The wee beastie went to the vet the Saturday before last, came home...and about Tuesday, stopped eating. Given that he doesn't especially care for the diet cat food intended to get him down to a more reasonable weight, we thought it but a kitty hunger strike. When the vomiting began this weekend, we became quite clear something odd was going on.
Kitty is at vet today, and will be picked up here shortly. Bloodwork shows liver and kidneys doing just dandy, x-rays show no blockages or foreign matter in the digestive tract, yet cat still be hurling...to mystification of one and all...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Personal note 2.0
Thank you all for your many kind wishes. This last Tuesday my doctor set me free from durance vile, and I have since been busy with work and volunteer efforts.
My apologies for not posting this sooner!! Leg is MUCH better, still a bit touchy but endurable, and not a real long distance thing yet...but trend is good...
My apologies for not posting this sooner!! Leg is MUCH better, still a bit touchy but endurable, and not a real long distance thing yet...but trend is good...
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Double Win!! Tunnel Fail!! Loon Fail!!
Tunnel Fail!!
It may be a bit much too hope for, but recent data from Facebook and a local news source indicate that the Seattle Viaduct Replacement Tunnel (that ball of fail, waste, and stupid) is hitting a serious road bump - the feds object. Something about not wanting a sinkhole or methane build-ups under the downtown Federal Building. With luck, this will stop the idiocy dead in it's tracks and we can resume discussion of the vastly superior Chopp Viaduct Plan.
California HB 962 Stupidity Over-ruled!!
In a dramatic ruling giving gun owners a win in an National Rifle Association / California Rifle and Pistol (CRPA) Foundation lawsuit, this morning Fresno Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton ruled that AB 962, the hotly contested statute that would have banned mail order ammunition sales and required all purchases of so called “handgun ammunition” to be registered, was unconstitutionally vague on its face. The Court enjoined enforcement of the statute, so mail order ammunition sales to California can continue unabated, and ammunition sales need not be registered under the law.
Read the original article (linked), but in short this is a huge win for Californians...courtesy of the CRPA & the NRA.
It may be a bit much too hope for, but recent data from Facebook and a local news source indicate that the Seattle Viaduct Replacement Tunnel (that ball of fail, waste, and stupid) is hitting a serious road bump - the feds object. Something about not wanting a sinkhole or methane build-ups under the downtown Federal Building. With luck, this will stop the idiocy dead in it's tracks and we can resume discussion of the vastly superior Chopp Viaduct Plan.
California HB 962 Stupidity Over-ruled!!
In a dramatic ruling giving gun owners a win in an National Rifle Association / California Rifle and Pistol (CRPA) Foundation lawsuit, this morning Fresno Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton ruled that AB 962, the hotly contested statute that would have banned mail order ammunition sales and required all purchases of so called “handgun ammunition” to be registered, was unconstitutionally vague on its face. The Court enjoined enforcement of the statute, so mail order ammunition sales to California can continue unabated, and ammunition sales need not be registered under the law.
Read the original article (linked), but in short this is a huge win for Californians...courtesy of the CRPA & the NRA.
Monday, January 17, 2011
A good idea springs from many sources...
By way of SayUncle, we find a similarly minded sort suggesting that Glock certainly (and others in the industry, ideally) boycott NY law enforcement (or at least, the NYPD)....
Read More Here...
Read More Here...
From Weer'd World...Pro-Rights or Anti-Democrat?
Sometimes, someone ELSE will write something so pithy or timely that other efforts cannot help but be lesser. With permission from Weer'd, I bring you this posting of his..
So I have been talking with Jeff Katz of the Jeff Katz Show (A great morning drive show in a city where the Morning drive is Split between Don Imus, and Convicted Felon Tom Finneran, but even against those jerks he’s top notch, so don’t think I’m damning with faint praise. Its the morning drive news radio that keeps this blog rolling, and I thank Jeff for his great show, and I also thank Jeff and his staff for sending me the Larry Pratt Interview that I first talked about here.
LarryPratt0111Click here to listen to the clip, right click to save.
You should listen to the whole thing, but if you must, skip to the 4:00 mark to hear him admonish the Congresswoman who is currently recovering in the hospital for not supporting the 2nd Amendment enough, and supporting Nancy Pelosi. At 4:50 he actually states the party affiliation of the shooting victims as if that is the least bit relevant.
