>.\u201d In reality<\/em><\/span>, Odessa is the most dangerous city in Texas<\/em><\/span>, with a murder rate about twice the national average<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> So much for \u201cserene.\u201d It is not particularly rural<\/em><\/span>, either, though you pass through a good deal of rurality on the way there: Midland and Odessa effectively run together to form a city about the size of Madison, Wis., or Buffalo, N.Y<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> So much for \u201crural.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00a0is<\/span>\u00a0dusty.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The killer was<\/em><\/span> \u2014\u00a0see if this<\/span> sounds familiar<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 well known to police, and well known to his neighbors as a raving lunatic who lived in a commercial shed without running water and at night fired his rifle into the darkness<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

…After the Midland-Odessa shootings, Joe Biden brought to bear his trademark alloy of dishonesty, sanctimony, and stupidity<\/em><\/span>, insisting<\/em><\/span> that only scheming special-interest groups had prevented us from taking the obvious measure of banning \u201cmagazines that can hold multiple bullets<\/em><\/span>\u201d \u2014 which is to say, magazines, categorically, inasmuch as holding multiple bullets is what magazines do<\/em><\/span>. A proposal such as Biden suggests<\/em><\/span> would mean an effective ban on nearly all modern handguns and most rifles, along with a goodly portion of shotguns<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

…What might a serious<\/em><\/span> proposal look like?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For one thing<\/em><\/span>, a serious<\/em><\/span> proposal would not carry the hallmark of the unserious proposal<\/em><\/span> \u2014 i.e., it would not be focused, as progressives\u2019 proposals almost exclusively are, on creating additional restrictions for federally licensed firearms dealers and the people who do business with them, people who constitute one of the statistically least criminally inclined demographics in these United States<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> It is difficult to become<\/em><\/span> a licensed firearms dealer, and doing business with one<\/em><\/span> \u2014 which is the exercise of a constitutional right<\/em><\/span> \u2014 requires a lot more scrutiny<\/span> than does, say, voting<\/span><\/em>: valid photo identification from a small list of approved sources, background check, copious paperwork, etc<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The so-called assault rifles<\/em><\/span> that make up a large part of the dealers\u2019 inventories \u2014 because they are the most popular sporting firearms in the United States, owned by millions and millions of Americans \u2014 are used in crime so rarely that the FBI doesn\u2019t even bother keeping statistics on them<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> Yes, they are sometimes<\/em><\/span> used in the theatrical public shootings that sometimes command our national attention<\/em><\/span> \u2014 which is what these acts of theater<\/span> are intended<\/span> to do<\/em> \u2014 but those acts constitute a vanishingly small portion of violent crime in the United States<\/span><\/em>. All<\/em><\/span> \u201clong guns\u201d together<\/em><\/span> \u2014 all<\/em><\/span> rifles, shotguns, etc. \u2014 account for about 3 percent of murder weapons<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> For perspective<\/em><\/span>: People who are beaten to death with the bare hands of their assailants<\/em><\/span> are about\u00a0double<\/span>\u00a0that percentage of all<\/em><\/span> murder victims.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s missing is ordinary, unglamorous, labor-intensive law-enforcement and public-health work \u2014 i.e., the one thing no one employed by government will seriously contemplate and no politician answering to government workers and their unions will seriously consider<\/strong><\/span>…<\/p>\n

…The failings<\/em><\/span> of our prosecutorial, probation, parole, and mental-health systems are fundamental<\/em><\/span> and in some cases catastrophic<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong> <\/span>In spite of that, the U.S. homicide rate today is<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0about what it was in the Eisenhower years<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/strong> <\/span>There is not very much cause for panic<\/em><\/span>, and there is not very much cause for a panicked crackdown on the legal sale of firearms through firearms dealers<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong> <\/span>But demagogues benefit from panic<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> Demagogues love nothing better than a population that is ignorant and terrified<\/em><\/span>, one that needs only\u00a0someone to blame<\/em><\/span><\/strong>.<\/span> Joe Biden<\/em><\/span>, in his nearly pristine ignorance, is ready to supply whatever<\/em><\/span> \u2014 whomever<\/em><\/span> \u2014 suits on that front<\/em><\/span>. Most Democrats<\/em><\/span> and some Republicans<\/em><\/span> are ready to go along with him<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Send a fool on a fool\u2019s errand, they say. There<\/em><\/span>, we have an embarrassment of riches<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> On the matter of intelligent measures to reduce crime<\/em><\/span>, we are paupers<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span>“<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it was just another weekend in the city with the toughest gun laws in the country, as…<\/strong><\/p>\n

43 shot \u2014 8 fatally \u2014 in Chicago Labor Day weekend shootings<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And in one of Bernie and Lieawatha’s favorite Socialist paradises, a…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chinese man kills 8 children in attack on first day of school<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“A man who recently served time for\u00a0attempted murder\u00a0allegedly killed eight children and injured two others who were attending their first day of\u00a0school\u00a0in\u00a0China, police said.<\/strong> <\/span>The 40-year-old man, only identified by the surname Yu<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span>, was taken into custody late Monday after he allegedly\u00a0attacked the kids at an\u00a0elementary school\u00a0in\u00a0Chaoyangpo village of Enshi city in\u00a0Hubei province.<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear<\/em><\/span> how the children were attacked<\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Though in the\u00a0now<\/em><\/span>,<\/em>\u00a0it’s apparent, as with so many other\u00a0mass-killings in the PRC<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>, guns<\/em><\/span> being unavailable<\/em><\/span>, the perp used a\u00a0knife<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And in today’s Muslim Minute<\/span><\/em>, brought to us, as always, by the Religion of Pieces<\/em>…as in what a significant segment of its adherents want to blow us all into…Jeff Foutch forwarded the following from\u00a0Frontpage Mag<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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‘Tomorrow We Are Coming to Kill You All<\/span><\/a>!’<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The horrors Christian minorities were subjected to in June, 2019 alone<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The following are some of the abuses, categorized by theme, that Muslims<\/em><\/span> inflicted on Christians<\/em><\/span> throughout the month of June, 2019<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

Remember, this was all<\/em> <\/span>in just one month<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 So many infidels<\/em>, such little time<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which brings us, incongruously enough, to\u00a0The Lighter Side<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then there’s these bits of brilliance from Balls Cotton and Ed Hickey:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, we’ll call it a day with the Nature Section<\/em><\/span>, and news of a…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Great white shark spotted off Massachusetts coast feeding on whale carcass<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reports Rosie O’Donnell was recently recreating off Cape Cod are purely coincidental!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, September 4th, 2019…but before we begin, we mark the passing of a very dear, if not terribly old friend, Abigail McKee: For 12 wonderful years, Abby brought us enormous joy in a very small package.\u00a0 But right decisions are often the toughest, and this one was no exception.\u00a0 If all dogs go to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73121,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73120\/revisions\/73121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}