Explosive Exchange at Gun Hearing --- Feinstein To Cruz: "I'm not a sixth grader ...

[kpete]

"The question that I would pose to the senior senator from California is," said Cruz to Feinstein, "Would she deem it consistent with the Bill of Rights for Congress to engage in the same endeavor that we are contemplating doing with the Second Amendment in the context of the First or Fourth Amendment, namely, would she consider it constitutional for Congress to specify that the First Amendment shall apply only to the following books and shall not apply to the books that Congress has deemed outside the protection of the Bill of Rights? Likewise, would she think that the Fourth Amendment's protection against searches and seizures could properly apply only to the following specified individuals and not to the individuals that Congress has deemed outside the protection of the Bill of Rights?

"I'm not a sixth grader," said Feinstein. "Senator, I've been on this committee for 20 years. I was a mayor for nine years. I walked in, I saw people shot. I've looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. I've seen the bullets that implode. In Sandy Hook, youngsters were dismembered. Look, there are other weapons. I've been up -- I'm not a lawyer, but after 20 years I've been up close and personal to the Constitution. I have great respect for it. This doesn't mean that weapons of war and the Heller decision clearly points out three exceptions, two of which are pertinent here. And so I -- you know, it's fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know I've been here for a long time. I've passed on a number of bills. I've studied the Constitution myself. I am reasonably well educated, and I thank you for the lecture."


VIDEO & MORE HERE
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/explosive-exchange-gun-hearing-between-ted-cruz-and-dianne-feinstein_707602.html
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/judiciary-approves-assault-weapons-ban-88866_Page2.html#ixzz2NWvmTprm

[geek tragedy]

1. Ted Cruz tries to mansplain the constitution to DiFi, pulls back a bloody stump. nt

[Whisp]

11. LOL!

[TwilightGardener]

2. Everyone in the Senate is now officially sick of Cruz's shit.

[freshwest]

19. Does he always use such inane run-on sentences? What a buffoon.

[TwilightGardener]

22. I read his remarks to Feinstein three times, still not quite sure I follow.

Poor Diane must have been thinking, WTF is he going on about?

[freshwest]

24. He was scrambling to find 'adult' words to push whatever he heard Rush say on the air...

Rush being a less than educated, crass, craven, spoilt bully whose monologues only sound intelligent to those in the last stages of inebriation at a honky tonk bar around midnight. Just sayin'

[Le Taz Hot]

81. LOL!

[lexw]

98. :D :D :D

[AngryOldDem]

83. It was incoherent.

He was trying to make himself look like the smartest kid in the class.

Totally out of line and disrespectful.

And from her looks, I think she was having trouble following his logic.

[Laurian]

3. Yeehaw! Love that a woman put that Neanderthal

in his place. Maybe she opened the door for others to do likewise.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Apparently, Mr. Cruz thinks it's alright to incite riots, scream 'Fire' in a crowded place,

and doesn't believe we've denied 4th. Amendment rights to 'non-combatants', etc.

[JaneyVee]

5. Uh, Mr. Cruz, even the First Amendment has its limitations.

[Angry Dragon]

7. it seems that his stupidity has no limits

[mwrguy]

6. Feinstein kicked his sorry ass

A real senator versus a teabagging gun nut.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Smackdown on Capitol Hill!

I love it!

[dballance]

9. Wow, Such A Slap-Down in Congress is Really Unusual.

Ms. Feinstien was very appropriate to slap down Ted Cruz. It is really unusual for a senator to smack down another senator. But I feel it was totally deserved that Ms. Fienstien slapped down the obsequious, pusillanimous little toad.

[hamsterjill]

12. +1

And slap him down, she did!!!

He needed it. He's repulsive.

[Initech]

10. Fuck the Tea Party and fuck Ted Cruz!!

[RevStPatrick]

13. I'll bet Cruz has never even heard of Harvey Milk...

He really is a dim bulb.

[freshwest]

21. Sheltered life. Silver spoon. Elitist twit. (Just trying to avoid the word a-hole, here.)

[AngryOldDem]

80. Of course he hasn't.

Furthermore, it would still mean absolutely nothing to him, even if he did.

