Everyone is saying there's never been anything quite like this before.
"Democrats literally sat down on the floor of the House chamber on Wednesday — and forced the House into a temporary recess — as part of an effort to compel Republican leadership to vote on gun control legislation.
"Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon who led sit-ins all through the 1960s, spearheaded the effort with a fiery, sermon-like denunciation of Congress for its failure to act in the wake of mass shootings."
“For months, even for years, through seven sessions of Congress, I wondered, what would bring this body to take action?” Lewis said while Democrats slowly surrounded him at the microphone. “We have lost hundreds and thousands of innocent people to gun violence. Tiny little children. Babies. Students. And teachers. Mother and fathers. Sisters and brothers. Daughters and sons. Friends and neighbors. And what has this body done? Mr. Speaker, not one thing.”
"After about 10 minutes of escalating questions — and shouting, “Where is our soul? Where is our courage?” — Lewis said it was time for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to bring up some of the pending gun control bills. In the meantime, he said, he’d just take a seat. Moments later, he sat down on the floor. And so did all the other Democrats with him."
"Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. We’ve been quiet for too long,” Lewis said. “Now is the time to get in the way. We will be silent no more. The time for silence is over.”
"As another Democrat began to speak, the Republican lawmaker sitting in the chair gaveled the House into a temporary recess until noon. The House cut off the C-SPAN cameras that normally broadcast the floor. Later, when lawmakers reconvened, Democratic members still refused to budge, forming a circle in the well of the floor while chanting. Republicans were forced to gavel into recess once more."
"It’s not clear what GOP leaders plan to do now."
“The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed subject to the call of the chair,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
"Several Democrats tweeted pictures from the protest, using their newly coined hashtag #NoBillNoBreak."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-democrats-gun-bills-sit-in_us_576ab443e4b0c0252e77ecb8
It's already getting a presence with the hashtag. Here's DumpChumpTrump:
"DO NOT GIVE IN...Tweet out what you guys need, and we will get it to you! #NoBillNoBreak #FORTHECHILDREN"
https://twitter.com/DumpChumpTrump/status/745714153382346752
As usual, Ryan Cooper doesn't get it.
"I suspect some liberals evince little concern with the due process when it comes to guns because it seems like the fewer the guns in circulation, the better. If a few people lose their right to buy because they're caught up in the hundreds of thousands of people investigated for terrorism, so what? The ends justify the means."
"But this is very dangerous logic indeed. If gun rights can be taken away because they're politically inconvenient, then that's a terrible precedent set for freedom of religion, speech, the press, and so on. The Bill of Rights has taken enough of a beating from the Bush/Obama security apparatus already for Democrats to be endorsing another angle of attack — and there are plenty of routes toward sensible gun policy that aren't egregious violations of elementary liberal principles."
http://theweek.com/articles/631457/democratic-party-selling-gun-control-like-dick-cheney-thats-problem
This is what purist progressives never get: the need to be strategic politically.
As for the end justifying the means, hey, even Trotsky-I mention him as Cooper is something of a Marxist-said the ends flow from the means.
For the life of me I see no reason to allow anyone on a terrorist watchlist or someone recently on one to get an assault weapon, no questions asked.
Cooper and Glenn Greenwald have this tendency towards extremism on anything libertarian in this way. But no civil liberty is absolute. I can't scream fire in a crowded theater and neither should the right to own firearms be absolute.
It's dubious why people should be able to own assault weapons for normal use anyway.
"Indeed, Republicans themselves proposed one that was at least marginally better — requiring the government to prove to a judge within 72 hours that the suspect was actually a terror risk before taking away his rights. But Democrats voted it down, saying that was too short a time. As Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) previously argued, on guns, we can't afford civil liberties: "[D]ue process is what's killing us right now."
"Democrats literally sat down on the floor of the House chamber on Wednesday — and forced the House into a temporary recess — as part of an effort to compel Republican leadership to vote on gun control legislation.
"Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon who led sit-ins all through the 1960s, spearheaded the effort with a fiery, sermon-like denunciation of Congress for its failure to act in the wake of mass shootings."
“For months, even for years, through seven sessions of Congress, I wondered, what would bring this body to take action?” Lewis said while Democrats slowly surrounded him at the microphone. “We have lost hundreds and thousands of innocent people to gun violence. Tiny little children. Babies. Students. And teachers. Mother and fathers. Sisters and brothers. Daughters and sons. Friends and neighbors. And what has this body done? Mr. Speaker, not one thing.”
"After about 10 minutes of escalating questions — and shouting, “Where is our soul? Where is our courage?” — Lewis said it was time for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to bring up some of the pending gun control bills. In the meantime, he said, he’d just take a seat. Moments later, he sat down on the floor. And so did all the other Democrats with him."
"Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. We’ve been quiet for too long,” Lewis said. “Now is the time to get in the way. We will be silent no more. The time for silence is over.”
