An Open Letter that Never Closed

I wonder what these constituents would say if they were provided the truth about the racist origins and continued discriminatory application of the gun control measures you promulgate? Have you told them about the Slave Codes, that would allow a black man to be whipped (or worse) for possession of any kind of weapon? Or the post-Civil War Black Codes, designed to keep the newly emancipated from obtaining the means of defense during the heyday of Klan terror?

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column focuses on respectful race relations.

A Compelling Argument

Note, I say "compelled service," not "military draft." Some people object to militarism, but drop all objections to mandated service if the compelled labor is put to use in a soup kitchen or a clinic.

To me, though, the primary evil is not militarism, it's compulsion. It's to treat an individual not as a free person who owns his or her own life, but as the property of the state to be drawn upon as a resource at the whim of bureaucrats and politicians.

A-yup.

The Myth That McCain Wasn’t Conservative Enough

Republicans need to appeal to the center and find common cause with independents in order to win.

Spoken like a true Giuliani speechwriter.

He doesn't write like he's retarded, so the only explanation I have for this is the guy is an intentional subversive.

Here's How It's Going to Work...

Obama transition team announces new lobbyist rules...

What?

Standing Strong

This country is becoming so divided in basic values and polarized in philosophy that I can see no clear path to a reconciliation of these two opposing camps.

Continued coexistence would require not compromise but submission because this confrontation involves diametrically opposed principles… and I don’t cotton to compromising principles. As I’ve said, compromise of principle is no compromise—its surrender and traditionalists are unwilling to surrender their principles.

I know. So do a few others. Possibly 3%...

[Via fixenplanes]

Early Exposure

An Illinois Voter suggests to me principles of early exposure being beneficial might apply to more than just nuts...

Not that you'd ever convince most pediatricians of that...

Cities Under Fire!!!!!

30,000 Americans die every year from gun violence. How do we prevent this carnage? First, view illegal guns as pollution. Then, go to the source. [More]

IT BUR-R-R-RNS!!!

And some think we use hyperbole.

I guess the "public health model" didn't get enough traction, so now we're trying the environmentalism analogy tack? And, of course, there's absolutely no acknowledgment of the protective benefits of guns in private hands. Nobody thought these folks were interested in objective scientific inquiry, I hope.

One name sticks out from this as, I dunno, ironic...Daniel Webster would do well to recall the words of a man who bore that name with honor.

Hey, if guns are pollutants, will rich liberals who still have theirs get to ease their consciences by paying some sort of offset indulgence...?

[Via Russell S]

The Whistle and Cell Phone Didn’t Work…

For several reasons I am particularly sensitive to restaurant shootings, the herd-them-in-the-back type…

Me too. Many of us worked fast food when we were younger (I did), and/or have children at the age where it's an option for them. And some of us may be backed up enough by economic conditions where it's not even an option, it's a necessity.

I don't know this company's employee policy, either. All I can say is, if things ever get monstrously dangerous, no one from corporate HR is going to come down and save anyone.

[Via Firedbrass]

We're the Only...Oh Dear...That's a Bit of a Sticky Wicket, What, Old Boy?

One of Tony Blair's bodyguards accidentally fired his handgun at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport...

Because when it comes to providing armed, taxcow-funded protection for internationally-influential gun banners, only the most competent "Only Ones" will do...

Pip-pip. Jolly good.

[Via David H]

The Great Dictator

A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship.

Some counsel us that this is hyperbole, and such rhetoric is not helpful. It makes "us" look wacko.

I disagree. The way to make it more difficult for unmasked tyranny to become pervasive is to sound warnings when it's approaching the perimeter. All the structures are already in place. All that's needed is an event of sufficient magnitude.

Dismiss this as tinfoil hat black helicopters all you want. Point and laugh. Hell, invoke Godwin's Law if you like--even though national socialism is staring us all in the face.