He visions himself as a rising star in the GOP when in fact all he is is a gold-plated horse's ass.

[xtraxritical]

88. He's going to be following Adam West and Joe Walsh out the door, good riddance.

[yellowcanine]

14. "Male Senator down and bleeding. Paramedics and clean up in Aisle 2 needed."

[sheshe2]

63. They can always toss him out with the trash! nt

[southernyankeebelle]

15. This man's only purpose there is to make a name for himself. Somehow I think

that little ole boy thinks he has a chance to be president. I say not a snowball chance in hell he would live in the white house. I think he is even getting on the wrong side of his own party. He is an ass. He thinks he is being cool but not a chance.

[ceile]

26. governor....

We think he'll run for governor. Hopefully, we'll be a little more purple by the time his first term is up.

[Lobo27]

41. Hopefully one of the Castro bros will run against him.

But I truly believe this man wants to be president one day. Too bad he can't. Could you see the birthers saying anything against him?

[southernyankeebelle]

66. Well lets pray Clinton runs that way your state has a chance.

[dgibby]

64. He was born in Canada.

No chance of him becoming prez.

[southernyankeebelle]

65. Right, I forgot that. Thank god.

[slackmaster]

68. Although he was born in Canada, his mother was a U.S. citizen, a non-resident alien in Canada...

...temporarily on business. Therefore he is qualified to run for President.

[idwiyo]

95. No friggin way. It was an attempt to claim Canadian citizenship. Or a mistake. Or it was a

village somewhere in US named Canada.

Oh, I know, prove it! Show us his birth certificate and official proof signed by 100 independent experts from different countries that his birth certificate is not a fake. And I want a proof that those experts are really independent and are not on his payroll.

Something like it.

If that fails, Canada should just declare that retroactively exact room where he was born as not a Canadian territory for the duration of his birth.

Or HRM The Queen can do it for Canada because its a slap on the face of entire Common Wealth.
Euuuuuuuuuuu. Bleh. Gross.




For humour impaired: all of the above is me joking.

[Demoiselle]

16. I am so GLAD she let him have it!

Made my day...No, made my week!

[krispos42]

17. She rattles off her list of qualifications...

...then continues to put forward the idea that it's perfectly okay to own a semi-automatic rifle that feeds from a detachable magazine, as long as it doesn't have a pistol grip.

Literally, that is what her proposed, expanded definition of "assault weapon" says. If you have such a rifle, it's okay as long as it doesn't have a pistol grip, or an adjustable stock, or a heat shield around the parts that get hot enough to burn human flesh.

But if you do, it's banned. If your rifle is too ergonomic, it's banned; that's the crux of her argument. She's trying to ex post facto make the gun used in Newtown as "assault weapon".



If she wasn't pandering on this issue, she would simply ban all semi-automatic rifles as a class. But because she is pandering (I guess it makes people forget how she treated Bush), she's trying to pass something that won't affect the real world one whit, but will give her something to crow about when it comes around to elections and fundraising.

[OldDem2012]

18. You seem to have missed the point of this thread. nt.

[Paladin]

20. And You Get To Rely On A Human Pustule Like Ted Cruz. Congrats. (nt)

[ananda]

25. Ted Cruz and Dan Patrick..

.. two giant puss postules on the butt of the nation and the now sorry state of Texas.

[krispos42]

30. At no point did I even mention Cruz. Nice deflection attempt.

Can't refute the facts, so deflect.

[onenote]

37. Since this thread is about Cruz's comments and Feinstein's rebuttal

your decision to make it about matters not specifically addressed by either Cruz or Feinstein seems like a classic case of deflection. That was your first. Your second deflection was accusing those who pointed out your deflection as being guilty of deflection.

I'll give you this much: you're very good at the game.

[SunSeeker]

47. LOL. And thank you. I'm sick of people hijacking threads. nt

[krispos42]

58. Cruz is challenging her gun law proposals, yes?

So, what's the problem? I'm not challenging her proposal on constitutional grounds; I'm challenging it on political and practical grounds.

