Last Call

So, how did those Gun Appreciation Day rallies across the country go, anyway?

If the gun advocates behind this year’s inaugural Gun Appreciation Day had hoped to use the day’s festivities to build support for their anti-regulation platform, they are going to have to wait another year.

Emergency personnel had to be called to the scene of the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh, North Carolina after a gun accidentally discharged and shot two people at the show’s safety check-in booth just after 1 pm. Both victims were transported to an area hospital, and the Raleigh Fire Department announced that the show would be closed for the rest of the day.

Responsible!

Two similar incidents occurred at entirely separate gun shows in the Midwest, one in the Cleveland suburb of Medina, Ohio and the other at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana. In Ohio, the local ABC affiliate reports that one individual was brought to a hospital by EMS, and in Indiana Channel 8 WISH says that an individual shot himself in the hand while trying to reload his gun in the show parking lot. That brings the tally to 4 victims of gun violence so far at three different gun shows during the country’s first Gun Appreciation Day.  

Super responsible!

CNN is reporting that three people were injured at the gun show in Raleigh, not two as originally reported. All were victims of a shotgun that fired while the owner was removing it from a case.

You get the picture.  So at least five people were injured at three separate WOOHOO GUNS ARE AWESOME rallies.  And let's remember, these were organized specifically to counter that awful, heartless National Day of Service for Dr. King's birthday that wingers despise so much.

Go figure.

The Kroog Versus Humble Pie

Given the complete surrender on the debt ceiling by the House GOP this weekend (via Greg Sargent)...

Big news. Eric Cantor has just made it official: The GOP leadership is prepared to agree to a three month debt ceiling hike. This is a major de-escalation of the crazy and effectively means Republicans have all but taken the threat of default off the table completely.

First, the key bit from Cantor’s statement:

We must pay our bills and responsibly budget for our future. Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget. Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay.

Here’s why this matters: This increases the debt ceiling to authorize borrowing to pay the country’s bills well into April. That punts the debt limit deadline until after the deadline for funding for the government to run out, which is on March 27th. In other words, Republicans will now use the threat of a government shutdown along with the coming expiration of the sequester to extract the spending cuts it wants. Presuming this all gets resolved by then, or soon after, it means the threat of default is no longer a factor. This will all but certainly get resolved in advance of this three month deadline, and a long term debt limit hike will get attached to that agreement.

It's good to know that Paul Krugman will admit when he was wrong about the President.

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. I thought that by ruling out any way to bypass the debt limit, the White House was setting itself up, at least potentially, for an ignominious cave-in. But it appears that the strategy has worked, and it’s the Republicans giving up. I’m happy to concede that the president and team called this one right.

Yeah, well, us amateur pundits kinda knew this was going to happen.

The key point to remember here is that Obama achieves his main goals simply by surviving. Above all, health reform gets implemented, and probably becomes irreversible.

That's been the case for two years now, Kroog.  Pay attention.

StupidiNews, Inauguration Weekend Edition!

• UK and Norway officials confirm the special forces assault by Algerian troops to rescue dozens of hostages is over, but seven hostages and 11 terrorists are listed as dead.
• The charity Oxfam has issued a scathing report stating the combined $240 billion fortunes of the 100 richest billionaires on earth could end poverty on the planet four times over.
• House GOP leaders say they will pass a three month extension on the debt ceiling limit in order to force Senate Democrats to pass a budget or forfeit Congressional salaries.
• The Dow hit a five-year high on news of the GOP deal, and stronger than expected housing start and employment numbers this week.
• The Texas high school student who refused an RFID badge as "the mark of the beast" has been kicked out of the state magnet school and is headed for home.

Also, sorry for the lack of posts last night.  I had to replace a hard drive that melted down and restore data from my weekly backups.  That took most of last night and this morning.  I'm back now, and I'm sure you're all just thrilled.