appal_jack
appal_jack's JournalWow, incredible.
Wow, incredible. Everyone should read this. Taking our rights and public commons back via the police powers Constitutional argument is an important strategy. K&R.
-app
The 'right thing' is to abide by (or work to change) the Constitution.
The 'right thing' to do is to abide by the Constitution. The US Constitution is by design a guarantee of freedoms for the individual, and a set of limited powers granted to the government, intended to function as the Supreme Law of the Land. If you happen to find a section of the Constitution such as the 2nd Amendment abhorrent, you are free to work to change it via the process for Constitutional Amendment.
Politicians (and bloggers/broadcasters such as yourself Steven), who oppose parts of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, but are too lazy or uncertain of their chances to bother trying to change the Constitution itself, do a disservice to their constituents. Far too many unconstitutional laws have been passed in my lifetime - not just restrictions on the 2nd Amendment, but 'free speech zones,' the whole war on drugs, various forms of warrantless surveillance, restrictions on the freedom to make medical decisions in private with one's own doctor, etc. Compared to some of these unconstitutional power grabs, the Colorado laws about magazine capacity, etc. are far from the worst out there. Nonetheless, the politicians who passed them, over the vocal objections of their constituents, did not 'do the right thing.' Rather, they displayed an ignorance of what should be Civics 101, and wasted the time and money of the citizens of Colorado. And in this case, they also suffered a successful recall by their angry constituents. Maybe this will send a message to Democratic strategists across the country that further gun control is not the cause they should be pushing; it's a waste of political capital that serves no one.
-app
It's called a silver-lining, not a victory.
It's called a silver-lining, not a victory, nor really a cause for celebration. Do I hope that Democratic politicians get the message that the RKBA ought to be respected and upheld as an individual right? Yes. Do I prefer Democrats over Republicans in general? Also yes.
A ways upthread, there is a discussion of 'dealbreaker issues.' For me, the big dealbreaker is reproductive freedom. I will never, ever vote for an anti-choice politician of any party, as the government nosing its way into the medical decisions of women in such a manner is to me the personification of malicious big government nanny-state bullshit over-reach.
I would like to be able to say that I would also only vote for pro-privacy, pro-free-speech, pro-RKBA, pro-single-payer-healthcare, anti-corporate-power candidates, but then I wouldn't be able to vote for hardly anyone in America, alas. I have often held my nose and voted for Democrats whose RKBA stances I found disturbing: my votes for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama should be counted among these.
As I've said throughout this thread, I wish that Democratic candidates would state that their respect for freedom extends fully to the RKBA, just as it does (er, should) extend to a woman's right to choose her reproductive destiny, and Occupy's (& all other citizen groups') right to petition the government for redress of grievance.
Supporting the Constitution is a winning issue. Those Democrats whose actions indicate that they might have forgotten this fact need to re-learn it, post-haste.
-app
Colorado Legislators Ousted in Recall Over RKBA Issues
An epic national debate over gun rights in Colorado on Tuesday saw two Democratic state senators ousted for their support for stricter laws, a "ready, aim, fired" message intended to stop other politicians for pushing for firearms restrictions. Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron will be replaced in office with Republican candidates who petitioned onto the recall ballot.
(snip)
"Coloradans ... sent a clear message that politicians who blatantly ignore their constituents will be held accountable," said Dustin Zvonek, state director of Americans for Prosperity. "Perhaps this will serve as a lesson that one-party rule in Denver doesn't give the majority license to take things to extremes or run roughshod over the values and rights of Coloradans who just happen, for the moment, to be in the minority."
(snip)
The National Rifle Association, which donated about $360,000 to support the recalls, hailed Morse's loss, telling The Denver Post it "is proud to have stood with the men and women in Colorado who sent a clear message that their Second Amendment rights are not for sale."
But it wasn't just the NRA that warned Democrats about messing with gun rights.
Sen. Lois Tochtrop, an Adams County Democrat and longtime Second Amendment activist, opposed five of the seven gun bills initially introduced in the session, including a lightning-rod proposal by Morse.
That proposal would have assigned liability for assault-style weapon damages to manufacturers and sellers, but Morse killed it at the 11th-hour because he didn't have the votes to pass it through the Democratic-controlled Senate.
"I feel like all these gun bills have done — to quote the last words in the movie 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' — is to awaken a sleeping giant," Tochtrop said during the debate.
Awaken they did.
Upset by the bills themselves and the Senate Democrats' decision to hold seven hearings in one day — resulting in hundreds of witnesses being unable to testify — voters in Morse's and Giron's districts successfully forced the first-ever recall elections of state lawmakers in Colorado history.
Much more at link:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24066168/colorado-senate-president-john-morse-recalled-angela-giron
I hate to see Democrats get ousted by Republicans, but maybe these recall votes will finally drive home the lesson that gun control is a losing issue, and not the solution to problems of violence, mental health, poverty, or related matters. Politicians ignore the Second Amendment at their own peril. While I am a proud Democrat, my Democratic heroes (FDR, JFK, and even Jimmy Carter) were not 'gun-grabbers' while in office. I will only actively support candidates who treat the Bill of Rights as a codification of the Supreme Law of the Land.
I look forward to voting for more pro-All-the-Bill-of-Rights Democrats. Are any candidates listening?
Also, I read elsewhere (no link at present) that the pro-recall campaign was outspent by the anti's/gun-grabbers by a ratio of around 6:1 (the last numbers I saw were ~$540k : ~$3 million). Looks like idiot authoritarian Bloomberg pissed away a little more of his fortune.
-app
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