She's a smart woman, so why does she continue to flog the idea that putting a pistol grip on a rifle makes is SO dangerous as to be banned?

[Paladin]

42. The Fact Is: Cruz has joined the pro-gun's stable of God-awful spokesmen.

Try deflecting that.....

[krispos42]

59. I know nothing about him...

...except that he's one of the surviving GOP Senators, and as such a poster boy for the disadvantages of the two-party system and first-past-the-post elections. As a GOPer Senator, he has to be a regressive corporatist obstructionist moron that wants to undo the New Deal down to the nuts and bolts, declare federal sovereignty over a woman's uterus AND the anus' of both genders, and make English and Protestantism imbedded in federal law.


Am I guessing correctly?

And let me guess... he's advocating gun rights as a measure to protect the people from the excesses of government? Right?

It's a dumb argument; which is why I don't make it.

[upaloopa]

23. No this isn't a gun control debate. Please take it to an

appropriate OP.

[krispos42]

54. Really?

I guess the title of the OP is wrong, then.

[Lizzie Poppet]

52. "I've seen the bullets that implode."

What, do they have tiny singularities in the center of each bullet or something?

Not that Cruz isn't a complete fuckwaffle...he is. But DiFi is, as usual, as full of shit as a Christmas goose on gun-related matters.

[xtraxritical]

89. She's referring to hallow points.

[sufrommich]

27. Cruz bears a creepy physical resemblance

to Joe McCarthy,anyone else notice this?

[TwilightGardener]

35. I think everyone who has seen him in action notices it. It's like an acting role

he was born to play, temperamentally and physically. But the GOP doesn't see anything wrong with it. Cruz is the nasty shiftless smug little bastard the freepers have been praying for.

[northoftheborder]

51. Yes, I've noticed that. He could sub for him in a play.Even sounds like him. And"thinks" like him

What an embarrassment to our state.

[mwb970]

85. He also bears a creepy resemblance to a total prick. /nt

[King_Klonopin]

92. Yeah. Tweety says it all the time (cuz it makes him seem clever)

I find Cruz to be the most repulsive member of Congress.

He has surpassed Eric Cantor at the top of my list for "People I'd Like To Punch"

He EXUDES smugness, smarminess, condescension and creepy.

He is a pure demagogue. Cut from the same cloth (rag) as McCarthy
and following the same agenda.

Nothing helpful or constructive about his politics -- purely DEstructive.

I would just love to smash in his rat-like face.

Maybe the folks of Texas (yes, even Texas) will become disgusted with him.

[Blue Owl]

28. Cruz Con-troll

n/t

[freshwest]

99. Hehehe.

[kimmylavin]

29. Not only are there actually limits on the First Amendment...

But haven't we spent the last decade dreaming up new ways to limit the Fourth one?

[AtheistCrusader]

33. There are, and we've been fighting against some of the ones on the Fourth.

Like the stinking no-fly 'terrorism watch list'. A list replete with DANGEROUS POTENTIAL TERRORISTS like the late Senator Kennedy.

[AtheistCrusader]

31. We have bullets that implode now?

o.0

[King_Klonopin]

93. EXplode.... hollow points.

[AtheistCrusader]

97. Hollow point bullets don't explode.

They expand, opening a wider wound channel, and dumping the kinetic energy they carry, rather than over-penetrating and exiting the other side.

That's what hunting rounds do, precisely. It's the difference between putting a hole in a deer that causes it to flee and bleed to death over hours, versus dropping pretty much where you hit it.

Also the reason the Police use them. If they have to shoot someone, and there might be people behind the person they had to shoot, hollow points are safer for people downrange, because they are less likely to over-penetrate.

Hollow point rounds are perfectly normal. Ask any police officer. They do NOT explode.

[King_Klonopin]

100. Excuse me: EXPAND...

Thanks for the tutorial.
I thought the little ball of lead had black powder in it like a Rolo.
What an idiot I am!