"As another Democrat began to speak, the Republican lawmaker sitting in the chair gaveled the House into a temporary recess until noon. The House cut off the C-SPAN cameras that normally broadcast the floor. Later, when lawmakers reconvened, Democratic members still refused to budge, forming a circle in the well of the floor while chanting. Republicans were forced to gavel into recess once more."
"It’s not clear what GOP leaders plan to do now."
“The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed subject to the call of the chair,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
"Several Democrats tweeted pictures from the protest, using their newly coined hashtag #NoBillNoBreak."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-democrats-gun-bills-sit-in_us_576ab443e4b0c0252e77ecb8
It's already getting a presence with the hashtag. Here's DumpChumpTrump:
"DO NOT GIVE IN...Tweet out what you guys need, and we will get it to you! #NoBillNoBreak #FORTHECHILDREN"
https://twitter.com/DumpChumpTrump/status/745714153382346752
As usual, Ryan Cooper doesn't get it.
"I suspect some liberals evince little concern with the due process when it comes to guns because it seems like the fewer the guns in circulation, the better. If a few people lose their right to buy because they're caught up in the hundreds of thousands of people investigated for terrorism, so what? The ends justify the means."
"But this is very dangerous logic indeed. If gun rights can be taken away because they're politically inconvenient, then that's a terrible precedent set for freedom of religion, speech, the press, and so on. The Bill of Rights has taken enough of a beating from the Bush/Obama security apparatus already for Democrats to be endorsing another angle of attack — and there are plenty of routes toward sensible gun policy that aren't egregious violations of elementary liberal principles."
http://theweek.com/articles/631457/democratic-party-selling-gun-control-like-dick-cheney-thats-problem
This is what purist progressives never get: the need to be strategic politically.
As for the end justifying the means, hey, even Trotsky-I mention him as Cooper is something of a Marxist-said the ends flow from the means.
For the life of me I see no reason to allow anyone on a terrorist watchlist or someone recently on one to get an assault weapon, no questions asked.
Cooper and Glenn Greenwald have this tendency towards extremism on anything libertarian in this way. But no civil liberty is absolute. I can't scream fire in a crowded theater and neither should the right to own firearms be absolute.
It's dubious why people should be able to own assault weapons for normal use anyway.
"Indeed, Republicans themselves proposed one that was at least marginally better — requiring the government to prove to a judge within 72 hours that the suspect was actually a terror risk before taking away his rights. But Democrats voted it down, saying that was too short a time. As Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) previously argued, on guns, we can't afford civil liberties: "[D]ue process is what's killing us right now."
"Even Bernie Sanders, who previously came under fire for being too sympathetic to gun rights, voted for this turkey."
"When it comes to terrorism, this is precisely the logic of belligerent neoconservatism. We can't have freedom, it's too risky. Others went even further. Here's supposed progressive hero Elizabeth Warren"
.@ChrisMurphyCT said it right: The @SenateGOP have decided to sell weapons to ISIS.
Of course, Warren is no hero now that she endorsed Hillary Clinton. But she's framing an argument.
I don't get how it's a progressive argument that gun ownership is absolute. And sometimes the ends do justify the means-I would never speak in such absolutes.
"Object to this bill on due process grounds, and you're basically in league with ISIS. If Cheney were going to sell gun policy, that's how he would do it."
The big difference is Cheney didn't believe in gun control.
As for the ISIS comparison, it's called framing an argument. The GOP wants to say that what happened in Orlando is about ISIS not gun control. The Dems are smartly framing it as part of the ISIS problem. The GOP can't argue against taking away the guns of homegrown ISIS inspired terrorists.
As ChurchLady320 says:
"Cooper is a lefty thinking it's thought policing. He's totally wrong. It's ACTIONS."
https://twitter.com/CHURCHLADY320/status/745705258261700608
"When it comes to terrorism, this is precisely the logic of belligerent neoconservatism. We can't have freedom, it's too risky. Others went even further. Here's supposed progressive hero Elizabeth Warren"
.@ChrisMurphyCT said it right: The @SenateGOP have decided to sell weapons to ISIS.
Of course, Warren is no hero now that she endorsed Hillary Clinton. But she's framing an argument.
I don't get how it's a progressive argument that gun ownership is absolute. And sometimes the ends do justify the means-I would never speak in such absolutes.
"Object to this bill on due process grounds, and you're basically in league with ISIS. If Cheney were going to sell gun policy, that's how he would do it."
The big difference is Cheney didn't believe in gun control.
As for the ISIS comparison, it's called framing an argument. The GOP wants to say that what happened in Orlando is about ISIS not gun control. The Dems are smartly framing it as part of the ISIS problem. The GOP can't argue against taking away the guns of homegrown ISIS inspired terrorists.
As ChurchLady320 says:
"Cooper is a lefty thinking it's thought policing. He's totally wrong. It's ACTIONS."
https://twitter.com/CHURCHLADY320/status/745705258261700608
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