Category: Question O’ The Day

What Did Trump Promise Mexico’s President on Guns?

President Trump has hit the pause button on his tariff threat to Mexico after discussions with his counterpart south of the border, but President Claudia Sheinbaum says that while her country will increase the number of military troops at the border to counter the drug cartels’ trafficking of fentanyl, Trump has agreed to “work jointly to avoid the entry of guns to Mexico.”

Sheinbaum’s comments came during her press conference on Monday. The Wall St. Journal covered Sheinbaum’s remarks, but she apparently didn’t announce any details of the supposed agreement between Trump and herself. 

“There are rocket launchers that come from the U.S. illegally,” Sheinbaum said she told Trump. “How is that possible?”

Mexico says that upwards of 70% of the weapons used by the country’s organized crime groups are smuggled from the U.S. “For the first time, the U.S. government will work jointly to avoid the entry of guns to Mexico,” she said at her daily news conference on Monday. 

Mexico is suing U.S. gun manufacturers and arms dealers in federal courts to try to end the illegal trafficking of weapons to the country.

If Sheinbaum’s end of the deal involves sending 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to combat fentanyl trafficking, what is Trump supposed to do in return? Increasing border patrols is one thing, but Sheinbaum’s interest in targeting gun dealers and manufacturers suggests she might have something else in mind

Sheinbaum also hit back after Washington accused her government of having an “intolerable alliance” with drug trafficking groups.

“We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Mexican government about alliances with criminal organizations,” Sheinbaum wrote earlier on social media.

“If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups,” she added.

U.S. gun stores aren’t selling rocket launchers to cartel members, despite Sheinbaum’s claims. In fact, one of the major sources of U.S.-manufactured arms that end up in the hands of the cartels were diverted there by Mexican law enforcement and the military. As CBS News reported more than a decade ago:

The State Department audits only a tiny sample – less than 1 percent of sales – but the results are disturbing: In 2009, more than a quarter (26 percent) of the guns sold to the region that includes Mexico were “diverted” into the wrong hands, or had other “unfavorable” results.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation‘s Larry Keane, who speaks for gun manufacturers, said he understands the potential for abuse.

“There have been 150,000 or more Mexican soldiers defect to go work for the cartels, and I think it’s safe to assume that when they defect they take their firearms with them,” Keane told CBS News.

If Sheinbaum really wanted to curtail cartel access to U.S. firearms she could order a halt to the direct sales to Mexican law enforcement and the military, but that would mean pointing the finger at the corruption within her own government instead of scapegoating the U.S. firearms industry.

I don’t think Trump is interested in stopping those sales either, to be honest, but the question still remains: what “help” did Trump offer, exactly? 

Gun control groups like Brady are calling on Trump to “craft a plan to ensure that gun manufacturers do not do business with those who break the law, fund the ATF, and instead of diverting agents to focus on immigration enforcement, allow them to focus on holding rogue gun dealers accountable.” 

Trump has yet to do undo the ATF rules enacted under the Biden administration, which has already exasperated many Second Amendment advocates. Now he also needs to offer up specifics about his agreement with Sheinbaum to put gun owners at ease.

Combatting the cartels shouldn’t result in an emboldened ATF or actions against the firearms industry, but that’s exactly what Sheinbaum and her allies in the American gun control movement are demanding.

The answer is “Hubris”

The question not being asked.

This Autumn has been rough for the Southeast. First, Hurricane Helene ripped up Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, and then Hurricane Milton hit a different part of Florida and tore it up.

And the season isn’t over yet.

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By now, you may have already heard about what happened down in Florida and may well have happened elsewhere. It turns out that personnel working for FEMA knocking on doors to see if people were eligible for federal funds were told to skip the homes of obvious Trump supporters.

After publication of this story, a FEMA spokesperson told The Daily Wire it was “deeply disturbed” and “horrified” by the employee’s actions, and that it has “taken extreme actions to correct this situation.”

“While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident.”

“This is a matter that we take extremely seriously and we are doing everything we can to make sure all survivors receive support from FEMA. To date, we have helped over 365,000 households impacted by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the state of Florida and have provided over $898 million in direct assistance to survivors.”