The person who wrote "implode" probably meant to write "explode"
(Or expand) I was trying to clarify and failed.

But, do pick those nits.

[AtheistCrusader]

101. No, the source of the 'implode' comment was a US Senator waxing philosopical about the bad aspects

of firearms. Essentially, making it up as she goes, because despite this being a large part of her political platform for the last 15+ years, she doesn't seem to know anything about firearms, and that is super depressing.

If I was going to try and craft legislation about ANYTHING, I would make sure I understood it before making speeches and writing letters, and trying to get my colleagues to sign on to and vote for it.

I pointed it out because there is a continued 'effort' to ban 'cop killer bullets' despite the fact they were banned for civilian, non-law enforcement purchase or possession in 1994. That's what she was referring to there.

[Historic NY]

32. They need to isolate Cruz to getting the coffee or in his case tea...

[slackmaster]

34. Make the half-Cuban, half-Italian guy from Canada get the coffee?!?!?

[hack89]

36. What a moron - of course the 2A can be regulated

even Scalia acknowledges that.

[Politicalboi]

38. Why can't we ALL have

Nukes then asshole Cruz. I mean why not. Pass a background check, and have one in your own backyard.

[snort]

87. Nuh uh

I want mine mounted on the hood of my car. Since I know the nuke grabbers will be trying to pass laws limiting the size of my atom bomb, make it a big one. Radius of total destruction 5 miles. And I'll need a trigger for it make it unnecessarily large so that it needs to be carried in a holster. The folks in the big box store will know I'm a man to be reckoned with.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

39. Hands down victory to Cruz and defeat for Feinstein in that exchange, I'm afraid.

Give the devil his due: he asks a clear, unambiguous, relevant question, and she refuses to answer it, and waffles and then goes on the offensive in the hope that people won't notice she isn't answering.

Good answers would include

"Yes, we already do selectively interpret the first and fourth amendments - try inciting a riot sometime."
"No, I believe that the first and fourth amendments were meant to be more absolute than the 5th, for these reasons:"
"In principle yes, but in practice there are good reasons not to do so".

and many others.

[mimi85]

55. Maybe you can

apply for a job as one of her advisors. I don't possibly see how you can side with Cruz on this one.

[stonecutter357]

57. I can

IT"S a TROLL

[Donald Ian Rankin]

61. Of course - I'm a troll with a post count in the thousands, who hasn't been outed yet.

That explains it all, and conveniently avoids the need to think.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

60. I'm not "siding with Cruz" beyond pointing out that he won this rhetorical exchange.

I think that about gun control Cruz is entirely wrong and Feinstein is mostly right. That doesn't change the fact that, in this specific case, he asked a fair question and she dodged answering.

[Paladin]

62. Whatever Bonus Debate Points You're Awarding To Cruz.....

....were effectively negated by Chuck Schumer's scathing, elegantly-styled rebuke. It's becoming clearer by the day that Cruz is WAY out of his league, which is very good news, indeed.....

[Le Taz Hot]

84. Nope. And this is why.

Admittedly she does fumble Cruz's "absolutist" question but this is a case where the subtext is more important than the text. The subtext, in this case, is his condescension towards her. It's unclear as to whether he disrespects her because she's a woman, older, and/or a Democrat but he tries to mansplain the Constitution to her. To Dianne Feinstein, a Senator who became Mayor of San Francisco as a direct result of gun violence. It's unclear whether he was too ignorant to know that or just didn't care but she managed to hand his ass back to him in the process.

The whole point of the teaklanners is to intimidate, to bully, ala McCarthy (with whom Cruz shares a physical resemblance), and the only way to deal with a bully is to meet him head on. And that's exactly what she did.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

90. I'm afraid I think the only visible disrespect is from her to him.

He challenged her with a perfectly good, legitimate, polite question. She, by contrast, was rude and condescending.

I should stress that I see no reason *not* to show disrespect for him - not doing so is your metric, not mine, and I don't think he's particularly worthy of respect - but if that *is* what you're scoring by, again, he comes out ahead.