I’m sorry Larry, but from all I can gather you are a 2nd Amendment supporter second, and a Democrat hater first. While I myself am a Republican I strongly stand that the 2nd Amendment (as well as the rest of the Bill of Rights) are NON PARTISAN issues. On top of all of that, you showed a level of insensitivity that I found quite repulsive.
Listen to the interview, then re-read my call for everybody to drop their GOA Membership. They are not an organization that people who respect the 2nd Amendment should support.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tamara & Oleg remind us...
That decent capacity firearms have been around for a long, long time....
Go read Tam - her snark is far more scalpel-like and well-honed than mine.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Boycott the NYPD
Seems something called a "Public Advocate" employed by NYPD is pushing for a boycott of Glock post-Tucson.
Fair enough. Everyone has the right to buy products they feel good about.
But what about a boycott of NYPD and other jurisdictions that trample the rights of their citizens, by gun manufacturers? Similar, perhaps, to the actions of Ronnie Barrett.....
Would be interesting to watch....
Fair enough. Everyone has the right to buy products they feel good about.
But what about a boycott of NYPD and other jurisdictions that trample the rights of their citizens, by gun manufacturers? Similar, perhaps, to the actions of Ronnie Barrett.....
Would be interesting to watch....
Personal Note
Tuesday came down with crud...which turned out to have a cellulitis* feature. Right leg swelled up, and by Thursday, when I was coherent enough to seek medical aid....pants were distinctly un-fun.
Am getting better, but still a tad cranky. Doctor tells me I can follow directions and probably dodge quality hospital time - stay in bed, right leg elevated, and take magic spiffy drugs for a few days.
Posting and chatting will be unpredictable. But when aren't they?
*Cellulitis: an infection, causable via multiple agents, in the layer of fat between skin and muscle.
Am getting better, but still a tad cranky. Doctor tells me I can follow directions and probably dodge quality hospital time - stay in bed, right leg elevated, and take magic spiffy drugs for a few days.
Posting and chatting will be unpredictable. But when aren't they?
*Cellulitis: an infection, causable via multiple agents, in the layer of fat between skin and muscle.
Dignity, Freedom, and Heroism
The heroes of Tucson are worth considering, if only because for one brief moment in a lifetime a light of the best in all of us showed through, the momentary gleam of brilliance as they put themselves in harms way - placing themselves at risk to protect others.
Daniel Hernandez, 20 years old, a certified nurses assistant, latino, and gay - doing a quick triage before focusing his efforts on Congresswoman Giffords as the most severely injured still breathing...rather than fleeing.
Patricia Maisch, a grandmotherly 61yo, hit the ground when shots rang out - but when someone called out "get the magazine, get the magazine" she rose to the occasion and ran towards danger, eventually wresting the magazine away from the armed lunatic, likely preventing an even higher body count.
William Badger, (U.S. Army Colonel, ret.), age 74, seized the assassins left arm even as another gentleman whacked the killer with a folding chair, subsequently seizing the loons right arm, and carrying him to the ground. A nearby holder of a CPL, carrying, leapt on the legs of the loon...unwilling to shoot, for fear of injuring innocents. And others, many still emerging or still to emerge.
These, and others, who ran TOWARDS the fire are highest examples of what an American hero looks like - willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save others.
So, too, the first responders - police, fire, and EMT - responding to a mass casualty with that strangest of all events...citizen takedown of the shooter. Not exactly trained around, from what I understand.
Sadly, as with any test, some will fail...miserably.
Yes, I mean you, Sheriff Dupnik - may you lose your next election catastrophically for your post-shooting dance in the blood of victims to push your political agenda of emasculating the citizens of Arizona and silencing those who would speak against the interests of the DNC.
And yes, "majority of mainstream media", I mean you as well - with your utter and complete failure to engage in journalism, in favor of vastly slanted sensationalism and yellow journalism of the no less scale than that of William Randolph Hearst...and his, and your, lack of shyness in being willing to create a story to your liking if you can't find one that already exists.
James Eric Fuller, all the other many many considerations aside, spewing death threats to political opponents days after you and others were shot by a nutjob at a political event...is not only tacky and hypocritical, it's illegal! And downright stupid.
Governor Palin - hire someone to *take the microphone away until the urge to strangle passes*. Probably best they keep the keyboard locked up, too. Really, it's better in the long run if you write the post or make the speech AFTER you have a little more calm.
And for those who would use this tragedy to silence those on the right, claiming folks on the right or in non-left media are somehow responsible - no, thank you. We aren't that dumb anymore.
