Neal Knox Report (leads with Kerry hunter hype)
Date: Oct 23, 2004 10:43 AM
Oct. 22 Neal Knox Report ? Democrat Presidential Candidate
John Kerry went hunting yesterday, allegedly for geese, but
mainly for votes in the hard-fought battleground state of
Ohio.

It was properly hyped, with a well-announced visit Wednesday
to a gun store, where he bought a camouflage hunting coat
and non-resident license. Then 35 reporters and
photographers headed out early for the hunting grounds.

Kerry said it was a successful hunt for ?we all four got
one.? Well, maybe. I recall that when Bill Clinton went
duck hunting during the ?96 campaign, only one duck was
bagged ? and, surprise, the President got it.

I?eve seen a lot of guides and seasoned dog handlers swear
that the guests had dropped the birds while they had missed.

The photogs had to do their shooting with long-lens cameras;
they had an opportunity to get shots of him carrying the gun
? an over/under double ? but weren?t allowed to get a pic of
him shooting, or carrying a goose, and no ?pool reporter?
was allowed to accompany him to the blind.

He was seen tucking a bloody hand up his sleeve, but a
campaign official who was asked if he had been injured said
Kerry had cut himself, but it was ?mainly goose blood.?

Kerry?s hunt must have caused some gritting of teeth among
his political base ? he has been formally endorsed by some
of the most-radical anti-hunting organizations including
Humane USA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) and Fund for Animals ? but they haven?t said a word
about his campaign hunts, nor has the Brady Bunch withdrawn
their endorsement despite his repeated promises to uphold
the Second Amendment ?as interpreted.?

Those groups know he?s just kidding, and will tolerate
anything to get rid of President Bush. Sadly, a lot of
lulled and gulled hunters think he means it.

——————–

Also in Ohio yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney said
Kerry’s new hunting coat was “an October disguise ? an
effort he’s making to hide the fact that he votes against
gun ownership rights at every turn.”

“My fellow sportsmen, this cover-up isn’t going to work,”
the Vice President said. The Second Amendment is more than
just a photo opportunity.”

Mr. Cheney also hunts, but without a covey of reporters and
photogs, and not just in election years. Last November
after a South Dakota pheasant hunt with my brother and some
of our friends, I was startled to drive up to the small
Pierre airport and see the glistening blue and white Boeing
767 known as Air Force 2.

Marlin, the airport manager, told me Mr. Cheney and a group
of friends had come up every year for years.

Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a member of the party who was
flying out in the opposite direction, told me they had been
hunting only a few miles from where we had been, stomping
through the same early snow, and cold, biting wind. And
having a grand time.

——————–

There?s been a lot of comment in the press in the past few
days about a topic that has been much ignored ? the number
of judges and justices the next President will select, and
how they will lean politically.

The median age of the nine Supreme Court justices is 71.
Chief Justice Rehnquist is 80 (and a likely vote for gun
rights) and John Paul Stevens (almost certainly against) is
84. Two Justices are in ill health ? Ruth Bader Ginsberg
(opposed) and Sandra Day O?Connor (probably against, based
on recent decisions).

Justice Clarence Thomas, probably the strongest vote for gun
rights, is merely 56. There are reports that the White
House has talked to him about becoming Chief Justice when
Rehnquist retires.

Justice Antonin Scalia, who usually votes with Thomas, and
vice versa, is 68 and another possible nominee for Chief
Justice. Those two have been cited by Pres. Bush as his
model Supreme Court Justices. They are anathema to John
Kerry and the left.

Kerry has said repeatedly that he will impose a litmus test
of ?abortion rights? support and opposition to the Second
Amendment as an individual right for his nominees ? despite
last week?s third debate claim that he wouldn?t ?tinker with
the Second Amendment.?

President Bush rejects ?litmus tests? for nominees, saying
only that he will name ?strict constructionists? to the
courts ? as evidenced by the Circuit Court judges he has
named, only to have them blocked by Senate filibusters.

Traditionally, Senators haven?t opposed judicial candidates
except for supposedly egregious flaws. But at a weekend
retreat in April 2001, Democrat Senators adopted an
aggressive policy of opposing even nominees with strong
credentials. That effort has been orchestrated by Sen.
Charles Schumer, claiming President Bush intended to ?create
the most ideological bench in history.?

Kerry, too, wants an ideological bench ? but he wants
leftists, like himself.

With the probability that the next President will name three
and possibly four justices, pray that it isn?t Kerry ? and
if your Senator is one of the 34 running this year, make
sure that he or she will support President Bush?s choices.
In the next four years, either Bush or Kerry will set the
course of the Supreme Court for a generation.

Some gunowners have expressed understandably mixed feelings
about Bush, but the issue of the courts should settle the
quesion.

——————–

NRA-ILA caused dismay among Idaho Republicans when they gave
a ?D? rating to Republican Tim Corder Sr. ?only? because he
supported a ban on semi-auto ?assault weapons,? supports gun
show background checks, and wants to ban firearms ownership
for people convicted of ?violent misdemeanors? (which the
law defines as a fine for a fist fight 40 years ago).

ILA was right.

But their grades have caused questions in several states,
none greater than in Indiana House District 76, where they
endorsed the recently appointed incumbent instead of Jim
Tomes ? founder and leader of the Second Amendment Patriots
and recipient of ILA?s Grass Roots Organization of the Year.
I was there a couple of years ago when, after hearing what
Jim had accomplished legislatively and in signing up NRA
members, the Board of Directors gave him a standing ovation.

Originally, Jim and his opponent were both graded as ?A?
based on his opponent?s questionnaire, and on Jim?s
tremendous efforts as a volunteer. They made no endorsement
in the NRA magazines going to Indiana or on the NRAPVF.org
web page.

But ILA Liaison Mary Ann Bradfield sent Tomes? opponent an
endorsement letter, which Jim didn?t learn about until the
middle of a radio debate.

In attempting to grade some 10,000 candidates nationally,
mistakes will happen, but this one should never have
happened.

——————–

My wife, Jay, told me a couple of days ago that she had been
trying to figure out who John Edwards reminded her of: it
came to her when a trailer for the latest of the ?Child?s
Play? horror movies came on the television. Edwards reminds
her of Chucky, the evil, living, knife-wielding doll.
Somehow, it all fits.

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