The buzz this morning is that NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced Barack Obama before a speech on the economy. Is Bloomberg perhaps going to endorse? Or even… is it possible that there’s a joint-ticket possibility? Marc Ambinder writes:
The First Read gang is all a-buzz at the Obama-Needs-A-Jew-On-The-Ticket Angle, but I think the best way to look at an Obama-Bloomberg ticket is by noticing their complimentary traits.
Personally, I’m not familiar enough with the mayor to know whether a joint ticket would be a good thing or bad, generally. I do know, though, that putting Bloomberg into the VP slot will cause massive problems here in my home — because Dear Husband tells me he’ll not only stop supporting Obama, he’ll work actively against him if Bloomberg’s in the mix.
Here’s why:
SMYRNA, Ga., Dec. 5 — In Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign to remove illegal guns from New York City’s streets, he sued 27 out-of-state gun dealerships last year over what he said were illegal sales. Most agreed to settle, while others chose to take their chances in court. […]
The dispute has its roots in what has become a prominent theme in Mr. Bloomberg’s second term: stemming the flow of illegal firearms into New York, mostly from other states.
In a sting operation, the city sent teams of private investigators, usually a man and a woman, to five states. Posing as gun buyers, they went to stores whose guns had been linked to more than 500 crimes in New York City from 1994 to 2001.
I agree with DH that a city has no business crossing lines into another jurisdiction like this. There are other entities set up specifically to handle the problem Bloomberg was working on. (ATF, anyone?)
On the other hand, it’s not at all clear to me that Michael Bloomberg’s battling against the Second Amendment. My impression is that he’s targeting the method by which guns are illegally hitting our streets in such astounding numbers.
Thus, I don’t know that Bloomberg’s goals are the problem so much as the rather appalling tactic he evidently used…. and the difference matters.
Law-abiding gun owners are not a threat to our society, nor are the guns themselves. Rather, the problem is that criminals seem to have no trouble getting their hands on them… and no, I don’t believe for a minute that the briskly lucrative street-trade can be accounted for by home robberies. One would have to assume all homes to be veritable arsenals for that argument to fly.
Sigh….
Meanwhile, DH has voiced his extreme displeasure at the possibility of Bloomberg teaming up with Obama. Here’s hoping it’s all just buzz… cuz I really don’t want a repeat of 2004 at my house.
Added: A recent Gallup poll about the Second Amendment here. The upshot? Lots of folks seem to agree with me.
Speaking of having a Jew on the ticket, did you happen to notice Lieberman by McCain’s side last week?
I find the whole “Jew on the ticket” angle to be strange in the extreme. I wasn’t even aware of Bloomberg’s or Lieberman’s religion until recently, when it somehow became Important Knowledge.
I’m kind of with DH. Bloomberg is a fascist.
I agree that the tactic is fishy, but I also understand why Bloomberg did it – having lived in a border city (DC) where a neighbor (Virginia) was basically acting as a gun supermarket for guns being used blocks from my house. So my feelings on it are mixed.
Boy am I tired of rednecks who think that guns aren’t the problem. Lady, I’d love to plunk you down in the middle of Brownsville or East New York at 11:30 on a Saturday night– then you can explain to those corner boys that it’s the criminals that are the problem, and not the .38 they’re about to plug you with, as if it’s an either/or question.
LOL!!!! First time anyone’s ever suggested I’m a redneck. Thanks so much for the giggle!
Meanwhile, I gather you’re telling me “those corner boys” aren’t criminals? That if they had no guns, they’d be gainfully occupied elsewhere at 11:30 on a Saturday night?
“Lady, I’d love to plunk you down … … ” And he’s calling you a redneck??
Redneck, Texan, resident of the United States of Jesusland…whatever. Again, Polimom, it’s not an either/or question, and whether or not the corner boys could be employed someplace else is immaterial (though suggesting that the couldn’t be seems at best ignorant and at worst racist). The issue here is that many folks who live in the burbs and in rural America feel that “individual rights” should trump public safety and quality of life. Ask any city cop and he’ll tell you: take away the guns and urban life gets a lot safer.
Wow, Irish. You’re determined to pick a fight, eh? It takes some real chutzpah to come onto someone’s blog for the first time ever, and start slingin’ names and accusations of racism.
