The jail situation Arapahoe County, Colorado is so bad, the county wants to burden the residents with another tax increase. Fat chance of getting it passed. Jefferson County and other counties are in a similar predicament. Courts, public defenders, and prosecutors are all over-burdened. Police are unable to respond quickly to calls. Infrastructure is crumbling because there aren’t enough funds. Rather than determining the root cause of the problems, state and local governments continually propose tax increases as the only solution.

The root cause is not insufficient funds. The root cause is that state and local drug laws are redundant. The federal government has a multitude of drug laws. The real solution to insufficient funds in state and local coffers: Repeal state and local drug laws and let the federal government assume the burden of enforcing drug laws, prosecuting offenders, and jailing sellers and users. That would free up millions and millions of dollars that the state could spend on productive purposes.

I get it. This proposal would not go over well with politicians, police, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and jailers. They have too much to lose. Most notably, they will lose power. And since we won’t need so many, some will lose their jobs. Heaven forbid, they may need to get private sector jobs. No public pensions, maybe lower pay. And that’s the point. The state and local funds could be better spent on people who build roads and do other productive things. …

There’s been a number news stories criticizing Israel for killing protesters at the fence between Gaza and Israel.

I do not see a problem here.

From the way I see it, a bunch of sexually frustrated terrorists traded their miserable lives on earth for life in paradise with 72 virgins.  And the US sends their families a bunch of money.  Seems like everyone is a winner.…

The Bozos who have been kneeling during the National Anthem aren’t just disrespecting the flag, they are disrespecting America. They are disrespecting Americans.

NFL Commissioner Goodell said “Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players,”  Yes, but it’s not just the President. There is an increasing “lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players” . Viewership is down, ratings are down.  Fans are fed up with the antics of these coddled, brain-damaged, goofballs. The President was merely echoing the opinions of millions of Americans who are fed up the antics.

The Broncos said “We’ll continue to support them and work together to advocate for values of respect, diversity and inclusion.” No, the Broncos are saying they will support the players who demonstrate a lack of respect for America, Americans, and the fans of the game. How can the teams insist on respect when they allow their players to  show such an utter lack of respect for the American people?…

It seems like almost every month I see a billboard advertising the Tanner Gun Show in Denver Colorado. After seeing these signs for years, in February 2017, I decided to see what all the hoopla was about. I went to the show. The gun show is at the Denver Mart just Northeast of 58^th and I 25. Parking was free. I turned into the entrance off 58^th and pulled into the first parking space I found. That was a mistake. The Denver Mart is a huge property with several buildings and a hotel. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to find my way to the entrance until I finally found a sign pointing the way. The show is in a building way in back, quite a bit north of the 58^th Avenue entrance.

The show hours are Saturday from 9AM until 5 PM, and Sunday from 9AM until 4:00 PM. When I arrived around noon, there was no line to get in. I paid the $10 entrance fee, the lady that took my money stamped my wrist so I can get back in at a later time or the next day. I walked right in to the hall, no metal detectors. I don’t remember anyone asking if I was carrying but it was clear everyone was expected to declare their weapons.

The hall was packed with exhibitors and buyers. Wall to wall tables with all sorts of firearms, ammunition, accessories, holsters, knives, backpacks, food items, and other kinds of merchandise. The hall was quite crowded, but not so crowded that you couldn’t navigate between the tables, view and hold firearms, and interact with vendors. A few gun stores seemed to be represented but there were also quite a few independent vendors.

You are able to handle the firearms but only a limited amount because every gun in the show had a zip tie wrapped around the mechanism. Full handling such as racking the slide is not possible. You do not need to be an exhibitor to bring in your weapons, but non-exhibitors are also subject to the same zip-tie rule. No loaded weapons are allowed in the hall.

The people at the show were mostly white men but there was a fair share of women, blacks, and other minorities. The tables were staffed with mostly white men with a few women. There were a few women staffing the tables ranging from pretty young ladies that were clearly there to attract male customers along with a variety of women of varying ages and attractiveness.

I soon discovered that a gun show is an ideal place to make a firearm purchase. There was a wide variety of firearms. No one dealer can offer all the types of firearms that are available available at a gun show. If you don’t see what you are looking at one table, go to the next. Offerings ranged from the cheapest firearms to the most expensive. Most of the firearms were new, but used firearms were also available. Pricing varied from overpriced to very competitive. If you are price shopping and you know what you want, you can probably find several dealers offering the gun you are looking for. Peruse the tables, note the prices, and return to the dealer offering the best price for the firearm you want.

