Pardon me as I allow this blog to delve into the realm of its former existence as a haven of political ramblings. This isn't so much political as philisophical.

But "The Scandal of the Century of the Weekend" is Mark Foley. Let's look at what we know. Mark Foley is a prat, first off, we'll all readily admit it. He was commonly known to be gay, and he sent lurid emails and IMs to a 16 or 17 year old male teen page working at the House. Oust him? Sure! I'm all for that.

But what irks me is the predictable reaction to this...that Republicans and conservatives are all hypocrites and, well, evil child molesters. That conservative moral standards are somehow bad because someone who advocated them turned out to fail them miserably. Sooo...painting with a broad brush, conservatives say that there is right and wrong. Some of there members crash and burn and fail to live up to those standards, and liberals scream hypocrisy. Liberals don't really have to worry about hypocrisy because they hardly ever take a moral stand on anything. I am not communicating this well...it makes more sense in my head. But it is like one side saying "sin is wrong" and the other side saying, "there is no sin". The first side sins, and then the other side attacks them as hypocrites for sinning when they said sin is wrong. Well, newsflash, all men are by nature sinners. The fact that people are imperfect does not excuse the faults in our lives. The right thing for Republicans to do is to live up to the standards and punish Foley according to the law. If it was a Democrat, he would be celebrated and feted for his heroic stand for ephebophilic Americans. Don't believe me?

Gerry Studds was a Democrat congressman who was in an actual, physical relationship (not just instant messages) with an underage 17 year old male page. He was lightly censured by Congress when it broke in 1983, but he went on to be elected FIVE MORE TIMES to Congress. Tell me. How is this ANY different. The only difference is that one is a Republican, one is a Democrat, and Democrats feel that they don't have any standards to abide by sexually...pretty much in their book anything goes and its all "private matters". But when a Republican does it, shrieks of hypocrisy break the clouds from the Left. When will they understand...conservatives are not advocating moral standards to be forced upon all the other imperfect underlings...they advocate those moral standards because we are all imperfect, we are all prone to sin. If a Republican is caught speeding in his car it does not mean that the party's support for speed limits is not genuine. There will always be corruption, scandal, and immorality in Congress. The answer is not to claim it doesn't exist or to interpret its existence as support for removing moral standards, but to root it out whereever it does exist.

Ehhh, running out of concern here. Pardon me, this was probably one of the most poorly written blog entries I've done in a while. It makes me feel like a writer for Newsweek (har, har).

On to more pressing matters! The flat-stack 9mm I've had on order is shipping, though I'm far down the list. However, a guy on the Kel-Tec Owners Group forum managed to snag one Sunday...looks beautiful! He even managed to get it to the range, fed it 50 rounds with no malfunctions. He said the trigger was a little stiff, so we'll see on that. I'm trying to decide what a good ammunition selection would be...I've got it nailed down to Remington Golden Saber or Federal Expanding FMJ (EFMJ), both in +P. I think Golden Saber may be the first choice, but if I have any feeding issues, the Federal EFMJ will be next in line as its round nose will feed quite reliably. I'd love for a .357 SIG version of the PF-9, but due to the increased recoil that is unlikely. For the uninitiated, .357 SIG is a newer caliber that takes a 9mm bullet with an (approximately) 10mm necked-down casing, resulting in what is essentially a 9mm +P+P+P cartridge...huge muzzle velocity and energy because you're using the power of a 40cal cartridge to push a smaller 9mm bullet. There have been very good field reports from police departments around the country regarding the cartridge...including reports of higher-than-average one shot stops, and non-fatal shots that still stop an assailant.

Also, there is a company developing an electric less-lethal round that is very interesting...it generates electricity as it is fired and delivers a strong electric shot upon making impact. Note it is not "non-lethal" in that it could still be lethal, but the diminished need for multiple shots to stop makes it more likely that you could stop an attacker without necessarily killing him. Which we can all agree is a good thing!

For next time...no politics and no gun talk. I promise. How about a Bit of Fry and Laurie? Coming soon!