By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
It seems that Washington Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib is so frightened of the notion of citizens having lawfully carried concealed pistols, that he is unable to fulfill his duty as a result.
The Lieutenant Governor ducked out of the annual State of the State address given by Washington Governor Inslee because he felt vulnerable. The House Chamber has galleries open to the public and both state law and House rules allow those having concealed pistol licenses to attend the event. Despite the fact that the governor, representatives, senators, and the nine supreme court justices did not express feeling any danger, and there was no credible threats made against the lieutenant governor, he announced he would not participate unless his fears were allayed by policy change.
Since just about every area in Washington allows permitted concealed carry and open carry of firearms, save for a few narrowly defined exceptions, how is it that Lt. Governor Habib can summon the courage to leave home?
A requirement of being an adult in this world is being able to walk away from the safety of their mother’s apron or their security blanket. A requirement of being a man is to perform your duty or job without complaining or expecting others to bow to your insecurities or laziness.
I believe Lt. Governor Habib announced to all that he is simply unfit to hold office, by reason of cowardice alone.
According to the Herald.net website:
“Habib’s office issued a formal statement less than two hours before the event which read: “Safety protocol could not be agreed upon between the House and Senate for the State of State ceremony. Given that the ceremony takes place in the House chamber, deference goes to House leadership to follow their protocol.
Habib’s staff notified House Democratic leaders and the chief clerk of the House early Monday that the lieutenant governor would not attend unless steps were taken to prevent anyone from bringing a concealed weapon into either gallery.
Initially, the lieutenant governor’s staff asked if both galleries could be closed. When that was rejected, they sought unsuccessfully to have some type of metal detection equipment deployed outside the entry doors.
The chief clerk’s office did increase security though it was clear no specific threat existed.
A statement issued Tuesday afternoon from the chief clerk’s office expressed regret at Habib’s decision not to preside. It noted that state clearly allows properly licensed individuals to carry concealed weapons on the state capitol campus, including the House galleries.
Absent any specific security issue, and in accordance with the law, the House kept the galleries open so that the public could see its government in action,” the statement read. “Safety is always a concern, but so is the transparency of the Legislature’s work on behalf of the people.”
I find it typical of many politicians in that they possess such indignity to the ordinary person that such “rabble” must be kept away from their elitist circles. The Lt. Governor would rather close off access to the general public than admit to himself that he is simply too afraid to be among ordinary citizens since it is a reality that a few people lawfully carry pistols. A person lawfully carrying a pistol, pocket knife, book, ballot, cell phone, cross, wedding ring, or other item, or idea protected by civil rights laws and constitutional amendments is not a real threat to anyone.
Does the Lt. Governor expect that a thousand yard zone of exclusion from firearms possession follow him because there might be someone possessing a hunting rifle in their pickup truck or home and he feels unsafe?
Ordinary people are no threat to you Mr. Habib. But if you continue to use fear as the driving force in your life many will rightfully consider you the Coward of Thurston County.
By Darren Smith
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Off topic. The Siberian Times reports on
The tiger who came in from the cold.
Seems the tiger had a toothache and understood well enough that humans could fix it. Back out catting around now.
By the way, Siberian tigers are protected from gun nutz.
Gun Retard!
Patrick Henry: Get the Hell Out morons! Please go, there’s plenty of sh*tholes in the world you can go to where the citizens have no 2nd Amd Big R rights to protect themselves.
Way back when there was a phrase: Mister Howard is a coward. Well, Mister Habib is a Shabib. A Shabib is a porn artist in Pakistan.
Concealed carry permit owners are some of the most law abiding citizens in our country. In addition to firearms, many law abiding people carry knives. I rarely go anywhere without my barn knife, which is the largest blade legally permitted to carry concealed. It is a tool that I frequently use, especially around the barn. I am no threat to anyone.
Mr Habib sounds like a typical elitist who lives behind walls, but won’t build one to keep those safe who cannot afford gated communities or expensive paid security. If Mr Habib is so afraid of the peasants he frowns upon in Washington state, than perhaps he should move somewhere that he would find the populace less threatening. You’d think he was treading a line between the Bloods and the Crips, wearing blue and red plaid.
Karen, if you’re so contemptuous of ‘elites’, why do you vote for politicians hell-bent on giving tax breaks to the wealthy??
