Something You Might Like: January 2013

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Second Amendment Is Under Attack

sodahead.com

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” – Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

“I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”-- George Mason, Speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788 [Quoted by The Patriot Post]

* * * *

President Obama, accompanied by cute children who were no doubt sincere in wanting something done about “guns” since they were horrified by the Newtown shootings, presented his proposals for new gun restrictions. How can anyone’s heart not go out to those helpless little ones after a deranged lunatic opened fire on their classmates and teachers? The Obama Administration, never wanting to let a good crisis go to waste, created a crisis out of the Newtown shootings in order to have an excuse for further restrictions on guns.

And all the gun restrictions Obama wants to impose would accomplish exactly nothing toward fixing the problem he claims to be addressing. But they would be a start toward disarming the law-abiding citizens. And they would create many more problems while solving none. What would be some possible unintended consequences of further gun restrictions?

1. A thriving gun market today will still thrive for “permitted” guns and ammo, and a black market will thrive for “forbidden” guns and ammo.

2. Gun owners’ slogan about “cold dead hands” may be tested.

3. Gun enthusiasts and gun owners in general will sternly resist new restrictions.

4. Thinking people rightly resent the knee-jerk response to the Newtown shootings and the left’s attempt at emotional manipulation for more gun laws. This is like unscrupulous undertakers exploiting families’ grief to get them to buy more expensive coffins and funerals. Obama is trying to exploit grief over shootings get Americans to give up essential liberty.

5. If government orders are issued for more gun restrictions, there will be more talk and action concerning militias, nullification, secession, possible armed resistance, etc.

6. As the initial shock subsides, most people will not be in favor of more gun control, and it will be a political liability to press for it. The Tea Party will find a strong issue to go after liberals on.

7. More people will, rightly, resent the imperial presidency of Barack Obama, his extreme partisanship, and his drive to destroy his opposition.

8. House members may file articles of impeachment against the president for overstepping his authority.

But our imperial president, having been re-elected and facing no more elections (unless he somehow gets the 22^nd Amendment repealed) waxes ever more bold and radical. Obviously he knows what the Second Amendment is for and he doesn’t like it. The NRA is precisely correct saying he is attacking the Second Amendment. Mark Levin discussed his view on the imperial presidency of Obama with Megyn Kelly:

As usual, Levin is on target. What Obama is doing is not reassuring, but frightening.

A National Rifle Association ad called the president out for sending his daughters to a private school with armed guards, yet expressing doubt about the value of armed security in all schools, rightly calling the president an “elitist hypocrite.” The White House response was that using the president’s children for a “political” purpose was “cowardly and repugnant.” What the NRA did was not wrong. The president, of course, doesn’t mind using children as props in his press conference, for a political purpose, where he arrogantly waited to sign a score of executive orders, to show his power. Congress should act to stop him on this and many other executive orders. The president never engages in debate or negotiations, only in impugning the motives of his critics and trying to demonize and silence them. “My way or the highway” has been his approach in just about everything.

For all Piers Morgan’s claims about how banning guns in England has resulted in lower gun crime, the fact is that gun crime increased after the ban went into effect in 1996, and gun crime remains a serious problem.

Criminals who can’t get their hands on guns are using knives, to the point that authorities want to ban kitchen knives as too dangerous. In Switzerland, where almost all citizens are armed, gun crime is quite rare. In these and other cases, more guns in the hands of citizens results in less crime. Burglars and other intruders have something to think about if the residents of the home they want to enter might be armed for protection.

In America, the cities with the strictest gun laws have the most gun crime (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.) Criminals know that residents are unlikely to have guns to protect themselves and are thus emboldened.

The New York newspaper that published the names of gun owners in a certain county did the county a grave disservice. People who were not listed would be well advised to obtain guns to protect themselves from criminals who want to take advantage of the information that was published.

If anyone wants to own a gun, perhaps they should buy now before severe restrictions can go into effect. Rush Limbaugh correctly said, “People are reacting quite rationally here to what they're hearing and seeing in the media when they're going out and joining the NRA and buying guns. They know what they're up against. They've heard Democrats all their lives. They know what they really want. Their problem is the existence of guns.”

But the question larger than the fact that gun restrictions won’t help is the issue of the Second Amendment.

The Founding Fathers generally believed that all citizens had a duty to be armed, and that this would be a safeguard against tyranny. That, of course, is still true, and we are getting closer to tyranny (already in it to too great an extent). This is a blatant attack on the Second Amendment. Keep in mind that Obama and his ilk have no use for the Constitution, especially the Second Amendment. However, it is the Second Amendment that helps guarantee all the Bill of Rights.