[Le Taz Hot]

91. If you see his behavior as

"perfectly good, legitimate, polite . . ." there's really not much more to discuss.

[King_Klonopin]

94. She answered him with a direct, unequivocal "No" "Obviously not!"

Why should she have to answer a baiting question from a troll like him??

His method of questioning was done in the classic McCarthy-esque,
inquisitor style. It's so condescending that it knocks a person of his/her
pins in shock.

He was trying to paint her as Unamerican (where have we seen this before?)
and counter-constitution. His analogies were completely lame, actually making
the point that Sen Feinstein was trying to make FOR her.

There ARE exceptions to free speech (child pornography, yelling "fire", slander, etc.)
to due process (enemy combatants)...

Cruz and Feinstein (and I) disagree. Does the Constitution protect the rights
of the people to own weapons that can kill tens, or hundreds, of inoccent citizens?
Cruz seems to think so... or he simply prefers to demagogue an issue rather
than to govern.

I watched the exchange. I saw Cruz as acting like the jerk he is, trying to
browbeat and hector a senior senator who told him to shove it.

[UTUSN]

40. R#37 & K for, steaming carnival CRUZ

[Tom Rinaldo]

43. I'm suer he defends human sacrifices also - for religious purposes only of course n/t

[sarisataka]

44. A sixth grader would know

the difference between implode and explode... and know a bullet does neither

Mr. Cruz should note the Fourth Amendment does not seem to apply to any individual within 100 miles of a border. Several other Amendments are also arbitrarily restricted...

The kids in my son's kindergarten have more coherent arguments than these two.

[firenewt]

45. Where's a 'Cruz' missile when you need one?

[JDPriestly]

46. Exercise of the First, Second and Fourth Amendments are subject to regulation.

Personally, I don't think that the political exercise of the First Amendment should be subject to regulation, but the Supreme Court has ruled that it is.

And the Fourth Amendment along with other amendments protecting the rights of citizens including those accused of crimes have been decimated.

Think about the NDAA's authorization of the imprisonment of US citizens without respect for their right under the Constitution to habeas corpus.

1. The Indefinite Detention Clause: The NDAA has become the most controversial element of President Obama's foreign policy. Section 1021 of the NDAA bill of 2012 allowed for the "indefinite detention of American citizens without due process at the discretion of the President." Section 1021 has been challenged as a violation of constitutional principles and the United States Bill of Rights. The indefinite detention clause has been broadly denounced nationally and internationally. It may very well be the only thing that has true bi-partisan support. The Act was strongly opposed by the ACLU, Amnesty International, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, and The Center for Constitutional Rights, the Cato Institute, Reason Magazine and The Council on American-Islamic Relations. It was criticized in editorials published in The New York Times, Al-Jazeera, and The Guardian. The ACLU said, "The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield." This year's bill contains amendments introduced in the Senate and the House to remove the indefinite detention clause. The House included sections 1031 through 1033, which affirms the right of habeas corpus and the Constitutional right of due process for American citizens. Senator Rand Paul (R–Ky.) a leading opponent of the clause pointed out, "the bill this year contained the amendment I supported which sharply limited the detention power, and eliminated it entirely for American citizens in the US."

http://www.policymic.com/articles/20835/why-the-ndaa-bill-is-even-scarier-than-you-thought

[demwing]

48. Ted Cruz is a Rape

in other words, he is a dick, inserted where no one wants it except for those that own it.

[xxqqqzme]

49. Feinstein clashed with

jesse helms during the first assault weapons ban debate. Helms called her 'little lady', as I recall. She ripped him a new one by reminding him she became the mayor of San Francisco as a result of gun violence (Moscone- Milk assassinations).


assassination details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassinations

[sangsaran]

53. Wait, Republicans are sexist?

Shocking!

[winter is coming]

50. Ted Cruz: probably a veteran of the DU Hate Mail Bag. n/t

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

56. Democrats need to do this EVERY SINGLE TIME

The time for being respectful of their feelings has long since passed. When they say stupid shit, we should careful explain to them just how stupid their shit really is.