Because she’s not a financial illiterate. Any downward adjustment in marginal tax rates will benefit the affluent disproportionately. They pay most of the income taxes.
PH – let me further explain my position.
First, not all the wealthy are elitists who look down upon the masses or desire to rule them. I have relatives and friends all along the socioeconomic spectrum. The well off ones would give the shirt off their backs to someone in need, and have often helped out friends, family, strangers, employees…
The elites are a contemptuous subset of the well off, to which coastal SJW elites belong.
I also believe that politicians represent the best interests of everyone, rich, middle class, poor, citizen, and legal resident. It is unethical to continuously tax the wealthy without relief, or to promote anti-success rhetoric. It makes a certain class of person an enemy of the state. It is also very concerning that any tax relief afforded to the rich, who pay the freight on our economy, is considered immoral. That leads to usurpation and the collapse of economies. The poor don’t hire anyone, but successful business men and women do. The rich and middle class build our roads and bridges and fund our governments. It is in our best interests to ensure our golden geese producers in the middle and upper classes have an environment to thrive. Our fates are connected, rich and poor. I also do not believe that the rich are wealthy because they stole something from the poor. Most wealthy are self-made, which means they worked hard, risked everything, paid wages, and became successful. My own husband nearly lost everything getting his business off the ground. He paid his staff before himself, and often went without in the early years. He should be treated as no one’s enemy, but the political climate in CA is hostile to business owners, unless they have paid to play.
CA’s economy hangs by a thread held tenuously between Silicon Valley and Hollywood. The studios already outsourced much of their post production work to India, and filming to less expensive places such as Georgia and New Zealand. Even London offered tax advantages. Less and less remains here, and what is left is only clinging to the historical cache of CA as a studio state, combined with desperate tax breaks offered by cash strapped cities. Silicon Valley is another dot com bust away from collapsing. Many businesses relocate, having voted for an economy that is too expensive for them to operate in. So they relocate, and busilly begin voting for the same self destructive policies again. Such policies drive away relocatable businesses, and are responsible for CA topping the list of the worst states to do business in year after year.
Such a scenario would play out on a national scale, too. Make it too expensive to do business by taxing the owners, investment, increasing the cost of labor, increasing property taxes, or other wise squeezing, and businesses either fold, move, or scale down. Actions have consequences.
Back to the topic at hand, Mr Habib does not seem to be very comfortable being in the company of the people he ran to represent. The reality of WA is that it has concealed carry permit holders, who are on the street every day. If Mr. Habib is fearful to be around CC holders, then he can neither walk the streets of WA, nor properly represent them.
Mr Habib failed to realize the point I brought up above. A politician represents all of the people in his district, those who voted for him, and those who didn’t. Those whom he agrees with, and those he doesn’t. When he took office, he was supposed to represent the best interests of everyone, including gun owners and CC permit holders. He should not have applied to a job he was not willing to do. Extreme discomfort around gun owners means he should not have applied to represent a state with any significant gun ownership.
This scenario reminds me of the typical progression of horse property. Urban people move to the outskirts to get more land than they can afford closer to the city. They move into areas with horses, chickens, and donkeys, pleased with the houses they can purchase. Then, they immediately begin to complain to the city about the horses, chickens, and donkeys until their neighbors are driven out by fines and complaints. They move into the country, and then take the country out of it. In this case, Mr. Habib rose to power in a state with certain gun laws, and then promptly started agitating to change the laws to suit his own interests. But here’s the thing in the United States – we have 50 states plus Puerto Rico. If you don’t find the longstanding local ways suit you, then you should move to a different area that does. Politicians are much more mobile than business owners, and should make use of that mobility.
Karen S. Thanks for highlighting the obvious. Seems that at least 1 of those who benefited from the tax cut has cut to the front of the line to criticize the tax cut. Boy, some people are DUMB beyond any imagination.
How did this clown get in here?
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The Naturalization Acts of 1790, 1795 and 1802, adopted immediately after the Constitution and thrice iterated, constituting the original intent of the American Founders:
“United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” March 26, 1790”
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof…”
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America needs a new Revolution to regress to the status of perfection obtained by the original American Revolution. That’s it: The New American Regressive Party. Regressing to the perfection of the Constitution, not progressing as Progressives to absolute communism.
The man is blind. Surely we can give him some consideration.
I recommend an emotional support chihuahua.
If Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran issues a Fatwa on Lt. Gov Habib then security concerns are an issue.