As Gun Activists Rally at Mississippi Capitol, Man Shot at MLK Parade Downtown

Protestors for Gun Appreciation Day
rally at the Mississippi State Capitol.

There's not much information yet, but while gun activists were rallying at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., shots were being fired at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in nearby downtown Jackson. Early accounts of the incident on Twitter said that at least one person was shot. Some mentioned horses running wild in the chaos.

The suspect was identified and held down by attendees until police could arrive, according to some accounts. There's no indication that this shooting happened in relation to the Gun Appreciation Day rally at the Capitol, but it should be a wake up call to those who thought it would be a wonderful idea to hold a gun rally in the midst of MLK celebrations in Jackson, of all places.

Gun Appreciation Day activists noted on the Facebook page that Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and other state lawmakers were expected to be in attendance at the rally.

I'll update this when there's more solid information.

Update: WLBT is reporting that a 21-year-old man was shot in the right chest area on Detroit Street. After being shot, the victim ran south onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive where he collapsed. The alleged shooter was arrested.

A video has surfaced showing the victim being carried to the ambulance.

Happy Gun Appreciation Day, everyone.

"Happy Birthday Dead Baby" Pro-Life Children's Choir Sings to Woman Carrying Dead Fetus

Abortion at the Alabama Women's Clinic in October 2012.
Photo by Will Henley. From AL.com.

It doesn't get much more disturbing–or heartbreaking–than this. As we near the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, pro-life activists have been mounting rallies at abortion clinics all across the nation. One particular target has been the Alabama Women's Clinic in Huntsville, Alabama, where anti-abortion forces have been demonstrating since October.

Pro-choice activist Pamela Watters recalled one especially horrible incident last month. On that day, pro-life activists had assembled a children's choir outside the clinic to sing the egregiously morbid song "Happy Birthday Dead Baby" to women as they arrived for abortion procedures. Then, a woman showed up who actually was carrying a dead baby:

In an awful coincidence, that was the day, Watters said, when the pro-life demonstrators collected a children’s choir on the sidewalk to sing “Happy Birthday Dead Baby” to anyone driving in. 

“Will had to physically restrain the father,” Watters said, nodding to one of the men marching in a pro-choice jacket. "And by the time she walked through them, she was an emotional wreck."

If you thought that it was horrible for President Obama to give a speech on gun safety in the presence of school children who had written to him to express their desire for him to do something after the Newtown Massacre (one Examiner "journalist" wrote that it mirrored Hitler and Stalin), but you somehow don't see how absolutely evil and exploitative this is, well, your concern clearly isn't for children–or dead babies.

Poll: Hillary Clinton Would Win Florida in 2016, Even Against Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio

With all the talk about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton being the 2016 Democratic nominee, Republicans have been scrambling to find suitable candidates that could give them even as much as a bat's chance in hell of somehow beating her. Two of the candidates most often proposed, Rep. Marco Rubio and former Governor Jeb Bush, both hail from the crucial swing state of Florida. But a PPP released today shows that even in Florida, they might not be able to beat the Hillary 2016 juggernaut:

Clinton, who enjoys wide support nationally, took 49 percent to former Republican Gov. Bush's 44 percent, and 50 percent to Republican Sen. Rubio's 46 percent in the poll. Voters were asked to consider potential matchups in the 2016 presidential race.The secretary of state was also the overwhelming favorite in a hypothetical Democratic presidential primary in Florida, taking 65 percent in a field of nine possible candidates. She was trailed, distantly, by Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

If even popular Floridians like Rubio and Bush couldn't beat her in Florida, who could? And nationally, Clinton, who enjoys a record 66 percent approval rating, would win the support of 57% of Americans nationally, according to a separate PPP poll conducted in December. With those sorts of astronomical numbers in this highly polarized political climate, I've got one thing to say about Hillary 2016: Take a well needed two-year long rest, Secretary Clinton, then... Run Hillary, run!

'Coat Hanger' Rep. Introduces Bill to Imprison Pregnant Women for 10+ Years for Drug Use

Anti-Woman Miss. Rep. Bubba Carpenter

A new bill introduced by Mississippi GOP Rep. Lester "Bubba" Carpenter (District 1) would require women in the state who are arrested under the Controlled Substances Law to submit to drug testing. A positive test would result in her being charged with child abuse, punishable by ten years to life.

Under HB 202, state law regarding felonious child abuse would be altered to include the bolded text below:

"Any person who shall intentionally (i) burn any child, (ii) torture any child***, (iii) except in self-defense or in order to prevent bodily harm to a third party, whip, strike or otherwise abuse or mutilate any child in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or (iv) test positive for a controlled substance while pregnant as provided by Section 1 of House Bill No.     , 2013 Regular Session, shall be guilty of felonious abuse of a child and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the custy of the Department of Corrections for life or such lesser term of imprisonment as the court may determine, but not less than ten (10) years."