Holsters were available starting around $15.00.  Some holster vendors had replica handguns of various manufactures and models, so a buyer could try a holster with the exact kind of gun they intend to carry.

There is no “gun show loophole” in the state of Colorado. The corrupt and oppressive Federal and state governments illegally require all gun show firearm purchasers to  undergo a background check. One dealer told me he charges $6.00 for background checks because that’s what the state charges him. Background check approvals were taking less than 15 minutes. Another dealer told me if a purchaser was denied, he would charge a $50 restocking fee to take back the weapon.

In conclusion, the Tanner Gun show is a terrific place to purchase a firearm or other related items. Visiting the show makes it easy to comparison shop and view a wider variety of firearms that would be available at any one store.…

During election season, a former conservative congressman occasionally sends mailings to my house addressed to“Ralph”. There is no one at my home by that name. A couple of days ago, I received a phone call from a woman looking for Ralph. She sounded like a person from the local Tea Party who regularly calls to invite me to their meetings. Thinking Ralph was added to her call list in error and she really meant to call me, I asked her if she was from the local Tea Party. The woman didn’t identify who she was calling for but she did say “No, I’m afraid we’re the opposite of the tea party”. Then she said she hopes I get better and hung up. I’m not sure what she meant by that; I never said anything about being sick.

A few days later I got another call on my mobile phone from someone asking for “Ralph”. I responded someone already called me and I told them I’m not Ralph. She then proceeded to inform me she represented the Democratic party and asked me if I wanted to support Hillary Clinton and Colorado’s Democratic Senator, Michael Bennett.

“Oh Gawd no!”

I’m not sure who their “Ralph” is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not the Ralph on the Congressman’s mailing list.

Then I got to thinking…. “Opposite of Tea party”. So I went to the Tea Party’s local website to get an exact statement about what they stood for. Here it is:

http://www.285teaparty.com/about-us/

We support for the following principles:

• Fiscal Responsibility
• Constitutionally Limited Government
• Free Markets

These principles include the following elements:

Individual Liberty

• Personal Responsibility
• Personal Property
• Free Markets

Limited Government

• Adherence to the Constitution
• Federalism – Reduction of government to the lowest practical level
• Fiscal responsibility

Accountability

• We demand accountability from our elected officials after they have been elected to office.
• We demand transparency in government.

Sounds pretty good to me.

So if the Democrats are the opposite of the Tea Party, by their own admission this is what Clinton, Bennett, and the Democrats stand for:

• Fiscal Irresponsibility
• Government that ignores the Constitution
• Highly regulated markets

These principles include the following elements:

Tyranny

• Personal Irresponsibility
• No Personal Property
• Highly regulated markets

Maximum Government

• Abolish the Constitution
• Expansion of government to the maximum amount possible
• Fiscal irresponsibility and out of control spending

Impunity

• They demand elected officials who do will not answer to the people
• They demand a government that operates in secret

Sounds like the Democrats to me.…

As I was driving home and listening to the radio after returning from a business trip, I heard Dick Morris advertising his new book, Armageddon How Trump Can Beat Hillary. He talked about his experience as an aide to the Clintons. Sounds interesting, I thought. When I got home, I immediately reserved a copy at the library. The book was still on order and there were enough copies available for me to receive one as soon as the books arrived. A few days later, my wife Elizabeth told me she had reserved a copy and asked me if I had heard about the book. She wasn’t surprised when she I told her I had also reserved a copy. She ended up cancelling her copy and reserving an audio book instead.

As I read the book, I noticed how current it seemed to be. It almost seemed like Morris wrote the book a few weeks ago and rushed the book to print. There was one point that was a little out of date that fascinated that me. Morris talked about the assertion that Hillary founded ISIS. Remember Trump saying that? Remember all the heat the press gave him for saying it? The book was written before Trump made the assertion. Rudolph Giuliani said Clinton founded ISIS before Trump did.

