Iowa cop accidentally shoots himself and fellow officer. So which one's that "bad guy with the gun?"

Courtesy of WQAD:  

While a police officer was cleaning a gun, it reportedly discharged causing the officer to accidentally shoot himself and another officer. 

The Iowa City police officers had been doing a routine cleaning of their service weapons at the Iowa City Police Department Monday, November 10, 2014, according to a release from the City of Iowa City. The city’s Daily Activity log indicated that at 8:37 two ambulances were sent to their department on Highway 6 East when an officer accidentally fired his weapon., shooting himself and another nearby officer. 

Both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The officers were taken to nearby hospitals, were treated and released.

The NRA is constantly telling us that the American people have nothing to fear from firearms in the hands of good people with the appropriate training. 

However how much better trained can you be than an officer of the law?

The facts are that the more guns there are out there the more accidental shootings there will be.

That is not to say that Americans should not own firearms, if they are reasonable people who simply want them for protection, then of course they should have them.

But guns are dangerous and need to be respected as such. They are not accoutrements to somebody's macho lifestyle nor a means of gaining power in order to feel like a bad ass, they are instruments created to take a life.

And as the story above indicates, there is no amount of training, or experience with guns, that makes them completely safe. And anyone who tries to convince you that they are no more dangerous than any other tool you might have laying around your house, does not respect our intelligence, nor the weapons themselves.

GOP suggests to Iowa voters that everybody will know if they do not vote Republican.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

The GOP is trying to convince Iowa voters on Facebook that their neighbors will know if they voted Republican. 

Screenshots of Facebook ads, promoted by the official Facebook page of the Republican National Committee feature an ominous message: “NOTICE: All Voting Is Public.” The ad tell voters that “In a few months, Iowa will release the list of individual who voted in this election.” Most troublingly, the ad includes an arial view of a neighborhood with checkmarks indicating that “These People Voted GOP.” 

It is true that voter participation in elections in public information. But how a someone voted, including what party they voted for, is not. The secret ballot has long been considered a hallmark of American democracy.

Interesting tactic don't you think?

Made even more so by the fact that something similar was being done up here in Alaska, only with letters instead of Facebook posts.

Similar tactics are also being used in Kentucky:

In a move that Democrats are lambasting as a voter suppression tactic, Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign and its GOP allies are distributing a mailer to Kentucky voters with the title "ELECTION VIOLATION NOTICE." 

It warns of "a possible fraud" and reads, "You are at risk of acting on fraudulent information." It says it's paid for by the Republican Party of Kentucky and authorized by the McConnell Senate Committee '14. 

The mailer is ultimately a rather creative attack on Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, telling the voter that she is feeding them "fraudulent information" and "blatant lies solely to deceive Kentucky voters" about McConnell and her own candidacy. 

Clearly these are yet more attempts to suppress the vote by Republicans who realize that the fewer people voting means a better chance for their candidates.

Just another reason to make damn sure that you all get out and vote.

Remember if the Republicans don't want you to do it, you KNOW it must be a good idea.

Republican strategist says that Joni Ernst is Sarah Palin with more intelligence.

"She doesn't look so damn smart to me."

Courtesy of Newsmax: 

Republican political strategist Dick Morris shrugged off the news that former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin might run for office again, telling Newsmax TV on Wednesday that there's a new and improved Palin on the campaign trail these days — and her name is Joni Ernst. 

"Ernst is Sarah Palin, but with much more in the way of gray cells," Morris told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner, calling Iowa's Republican candidate for the Senate "one of the superstars of American politics." 

Wow, a smart Sarah Palin. That's the kind of thing that gives children nightmares here in Alaska. 

Dick Morris at one time was all in for Sarah Palin, but then he seemed to get over her. (Perhaps he saw her without her makeup or something.)

More recently Morris has become the political analyst who cannot get anything right.

Though I have to say that on this one he is undoubtedly correct.

I think that Joni Ernst IS just as much of a wing nut as Sarah Palin.

And as for the intelligence thing, well damn who isn't smarter than Klondike Kardashian?

Joni Ernst, who is currently running for Senator of Iowa, carries a handgun so that she can shoot the Federal Government in the face if they try to take it.

Courtesy of RH Reality Check:  

Iowa State Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Red Oak), candidate for U.S. Senate, has quickly become a national figure by making outlandish statements that appeal to the far right, including comments charging that she would use a gun to defend herself “from the government.” 

“I have a beautiful little Smith & Wesson, 9 millimeter, and it goes with me virtually everywhere,” Ernst reportedly said in 2012 at the NRA and Iowa Firearms Coalition Second Amendment Rally in Searsboro, Iowa. “But I do believe in the right to carry, and I believe in the right to defend myself and my family—whether it’s from an intruder, or whether it’s from the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important.”

I don't know about any of you but what I look for in a candidate seeking a position in the Federal Government is the assurance that at any moment they might murder a fellow federal employee if they dare to touch their gun.

I am also very impressed when they refer to the attractiveness of their murderous accessory and claim to take it with them "virtually everywhere."

Nothing creepy or frightening about that.

So why is Joni Ernst gathering information about recount procedures a week and a half before the election?

Courtesy of TPM:  

Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst (R) this week requested materials on recount procedures, signaling that she might be gearing up for a recount request in the Iowa Senate race against Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA). 

Ernst filed open records requests in multiple counties for training materials, satellite voting locations, names of ballot counters, recount procedures and any thing also sent to Braley, The Gazette reported. 

Such a large record request so close to an election is unusual for candidates, multiple Iowa auditors told The Gazette. 

"I think they’re gearing up for a recount," Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert said.

Okay well there are two ways to take this.

One is that the Ernst campaign is thinking proactively with an abundance of caution.

Or that they expect to lose and like many recent GOP candidates will simply refuse to accept defeat until they have exhausted all possible challenges?

Yeah I am going to go with the latter.

"Brutalized."

Courtesy of Politicususa:

Extremist Joni Ernst (R-IA) is running for the U.S. Senate, you know, the place that used to be the speed bump against the crazies in the House of Representatives. But now Republicans are hoping to turn the Senate into a highway for their extremist Tea Party positions, so they can pass laws that most reasonable people take issue with — like outlawing abortion in all cases, even in the case of rape or incest, due to the personhood amendment Joni Ernst supports. 

Democrats hit Ernst today with an ad featuring Kim Tweedy, a Nurse Examiner on a West Des Moines Sexual Assault Response Team, who says, “I’ll never understand politicians who’d make it harder. Politicians like Joni Ernst. She’d outlaw abortion even for victims of rape and incest. She’d ban a woman’s right to choose even for women who’ve been through that trauma, absolutely brutalized.”

Damn! It looks like the Democrats as a unit have simply decided that it is time to take the gloves off and start street brawling.

This ad is reminiscent of the Wendy Davis ad that received so much attention, and the Ebola one from the Agenda Project.

Good, it is past time for us to start playing hard ball.