Second Amendment

“Don’t Drone Me, Bro”—The Self Destruction Of Rand Paul AND Ted Cruz!

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When Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky spoke yesterday at the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, a supporter yelled: “Don’t drone me, Bro”, referring to Paul’s 13 hour filibuster demanding an answer from President Obama that he would never use a drone on an American citizen on American soil, a stunt which gave Senator Paul a lot of attention, and led to his promoting the idea of the likelihood of his Presidential candidacy in 2016.

Meanwhile, Texas Senator Ted Cruz showed just what a bully, and an arrogant, overbearing person he is, making himself very unpopular even among fellow Republican Senators with his loony absolute interpretation of the Second Amendment, and showing lack of respect for Senator Diane Feinstein, who lived through the carnage of the murder of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in 1978. The fact that even Justice Antonin Scalia has stated that there are limits to the Second Amendment does not phase Senator Cruz, as he fancies himself to be a “constitutionalist”!

Both of these Republican Senators fancy that the nation is ready for their looniness—Paul, the libertarian, who wants to bring about a utopian world of little government in people’s lives; and Cruz, using Joseph McCarthy type demagogic techniques to create turmoil and mistrust, and also to throw a “firebomb” as a method to grab for more power and influence!

Both Senators are upstart freshmen, who are showing total ignorance and total disrespect for the institution of the Senate, and their style and methods are designed to promote their own ambition, but will have the effect over time, if not fought bitterly by sane elements, to destroy the Republican Party and its long, much of the time, respectable history and leadership!

The nation is NOT going to accept either Senator Paul or Senator Cruz as their Commander in Chief, as they both, in different and competing ways, are promoting anarchy and chaos in the political arena, and are both VERY dangerous!

Ted Cruz Vs Diane Feinstein: Looniness Vs Responsibility

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Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has only been in the US Senate for less than three months, but already is gaining a reputation as a modern version of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and also as a total lunatic on the subject of guns!

Yesterday, Cruz “lectured” Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein of California about his concept that the Second Amendment has absolutely no limits, and compared that amendment to the First and Fourth Amendments, claiming that Feinstein would not want limits on those two amendments, so why so on the Second Amendment.

Feinstein responded by saying she has been in the Senate for 20 years, and was Mayor of San Francisco for nine years, and inherited that job by the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and gay Supervisor Harvey Milk, which she walked in on, and saw the dead bodies and carnage.

She asked why it is necessary to have bazookas, and all other types of assault weapons, and that no one is trying to take away all guns, just large magazines of ammunition and weapons that one would never use for hunting.

And she pointed out to Cruz that there ARE limits on the First and Fourth Amendments, and that any sane person has to understand that there needs to be limits on the Second Amendment!

Cruz showed total lack of respect and deference to Feinstein, and comes across as totally arrogant, reckless, loony, and very dangerous with his rhetoric and his extreme right wing agenda.

And this man has interest in being President, although he was born in Canada, and the constitutional question, therefore, would arise if he became a serious candidate.

This man would be a danger to our civil liberties and our sanity were he to become a serious player for the Presidency. But there is no way that he would ever be elected President of the United States! But every effort to weaken his appeal must be made by progressives, who realize that he is a long range threat to our political stability!

Rand Paul Makes A Fool Of Himself In Response To The State Of The Union Speech Of President Obama!

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Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to amaze people with a head on their shoulders, as he is rapidly becoming a major embarrassment to his own father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and to the Republican Party base, which he seems determined to destroy in his quest to become President!

Having already made clear when Hillary Clinton testified about Benghazi, Libya, that he would have fired Clinton if he were the President at the time, an amazing statement to make in the first place, now Rand Paul has responded to the State of the Union Address of Barack Obama, as well as the response of Florida Senator Marco Rubio for the Republican Party, as chosen by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner.

Paul told us he would not have allowed the use of drones against Anwar Al Awlaki, a declared terrorist of American citizenship who we know planned various terrorist attacks, and that somehow, he is going to stop the President from being the Commander in Chief of military affairs. One can disagree with what Obama did, but Paul has the gall to think that somehow he is going to stop the President from what are his powers under the Constitution?