Obama has shown himself in numerous ways to be an enemy of the Constitution he swore to uphold, and therefore, no friend of the American people. His propaganda event of today clearly demonstrates his deep cynicism and his disrespect for all Americans who believe the Second Amendment means what it says.

Dr. Walter Williams, economist and author, discusses the meaning of the Second Amendment with Ginni Thomas of The Daily Caller.

Regarding guns and many other issues, it is truly We the People against the government.

The Patriot Post editor Mark Alexander wrote,

…. I hereby make this public declaration: In keeping with the oath I have taken in the service of my country, I will "support and defend" Liberty as "endowed by our Creator" and enshrined in our Constitution, "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Accordingly, I will NOT comply with any defensive weapons ban instituted by executive order, legislative action or judicial diktat, which violates the innate human right to defend self and Liberty, as empowered by "the right of the People to keep and bear arms."….

Dean Garrison at Liberty Crier writes,

…. For those who try to debate the spirit of the 2nd amendment, they are truly no different from people who will try to take Biblical quotes out of context to try to support their immoral decisions. The founders were very clear on the intent of the 2nd amendment. Let me share a few quick quotes here:
The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. -Thomas Jefferson

Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence … From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable . . . the very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that is good. -George Washington

The Constitution shall never be construed….to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms. -Samuel Adams
I could find hundreds of quotes like these. This country was built on the right to bear arms. …. [Emphasis his]

Garrison goes on to argue that citizens have a responsibility to defend their liberty against the government’s attacks. Hence the article title, “If They Come for Your Guns, Do You Have a Responsibility to Fight?” His answer is “Yes.” I hope and expect that it won’t come to that, but tyranny must be resisted. The Supreme Court has already ruled that Americas have an individual right to keep and bear arms. Congress not only should not pass any new gun restrictions, but should also act to nullify Obama’s executive orders concerning gun regulations.

More than most people realize, this issue is a defining one for America. Will we retain our freedom or hand it over to the statists? We may know the answer soon.

Further reading:

IBD Editorials, "Gun-Control Zealots Target Law-Abiding Citizens," 01/09/2013.
IBD Editorials, Bill Wilson, "Left's Desire To Weaken Constitution Endangers American Freedom," 01/09/2013

Monday, January 7, 2013

The “Raw Deal” for America Is Barack Obama

President Obama and his cabinet

Some have called the fiscal cliff legislation a “raw deal,” which it is, but it’s not so bad compared to other political things we’ve been subjected to under the reign of Barack Obama.

How many more outright, deliberate lies will we get from President Barack Obama over the next four years? While George W. Bush’s debt increased a lot, and Obama called it “irresponsible and unpatriotic,” the national debt under Obama has reached far beyond the stratosphere. Obama has said that raising taxes in a weak economy is bad policy, but it’s obvious he thinks it’s not bad enough for him to not want to do it. He wants everyone except his cronies to be economically weaker, so as to have to depend more upon government.

Obama is probably 2012's “vacationer of the year.” As some satirical article said, he was so named by the travel industry. The problem is, every vacation (ten or so per year) costs the taxpayers several million dollars, and causes considerable inconvenience to the people unfortunate enough to be near his destination. And his fundraisers seem designed to inconvenience as many commuters as possible. On the other hand, when he’s out of Washington, D.C., that may be, on balance, a good thing. If we had a budget, maybe a few billion could be designated as presidential vacation funds, and he could be out of the country a lot more.

But his vacationing and fund-raising practices are minor things compared to his enabling of the big banks, big cronies, political beneficiaries, union thuggery, etc. and his endless harassment of businesses not quite entirely controlled by him or his pals.

Eric Fry, at Daily Reckoning, documents some of the cronyism the Obama Administration blatantly practices. For example:

To reward incompetent finance company CEOs with billion-dollar bailouts, for example, is to punish the employees and shareholders of the prudently operated finance companies that compete with the firms receiving bailouts.

To refrain from investigating and/or indicting Jon Corzine for “disappearing” $1.6 billion of client funds is to punish both the 38,000 M.F. Global customers who are still missing the money they did not deserve to lose and the 1,000 employees who lost paychecks they did not deserve to lose.

To continuously intervene on behalf of politically connected incompetence and sociopathy is to invite the kinds of corruption, recklessness, cronyism and criminal negligence that ruins innocent lives and destroys entire economies.

The US is sprinting down this very path…as last week’s “surprising” $2 billion loss at J.P. Morgan Chase illustrates. Morgan’s egomaniacal CEO, Jamie Dimon, described the furor over the trading loss as a “tempest in a teapot.”….

There’s a direct connection, Dear Reader, between the trading losses at JP Morgan and the conspicuous non-prosecution of Jon Corzine. In fact, there’s a term for this connection. It’s called “moral hazard.” ….

