Congrats to Ben for his group’s victory:

Future property tax rate increases would have to go to the voters under a Metro Nashville referendum on Tuesday’s ballot.

Supporters of the ballot measure outnumbered opponents by a strong margin.

Oh, where to start. Well, may as well get the angry stuff out of the way first. On the pending push for another assault weapons ban:

Some of you are making the assumption that there WILL be a grandfather clause in AW Ban 2.0. I can’t look up sources here at work but I do remember a few of the major gun-grabbing people stating the next AW ban won’t have the loopholes in it the first one did. I believe that one of the top gun grabbers made mention of ” no grandfathering ” any of the guns that were part of the original or any of the ones made after the ban – again, I’m at work and can’t look it up.

To which Kevin opines:

if Joe is right and an AW Ban 2.0 carries a “Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in” clause, on the date that bill becomes law, I become an outlaw.

I disagree. I’ll happily turn them in. Ammo first.

Oy. $300 for a lousy SKS… when did that happen?

Counter notes that Chuckles Schumer wasted no time:

To that end, he sketched out an expansive federal agenda: Teaming up with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on gun control, passing new tax incentives for urban job programs, and redirecting federal money to New York in return for the outsize tax collections that the federal government makes here.

Note to Democrats: shut that guy up, or you’ll be out in two years.

LaPierre:

They had learned the NRA’s brutal lesson that you can’t be elected running on an anti-gun agenda. So they kept their anti-gun views to themselves throughout the campaign.

Once elected, they turned over control of your gun rights to the Schumers, Kennedys, Feinsteins, Boxers, Pelosis and Conyers of Congress.

That’s why Tuesday will be recorded as the first day of an ominous future for Second Amendment freedom.

The Gun Nut:

And among the things you can expect to see are some really onerous gun-control bills.

Whoa, you say. Haven’t the Democrats learned that backing gun control is bad for political longevity? Why yes, says I, but they don’t care. They have to do it. It’s in their genes.

Is it pledge season or something? The VPC says:

In the wake of the Republican party losing control of the U.S. House and amidst key Senate losses, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has suffered its “biggest election disaster in nearly 15 years” according to the NRA’s own election materials. In its magazines and in member communications leading up to the 2006 midterm elections, the NRA repeatedly warned that its “pro-Second Amendment House of Representatives” was at stake. And in a direct-mail appeal sent out in July 2006, the NRA’s Political Victory Fund declared that “you and I could be headed for our biggest election disaster in nearly 15 years” if democrats were to take control of one or both Houses of Congress.

I think the pro and anti gun lobby both are a bit over excited, when GOA is the voice of reason:

What impact, if any, will the transformational 2006 Congressional Election have on Second Amendment rights?

While election 2006 may have been a referendum on many things (the President, war in Iraq, Jack Abramoff, Mark Foley for example), it does not translate into greater support for gun control at the grass roots level.

If anything, gun control was notable as a non-issue in this election. In compiling the GOA rating, researchers could hardly find a congressional candidate with any stated position on gun control on campaign websites.

That’s not to say many of the newly elected will not support the anti-gun agenda; just that they recognize open support for gun control will cost them at the polls.

Republicans got what they deserved, but did we? Err, no.

Cam notes that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership is giddy:

The Brady Campaign is saying that last night’s results mean Americans are in favor of gun control.

David Kopel looks at the election and the second amendment:

The Second Amendment has emerged from the biggest Democratic victory since 1974 with relatively little damage.

Over at The Gun Blogs:

XD45_NH:

while our gun rights might not be under fire, we have other issues that could impact us

JR A Keyboard and a .45 says expect a ban on weapons that look like assault weapons and talk of the non-existent gun show loophole.

Some thoughts I’ve seen around (not all of them I agree with but it’s interesting to see what people think):

Heh:

The Republicans lost and the Democrats won for the same reason — they distanced themselves from their base.

When the Democrats were in charge.

A commenter here opined that We pulled a Spain…... I don’t think that’s the case at all but I’d say quite a few conservatives do.