[erpowers]

67. "Well Regulated Militia"

First, while The Constitution does not state "a well regulated freedom of speech" or "a well regulated right against illegal search and seizures" it does state a "well regulated militia". It seems that the "well regulated militia" phrase means the founding fathers wanted the government to have some say in the distribution of guns.

Second, in most instances you cannot kill someone with a book(s). If you throw thirty books at someone, or a group of people it is very likely that person(s) will survive. However, if you shot thirty bullets at someone, or a group of people itis very likely that person(s) will not survive.

[spanone]

69. cruz is one evil fuck. we must keep an eye on this dangerous one.

[Gabby Hayes]

77. Amen

This beast will have to constantly feed and will reveal its true self in due time. In the meantime President Obama should maintain a firm grip on the nuclear football.

[AngryOldDem]

82. +1

That's been said before about a lot of people in the GOP, but this time I think this is true.

Don't like what I hear OR see. At all.

[MagickMuffin]

70. About that 4th Amendment: It Has Been Deemed Irrelevant Because of the WAR ON DRUGS

Long before the "patriot act" the 4th amendment was destroyed because of the other WAR that Congress has been waging for decades!

[heather blossom]

71. To My Fellows Texans

Is there any way we can recall this idiot? He are Rick Perry are trying to outdo each to become the country's #1 idiot.

[NBachers]

72. I read Hate Mailbag right before I read Ted Cruz- He'd fit right in with Ron & the Hate Mailbaggers

[DallasNE]

73. Sen. Ted Cruz Was Incredibly Disrespectful Of Sen. Feinstein

While also being disrespectful of the Constitution by making wild claims not supported by fact. Cruz has no redeeming value and is a total embarrassment. How did Texas ever elect such a deeply flawed individual to the US Senate.

[SoCalDem]

75. DiFi left out a few words

supercilious little twit
obnoxious ignoramus
infantile attention-grabber

for starters

[Nanjing to Seoul]

76. dimwitted lightweight

dunce cap needing headline junkie

i know Difi has class, but "mother fucking waste of the bad sex used to make his worthless, shitstained ass" would be just as good as all those previously mentioned.

[Le Taz Hot]

78. I just saw this for the first time.

What a disgusting, condescending little puke this guy is. And an ignorant one at that. Feinstien, one of my Senators, is not my favorite by a LONG shot -- BUT not only did she slap him down pretty thoroughly the first time the boy came back for more. Apparently this was the genius among the teaklanners and he's the one they decided to send to the Senate. And aren't we all grateful for that.

[AngryOldDem]

79. Just who died and made Ted Cruz boss?

Sick of his Mr. Know-It-All, Look-How-Clever-I-Am bullshit.

Kudos to Sen. Feinstein for a classy response, and for keeping her composure.

How dare Cruz say that to someone who personally witnessed gun violence and its aftermath. Cruz needs to stop trying to build his reputation on the backs (and tragedies) of others.

[libdude]

86. Sen. Cruz, is anyone home

Sen. Cruz has a look, a somewhat vacant look that say, yes, the lights are on but nobodys home.
In this exchange, Cruz gives the impression that he was asleep during Constitutional law classes. Obviously, no individual rights are absolute. Or, another explanation that he never really got the connection as to the Constitution and being a lawyer.
A final theory, his performances are intentional, meant to disrupt and obstruct the business of the Senate with the ultimate goal of destroying the current system of governance, a Tea Party objective.
What is really a cause for concern is that the people of Texas elected this individual to be their representative in the Senate.

[cprise]

96. Constitution doesn't guarantee 50,000 Watts of free speech

In fact, the FCC regulates that area and most people do not have such access to the airwaves. You are only guaranteed the ability to go out on the street corner and speak from a soapbox.

So for the sake of consistency we should regulate the power of guns, too. In this case, handgun=soapbox.

Allowing automatic weapons removes people's ability to adequately protect life during a surprise attack.

[Cleita]

102. Fine, but whatever capital she gained with me with that exchange,

she lost by apologizing to him later in the day.