… Dimon understands the rules of this rigged [bail-out] game very well. He knows he can conduct mega-billion-dollar speculations because he knows that JP Morgan could never bankrupt itself, no matter how recklessly it conducts its business. The US central planners would not allow it. Morgan could build bonfires with $100 bills in front of all its branches every night, and it still would not be able to burn through the federal government’s commitment to keeping it alive.

And on and on. I recommend reading this entire excellent article. It was first published in May 2012, but is equally relevant in January 2013.

Obama’s “balanced approach” to our fiscal problems, to him, means greatly increased taxes and no spending cuts, and don’t even think about entitlements unless you want to add more. It is widely recognized that we are on an unsustainable path and nothing is being done about it. The debt ceiling issue is coming up again, which cues Republicans to try to do something about the surreal spending, but, lacking the power to do a lot, we’ll likely see the debt ceiling increased by a few trillion dollars, followed by another credit rating downgrade for the U.S. Treasury.

Meanwhile, we will incur more and more debt that can never be paid except by very-cheap to nearly-worthless dollars. But that seems to be the plan.

The suddenness of the dollar’s collapse (worst, yet not-so-improbable case) could be astonishing. A great deal of trouble could be avoided except for the stubbornness of Mr. Obama, but it seems the only thing we can get out of our current government is kick-the-can, temporary, band-aid fixes, when the patient is on its fiscal death bed, being bled dry by economic policies that can do nothing but contribute to ruin.

I wrote that the GOP should not continue negotiating with Obama on the fiscal cliff and sequestration, but just let it happen. However, I can’t fault John Boehner much for supporting the fiscal cliff deal that was reached. He wanted to spare us the larger tax increases of the fiscal cliff and this was the best deal available. When the Democrats control the White House and the Senate, Republican power is quite limited. However, the GOP does control the House, so they can at least stop some of Obama’s plans, such as more gun control, and might be able to defund some of the worst programs.

America lost a great opportunity in the 2012 election. The GOP has a few years to figure out how to persuade more voters to prefer conservatism over socialism. It shouldn’t be that hard, but the leftists are well-funded and well-organized, and nowadays have no shyness about expressing who they really are – except at the top, of course. Pay no attention to what Obama says, but see what he does. His words cannot be believed, but his actions speak for themselves.

When you mix Obama’s deeply flawed economic policies with outright corruption, what you get is dangerous and frightening. It is hard for me to think of Obama as a nice guy I’d like to have a beer with (if I drank beer).

Judicial Watch has named its 2012 Top 10 list of “Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians,” and President Obama is there, along with Administration members Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, Eric Holder, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Also listed are five members of our Congress, three of whom are Democrats and two are Republicans. In the “Dishonorable Mentions” section, we find the names of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and former CIA Director David Petraeus, and four present or former legislators. Justifications are given, and they are quite extensive. Some are only briefly referenced here.

The article faults Obama for illegal recess appointments, illegal immigration, unprecedented secrecy, czars, and several other major violations.

Clinton and Rice are criticized in connection with misleading the public by lying about Benghazi, and Clinton for ignoring requests for additional security at the consulate.

As for Eric Holder,

A regular on our annual Top Ten Corrupt list, Holder shamelessly operates the most blatantly politicized Department of Justice (DOJ) in a generation. And, with the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, it is no exaggeration that his agency has blood on its hands….

On December 5, 2012, CBS News reported that 17 DOJ and ATF officials had been faulted in an Inspector General investigation of the Fast and Furious scandal. But, the man at the top remains unscathed, even after becoming the first attorney general in history to be cited for criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to divulge documents about DOJ lies to Congress about Fast and Furious.

Every day that Eric Holder remains at the helm, the Department of Justice sinks further into the abyss of cronyism, corruption, and deceit. And it is well past time for him to go.

Regarding Energy Secretary Steven Chu,

“The final decisions on Solyndra were mine,” said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu in his testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Oversight Committee on November 17, 2011. And this should be his political epitaph. Chu’s decision to pour $528 million tax dollars into a failing green energy boondoggle that went belly-up in 2011 is indefensible and corrupt, especially in light of the fact that Solyndra’s key investor (Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser) also happens to be a major Obama campaign donor….

For all his ability to get re-elected, Mr. Obama presides over a scandal-ridden (Solyndra, Fast-and-Furious, Benghazi, etc.) secretive, and anti-Constitutional administration.

Judicial Watch quotes the president from January 21, 2009, as saying “Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”

This promise has not only been broken, it has been annihilated.

But be of good courage, four years will go by quickly, and the America we once knew (free, morally strong, and prosperous) can still be restored and improved. We just need to get the Democrats/fascists/Marxists out of power and focus on real problems, such as getting conservatives elected.