Calling Obama a “King”, Paul makes clear that while the President should not have such power over the military, there should be absolutely no movement on gun regulation or safety in any form, portraying the government as the enemy of the Second Amendment, when all that is being asked is reasonable regulation, not the taking away of people’s rights to own guns, if they are mentally stable!

Paul also advocated massive cuts in spending, including in defense, which fits his image of being a modern day isolationist. Sure, there can be defense cuts, no question about it, and other cuts, but Paul fails to understand the threats this nation faces, and the massive problem of real harm to the poor, the sick, the disadvantaged, were we to pursue his drastic cuts, which almost no one in the Republican Party advocates, including Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, head of the House Budget Committee!

Rand Paul also said Barack Obama is Robin Hood, when we actually need Adam Smith, the author of THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, advocating “Laissez Faire” economics, an idea of the late 18th century, which is totally unrealistic in the modern world of the 21st century!

The major news networks failed to carry Rand Paul’s speech, which in itself is a commentary on how he stands in the minds of serious people. He and his Tea Party followers represent a viewpoint which, if enacted, which will not happen, will permanently eradicate the Republican Party as an alternative to the Democratic Party. If there is the desire to prevent what conservatives call a “one party state”, then they need to adapt to reality and stop sounding like and advocating loony ideas that take us back to the 19th century, when America was suffering through the Gilded Age of unregulated capitalism and a weak labor movement!

Sadly, we are likely to be plagued by a Rand Paul Presidential candidacy in 2016, which just might make the political circus of 2012 seem only like the preview of comedy entertainment!

The Growing Role Of Vice President Joe Biden

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Any thought that Vice President Joe Biden, who was a major factor in the successes of the first Obama term and in his reelection efforts, might start to “disappear” after the election is effectively dormant!

Biden has been asked by President Barack Obama to head a team to come up with some kind of plan for gun regulation, which does not take away the Second Amendment, but shows a level of responsibility to protect the American people from gun maniacs, who are now able to buy large magazines of bullets and assault rifles without any regulation. If anything, the killing of volunteer firefighters outside Rochester, New York, by a crazed murderer, only adds to the tragedy of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, and earlier this year in Colorado and too many other places, the mass death or wounding of innocent people!

But also, Biden is working behind the scenes to try to come up with a deal to avoid the “Fiscal Cliff”, and he is highly respected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and more importantly, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

There is no guarantee that Biden will have a magic potion on the issue of gun control or the “Fiscal Cliff”. But the point is that he is in the game, always willing and able to help the President and the nation, and this cannot but help his potential, and likely, candidacy for the Presidency in 2016.

Biden is a man of energy, who acts much younger than his age of 70, and should not be dismissed as the heir to Barack Obama in 2016!

Gun Supporters Joe Scarborough, Harry Reid, Joe Manchin, Mark Warner Have Second Thoughts

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In a sign of potential significance, we have seen in the past two days that a number of gun supporters, backers of the Second Amendment, finally realize that something needs to be done to promote regulation in the public interest.

This includes MORNING JOE host Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, former Florida Republican Congressman; and three Democrats–Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia.

But except for Scarborough, who has been out of office for a decade, the Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, have remained silent, as has the leadership of the National Rifle Association, which makes too much money out of being in the leadership, to have the guts and the ethics and morality to recognize that they are wrong, and that there needs to be regulation to prevent future Sandy Hook Massacres.

So the Republican Party is again on the wrong side of another issue, and this just makes them move closer to extinction as a major party with a chance to hold national power in the White House and in the US Senate, and only able to keep the House of Representatives by gerrymandering of Republican state legislatures!

Time For All Good People To React To Religious Extremists, NRA Fanatics, And Grover Norquist Blackmail!

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America has many problems, but has allowed itself to be taken hostage by extremist, fanatical groups that have no purpose but the promotion of hate, greed, and selfishness, and it is time for all good Americans to speak up and make it clear that they will not allow the hostage situation to continue to exist!