And to those who would cry this tragedy is an occasion for a new bipartisanship? Sitting together for the State of the Union, holding hands? Back to the good old "Party of Evil" & "Party of Stupid" engaging in incestuous legislative perfidy to the benefit of themselves and the ruin of their consituents?
That's not what we hired you for, and it's not what we'll keep you on for. We voted you in as a vigorous, strident, opposition - and that's what we bloody well expect you to provide.
We've replaced a lot of congress critters at the ballot box recently. We can do it again.
Daniel Hernandez, 20 years old, a certified nurses assistant, latino, and gay - doing a quick triage before focusing his efforts on Congresswoman Giffords as the most severely injured still breathing...rather than fleeing.
Patricia Maisch, a grandmotherly 61yo, hit the ground when shots rang out - but when someone called out "get the magazine, get the magazine" she rose to the occasion and ran towards danger, eventually wresting the magazine away from the armed lunatic, likely preventing an even higher body count.
William Badger, (U.S. Army Colonel, ret.), age 74, seized the assassins left arm even as another gentleman whacked the killer with a folding chair, subsequently seizing the loons right arm, and carrying him to the ground. A nearby holder of a CPL, carrying, leapt on the legs of the loon...unwilling to shoot, for fear of injuring innocents. And others, many still emerging or still to emerge.
These, and others, who ran TOWARDS the fire are highest examples of what an American hero looks like - willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save others.
So, too, the first responders - police, fire, and EMT - responding to a mass casualty with that strangest of all events...citizen takedown of the shooter. Not exactly trained around, from what I understand.
Sadly, as with any test, some will fail...miserably.
Yes, I mean you, Sheriff Dupnik - may you lose your next election catastrophically for your post-shooting dance in the blood of victims to push your political agenda of emasculating the citizens of Arizona and silencing those who would speak against the interests of the DNC.
And yes, "majority of mainstream media", I mean you as well - with your utter and complete failure to engage in journalism, in favor of vastly slanted sensationalism and yellow journalism of the no less scale than that of William Randolph Hearst...and his, and your, lack of shyness in being willing to create a story to your liking if you can't find one that already exists.
James Eric Fuller, all the other many many considerations aside, spewing death threats to political opponents days after you and others were shot by a nutjob at a political event...is not only tacky and hypocritical, it's illegal! And downright stupid.
Governor Palin - hire someone to *take the microphone away until the urge to strangle passes*. Probably best they keep the keyboard locked up, too. Really, it's better in the long run if you write the post or make the speech AFTER you have a little more calm.
And for those who would use this tragedy to silence those on the right, claiming folks on the right or in non-left media are somehow responsible - no, thank you. We aren't that dumb anymore.
And to those who would cry this tragedy is an occasion for a new bipartisanship? Sitting together for the State of the Union, holding hands? Back to the good old "Party of Evil" & "Party of Stupid" engaging in incestuous legislative perfidy to the benefit of themselves and the ruin of their consituents?
That's not what we hired you for, and it's not what we'll keep you on for. We voted you in as a vigorous, strident, opposition - and that's what we bloody well expect you to provide.
We've replaced a lot of congress critters at the ballot box recently. We can do it again.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Set course for Macabre, Engage Warp Speed...
"Where we used to consider 10-43 seconds as the shortest time span probably, it has come to our attention that the time between a tragic event and the media blaming that event on Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, or the Tea Party is considerably shorter."
Surprisingly, they appear even to beat Al Sharpton to the punch on occasion. And for sheer slant, try:
"Loughner was making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. " - Washington Post, 1/9/11
And then we have the activists and self-serving politi-critters, doing the ritualistic blood dance after a tragedy...crying out for a thinly veiled reinstatement of the hated Clinton Era so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" in at best a knee-jerk reaction and at worst a calculated effort to "never let a good tragedy go to waste".
McCarthy today will officially announce she is working on a bill targeting the high-capacity ammunition clips the gunman allegedly used in the shooting, as Politico first reported. - CBS News 1/10/11 (ed., U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY)
(Of course, even if passed such measures will have no effect on loons, felons, or others with demonstrably limited respect for the law...or with access to sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal, a couple of pounds of nails, and a couple of coffee cans...)