The first half of the book covered the common-knowledge Clinton scandals. I was disappointed that he didn’t write about the things he would have learned as a Clinton insider. As I read the book I found myself nodding my head in agreement thinking why would anyone want to vote for Clinton. Then it occurred to me, Morris was preaching to the choir. Hillary supporters already know she’s a crook, an untrustworthy liar, and a corrupt politician who’s been involved in numerous scandals. Hillary supporters don’t care and they’re not going to read Morris’ book.

A large part of the book is focused on suggestions about what Trump needs to do to beat Hillary. Most of the advice is for Trump to point out that Hillary is not working in the best interests of her supporters. Trump seems to be heeding the advice almost to the point of using Armageddon as his playbook. Trump is driving the points suggested by Morris and the media reports on the assertions almost every day. The media is attempting to report Trump’s statements as a negative, even as Trump moves up in the polls. Hillary supporters may refuse to read the book, but they can’t avoid the daily media reports about Trump convincingly telling voters how Hillary is not acting in the best interests of her supporters.

The book explains why Trump is right about renegotiating trade deals and why the Clinton deals are bad for unions and the Clinton base. Clinton support for teacher unions is bad for minorities, and why the Iran deals are bad for the security of America. Clinton had her fingers in all of these. Trump is following the playbook and his relentless hounding of Clinton is resulting in Clinton flip-flopping on many of her core issues.

Finally, the book closes with Electoral College math.  The Democrats may have a major advantage in the Electoral College math, but if Trump focuses on a few key states, he can win the election in spite of the Democrats’ advantage.…

In Colorado, . Case in point. The state ruled a Christian baker who refused to bake cakes promoting homosexuality is unlawful discrimination against homosexuals, then soon after ruled an atheist baker may discriminate against Christians by refusing cakes with bible verses. In an unrelated incident, the state labor board ruled a meat packing plant cannot require its Islamic employees to work when they would rather pray. The company wouldn’t shut down its production lines five times a day so their 150 Islamic employees can pray. So the Muslim employees walked off the job. The company fired them. When the employees filed for unemployment insurance the company asserted they weren’t eligible because they were fired for cause. The state allowed the unemployment claims ruling a company cannot fire Muslim employees for refusing to work.

The employees were mostly Somali refugees. You would think they came to the United States to flee the tyranny of Islam. I wonder. Did they come here to bring their tyranny with them or were they coerced by an Islamic agitator?

The company deserved what it got. Americans won’t work for their low wages, so they brought in cheap foreign labor. And now they will have to deal with the litigation expenses and the increased unemployment insurance costs the company will have to pay. The company will likely also need to pay off the employees for “unjustly” firing them. The employees are in a small town. No one is going to hire people who don’t want to work. When their unemployment runs out the Somalis will probably go on welfare, be poor, and permanently under the influence of the agitators in the “Islamic community”.…

Rep. Diana DeGette sees the recent shootings near Downtown Denver as an opportunity to push her disarmament agenda rather than the tragedy it truly was. Once again she demonstrates her blissful ignorance about firearms.  She uses menacing terms like “military style assault weapons” and “high-capacity” magazines.  Let me set the record straight.  The right to own “military style assault weapons” is already severely infringed (what part of “shall not be infringed” do you not understand Diana?). The purchase of a real “military style assault weapon” requires an extensive background  investigation and paying an exorbitant tax. She’s referring to firearms like the AR15 which is a civilian firearm. The Americanized AK47 is not a “military style assault weapon” either. A real AK47 is an automatic weapon. The Americanized AK47 is not. Furthermore, Diana, a 30 round magazine is a standard capacity magazine. It’s not a “high capacity” magazine.

By using the term “gun safety”, she’s depending  on an uniformed population that’ll permit her to sneak in her disarmament agenda.  I for one know she’s using the frog in the pot of water approach.  Throw a frog in a boiling pot of water and he’ll jump right out. Put him in cool water and turn the heat up slowly and he’s cooked (disarmed) before he realizes it.  I don’t know about the rest of the frogs, but the water is already much too hot for me.

Finally, she staged a sit-in on the House floor to push her agenda to disarm Americans without due process. Depriving people on the “no-fly” list their right to keep and bear arms may sound like a good idea on the surface. Except there is no due process. The government can put anyone on the no-fly list for any reason. Want to disarm a law abiding dissident?  Put him on the no-fly list. Poof! Rights gone.…