Who are the villains?

Christian extremists who keep on promoting that only a theocracy with their brand of religion will send a person to Heaven, and in the process promote narrow mindedness and hate, need to be confronted without fear.

National Rifle Association leadership, including Wayne LaPierre, who enrich themselves and promote extremism in defense of the Second Amendment., and against reasonable gun regulations, particularly assault weapons, are a threat to public safety.

And Grover Norquist, the anti tax radical, and head of Americans For Tax Reform, has gained so much power and influence that Republicans are afraid to challenge him, and have allowed themselves to be blackmailed into refusing to consider ANY tax increases, no matter what, and willingness, therefore, to create financial chaos and the destruction of government’s ability to do its job of being in charge of the federal budget.

Until these three extremist groups are under control, America has little chance to move forward and deal with the promotion of tolerance, of public safety, and of responsible budgetary reform!

Aurora, Colorado Massacre DEMANDS Action On Gun Control Measures, Despite National Rifle Association Lobbying!

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The horrible tragedy, the massacre at the multiplex Century Theater in Aurora, Colorado this morning, needs to be treated as a wake up call for campaigning for strict gun control laws, similar to the Brady Bill passed under Bill Clinton, and ended under George W. Bush a decade later.

This should be an issue to unite Democrats and Republicans, but Democrats are afraid to promote gun control, as they lost control of Congress to the Republicans in 1994, with the Brady Bill being part of the reason.

Many Republicans and conservatives have the paranoid feeling that Barack Obama wishes to take away their gun rights under their interpretation of the Second Amendment.

The point is that no one is trying to say that ownership or purchase of guns should be banned, as that is impossible to accomplish, even if one wished to do that.

But after the Columbine Massacre in Colorado in 1999, the Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007, the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011, and now this event, the worst total of victims ever in American history, it is essential to take some steps on gun control.

And to have Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert, promote the insanity that if some of the people in the theater had had weapons, they could have stopped the massacre, forgetting that several people opening up fire in a theater would have led to innocent victims being killed by those “heroes”, who might very well be shooting at each other, in the midst of the chaos, is no contribution, but Gohmert is infamous for insane, reckless statements.

This is as insane as to say that it should be alright for students and faculty to have guns on campuses, or to carry weapons into a bar, where drunken patrons could begin shooting!

A level of sanity and stability needs to be addressed by President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a way to bring about some legislation to cut down the level of violence, which right now makes America the most violent society in the world, with about 10,000 gun victims annually.

The Persecution Of Chief Justice John Roberts Begins: Threats Of 2nd Amendment “Remedies”!

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Chief Justice John Roberts was a true “profile in courage” this morning in siding with the four Democratic appointees on the Supreme Court, and upholding the Obama Health Care law.

Roberts, despite his other shortcomings in the minds of progressives, including reaffirming the Citizens United case in another case involving Montana this week, has shown open mindedness on the immigration issue, and now on the health care issue.

He is concerned about the image of the Supreme Court, trying to avoid making it an overly partisan body, as it was in the Bush V. Gore case of 2000, which seriously damaged the image of the Supreme Court.

Roberts has a sense of history, and two Harvard Law School professors, Laurence Tribe and Walter Dellinger, correctly came to the conclusion that he would do what he did today.

Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush in 2005, has shown growth and great insight, and if he continued along the road he showed this week on immigration and health care, he could rank among the great Chief Justices by the time he retires in the next 20 years or so, considering he was appointed to the Court at age 50.

It would be great if long term, we could say Roberts ranks with John Jay, John Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes, and Earl Warren. He has begun the first steps along that road!

But he will have to bear severe criticism and bitter attacks from Republicans in Congress, and hateful right wing talk show hosts. He should be proud of defying them, and doing the right thing, and being insulated on the Court, he can suffer the attacks without having to comment on them.

But it is sad and scary that some right wing nuts talk about a Second Amendment “remedy”, implying bloodshed and violence against, maybe, President Obama, or Chief Justice Roberts, or really anyone who believes that all Americans are entitled to good health care!