“We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels. Helping people is what we do best and our workforce across the agency will continue to serve survivors for as long as it takes.”

That’s all fine and well.

Plus, the individual responsible for that, Marn’i Washington, has been fired from her position and the case has been referred to the Office of Special Counsel. That means she faces potential prosecution for her actions, which should most definitely happen.

However, while people are focusing on what happened—and for understandable reasons—I can’t help but ask the question no one else seems to be asking. Why did she think she could get away with it?

Continue reading “”

Question O’ The Day
So how exactly does a leftist SCOTUS judge dissent & say non-citizens should have the right to vote?

By the way, as I have heard it, the ‘self identification’ of being a non-citizen was when called up for jury duty they said “I cannot serve because I am not a citizen”.

Supreme Court Allows Virginia To Remove Noncitizens From Voter Rolls

The Supreme Court allowed Virginia on Wednesday to remove individuals identified as noncitizens from the voter rolls.

The justices paused a lower court order preventing officials from removing around 1,600 individuals who the state said “self-identified” as noncitizens.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan would not have granted Virginia’s request, according to the order.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows Virginia to remove individuals identified as noncitizens from the voter rolls. pic.twitter.com/OKlMKqdTJl

— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) October 30, 2024

U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Giles, a Biden appointee, ruled Friday that Virginia must stop its efforts to remove noncitizen voters within 90 days of the election and restore registered voters removed under the program. When an appeals court upheld the decision on Sunday, the state quickly filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court.

“The injunction, which prohibits the application of a law that has been on the books since the Justice Department precleared it in 2006, will also irreparably injure Virginia’s sovereignty, confuse her voters, overload her election machinery and administrators, and likely lead noncitizens to think they are permitted to vote, a criminal offence that will cancel the franchise of eligible voters,” the state

We are pleased by the Supreme Court’s order today. This is a victory for commonsense and election fairness. I am grateful for the work of Attorney General @JasonMiyaresVA on this critical fight to protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens. Clean voter rolls are one…

— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 30, 2024

Republican Virginia Gov. Genn Youngkin wrote on X that the order is “a victory for commonsense and election fairness.”

“Clean voter rolls are one important part of a comprehensive approach we are taking to ensure the fairness of our elections,” he wrote.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) initially sued Virginia on Oct. 12, alleging the state violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by making changes to the voter rolls within 90 days of the election when the “risk of disfranchising eligible voters is greatest.” Youngkin signed an executive order in August requiring election officials to expedite the removal of ineligible noncitizen voters from the voter rolls.

Why are people opening doors to people they don’t know at 0Dark30?

Man shot after reportedly going to east Erie home, attempting to enter it early Monday

A man who reportedly showed up uninvited at an east Erie residence and tried to enter it when an occupant opened the door early Monday morning was shot in the arm during an altercation, according to city police.

Two adults who were inside the house were questioned by police as the man who was shot underwent medical treatment for a gunshot wound to the right arm near his biceps, investigators reported.

The shooting, which remains under investigation with no charges filed as of Monday morning, was reported shortly after 3:30 a.m. Monday in the 3800 block of Essex Street. Officers who responded to the neighborhood found a man sitting in the front yard of a residence with a gunshot wound, Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said.

A woman who was inside the house told police she was sleeping when a 3-year-old child, one of five children inside the house at the time, woke her up and said someone was at the front door. When the woman looked out through her Ring doorbell system, she said she saw a person at the front door, Lorah said.

The woman woke up her boyfriend, who with the female did not know who the male at the door was, and the boyfriend went to the door, Lorah said. When the boyfriend opened it, the male tried to enter the residence and a struggle ensued, and during the struggle a gunshot was fired, he said.

The expiscatory Question is, Was the Trump assassination fail procedural (i.e., incompetence) or operational (i.e., a sanctioned kill fail)?