Something I wrote a while back about the "insurrectionary theory" of the Second Amendment comes to mind:

And to those who feel this is too dangerous, that it is uncalled for, that it is unneeded because we have the vote, or the right to speak, that we have evolved beyond such crude reminders of our barbaric past, I must ask where in history is any civilization guaranteed stasis? Has not despotism and mass destruction plagued every civilization that preceded ours? Is it not, in fact, still commonplace throughout the globe? By what suspension of reality, by what denial of the observable and the probable, by what art, device or magic are we sheltered few immune from catastrophe? Are we certain, from our brief and privileged vantage point, that such things will ever remain headline curiosities? Is it not just plain stupid to proclaim that our familiar way of life will forever be the norm, when everything that has gone before us shows we are, instead, the extremely lucky beneficiaries of a rare and fortunate convergence of circumstances; and one, by the way, that has only been preserved under force of arms?

But what do I know, paranoid absolutist "principles freak" that I am...?

[Via David H and Tommy S]

We're the Only Ones Intoxicating Enough

The sheriff of Los Angeles County plans to prohibit his off-duty deputies from carrying their guns while drinking because several have been accused in recent years of firing weapons while intoxicated...

The deputies' union opposes the restriction. Union leader Steve Remige says it would let criminals know that deputies who had put them away would at times be unarmed.

But it's OK if the criminals know you're incapacitated because you're stinking drunk, right Steve-O? Or if LA's finest put the rest of our lives at risk?

Telling me, a responsible, peaceable sovereign citizen, that drunken "Only Ones" are more qualified and trustworthy to be armed than I am, is a stupid, indefensible, offensive lie. That makes anyone who would do so corrupt and despicable.

You and your public employee union thugs have a choice in the matter--to go out drinking, to go out drinking where gangsters frequent...or to be armed. You and your public employee union thugs would presume to take the latter choice from the rest of us.

If we let you.

Incidentally, I'm told that "sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore" is actor James Whitmore's son. What a disappointment that guy turned out to be.

[Via Mike H and Mark of a Freeman]

Tolerance...

...is a two-way street.

I wonder why stunts like this are never tried in fundamentalist mosques?

[Via ebd10]

"From a Technological Perspective...

...it is the beginning...

Count on it.

[Via cycjec]

Dead Letters

When the Supreme Court switched to discretionary certiorari in 1925 (thus allowing the court to pick and choose its own docket), the Court paved the way for a highly selective treatment of the Constitution. While some constitutional provisions (e.g., the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment) are routinely accorded Supreme Court consideration, many others are almost completely ignored.

It can hardly be a coincidence that all of the dead letters happen to place limitations on the scope and power of government. In contrast, the few provisions of the Constitution granting powers to government have been interpreted expansively.

If I were cynical by nature, I'd start to wonder if maybe the whole damn game was rigged...

[Via Ron W]

About that Obama Birth Certificate

A few of you have been sending in tips on this developing story and I haven't picked up on it so far. Part of that is because it's almost impossible to divine what's going on--even from "our" side, as I've even read opinions that the reason Obama hasn't ordered the release of his birth certificate is because there's nothing to the story, his people may have even planted it, and he's exploiting the outrage to ultimately discredit his opponents. The word "Gramscian" was used.

I don't have the resources or the time to give this the attention needed. I'll just spread myself too thin. Thing is, there are people devoting themselves to this, supporting and following the Berg lawsuit, reporting on it, trying mightily to get it on the public radar and resolved before inauguration.

I contacted some of these people and sent them the following:

Good for you on pursuing the Obama birth certificate matter through the courts.

I do have a suggestion, possibly a shortcut that could save you time, money and effort.

If the Hawaiian state government cannot, by law, release a copy of his birth certificate to anyone but Obama or a relative, why not retain a relative to request it? Having a common ancestor qualifies, right? Last I heard, he has an illegal alien aunt living on welfare, a brother living in a shack, and a whole bunch of relatives living in Kenya who could live like kings for a couple thousand bucks.

Any chair in a bar fight.

No one saw fit to reply and I find that curious. I guess they're vested in what they're doing. But unless I'm missing something, it does seem like an expedient way to get to the bottom of things.

Anyway, barring some newsworthy development, I'm going to resume being a silent observer on this.

This Day in History: November 12

I could not join to day in the petitions of our worthy parson, for a reconciliation betwen our, no longer parent State, but tyrant State, and these Colonies. -- Let us seperate, they are unworthy to be our Breathren. Let us renounce them and instead of suplications as formorly for their prosperity and happiness, Let us beseach the almighty to blast their counsels and bring to Nought all their devices.