The government needs to step up infiltration of right wing groups who are actively plotting to bring about a Fascist takeover, and are ready and willing, through militia groups, to plot the death of our leaders for having principles and morals and strong beliefs!

Right now, we can pray for the safety and good health of President Obama, Chief Justice John Roberts, and all good people who believe in humanity, social justice, and common decency!

Gun Rights, Mass Murder, Chief Justice Warren Burger, And The Second Amendment

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The National Rifle Association is riding high, having succeeded in promotion of “Stand Your Ground” laws which has led to the deaths of hundreds of victims in the past ten years, including Trayvon Martin in Florida in February.

The NRA was the host of the rant of Ted Nugent last week, threatening the life of President Barack Obama, and calling for harm on Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Attorney General Eric Holder.

The NRA sat back and had no reaction to the assassination attempt against Arizona Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords in Tucson in January 2011.

The NRA had no reaction to the mass murder of 32 people at Virginia Tech five years ago this week.

The NRA had no reaction to the mass murder at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, also occurring this week.

The NRA continues to say that guns do not kill people, and that instead, people kill people, but fight against any sensible background checks, or the banning of assault weapons.

They continue to state that the Second Amendment allows uninhibited ownership of guns by anyone who wishes to collect them.

A Supreme Court case in June 2010 in McDonald V. Chicago further cemented their 2008 decision in District of Columbia V. Heller, with the five Supreme Court conservatives deciding both cases, in favor of gun owner rights.

The thought that such an important decision came about by a bare 5-4 vote on ideological grounds is very disturbing, and belies the statement of former Chief Justice Warren Burger, appointed by Richard Nixon in 1969 and serving to 1986.

In 1991, the former Chief Justice stated that the Second Amendment was subject to fraud by special interest groups, does not guarantee the right to have firearms at all, and was designed to provide state militia to promote defense of the state.

But then, as conservative as Burger was thought to be in his tenure on the Court, it is clear that the conservative majority on the Court today is far more right wing than any since the 1920s, a foreboding of the damage they may do in many key cases to be decided and announced between now and the end of June, including the Obama Health Care legislation!

Gun Rights Gone Mad: Are There Any Limits? :(

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Just three weeks after the tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona, the gun rights movement is in full swing, reacting to the tragedy by trying to promote gun rights EVERYWHERE without limit! 🙁

Even former Vice President Dick Cheney has expressed the need for some gun control, after never believing in it in the past, and President Obama has stated he will address the issue, after totally ignoring it in his State of the Union address earlier this week.

But meanwhile, many state legislatures are going off the deep end to prevent any restrictions and promote gun rights in every possible location! 🙁

In Florida, a legislator is suggesting that medical doctors should be punished with felony charges just simply by asking a patient about their ownership or use of guns! The punishment for a doctor would be prison time or up to $5 million in fines–absolutely insane! 🙁

In Michigan, a legislator wants someone, anyone, to be able to carry weapons on their person EVERYWHERE–including day care centers, stadiums, schools, churches, bars and hospitals! This is advocated despite the fact of gun incidents reported in hospitals, bars, churches and schools already around the country, but now even where large crowds and young children are found is being promoted–absolutely loony! 🙁

In Minnesota, a bill is being pushed which would no longer allow police to conduct background checks on people who apply for gun permits–again, absolutely nutty! 🙁

Wyoming is considering legislation which would allow it to join three other states–Alaska, Arizona, and Vermont–which do not require a state permit for a concealed weapon–extremely scary! 🙁

Finally, Nebraska has a bill pending to allow school employees to carry guns for protection, and Indiana has legislation being considered to allow employees of any company in the state to carry guns in their cars in the parking lots of the places of employment “in order to defend their lives”–both proposed laws which indicate an element of paranoia in the sponsors! 🙁

Anyone who thinks that such legislation as above will stem gun violence, and cut down the number of deaths and injuries, is living in a dream world of illusion and fantasy! 🙁