The Quote of the Day comes from Chuck:

If the Republicans buy into the bipartisanship bull, then they had better get used to being backbenchers

Ok, two quotes of the day:

In 2004, President Bush and the Republicans lived by Iraq. This year they died by Iraq.

Libertarians score more than the margin of victory in Montana.

For $485:

Stag Arms 2H Upper:
* A3 upper with T-marks
* 16″ threaded barrel with removable A2 flash hider
* twist rate of 1 in 9″
* chrome lined chamber and bore
* 5.56mm NATO chamber
* M4 profiled barrel (light under the handgaurds)
* F marked front sight (proper geometry for the flat top!)
* M4 handgaurds
* side mounted sling swivel
* price includes bolt carrier group and charging handle
* price includes ARMS#40A2 BUIS!

For $100 more, you get a quad rail.

Being the evil, earth-raping capitalist that I am, you’ll find it odd that I drive a vehicle that takes ethanol-blended gas. Until recently, I didn’t even know there places in the Knoxville that sold it. Well, there are. Here’s a list.

Everyone knows that this past election was different but so far no one has put their finger on what it was that made it different. It was the Internet. Actually an Internet site, it was YouTube. The Internet has been around for a long time but until this election the Internet was not a player.

Many people felt the 2000 Presidential Election would be when the Internet would be seen as a vehicle of change. But it wasn’t time yet. Something was missing.

So it was a slam dunk that the 2004 Presidential Election would be the Internet Election. But it wasn’t to be.

The reason? People don’t like to read. They would rather watch. The solution was YouTube. In the advertising world they measure impressions. In Television news Karl Rove and James Carville types worry about the news cycle. So what happens when impressions multiply beyond comprehension and news cycles are extended indefinitely?

Mistakes are amplified and exaggerated.

That is what happened in this election. For George Allen it was macaca. For John F. Kerry it was a bungled joke about education and Iraq. For Harold Ford it was the “Memphis Meltdown” and the “bimbo ad”.

In the days before YouTube these “impressions” and “news cycles” where very brief. After all, do people make a video tape of these moments and exchange them with their friends? Of course not, too much trouble. But YouTube changed everything. Hook your TV up to your computer and pesto chango you have a file you can upload to YouTube for FREE. Then you can link it to any number of Blogs for FREE.

The politicians were caught flat-footed. Most mistakes can survive a limited number of impressions and a short news cycle. But what do you do when you say macaca and it never ends? You lose. That is what happens.

But the YouTube phenomena is not just for elections. All across this country every City Council meeting, every County Commission meeting, every State Assembly meeting, and every meeting of the United States Congress is now a potential YouTube adventure.

YouTube is the inverse of Big Brother. The citizens now control the picture. We the people control the image, we control the horizontal, we control the vertical.

A new revolution has begun and politicians should be warned. We are listening to and watching every word you say.

Clued in by reader Ron, I found this:

Tester has won Montana, by most accounts. Notice the jab about the PATRIOT Act and guns. More Democrats like this please.

A little birdie told me that the phones at one of the prominent makers of evil black rifles has been busy for the last several hours.

Seen at Brittney’s:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican officials say Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down.
…
Earlier today, a spokesman for Rumsfeld said he’d given no indication that he would step down in the wake of Democratic election gains. The spokesman said Rumsfeld would work with Congress on Iraq but added that the focus on stabilizing the country will remain the same.

Mike Pence:

Some will argue that we lost our majority because of scandals at home and challenges abroad. I say, we did not just lose our majority, we lost our way.

While the scandals of the 109th Congress harmed our cause, the greatest scandal in Washington, D.C. is runaway federal spending.

After 1994, we were a majority committed to balanced federal budgets, entitlement reform and advancing the principles of limited government. In recent years, our majority voted to expand the federal government’s role in education, entitlements and pursued spending policies that created record deficits and national debt.

This was not in the Contract with America and Republican voters said, ‘enough is enough.

Our opponents will say that the American people rejected our Republican vision. I say the American people didn’t quit on the Contract with America, we did. And in so doing, we severed the bonds of trust between our party and millions of our most ardent supporters.