I’m happy to take up a discussion with you, but I think I’ll wait until you back off the attacks and re-phrase your comment. When you’re ready to come down off the ceiling of assumptions and approach things civilly, come on back and we’ll chat. K?
New York Irish
Taking away the guns has worked sooooo well in DC hasn’t it. I believe the murder rate with handguns has actually gone up since the BAN.
I recall reading an article in Grist magazine that gave the detail behind the suit. Essentially there were a couple dozen gun dealers running guns to NYC. The state attorney general used lists shared between gun manufacturers and the ATF of who was buying what from the manufacturers and came up with a list of suspects. However the ATF were already investigating many of them. It became apparent to the that it would take a fair amount of time to finish all of those investigations and so the AG and Bloomberg opted to pursue civil action since NYC shares the serial numbers of confiscated guns used in crimes with the ATF who in turn shares them with gun manufacturers. Since those data bases are indexed and cross referenced the basis for the case was the the gun manufacturers were either at some level aware that they were selling to dealers engaged in criminal enterprises or were negligent in selling to those dealers since they possessed the means to see which dealers were trafficking.
By doing so they were able to stop the gun running from the top down without disrupting the ATF’s ongoing investigations.
You should however not take remembrance of the article as gospel. I’m sleep deprived so google it for full story.
Does this mean, NY Irish, that you are also an ardent supporter of the current Administration’s ‘warrantless wiretap’ policies? And would you support an effort to extend the government’s “special rendition” program to, let us say, pretty much all criminal activities (or at least a mild suspicion thereof)?
~EdT.
I’ll come on your blog for the first time and sling accusations: the idea the you could be an Obama supporter and a supporter of guns means you haven’t listened to Obama’s message. While he hasn’t come out clearly in favor of gun control because the NRA controls much of the media and government, you can’t have real change in this country until we get over our love of violence, including the fetish about guns (it’s probably a phallic thing led by insecure men – goes along with their homophobic tendencies). Who in their right mind could defend gun trafficking? The Second Amendment was written at a different time, and the Constitution was written to evolve (although, given your gun stance, maybe you’re against any kind of evolution, too). Thanks, New York Irish, for having the courage to stand up to this nonsense. Anyone who defends public use of guns for any reason other than licensed hunting should be forced to live in the inner city for a year and see the damage that guns have wrought on families and individuals. Why should any civilized, 21st Century person defend an instrument that was made to kill people?
Meet Polimom… not only a redneck, but a creationist, to boot!
:chortle: :gack: :giggle: BwahahahaHaHaHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
To paraphrase some cartoon character somewhere, “they don’t know her very well, do they?”
However, I just gots to ask Polimom one thing: by any chance, are the posting IPs for “David in NYC” and “NY Irish” the same?
Oh, and dude(s): how do you know that Polimom (or even myself, for that matter) haven’t lived in the inner city? You might want to a bit of research next time.
~EdT.
Hi Dyre — I just spent some time hunting for the Grist article, but couldn’t find it. Your description, though, is a bit different from the way I understand things. (Hopefully somebody will find a link?)
I think it’s a great idea, frankly, to shut down gun dealers who — whether through negligence or maliciousness — are part of an illegal supply pipeline. As I wrote — there are far too many guns on the streets to be accounted for by one-offs from home robberies. However, due process and the rule of law are not just crucial to successful prosecution, they are fundamental to our country. I support Bloomberg’s goal in this effort, but as I currently understand his tactic to achieve it, he went about it the wrong way.
Hi Ed — I’m taking a quick break from burying bodies in my backyard to let you know that no, Irish and David are not coming from the same computer. That doesn’t necessarily mean, though, that they don’t (at the very least) share some things in common — like low reading comprehension skills…
David and I have consulted with the other eight million people in the city (because we all know one another, natch) and we’ve decided to round up our criminals, firearms and all, and ship them down to Katy, Texas, that Eden of liberty, that bastion of the Second Amendment. If you guys want the guns, you can have them. Here’s to hoping that all you bible thumpers down there south of Mason/Dixon will slither back to from whence you came.
Hey – I’ve seen your back yard! Are you filling in the “cement pond”?
🙂
~EdT.