That's right, folks. A pregnant woman found with a little THC in her system could be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison. A fetus would be officially recognized as a child by the law and protected under child abuse laws. And let me reiterate: Being a pregnant woman would make you a target for automatic drug testing.

Bubba Carpenter, you may recall, was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show after a video was leaked of him bragging about having helped passed a law intended to shut down the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. In the video, he mocked "poor pitiful women" who would be forced to use coat hangers for abortions:

"Literally, we stopped abortion in the state of Mississippi, legally…So we've done that. I was proud of it. The governor signed it into law. And of course, there you have the other side. They're like, 'Well, the poor pitiful women that can't afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger.' That's what we've heard over and over and over. But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere, and that's what we've decided to do. This became law and the governor signed it, and I think for one time, we were first in the nation in the state of Mississippi."

Still don't believe there's a war on women? Bubba Carpenter sure is waging it.

Contact Bubba Carpenter on Facebook, by email at carpenter@house.ms.gov or by phone at 601-359-3374.

Related: Last month, a woman in Memphis was put "behind bars on a DUI and child endangerment charge even though she did not have a child in the car with her, and blood alcohol level was under the legal limit...She was charged with DUI-child endangerment with a child under 18 because she told an officer she is four months pregnant."

Phil Bryant Suggests Criminals Can Go to Soviet Union to Get Banned High-Capacity Weapons

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant is a little dazed and confused about the fate of the Soviet Union.

In a remarkable show of geographical and historical ignorance, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant countered President Obama's proposal to ban high-capacity magazines by suggesting that criminals could simply buy the banned weapons from either Brazil or the phantom of the Soviet Union.

"If they want a 30-round clip, they're going to get it out of Brazil or the Soviet Union," Bryant said according to the Huffington Post. "It's going to go on the black market. Self-protecting citizens wouldn't have that right, but criminals will."

Phil, anyone who lives in your state is fully aware that you are hellbent on the idea that your citizens should live like it's 1950 (or 1850 by some considerations). However, the current year is in fact 2013, and the Soviet Union has not existed since 1991. No word yet on where criminals might go to acquire a time machine.

Another day, another embarrassment from Phil Bryant for the people of Mississippi. It's quite amazing that Bryant was even so capable of topping his own stupidity just hours after he sent out a letter urging the state legislature to bypass the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and to "make any unconstitutional order by the President illegal to enforce in Mississippi by state or local law enforcement." Unconstitutional in this particular instance means "anything Phil doesn't like."

Bryant says he opposes bans on high-capacity magazines because, "When it's for self protection, you need as much firepower as needed to protect your family."

Well, thanks for clearing that up for us, Phil.

NRA Vows "Fight of the Century" Against the President of the United States

NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre vows "the fight of the century" against President Obama."

In yet another instance of the National Rifle Association ginning up fear and paranoia with revolutionary language, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre responded to President Obama's common sense gun safety proposals with screams of outrage.

"I warned you this day was coming and now it's here," LaPierre wrote in an NRA fundraising letter today. "It's not about protecting your children. It's not about stopping crime. It's about banning your guns ... PERIOD!"

With the click of a mouse, LaPierre sent that letter, in which he promised to bring "the fight of the century" to President Obama, to the NRA's 4 million members. Presumably, that fight will involve people who think that they need the "right" to own military-style assault weapons that can kill dozens in a minute because they need to defend themselves against the government.

The NRA's disgusting display of irresponsibility in using such inflammatory and violent rhetoric only goes to show how dangerous this organization is. They have taken the massacre of 20 children and 6 educators and turned it into a self-serving, overly indignant circus of lunatic proportions.

To an objective mind, if such a thing exists anymore, President Obama's directives to implement new gun safety rules, to start a nationwide campaign on safe gun use, and to require background checks for those purchasing guns seems like common sense. It seems like common sense that no one should own a weapon that can shoot 27 people in a crowded movie theater in only 30 seconds seconds. It seems like a worthy tribute to the lives lost. But for the NRA and their followers? It's surely a plot against them by the big, scary government.

I own guns. I know how to use them. I have used them. And, if necessary, I will use them to defend myself or my family from intruders. I have no fear that government agents will burst into my house to take them from me. Why? Because I'm not insane. I'm not a felon. I'm not running around screaming about how I need to be able to protect myself in case I ever decide to start an armed revolution against the government. I'm not announcing plans to launch the "fight of the"–13 year old–"century"against the President of the United States.

NRA, thou doth protest too much.

Source: The Washington Post