I'm leaving it all up to you, to quote a swamp pop standard of my youth. Final words:
* APPOINTMENTS: Gov. Mike Beebe made more than five dozen today. One worthy of note was Ann Henry of Fayetteville, retired from teaching at the UA and a 1996 Democratic congressional candidate, to the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, succeeding Dana Samples.
* SHOOTING AT PINNACLE MOUNTAIN PARK: Channel 11 reports that a state park ranger fired at a car that was driving at him after he tried to stop three people trying to break into a car. Two suspects were taken into custody. Authorities believe the third suspect, still on the run, was wounded. Fox 16 says the man being sought may have stolen a park pickup.
* GUN WAVING BEGINS: Extremist Republican Senate candidate Tom Cotton has begun the gun-waving against Sen. Mark Pryor, the Democrat he hopes to topple next year. And, of course, he waves his veteran's helmet high, too. I think that development of this campaign theme will be interesting. There's no loss, only gain in being a veteran and using imagery that reminds voters of that often. The service is appreciated by just about everyone. Vic Snyder certainly inoculated himself successfully against his perceived liberalism with such imagery. But I say this as gingerly as possible, thinking back to my parents and their friends who served in World War II: They served. They were proud they did. But they weren't given much to bragging about it. Or conflating domestic policy votes with being soft on freedom or less than committed to the side of the U.S. in armed conflict on foreign shores. You aren't a patriot, somehow, if you favor reasonable gun regulation? Last refuge, as they say.
Read on for what Tom Cotton said today (it does make me wonder if he carries on the campaign trail):
[jump]Mark Pryor supports gun rights…sometimes, maybe.ICYMI: This article in last week’s Democrat-Gazette paints a pretty interesting picture of Senator Mark Pryor’s gun-control history. Lately he’s been working pretty hard to convince Arkansans he’s pro-gun, but let’s take a look at some of his past votes:
March 2004: Senator Pryor voted YES to provide for a 10-year extension of the assault weapons ban, which BANNED 19 commonly used firearms.
September 2007: Senator Pryor voted YES on prohibiting foreign and United Nations aid that restricts gun ownership in the United States.
April 2009: Senator Pryor voted NO on allowing firearms in checked baggage on Amtrak trains.
With a track record like that and a C- rating from the NRA, it’s not hard to see that Senator Pryor only supports gun owners when he needs our votes. Arkansans deserve a Senator who protects our second amendment rights 100 percent of the time. In Iraq and Afghanistan Tom Cotton and his fellow soldiers kept their guns within arms reach at all times because of a fundamental truth: critical moments, your life and your freedom, and that of those depending on you, depend on your right to defend yourself. Tom Cotton will stand with Arkansas’s gun owners.