Too many topics, too little space.<\/p>\n
Did you realize radical cleric Feisal Abdul Rauf, who wants to build a Manhattan mosque to celebrate Islam\u2019s victory over the Great Satan on Sept. 11, 2001, is now touring the Mideast to raise money for his project … in a book tour funded by the U.S. government?<\/p>\n
The State Department defends the five-country tour, saying Mr. Rauf is \u201ca distinguished Muslim cleric,\u201d The Washington Times explained in an editorial last week.<\/p>\n
But \u201cBy funding the trip so soon after New York City\u2019s Landmarks Preservation Commission gave the go-ahead to demolish the building on the proposed mosque site, the State Department is creating the appearance that the U.S. government is facilitating the construction of this shameful structure,\u201d The Times points out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmericans also may be surprised to learn that the United States has been an active participant in mosque construction projects overseas,\u201d the Times adds. \u201cIn April, U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Alfonso E. Lenhardt helped cut the ribbon at the 12th-century Kizimkazi Mosque, which was refurbished with assistance from the United States. … The U.S. government also helped save the Amr Ebn El Aas Mosque in Cairo, which dates back to 642.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cairo mosque\u2019s namesake was the Muslim conqueror of Christian Egypt, who built the structure on the site where he\u2019d pitched his tent before the battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those who think the Ground Zero Mosque is an example of \u2018Muslim triumphalism\u2019 glorifying conquest,\u201d The Times went on, \u201cthe Amr Ebn El Aas Mosque is an example of such a monument — and one paid for with U.S. taxpayer funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imagine how the Left would have squawked if George Bush had proposed spending a few grand in federal tax dollars to help refurbish a Christian church for its worshippers here in America — and rightly so. But send a hundred million tax dollars from a bankrupt America to rebuild foreign mosques for the accomplices who danced in the streets when a gang of Muslim murderers toppled the World Trade Center? No problem!<\/p>\n
# # #<\/p>\n
If you blinked, you could have missed it. But something important happened in the nation\u2019s capital on Aug. 27 that demonstrates even the most benighted politicians may have finally figured out it\u2019s not wise to mess with America\u2019s gun owners.<\/p>\n
Deferring to the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, the congressional drafters of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act specified it does not grant the Environmental Protection Agency any authority to regulate firearms ammunition.<\/p>\n
So when several environmentalist groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the EPA on Aug. 3 of this year to ban the \u201cmanufacture, processing and distribution\u201d of lead shot, bullets and fishing sinkers under the Act (arguing they sought to regulate only the \u201ccomponents\u201d of ammo, not the ammunition itself), EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson \u201ccould have dismissed the request due to a lack of jurisdiction,\u201d John McCormack of the Weekly Standard pointed out in an article posted on the day in question — Friday, Aug. 27.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t. Instead, the agency \u201cis obliging CBD,\u201d Mr. McCormack of The Standard reported on that Friday.<\/p>\n
Petitioners contend up to 20 million birds and other animals are killed each year due to lead poisoning in the United States, and at least 75 species — including bald eagles, ravens and endangered California condors — are poisoned by spent lead ammunition.<\/p>\n
Alternative ammo made of bismuth or anything else would be at least twice as expensive — raising the price of a box of typical hunting ammunition to $55, amounting to a new 100 percent ammunition tax.
\nYet despite all this, the EPA proceeded to ask for public comment on banning lead in ammunition, during a period set to close Oct. 31.<\/p>\n
Ms. Jackson would then make a decision to accept or reject the petition on, um … Nov. 1.<\/p>\n
Note the date.<\/p>\n
An announcement that the EPA might ban all lead bullets — ON ELECTION EVE?<\/p>\n
It was Bill Clinton who famously attributed the Republicans\u2019 1994 congressional sweep to his own party\u2019s absurd \u201cassault weapons ban,\u201d which had zero impact on already heavily regulated machine guns, but did require manufacturers of semi-auto target rifles to add silly \u201cthumbhole stocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is simply no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations that would require restricting or banning the use of traditional ammunition beyond current limitations,\u201d Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said in a written statement.<\/p>\n
He cited recent statistics from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicating that the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States increased by more than 700 percent from 1981 through 2006.<\/p>\n
Further, since most of the alternatives to lead are considered armor-piercing and are thus banned under other laws, \u201cThis amounts to gun control by stealth,\u201d Investors Business Daily warned in an Aug. 26 editorial.<\/p>\n
And then, late on that Friday afternoon, Aug. 27 … it was all over.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Environmental Protection Agency has denied a petition filed by environmental activists seeking to ban lead in ammunition, saying such regulation is beyond the agency\u2019s authority,\u201d Fox News reported late in the day.<\/p>\n
But the EPA could have said that three weeks earlier. Why the sudden turnaround?<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the start of fall hunting seasons around the country, the EPA made it a top priority and denied the petition Monday (sic), allowing for the continued use of traditional ammunition in most places.\u201d reported Martin Couch of ESPN Outdoors.<\/p>\n
The EPA was suddenly concerned about facilitating the fall hunting season? The ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY?!<\/p>\n
No new rules would have been likely to go into effect for months or years, anyway. This explanation holds no water.<\/p>\n
No, I can\u2019t prove it — I have no transcription of any phone call — but I\u2019ve got to believe the combined efforts of Fox News, the Weekly Standard, and Investors Business Daily brought this mind-boggling political misstep to the attention of the White House sometime on that late August Thursday night or Friday morning.<\/p>\n
Not that Barack Obama doesn\u2019t hate gun ownership by the peasant class, mind you. Though he has no objection to being surrounded by armed Secret Service bodyguards, his own self, he called in 2008 for \u201cmaking the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent,\u201d and for \u201cclosing the gun show loophole\u201d — the gun grabbers\u2019 euphemism for requiring background checks on all private gun sales. This March he even blocked the re-import of 87,000 60-year-old M-1 Garands and 770,000 collectible M-1 carbines from South Korea, lest they \u201cfall into the wrong hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whose hands? Twelve-pound combat rifles are available at every pawn shop in America, but I\u2019ve never heard of an urban drug gangster whose weapon of choice is a long rifle with a tricky eight-round clip, designed to work well in mud and snow. The president means your hands and mine.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, I\u2019d bet that some time on Aug. 27 Ms. Jackson\u2019s private phone rang, and a Chicago voice she knows very well said, \u201cListen you stupid (characterization deleted), we don\u2019t have enough problems? We want the GUN OWNERS out in the streets this fall? You take this birdshot petition out for a ride and you make sure I don\u2019t see that stronz around here no more, understand? Leave the gun; bring home the cannoli.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Too many topics, too little space. Did you realize radical cleric Feisal Abdul Rauf, who wants to build a Manhattan mosque to celebrate Islam\u2019s victory over the Great Satan on Sept. 11, 2001, is now touring the Mideast to raise money for his project … in a book tour funded by the U.S. government? The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39,8,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2010-election","category-2nd-amendment","category-middle-east"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pWqFl-9n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=581"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":585,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}