Watercooler 9/21 Open Thread: Party Platforms, Price Gouging on EpiPens, A Look Into the Past

#NeverTrumpNeverHillary #NotInMYNameWelcome back to another installment of the Watercooler, RedState’s daily Open Thread! Today, we’ve got…

 

Brainstorming a New Conservative Platform

A few days ago, when another member made a comment about discussing a new Party Platform for Life After GOP, I told him I’d invite a discussion here about it. Question for discussion: If you could contribute two Platform Planks and one Party Bylaw to building a new conservative party, what would they be? Here’s mine:

• Platform Plank: An up-or-down vote on all not-yet-passed “Liberty Amendments” within the first hundred days of each Congress until we get them all passed.
• Platform Plank: Except for violent criminals or the mentally incompetent, the Second Amendment protects an absolute individual right. The Party shall work toward rationalizing and reducing the cumbersome array of “gun control” laws on the books that only harass law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to combat the criminal scourge.
• Party Bylaw: The National and State parties shall be STRICTLY neutral in all primaries, expending campaign funds ONLY in General Elections and *only* for direct campaign uses. Any Party official found to have violated this provision in favor of one candidate or another shall be summarily removed from their post and expelled from the Party.

 

EpiPen Price Spike: There’s Even More “Something Rotten In Denmark”

Seems Mylan CEO Heather Bresch doesn’t just get her corruption on dad Joe Manchin’s side, but on mom Gayle’s too:

In 2009, the lifesaving devices cost about $100 for a two-pack, a price which rose to $600 by the spring of 2016. Now, we may know just whythe price rose so dramatically: the mother of the CEO of Mylan, the company that produces the devices, is the head of the National Association of State Boards of Education, the group that made an “unprecedented” push to mandate that schools purchase the pens.

 

Quick Hits

• Over its 300 years, the inn that once inspired Longfellow has had a lot of stuff lost to souvenir hunters including the 1770s owner’s copy of the Declaration of Independence. They want it back… and are prepared to reward honesty with amnesty for the takings.
• ANOTHER “Smell From Hell” flower species? Yup, at Dartmouth. And like its NYC counterpart over the summer, it’s getting ready to pop.
• The Empire Strikes Back… against roadside garbage?

 

This Week In History

• Sunday, Sep 18: Washington lays Capitol cornerstone, 1793; Fugitive Slave Act, 1850; Panic of 1873; USAF, NSC and CIA established, 1947
• Monday, Sep 19: First federal budget, 1778; Garfield dies and Arthur becomes President, 1881; first underground nuke test, 1957
• Tuesday, Sep 20: Battle of Chickamauga ends, 1863; Duryea tests first American gas-powered car, 1893; War on Terror declared, 2001
• Wednesday, Sep 21: British burn New York, 1776; The Hobbit published, 1937; No Kum-Sok defects with North Korean MiG-15, 1953*
• Thursday, Sep 22: Nathan Hale hanged, 1776; Postmaster General’s office established, 1789; National Geographic first published, 1888
• Friday, Sep 23: John Paul Jones wins Battle of Flamborough Head, 1779; Lewis & Clark return to St. Louis, 1806; first “official” US airmail delivery, 1911
• Saturday, Sep 24: “Black Friday” gold-price crash, 1869; Devil’s Tower proclaimed first National Monument, 1906; Compuserve debuts public internet and email, 1979

*Trivial aside: If you want to see this aircraft, it’s now preserved in Dayton at the National Museum of the USAF.

Today’s Birthdays: Authors H.G. Wells, 1866 and Stephen King, 1947; WWI ace Max Immelmann, 1890; Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones, 1912; actors Larry Hagman, 1931 and Bill Murray, 1950; Mark Levin, 1957

First flights today (I’m breaking this off separate with so many): B-29 Superfortress long-range bomber, 1942; CH-47 Chinook medium-lift helicopter, 1961; XB-70 supersonic bomber, 1964

Holidays Around the World: Not much here in the States, but it’s Independence Day in Armenia, Belize and Malta. Russians celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo, turning back the Mongol “Golden Horde.” It’s also Customs Service Day in Poland and National Volunteer Day in Ghana.

This Week In History is compiled with assistance from History.com and Wikipedia. Something interesting not listed here? Please share in the Comments section–this is an Audience Participation Encouraged featurette.

Gratuitous Gun Giveaways

• *American Handgunner magazine, for a Sig-Sauer P320RX pistol or SIG716 DMR  G2 precision rifle package, a Heritage Rough Rider revolver or HK VP40 pistol: http://americanhandgunner.com/giveaway/
• *Guns Magazine, for a Ruger Hawkeye FTW bolt-action rifle and scope package, a Rock Island Armory .22TCM 1911 pistol package or EAA polymer 1911 .45 package: http://gunsmagazine.com/giveaway/
• Davidson’s Gallery of Guns, for a Weatherby Element Deluxe 12-gauge shotgun or Vanguard bolt-action rifle: https://ggg.galleryofguns.com/
• Aero Precision, for a custom AR15: http://gvwy.io/e9hi1al
• GrabAGun, for an HK VP9 pistol: http://grabagun.com/giveaway

*Note: FMG Publishing giveaways require you to provide an FFL dealer’s info at entry.

 

Speaking of Guns…

Well, the parts for my first AR are slowly coming together–my lower now has everything except the stock and castle-nut for parts, and I still have to buy tools. Where I could use some help is assessing my selection of parts and tools, and ideas for stretching the budget… Tools: DSArms AR castle-nut wrench $7, Wheeler roll-pin punch set $22, Wheeler pivot-pin tool $10. (There any other tools I need?) Components: DSA castle nut $6, DSA charging handle $15, DSA telestock $25, AIM nickel-boron bolt-carrier group $100 shipped, upper assembly with 16″ barrel and 15″ Keymod (KM = “the Ikea Furniture of gun assembly”) handguard $306 shipped including cheap UTG Pro “starter” holosight. Known required but not yet determined: Backup Iron Sight set–I actually need the irons sooner because I want to learn to handle a rifle *without* fancy hi-tech optics just in case a battery dies on me. Future improvements: Wheeler AR Armorer’s Ultra Toolkit $210 shipped (MSRP is $320), Caldwell brass-catcher $9, Bushnell TRS25 holosight $57 and riser (not yet selected), FAB Defense stock with built-in mag carrier $82. (FAB is an Israeli shop that builds some interesting tactical toys; I like this stock because it comes with a concealed 10-round magazine for an “ace up your sleeve.”)

 

Quote of the Day

I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them.–Jane Austen

 

As always, the Watercooler is an Open Thread. Hope you’ve found something to stimulate the taste buds of your mind, and now I invite you to deposit your own tasty morsels on the snack table in our little break-room…

 

#NoQuarter #TheParty’sOver