While we are looking the other way

Well, it’s been great watching the Democrats on CSPAN and the rush onto the campaign trail. All of us Democrats have been watching and cheering!
Meanwhile, the Associated Press report printed in our local paper (Bristol Herald Courier) says that on Friday July 30, George Bush announced his intentions to make 20 appointments during the congressional recess. He has had these emergencies before while the Congress is in recess. I don’t know what the emergency is this time, or why he can’t wait until Congress comes back. I could speculate that he does these recess appointments because he is appointing people that even his own Republican legislators would not approve. Or maybe there is a real emergency. Who would know?
Also in this busy time when we are all catching up on issues we should have been paying attention to for the past ten years, the ban on the sale of assault weapons is about to expire. When Congress comes back, we will have 8 working days until it expires, at midnight on September 13. Maybe since Congress won’t have all those appointments to consider, we can get a bead on this assault weapon thing.
Now if I understand the news release from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, on September 14 that deer hunter who wants an assault rifle because he can’t learn to sight a hunting rifle can buy himself a new gun that can get the deer and clear away the underbrush. And 24 hours after the purchase, we won’t know much about the person who bought the gun because of the new “24-hour rule” protecting the privacy of gun owners. The 24-hour rule (supported by Bush and Ashcroft) was a rider to the FY 2004 Justice Department appropriations bill. It requires that the background check records of gun purchasers be destroyed within 24 hours of the purchase.