Jim Moran (VA-08): Republican Enabler

By: kestrel9000
Published On: 3/20/2007 11:17:29 AM

It has come to my attention that Rep. Carolyn Mc Carthy's (D NY-04) HR 1022, which, to my previous knowledge, had no cosponsors, has now acquired thirty of them.
The list, and more, is below the fold.
(h/t: Loboguara at dKos for this list)
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 3/7/2007
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 3/13/2007
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 3/9/2007
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 3/9/2007
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 3/7/2007
Rep DeGette, Diana [CO-1] - 3/13/2007
Rep Delahunt, William D. [MA-10] - 3/13/2007
Rep Eshoo, Anna G. [CA-14] - 3/9/2007
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 3/7/2007
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 3/7/2007
Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] - 3/7/2007
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 3/9/2007
Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 3/13/2007
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 3/7/2007
Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16] - 3/15/2007
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 3/15/2007
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 3/7/2007
Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 3/13/2007
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 3/13/2007
Rep Meehan, Martin T. [MA-5] - 3/7/2007
Rep Miller, Brad [NC-13] - 3/9/2007
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 3/7/2007
Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8] - 3/13/2007
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 3/7/2007
Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 3/7/2007
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 3/15/2007
Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] - 3/13/2007
Rep Tauscher, Ellen O. [CA-10] - 3/15/2007
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 3/7/2007
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 3/9/2007

Note the presence of Jim Moran on that list.
Here is a statement from Jim Moran's website regarding the repeal of the DC gun ban:

"The District's ban on handguns has been on the books for three decades. It was passed in response to residents' concerned about gun violence in their community."

"D.C. residents don't want handguns on their city streets. We don't need to start another war zone in our nation's Capitol; Iraq and Afghanistan are bad enough.

"The Second Amendment states that `A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.'

"The last time I checked the District of Columbia was protected by the U.S. Armed Forces and Metropolitan police - not the D.C. Minutemen."


Why Moran is making a statement at all about the DC gun ban's repeal befuddles me some, but that's not the statement to make in any case.
I am a hard-left progressive Democrat who is strongly pro - RKBA. Yes, we exist.
A few comments to consider re. HR1022 from a Daily Kos thread:

#
  * [new] oh, crap (3+ / 0-)

Recommended by:
  Shadan7, Loboguara, kestrel9000

We may all want to rethink any plans we're making based on Democratic control of the House, Senate, and the White House after 2008.

Between confirmation of the NRA's worst FUD memes regarding Democratic gun grabbers (there go the purple states) and the question as to whether or not the Democrats are going to take substantive action with respect to defunding the War on Iraq and stopping the War on Iran before Bush can start it (which will persuade a lot of progressives to stay home). . . our Democrats may well manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

by alizard on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 11:20:48 PM EDT

  *
  * [new] Yup. Karl Rove must be giggling with glee. (2+ / 0-)

  Recommended by:
  Shadan7, kestrel9000

  Best PR that the neocons could ever hope for. And they don't even need to make it up this time.

  They can say "Democrats want to take your guns away!"

  ...and these thirty, well...yeah. They do. It's not a lie.

  And they started in on it right after getting office, instead of focusing on Iraq.

  "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross" - Sinclair Lewis

  by Loboguara on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 01:29:12 AM EDT

  o
    * [new] maybe it'll hit someone at FoxNews (3+ / 0-)

  Recommended by:
  Shadan7, Loboguara, kestrel9000

  who'll say "It's true, therefore we can't use it."... it would fit what passes for their morality.

  But that won't stop the NRA.

  by alizard on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 06:12:43 AM EDT

#
  * [new] a number of people on the HR1022 diary (3+ / 0-)

Recommended by:
  Shadan7, Loboguara, kestrel9000

were telling us in language that bordered on abusive that it was stupid and superfluous for us to attack it because it had no sponsors and was going nowhere.

While it's still going nowhere, I'd just as soon that it didn't take the Democratic Party to nowhere in 2008.

I think there are several names on that list most of us will recognize.

Will all of you in their districts get up on your hind legs and tell them PROGRESSIVES DON'T SUPPORT THEM ON THIS BECAUSE IT HELPS A GOP IN TROUBLE?

I'm glad George Miller's my Congressman and that he is NOT on that list. Hmmm... neither is Pelosi. Though one would think Barney Frank and Louise Slaughter would know better.

I'd like to see somebody who knows names and records a lot better to look for patterns on that list. . . this is something I'd expect to see wall-to-wall DLC support on, but Barney Frank isn't a member.

by alizard on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 01:09:24 AM EDT

I cannot add to this except to express the hope that Jim Moran's Democratic constituents will contact him and insist that he cease reinforcing Republican memes and damaging Democratic electoral chances both in his district, and to some extent, elsewhere, and withdraw his support for HR 1022, and instead, support my right as a responsible adult to possess the means to defend my home and family as I see fit.
I don't know what part of the Democratic base Moran thinks he's pandering to with this crap, but it sure as hell ain't me.