Not settling for attacking one enumerated right protected by the Constitution, in what one can only hope is a "look-busy" knee jerk response (as it would be far too depressing for words if Democrats actually sat about plotting "gee, what rights or freedoms can we limit today? what tragedy can we exploit for political gain?" on a daily basis), the nimrod Representative (D) from Pennsylvania, Robert Brady is now proposing legislation to infringe on the First Amendment, and criminalizing speech that some undefined authority defines as "threatening" or "inflammatory"...
Which, depending on who's making the call, could be "elect someone else, Brady's a fink!!" or "Brady is a fink who loves goats waaaaay too much!!" (note, for the dim of mind, this is allegorical example - I have no evidence of Brady's amatory interest in goats or lack thereof, and it would be unfair to make assumptions about him...)...
The hero in this certainly isn't a member of the media, or a member of Congress - it is the father of murdered nine year old Christina Green, asking his daughters death not be used as the foundation of a new layer of restrictions and infringements on American freedom - in the face of heavy pressure from media and progressive activists to become a poster boy for repression.
Surprisingly, they appear even to beat Al Sharpton to the punch on occasion. And for sheer slant, try:
"Loughner was making the purchase in Arizona, a state with an Old West culture where gun laws are among the most lenient in the United States. " - Washington Post, 1/9/11
And then we have the activists and self-serving politi-critters, doing the ritualistic blood dance after a tragedy...crying out for a thinly veiled reinstatement of the hated Clinton Era so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" in at best a knee-jerk reaction and at worst a calculated effort to "never let a good tragedy go to waste".
McCarthy today will officially announce she is working on a bill targeting the high-capacity ammunition clips the gunman allegedly used in the shooting, as Politico first reported. - CBS News 1/10/11 (ed., U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY)
(Of course, even if passed such measures will have no effect on loons, felons, or others with demonstrably limited respect for the law...or with access to sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal, a couple of pounds of nails, and a couple of coffee cans...)
Not settling for attacking one enumerated right protected by the Constitution, in what one can only hope is a "look-busy" knee jerk response (as it would be far too depressing for words if Democrats actually sat about plotting "gee, what rights or freedoms can we limit today? what tragedy can we exploit for political gain?" on a daily basis), the nimrod Representative (D) from Pennsylvania, Robert Brady is now proposing legislation to infringe on the First Amendment, and criminalizing speech that some undefined authority defines as "threatening" or "inflammatory"...
Which, depending on who's making the call, could be "elect someone else, Brady's a fink!!" or "Brady is a fink who loves goats waaaaay too much!!" (note, for the dim of mind, this is allegorical example - I have no evidence of Brady's amatory interest in goats or lack thereof, and it would be unfair to make assumptions about him...)...
The hero in this certainly isn't a member of the media, or a member of Congress - it is the father of murdered nine year old Christina Green, asking his daughters death not be used as the foundation of a new layer of restrictions and infringements on American freedom - in the face of heavy pressure from media and progressive activists to become a poster boy for repression.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Theme Songs for New Years & Old
Now and again, you find a song that just resonates with you. That expresses something you've always wanted to, but better than you have any reasonable expectation of pulling off. And I'm not particularly shy about my affection for show tunes. So deal.
And yes, I know this dates me...and the more perceptive will understand at how many levels. This song speaks to me today as a libertarian conservative... and also speaks to me from memory and a shared history as a gay man, may we never need visit the bad old days again.
This performance, and that by the incomparable Shirley Bassey, are my two favorite versions - and Gloria Gaynor's rendition is also pretty impressive.
But I'm also posting this because, just perhaps, it might speak to others out there in libertarian-land (do please note the small "l") and inspire you to speak out; to participate; and to protest - not just for the next two years, but for however long it takes to roll back the creeping pot-warming socialism that's crept into our society incrementally over the last nine decades.
And while we're at it, we can keep on pushing for that crazy notion of "equality before the law" - regardless of color, gender, orientation, creed, and other stuff pretty much completely irrelevant to legal status.
God (or your deity/believe system of choice) bless y'all almost every one (I have limits, after all) in this New Year of 2011, and may he keep us safe, nourished, employed, sheltered, and no less free than we are today through this year and the ones to follow.
GC
And yes, I know this dates me...and the more perceptive will understand at how many levels. This song speaks to me today as a libertarian conservative... and also speaks to me from memory and a shared history as a gay man, may we never need visit the bad old days again.
This performance, and that by the incomparable Shirley Bassey, are my two favorite versions - and Gloria Gaynor's rendition is also pretty impressive.
