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Jun
17
I’m back with more “very extreme” views
June 17, 2008 | Tagged GOP Ticket, John McCain, Second Amendment |
Finally got the spam cleaned out from my two-week absence. blogivists.com has revised the format for their bloggers, and I am very happy to report that I now have a toolbar. Spelling should improve and I should be able to provide quick links to other sites.
I wanted to respond to Steve’s comment on my post “Is John McCain considering Bloomberg as VP? Say it ain’t so.” If the post is not on the front page of this site, you can find it by searching the category “Elections.”
Steve opined that I hold “very extreme views” and that I would vote for McCain regardless of his running mate, because I would not want Obama to win. Steve also wondered why I would not consider a candidate who backs the “entire constitution,” rather than just a part of it.
If someone thinks my views are extreme, check out Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, and Gun Owners of America. Because I generally support the more “moderate” positions of the National Rifle Association, I would consider the above groups to be somewhat more strident in their views than I am with regard to the Second Amendment. JPFO, RMGO, and GOA certainly have their places in the big tent of defenders of individual liberty. I do agree with them on many issues, while perhaps disagreeing on tactics and the appropriate language of the debate.
I support a strict constructionist interpretation of the Second Amendment. I am attached to this amendment, because it is the defender of all the other freedoms that we enjoy as citizens. It is this amendment that sets us apart from the subjects of the United Kingom and other countries where the right of the people to arms is subject to the whims and permission of the government. Jefferson and the other founders wisely respected the rights of the people to self-defence against crime and tyranny. As a matter of principle, I support the rest of the Bill of Rights, but it is the Second Amendment that is the cornerstone of American liberty.
When people talk about discarding parts of the Bill of Rights, I am reminded of the old story about the Zen master who was told by a monk that all the preparations for an important meeting were finished except for a few details. “But,” the Zen master exclaimed, “there are nothing but details!”
The Bill of Rights, in my “very extreme” opinion is a collection of sacrosanct details that is deconstructed, interpreted away, or diminished only at our great peril. To quote Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black: “It is my belief that there are ‘absolutes’ in our Bill of Rights, and that they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be ‘absolute.” (Interview before the American Jewish Congress, April 14th, 1962. Bartlett, John, Familiar Quotations, Fourteenth Edition, Little, Brown and Company, Boston and Toronto, 1968, Page 991b.)
As to whether or not I could be persuaded to abandon John McCain, because of his choice of a VP, I hope and pray I will not be faced with that decision. On another level, I am working very hard to bring other gun owners into the McCain fold, and trying to convince them to get to the polls and avoid throwing away their votes on third party candidates. McCain’s VP pick is critical to his support by many gun owners, who rightly or wrongly, may choose to stand on principle and lose, rather than go with a less than perfect candidate.
Clinton and Gore claimed that gun owners were decisive in the 1994 and 2000 Election Cycles. I believe that we can play a role again. Given the hard realities of potential Supreme Court appointments, Redistricting in 2011, and the anti-gun stance of the United Nations, I believe we must vote our self-defense rights in a realistic manner or we will lose our legacy of freedom left to us by the founders. If these views are extreme, then I am indeed an extremist.
Def Mech
Comments
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Not as a contrary point, but a counter point to your voting strategy; why not try and gang up behind one of the third party spoilers? Year after year we go with a Republican or Democrat and see what we get? I can’t attribute the quote correctly, but isn’t it obvious that “Insanity is consistently doing the same thing and expecting different results”? If we could all simply stop agreeing to disagree and come together as one community once in lock step and vote for a real outsider, even 15 - 25% of gun owners would likely carry the candidate home. Showing our determination, solidarity and one issue willingness in this manner would truly scare the (expletive not typed) out of the political machines in this country. Once that was accomplished, I think it would take a major act of God to pass any gun control we didn’t heartily approve off. And I’m betting that this theoretical show of power would keep their hands off the Second Amendment permanently!
McCain has a long history of being anti-gun. If thats your issue, you should check out GOA’s page on him.