Tea With The Mad Hatter

The National Rifle Association’s president David Keene ended Friday’s news conference—the gun lobby’s first public comments since the massacre in Newtown, Conn.—with these words: "This is the beginning of a serious conversation.

After the failed effort to get the fiscal cliff “Plan B” passed this week, some powerful conservatives on Capitol Hill are reportedly pushing for Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan to replace embattled House Speaker John Boehner.

On Friday night’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” fill-in host Laura Ingraham said her sources indicate a coup may already be underway in Congress.

“I had a well-placed conservative voice today on the Hill email me and said he’s beginning to hear rumblings — I already gave something away, ‘he’ — he’s beginning to hear of a move to replace the speaker of the House,” Ingraham said. “We’re in the middle of this tussle with the Democrats, more than a tussle, and is that the right time to put that out there? And people are floating the name of Paul Ryan to be House speaker. But Ryan did support … Plan B.”

by PATRICIA ZENGERLE & DAN BURNS & EDITH HONAN (Reuters)

The powerful U.S. gun rights lobby went on the offensive on Friday arguing that schools should have armed guards, on a day that Americans remembered the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre with a moment of silence.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association, noting that banks and airports are patrolled by armed guards, while schools typically are not.

His remarks - in which he charged that the news media and violent video games shared blame for the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history - were twice interrupted by protesters who unfurled signs and shouted "stop the killing."...

A poll shows outgoing GOP Sen. Scott Brown leading potential Democratic opponents for Sen. John Kerry's seat, if the latter becomes secretary of State. Ben Affleck hasn't flatly denied a possible run.

Rove doesn’t believe it. Kelly walks it off. O’Reilly plays the race card. Watch Fox News’s funeral for the presidency.

by TIM MURPHY (Mother Jones)

WITH HIS LOAFERS, KHAKIS, and polo shirt, James Talmage Stevens isn't exactly dressed for the end of the world. When I run into the 73-year-old Texan 10 days before the November election, America's most celebrated self-reliance guru seems better suited for an early bird special than a black swan event. The only hint of his notoriety is a patch over his left breast depicting his professional alter ego—"Doctor Prepper."

Stevens' book, Making the Best of Basics, may be the closest thing the survival industry has to a bible (aside from the actual Bible). It has sold more than 800,000 copies since hitting the shelves at Kmart during the gas crisis in 1974. Stevens is not actually a doctor, and, come to think of it, he'd rather you not call him a "prepper," which he considers a slur meant to impugn self-reliant folks like himself as paranoid loons. But it's become part of the lexicon, and Stevens is somewhat paranoid about where the United States is headed (he foresees a borderline tyrannical second Obama term that begins with massive gun confiscation and ends who-knows-where), so he's rolling with it. As he puts it, "I don't really like cuss words, but I know how to use them and I know what they mean." Besides, it's good for business....

Bikers descended on the town of Newtown yesterday and linked arms blocking the hate group protesters of Westboro Baptist Church from disrupting the funerals. (Free Republic)

Conservative bikers turned out yesterday to protect Newtown mourners from Democrat Fred Phelps and his Westboro cult from protesting.
The Cochrane Times reported:

Bikers seem to have thwarted attempts by the Westboro Baptist Church to protest the funeral of Newtown, Conn., shooting victim Principal Dawn Hochsprung.

The vocal right-wing Christian group, whose website is godhatesfags.com, produced a video called “God Sent the Shooter,” and has blamed the massacre on gay marriage. It put Hochsprung’s funeral on its online “picket schedule.”

But there was no sign of the church group, as local newspaper the Newtown Patch live-blogged throughout the day with updates, and reported that people had arrived from as far away as Massachusetts to protect the mourners — just in case.

Bikers from New York formed a formidable-looking wall of motorcyles.

Late in the day the Patch wrote: “Applause erupted in the crowd … as it was announced that members of the Westboro Baptist Church were not coming to protest at the wake.”

(GP Correction: Fred Phelps is not a “rightwinger”, he’s a Democrat. And the Westboro Church is not a Christian group – It is a sick cult.)

It is well known that Fred Phelps has run for office as a Democrat several times.

Shame on the Cochrane Times for labeling him rightwing!

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is optimistic about Republican chances to rebound after last week's electoral losses, but says the party will need to undergo an introspective proctology exam before moving forward.

In the six weeks since the election, Congress has been wrapped up with the issue of whether and how to resolve the series of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes known as the fiscal cliff.