But I'm also posting this because, just perhaps, it might speak to others out there in libertarian-land (do please note the small "l") and inspire you to speak out; to participate; and to protest - not just for the next two years, but for however long it takes to roll back the creeping pot-warming socialism that's crept into our society incrementally over the last nine decades.
And while we're at it, we can keep on pushing for that crazy notion of "equality before the law" - regardless of color, gender, orientation, creed, and other stuff pretty much completely irrelevant to legal status.
God (or your deity/believe system of choice) bless y'all almost every one (I have limits, after all) in this New Year of 2011, and may he keep us safe, nourished, employed, sheltered, and no less free than we are today through this year and the ones to follow.
GC
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Why shouldn't I be frightened of you, Mr. Huckabee?
Dealing with the petty issues first, anyone who wraps so much of their public image around an office they no longer hold - seems dangerously insecure, at best. Mr. Huckabee, you WERE governor of Arkansas - you no longer are.
Insisting that, or encouraging individuals to, refer to you by your former title is not a sign of the strength of character that I find encouraging in a presidential candidate.
Particularly when, given the nature of other prior occupants of that office, it clearly does not confer any sort of predilection for reason, morality, or respect for the constitution or the founding principles of our nation.
Such things, however, merely sap enthusiasm for a candidacy. They do not promote active opposition.
Far more concerning to me is your disregard for the separation of church and state, and your apparent desire to see a President lead based on biblical passage over constitutional authority, statutory law, fairness, and respect of the rights of the individual - even to do things that we may or may not find morally repugnant.
Far more concerning is that you appear never have outgrown the sanctimony-coated bigotry that while regrettable, is tolerable in a pastor (after all, one can always find another church)...but utterly abhorrent in an elected official. I urge you, given your enthusiasm for the volume, to consider the passage:
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. [Matthew 25:40, KJV]
Might it be worth considering that selecting out a group of law-abiding individuals for denigration and deprivation of some or all of the rights shared by all other individuals, be a significant wrong imposed upon the selected group? A wrong well worth avoiding?
Marriage recognized by the state, as exemplified in civil marriage, bears little (and should bear less) on the marriages and associated standards and rituals held or promulgated by the various religious faiths and bodies. Just as the Russian Orthodox have no business telling the Roman Catholics or that faith telling practitioners of Reformed Judaism how to pursue the dictates of their faith, and who may or may not be morally married under those tenets - the government has even *less* business dictating such matters to the various religious sorts.
I cite, for instance, your disingenuous opposition to LGBT marriage and same sex unions as "social experiments" - denigrating the loving and stable (well, at least as stable as similar heterosexual partnerships, such as human nature allows to survive) relationships of thousands of couples across the United States.
Your opposition to measures that historically, while not an absolute panacea, reduces promiscuity and the spread of disease while forming a stronger social and economic unit for its members - reducing dependence on the state - reeks of simple bigotry, rather than any sort of logic or rationale. Such same sex marriages also allow an orderly dissolution of relationships under all but the most hostile of circumstances with the impartial guidance of a court - rather than a drawn out contest to see which partner can hold their breath the longest.
Similarly, your opposition to allowing LGBT folks to adopt children (long a moot point in most areas, and best left so) when in reality they have been raising children with no greater rate of failure or success than their heterosexual counterparts for quite some time now - except those children do not, as a result of wrong-headed public policy in many locales, have the stability of a *legally recognized* second parent or of an orderly transition in the case of a separation or divorce.
Moving along to the now "repealed" Don't Ask, Don't Tell Clinton policy, our military is where we should expect the best of our nation - where we rightfully expect courage of convictions as well as courage on the battlefield, and where we expect that - so long as persons follow all other regulations, including those regarding fraternization - what consenting adults choose to sleep together is none of the business of the military specifically or the government generally. Let merit rule the day!
If the Israeli's and the majority of other serious modern militaries can pull it off, certainly the military of the United States can manage to honestly acknowledge and welcome its past and present LGBT members on a just and even-handed basis.
Your failure to learn from historic example (Prohibition? The funding of modern organized crime? And it's parallel in the War on Drugs?) indicates an abysmal, if not intentional, ignorance of history - any time there is sufficient demand for a product or service and such item is banned by law, a violent and inherently unregulated black market will spring up to fulfill the expressed economic need. Most often, this black market will bring problems substantially worse than the original issue (cartels, anyone? Mexico as a failed nation on our southern border?)