Comments



Welcome to the real world (Alice Marshall - 3/20/2007 3:21:40 PM)
the eighth district is pro gun safety and Moran has been running as a gun safety candidate since 1986. That is what his constituents want.

He is also seeking to prohibit export of 50 caliber sniper rifle. This is what his constituents want.



And you speak (kestrel9000 - 3/20/2007 5:06:51 PM)
for all of them?
I doubt that.
This strikes me as disingenuous political pandering.
Note that HR1022 is kind of a psychotic reaction on the part of Carolyn McCarthy based on her own experiences.
What about the constituents of the other 29 co-sponsors? What about the damage it does to perceptions of Democrats, and the playing into the Republican meme? And how does this promote safety in any realistic fashion, other than passing laws that abridge the rights of all because a few fear the irresponsibility of another few?
Wrongheaded and ill-conceived.
My guns are no threat to you or anyone else who does not threaten my life or that of my wife and children.
It's not just Republicans that insist on that right for themselves.
And kindly do not tell me what I need and what I don't. It's not your call.
His constituents?
This is a FEDERAL law.
It affects more than just his constituents.
It affects ME.
And I don't like it.


I don't speak for anyone in the 8th (Alice Marshall - 3/20/2007 6:12:49 PM)
I live in the eleventh, I speak for no one in the eighth.

I would simply point out that when a candidate runs on a platform on gun safety, when he consistently sponsors gun safety legislation, and puts this on his campaign literature, and as a result is reelected again and again, it is reasonable to suppose that the voters support gun safety.

It is one thing to disagree with Rep. McCarthy, it is another to characterize her career as a psychotic reaction to her husband's murder. Remember, that district voted for her. Repeatedly. There are many voters who disagree with your views.



Career? (kestrel9000 - 3/20/2007 9:29:51 PM)
It is one thing to disagree with Rep. McCarthy, it is another to characterize her career as a psychotic reaction to her husband's murder.

Nice to know you reduce her career to a single piece of legislation. I never meant to do that.


Which constituents? (railfanbob - 3/20/2007 8:10:13 PM)
Seems to me it's just a matter of a few community groups out-organizing the regular folks and then claiming to speak for the whole community.  They don't speak for me, and they don't speak for the Democratic Party even they currently have far too much influence in the party especially on the urban East Coast.

Also, what is "gun safety"?



Jim Moran represents the 8th CD in VA (Alice Marshall - 3/20/2007 9:43:33 PM)
It consists of Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County. That would be the urban east cost. He represents the people who live in that district. What do you expect?


I know.. (railfanbob - 3/21/2007 5:50:08 PM)
I live in the 8th.  I'm just saying not everyone here supports this position.  I don't.


Just a few thoughts to reflect upon (PM - 3/20/2007 11:17:22 PM)
I know we all have issues that push our buttons.  Gun control is one such issue for some people.  Mine happens to be human rights such as gay and minority rights.

I was raised in a house where hunters' shotguns were left on a table in a storage room.  (The ammo was locked in a safe.)  Guns never appealed to me or my brothers and gun use in the family died with my fathers' generation.  That was true of all of my cousins.

Still, I see how gun owning rights is an important issue to people, in the same way that discrimination issues rile me.

That said, I've noted that gun issues don't always follow strict political lines.  Here's a Harris poll from 2004.  (The gun control issue has not generated much polling interest in recent years.)

The Harris Poll. Sept. 9-13, 2004. N=1,018 adults nationwide. MoE ±  3 (for all adults).

.
"In general, would you say you favor stricter gun control, or less strict gun control?"

.
  Stricter Less Strict Neither Unsure 
  %  %  %  % 
  9/04  60  32  4  3 
  5/00  63  28  6  4 
  6/99  63  25  10  2 
  4/98  69  23  7  1 

.

"A ban prohibiting the sales of assault rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines expires on September 14. Would you favor or oppose continuing this ban?"

.
  Favor  Oppose  Unsure 
  %  %  % 
  ALL  71  26  4 
  Republicans  72  25  3 
  Democrats  72  27  1 
  Independents  74  22  3

My main point here is that I like Jim Moran and I'd prefer not to see him bashed as an "enabler of Republicans."  Jim takes an independent view on some issues.  (He used to be my congressman.)  For example, he tends to be pro free trade, as Bill Clinton was.  In fact I know that some national Republicans view him as a thinking congressman.  (I still have some Republican contacts.) 

I am now a Democrat, but many of us middle of the road types appreciate congressmen who do not follow the party line.  It's one of the main reasons I supported Jim Webb so strongly.

In closing, gun control for me is not a voting issue.  I can appreciate those who find it to be a hot button issue.  I'd just say this -- it's more persuasive to me, and I think to many middle of the road types, to use arguments such as(1) gun control does not provide  safety benefits, etc. and etc. 

I'd like to see this thread go to those cost-benefit issues, rather than political issues.

And I like Jim Moran and all representatives who show an independent streak.  Because to me, voting the party line is just as corrupt as voting because that's where the money is.  Positions should be taken for sound, objective reasons.