When President Obama decided to let stand an executive order from President Bush that allowed concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons on National Park Service lands, I thought that perhaps our 2nd Amendment rights would be safe from the current administration after all. Well, it seems that my optimism is to be short lived. Today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the reinstatement of the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban.

It's a sad day for the Constitution. :(

Received this in response to my letter contacting Senator Cornyn regarding my opposition to Eric Holder as Attorney General...

Dear Mr. Huckabee:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General of the United States. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this issue.

After carefully studying Mr. Holder’s record as Deputy Attorney General, I remain doubtful regarding his judgment and ability to operate independent from political influence. Additionally, I have concerns that Mr. Holder’s record demonstrated a failure to understand the profound threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism. And I remain troubled by his apparent hostility to the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

During Senate Confirmation, Mr. Holder’s answers to the questions posed by the Senate Judiciary Committee failed to alleviate my concerns. During his testimony, Mr. Holder avoided giving a full and candid account of his actions regarding former-President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, the clemency offered to 16 terrorists, and other matters that gave rise to my concerns about his judgment and independence.

My utmost concern, however, is that Mr. Holder fails to fully understand the unique challenges and threats posed to our country by radical Islamic terrorism. I fear that Mr. Holder is not prepared to lead the Justice Department at a moment when this nation is waging an asymmetric war whose battlefield extends across the globe and onto U.S. soil. While I was pleased that Mr. Holder testified that protecting America from attack would be his most important job as Attorney General, his public statements regarding the War on Terror often betray a willingness to advance ideological rhetoric without fully appreciating the sensitivity and complexity of a particular issue.
For these reasons I opposed the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although I am disappointed that on February 2, 2009, Eric Holder was confirmed by the full Senate to be Attorney General of the United States, I hope that he will study the important issues facing his Department carefully and independently, and will use power responsibly—and not simply cater to the extreme voices on the left.

I appreciate the opportunity to represent Texans in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator


517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov

A big manufacturing company, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business.

He walked up to the guy leaning against the wall and asked, 'How much money do you make a week?'
A little surprised, the young man looked at him and replied, 'I make $400 a week. Why?'

The CEO then handed the guy $1,600 in cash and screamed, 'Here's four weeks' pay, now GET OUT and don't come back.'

Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked, 'Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?'

From across the room came a voice, 'Pizza delivery guy from Domino's.'

From the Associated Press

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Iceland's coalition government collapsed on Monday after an unprecedented wave of public dissent, plunging the island nation into political turmoil as it seeks to rebuild an economy shattered by the global financial crisis. Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned and disbanded the government he's led since 2006. Haarde was unwilling to meet the demands of his coalition partner, the Social Democratic Alliance Party, which insisted on choosing a new prime minister in exchange for keeping the coalition intact.
"I really regret that we could not continue with this coalition, I believe that that would have been the best result," Haarde told reporters.
Iceland has been mired in crisis since October, when the country's banks collapsed under the weight of debts amassed during years of rapid expansion. Haarde's government has nationalized banks and negotiated about $10 billion in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and individual countries.

And this from the International Herald Tribune

Only five days into the Obama presidency, members of the new administration and Democratic leaders in Congress are already dancing around one of the most politically delicate questions about the financial bailout: Is the president prepared to nationalize a huge swath of the nation's banking system?
The Obama administration is making only glancing references to those questions. In an interview Sunday on "This Week" on ABC, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, alluded to internal debate when she was asked whether nationalization, or partial nationalization, of the largest banks was a good idea.
"Well, whatever you want to call it," said Pelosi, Democrat of California. "If we are strengthening them, then the American people should get some of the upside of that strengthening. Some people call that nationalization."

Great. Perfect. Let's follow Iceland's lead and see where it takes us. :(

I've got a real mad on for all you coyotes, bobcats and badgers hanging out at my deer lease. And don't even get me started on the feral hogs!

I better stop by the gun shop before I leave town and pick up some more ammo. :eek:

Its not unusual for the stock market to drop slightly on the day we get a new president, but yesterday the DOW suffered its worst loss EVER for an inauguration day. Down 332 points. Just what my battered and bruised portfolio needed.

Hope? Optimism? Wall Street apparently doesn't see much.

Not the slavery of one individual to another. But the slavery of an entire nation to her government. The type of slavery that the people of the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, and East Germany fought to throw off at the end of the Cold War. How long did those people struggle to gain their freedom? And today, the American people willingly submit to the bondage.

...when you hit the power button on a really, really expensive piece of equipment and you get a pop, a puff of blue smoke, and a bunch of alarm lights? :eek:

Ah, Friday. What a great day to start my very own Realtree blog.

Spent most of yesterday and today assembling a new $85K RISC6000 system to replace our existing, undersized system. It'll be running the AIX operating system and should considerably speed up our electronic medical record access here at the hospital. Plan to go live with it next Wednesday night. I'll probably have to pull an "all nighter."

Not much going on this weekend. Figure I'll get my Ranger bass boat ready to start fishing. It's still a little early, but I've been getting the fishin' fever lately. All I need is some nice weather.

Well, it's nearly 5:00. Think I'll fire myself and head home. Adios