Others will criticize you on other matters - the above is sufficient, when you are willing to admit to such views while still a potential candidate, to persuade me that however folksy you may be...you are unsuited to the office of President, and a danger to the rights and freedoms of myself and those I care about no less than Jerry Falwell, or the sound of boots in the latter days of Weimarr Germany.
Beware those trumpeting moral superiority, for convinced of their righteousness, they shall know few restraints upon their exercise of power over those they rule - for their "god" told them they were right.
Insisting that, or encouraging individuals to, refer to you by your former title is not a sign of the strength of character that I find encouraging in a presidential candidate.
Particularly when, given the nature of other prior occupants of that office, it clearly does not confer any sort of predilection for reason, morality, or respect for the constitution or the founding principles of our nation.
Such things, however, merely sap enthusiasm for a candidacy. They do not promote active opposition.
Far more concerning to me is your disregard for the separation of church and state, and your apparent desire to see a President lead based on biblical passage over constitutional authority, statutory law, fairness, and respect of the rights of the individual - even to do things that we may or may not find morally repugnant.
Far more concerning is that you appear never have outgrown the sanctimony-coated bigotry that while regrettable, is tolerable in a pastor (after all, one can always find another church)...but utterly abhorrent in an elected official. I urge you, given your enthusiasm for the volume, to consider the passage:
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. [Matthew 25:40, KJV]
Might it be worth considering that selecting out a group of law-abiding individuals for denigration and deprivation of some or all of the rights shared by all other individuals, be a significant wrong imposed upon the selected group? A wrong well worth avoiding?
Marriage recognized by the state, as exemplified in civil marriage, bears little (and should bear less) on the marriages and associated standards and rituals held or promulgated by the various religious faiths and bodies. Just as the Russian Orthodox have no business telling the Roman Catholics or that faith telling practitioners of Reformed Judaism how to pursue the dictates of their faith, and who may or may not be morally married under those tenets - the government has even *less* business dictating such matters to the various religious sorts.
I cite, for instance, your disingenuous opposition to LGBT marriage and same sex unions as "social experiments" - denigrating the loving and stable (well, at least as stable as similar heterosexual partnerships, such as human nature allows to survive) relationships of thousands of couples across the United States.
Your opposition to measures that historically, while not an absolute panacea, reduces promiscuity and the spread of disease while forming a stronger social and economic unit for its members - reducing dependence on the state - reeks of simple bigotry, rather than any sort of logic or rationale. Such same sex marriages also allow an orderly dissolution of relationships under all but the most hostile of circumstances with the impartial guidance of a court - rather than a drawn out contest to see which partner can hold their breath the longest.
Similarly, your opposition to allowing LGBT folks to adopt children (long a moot point in most areas, and best left so) when in reality they have been raising children with no greater rate of failure or success than their heterosexual counterparts for quite some time now - except those children do not, as a result of wrong-headed public policy in many locales, have the stability of a *legally recognized* second parent or of an orderly transition in the case of a separation or divorce.
Moving along to the now "repealed" Don't Ask, Don't Tell Clinton policy, our military is where we should expect the best of our nation - where we rightfully expect courage of convictions as well as courage on the battlefield, and where we expect that - so long as persons follow all other regulations, including those regarding fraternization - what consenting adults choose to sleep together is none of the business of the military specifically or the government generally. Let merit rule the day!
If the Israeli's and the majority of other serious modern militaries can pull it off, certainly the military of the United States can manage to honestly acknowledge and welcome its past and present LGBT members on a just and even-handed basis.
Your failure to learn from historic example (Prohibition? The funding of modern organized crime? And it's parallel in the War on Drugs?) indicates an abysmal, if not intentional, ignorance of history - any time there is sufficient demand for a product or service and such item is banned by law, a violent and inherently unregulated black market will spring up to fulfill the expressed economic need. Most often, this black market will bring problems substantially worse than the original issue (cartels, anyone? Mexico as a failed nation on our southern border?)
Others will criticize you on other matters - the above is sufficient, when you are willing to admit to such views while still a potential candidate, to persuade me that however folksy you may be...you are unsuited to the office of President, and a danger to the rights and freedoms of myself and those I care about no less than Jerry Falwell, or the sound of boots in the latter days of Weimarr Germany.
Beware those trumpeting moral superiority, for convinced of their righteousness, they shall know few restraints upon their exercise of power over those they rule - for their "god" told them they were right.
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