As the 110th Congress convenes next year, Republicans must cordially accept defeat and dedicate ourselves to advancing our cause as the loyal opposition knowing that the only way to retake our natural, governing majority, is to renew our commitment to limited government, national defense, traditional values and reform.

Unfortunately, it took an ass-whooping to get the point across.

In some ways, last night was wonderful: a firm repudiation of Republican war mongering and corruption. In others, it was disappointing. Anti-gay bigotry still wins at the ballot box, and marijuana still can’t catch a break. But even though Nevada, Colorado, and South Dakota voted against decriminalization and medical marijuana, Drug War Rant looks on the bright side.

Of particular note is the demographics of marijuana use and opposition. Older folks who have never tried marijuana tend to vote against legalization, and the vast majority of people over 65 have never tried marijuana. Among younger folks, marijuana use is much more prevalent. If you don’t smoke, surely you know somebody who does. And people who have direct experience with weed tend to support decriminalization. As the older folks get replaced by the younger ones, those ballot initiatives are going to start going the right way.

The AP:

Nine states approved eminent-domain measures barring the government from taking private property for a private use.

And hats off to Arizona for being the only state not afraid of gay cooties.

And good for the poker lobby for unseating 15 term congressmonkey Jim Leach. Otis says:

In a race that Republicans ignored because they didn’t think it could be lost, in a race the national media ignored because they didn’t see it as a potential pick-up for Democrats, in a race that even the candidate didn’t think he could lose, Rep. James Leach (R-IA) lost his seat to a guy named Loebsack.

Rustmeister says:

As the dust settles and the Dems take control of Congress, lotsa folks (myself included) feel there’s a new offensive brewing. Gun rights are once again in the crosshairs of those who would disarm us.

Not so fast.

There won’t be a big push for gun control for the next two years.

David Kopel has gun positions broken down by state. The Dems have been running their pro-gun and more conservative folks. I’m not scared. Yet.

For what it’s worth: Dem control of the congress could lead to a Republican maintaining the presidency in 08. I’d almost bet a beer on that but not yet. Speaking of betting beers, my beer post was deleted from Knoxviews. Or at least moved since the p-link still works. Lame. Update: It’s back.

That is a fast re-load. Mag in before the old one hits the ground. Heck, it’s in before it’s halfway to the ground.

Election smart assery.

The good news is that lots of people owe me beer. I bet Corker would win and was right. So far, I retain my 100% accuracy on political beer betting.

Tennesseans, by an overwhelming margin, are afraid of gay cooties.

Braisted on Ford:

As I’m watching MSNBC, they are already saying that Ford lost because of the “racist” Bimbo ad.

No…He…Didn’t

He lost because of his father and brother.
He lost because of things like “Democrats love the lord”
He lost because of ads which lied about his record.

A chart of votes by race.

The Campfield race wasn’t close.

Democrats get the House. And might get the Senate.

It took people 6 years to get as fed up with the Republicans as I was after four. Note to Republicans: You can reclaim some of the house seats some day by running on the principles you ran on in the 1990s. Only this time, you should mean it.

I predict Bush will now veto at least two bills.

The Democrats won largely by running (to use the media term) more conservative Democrats. The Uncle term is they ran the non-crazy ones.

Two frightening words: Speaker Pelosi. But I concur with Tam’s prediction of an uptick in gun sales.

So, now what?

Today, I received a fax from an employee. They went to a webpage, printed it, and faxed it to me. All this, as opposed to emailing a link. I guess we see why some folks can’t operate voting machines.

There won’t be one. I’ll do what I do every election night: I will not watch the yammering talking heads who have no idea what they’re talking about prove that they have no idea what they’re talking about. And I’ll get the full skinny in the morning without all the lame-ass commentary from people who have no idea what they’re talking about.

heh:

I just heard on CNN that Harold Ford, when pushed about the race issue, said that Black guys are undefeated in Tennessee.

Update: But that’s not as funny as this voter fraud.

The following is a column from award winning author Orson Scott Card. If you don’t read science fiction you may not recognise the name but those who do hold Orson Scott Card in the greatest esteem.