Email from Damian Bennett:

Of the several eyewitness interview videos I have watched, the spectrum of shots fired runs from 5 to 8 to 10. SO. A ‘comically bad’ shooter enters a security perimeter with a rifle in plain view; climbs a ladder (!) to a roof; bear-crawls to a clear-line-of-sight vantage ~130 yards from the target; is observed by multiple civilians AND a Secret Service sniper and spotter detail; encounters an LEO, who retreats; takes firing position; acquires his target; squeezes off 5+ rounds, one of which has lethal precision, before being ‘neutralized’. [Pause.] Your thoughts?
The aftermath:
Your thoughts? [Pause.] Keep in mind ‘conspiracy’ theories ‘debunked’ in the press have tended to rapidly age into exposés then into factual consensus.
‘We’ll Never Get The Truth’: FBI To Investigate Trump Shooting And Folks Have A REAL Problem With This July 14, 2024
[Pause.] Thirty-two people had film or photograph cameras, in Dealey Plaza, most famously Abraham Zapruder. Of the thousands at the Butler rally almost all had active camera phones.

NY AG Outlines What She Wants for NRA

New York Attorney General went after the National Rifle Association not out of concern for its members, but because she has ideological issues with the organization. She might claim otherwise, but her own rhetoric on the NRA in the past suggests otherwise.

However, there were, in fact, serious problems with the organization. There was actual corruption at the top of the NRA, which has now been dealt with.

The NRA is far from out of the woods. There is still a trial ongoing.

Stephen Gutowski, writing at The Reload, has an outline of what James wants for the NRA. First, Wayne LaPierre would have to be kept well away from the organization, which I don’t think anyone disagrees with at this point. There would also be an overseer, someone nominated by the NRA but approved by the court, in consultation with the NY state attorney general. Then there’s more (paywalled):

A second filing provided greater detail on how the oversight process would work and exactly how much access the court-appointed official would have. The AG proposed that the new official serve for three years after being nominated by the NRA and approved by the court. They would primarily be responsible for watching how the NRA spends its money, especially in areas that lead to the corruption central to the case—like related-party transactions and travel arrangements.

“This entails ensuring that the NRA implements and enforces its internal controls, policies, procedures and practices governing financial transactions and matters, including without limitation for purchasing, procurement, conflicts of interest and related party transactions, business ethics, expense reimbursements, travel expenses and gifts, gratuities and entertainment, are effective,” the second filing said. “This means that they are in place, compliant with governing law, communicated to staff, directors, vendors and NRA members, and consistently executed and enforced by the NRA’s management, and the NRA Board has knowledge of the content and operation and exercises reasonable oversight to ensure compliance.”

The filing also laid out what the overseer wouldn’t have authority over. It said the court-appointed official wouldn’t have a say over the “NRA’s Core Fundamental Mission Operations.” Those operations include the “political, legislative and advocacy activities of the NRAILA, including, without limitation, management of donor-restricted funds, the substance of programs comprising the NRA’s nonprofit mission,” as well as “mission-related (meaning advocacy) litigation.”

In other words, it looks like the oversight authority wouldn’t extend to anything involved in fighting for gun rights in this country, only in making sure that money is spent how it’s meant to be spent.

In theory, this shouldn’t be an issue. We have reform candidates who won some seats on the NRA board, so there are at least some people internally who are going to fight to make sure the NRA does what it said it would do, so having a third party from the outside also makes sure shouldn’t be a huge issue.

I’d love to say that this sets a precedence that I’m uncomfortable with, though I don’t know that this establishes a precedence at all. If this has happened before with other non-profits, then so be it.

My hesitancy stems mostly from not trusting Letitia James not to try to find some kind of loophole through which she and those who come after her can monkey with the NRA fulfilling its mission.

But if there are safeguards on that, then this is hardly the worst thing in the world. It would also allow the NRA to refocus its efforts on something other than defending itself in a court of law. It can then really buckle down on defending gun rights, which has been lacking.

Yeah, I still think other groups will fill the void, but that’s taking longer than I’d like or than we can afford. 

So long as this doesn’t allow anyone to prevent the NRA from spending money on its actual mission, then so be it. However, I will qualify all of this to say that I’m not remotely equipped to evaluate whether that’s the case or not.