From the November 2nd column in the Greensboro Rhinoceros Times Newspaper:

Read the rest of this entry »

Is this guy from Florida:

WBIR producer Rob Lloyd says he didn’t get to cast his vote at the Farragut polling center this morning and he’s not happy about it.

He says he did cast his vote for the governor’s race, but then couldn’t figure out how to make the electronic machine move forward to the next race in which he wanted to vote. When Rob asked a campaign worker to help him move past the governor’s race to the Senate race, he was instructed to “push the red button.” But when he did this, he was informed he had finished casting his votes.

I wonder if problems like these account for the alleged voting machine problems?

Quite a few lefty blogs are reporting GOP voter suppression. I have yet to see as many incidents reported in the press.

Rove’s weather machine may be to blame.

Uncle summarizes the news:

Gamblers pick Corker; Republicans ban taking odds

Iraq: It’s going great.

Americans sympathetic to Michael J. Fox; still don’t care about the other 1.5M people with Parkinson’s Disease

Vote for [this guy] because he has [this initial] after his name.

Iraq: No, it’s not going that great.

Poll: Most want Republicans to lose; Most want Democrats to not win

Kim Jong-il: Hey, I know there’s an election going on but I’m still over here being crazy

Now that’s what I call hip.

Iraq: Is too!

Lieberman will win, still suck.

Blogger uses phrase Britney Spears Sex Tape in effort to draw traffic.

Iraq: Wait? There’s a Britney Spears sex tape?

We have computers that can:

Perform trillions of calculations per second

Render impressive graphics displays in more colors than the human mind can even pick up on.

Guide lasers for brain surgery

Run billions and billions and billions of business transactions with minimal error that result in financial statements that can be reasonably opined on

Get robots to Mars

Parallel park a car

But we can’t make fucking computers that can count with any level of confidence? Gimme a break.

Seriously, do they get anyone under the age of 80 to work at a voting location? They need that long-haired, fast kid who operates the cash register at Kroger in Alcoa. He’s fast.

I voted today. Some notes:

The line was long and slow-moving. At least 20 people came in to vote, saw the line, then turned around and left. What? You don’t expect busy people to wait around for the democratic process, do ya? Hopefully, they planned on coming back later.

Republicans were sleeping in. I got there at 8am and there were Bredesen signs and some old hippie holding signs for Harold Ford, Jr. at the parking lot entrance. Not a single Republican sign to be seen.

No exit polling.

I entertained myself in line by trying to guess who would vote for the constitutional ban on gay marriage.

The wife had asked me who I was voting for in the Senate. I told her I didn’t know and that I might write her name in. She said Please don’t. I’m busy.

How I voted:

No on the gay marriage ban.

No on special tax privileges for old people.

Governor: Phil Bredesen. Despite past reservations about a lame duck governor, I think he did a good job.

House: Jimmy Duncan

Senate: **drumroll** Bo Heyward. I did so not because I think Bo is a stellar candidate nor do I think my ideals line up with his (not even close). I did it because the Republicans fielded a terrible candidate. So, yeah, I threw my vote away to teach the stupid party a lesson.

I still bet one beer that Bob Corker will win this election. Offer not valid after 8pm.

David Hardy notes that the new ATF chief is Brian A. Benczkowski.

Sad. Via insty, who notes:

If you’re unwilling to crack down on criminals, cracking down on weapons will never reduce crime.

This week, it will be knives. Next week, golf club.s

So says Ron Paul:

Gun control may have faded as a political issue, but the mentality that Washington knows best– and that certain constitutional rights are anachronisms– is alive and well. Look for gun control advocates to bide their time and look for new ways to resurrect the issue in 2008 and beyond.

Via Joe.

I present to you the greatest metal band to come out in the last 5 years: All That Remains. I have both their albums. First one was great and I figured the second wouldn’t be (most bands suck on their second album). But their second is as good. See:

Via Ben, comes the carnival of taxes. Jeez, there’s a carnival for every thing. Soon, we’ll need a carnival of the carnivals.

Heh. Though I would add Please knock: the life you save may be your own.