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July 8, 2008 at 09:50:41

Headlined on 7/8/08:
Obama, Gun Rights and the Supreme Court

by William Falzett III     Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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The Supreme Court of the United States is frequently called upon to interpret and rule upon the rights retained by citizens in the Constitution. Recently the court delivered a landmark decision on this, the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights:

"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."

In a 5 to 4 ruling in the case of the "District of Columbia v. Heller", the court upheld this right.  In effect, you and I retained a fundamental right by one vote.  We were one vote away from losing our 2nd Amendment right as guaranteed to us by the founding fathers.  The SCOTUS Justices ruled as follows:

Majority Opinion:

Antonin Scalia  Ronald Reagan appointee, age 72, Conservative

John G. Roberts Jr. George W Bush appointee, age 53, Conservative
 
Clarence Thomas  George Herbert Walker Bush appointee, age 60, Conservative
 
Samuel A. Alito Jr. George W Bush appointee, age 58, Conservative

Anthony M. Kennedy Ronald Reagan appointee, age 71, moderate to Liberal

Minority Opinion:

David Souter  George Herbert Walker Bush appointee, age 68, Liberal

John Paul Stevens Gerald Ford appointee, age 88, Liberal

Ruth Bader Ginsberg Bill Clinton appointee, age 75, Liberal

Stephen Breyer  Bill Clinton appointee, age 69, Liberal

This ruling largely supports the general consensus that we have four consistently Conservative Justices in Scalia, Roberts, Thomas and Alito; four consistently Liberal Justices in Souter, Stevens, Ginsburg and Breyer; and a moderate judge in Kennedy who is most often on the Liberal side.  It is widely believed that at least two of these Justices will retire during the next presidential administration, and the next President will appoint replacements who will influence the direction of this country for decades to come.

Barack Obama has the most Liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate.  He has recently waffled on his stance on gun control.  Consequently, his real intentions in this regard remain hidden.  However the following quote is somewhat telling of his disdain for those who wish to exercise 2nd Amendment rights:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," ~ Barack Obama

A Barack Obama presidency will likely result in the appointment of 2 Liberal leaning Justices aligned with his Liberal ideology and Liberal positions on the issues.  When we are one vote away from losing a fundamental right, we don't need a Liberal President who will add more Liberal Justices who will surely further water down our Constitutional rights.  We need a Conservative President who will appoint Conservative Justices who will be Conservative of our rights?
 
Please consider these facts when you cast your vote in November, and also pass this information to everyone you know of legal voting age.

 

I write to support free thinking and liberty.

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Mike Folkerth is the author of "The Biggest Lie Ever Believed" and is not your run-of-the-mill author of finance and economics.

The former real estate broker, developer, private real estate fund manager, auctioneer, Alaskan bush pilot, restaurateur, U.S. Navy veteran, heavy equipment operator, taxi cab driver, fishing guide, horse packer and few jobs too embarrassing to mention, writes from experience and plain common sense.

Mike’s humorous systems of “Mikeronomics” ...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Mike FolkerthMike Folkerth is the author of "The Biggest Lie Ever Believed" and is not your run-of-the-mill author of finance and economics.

The former real estate broker, developer, private real estate fund manager, auctioneer, Alaskan bush pilot, restaurateur, U.S. Navy veteran, heavy equipment operator, taxi cab driver, fishing guide, horse packer and few jobs too embarrassing to mention, writes from experience and plain common sense.

Mike’s humorous systems of “Mikeronomics” ...

to see more of bio, click on member name

William

I have a copy of the Constitution that has an added forward which begins: "Don't read this handbook if you are happy and contented to pay the government to take care of you. It would only disturb and confuse you further."

It continues, "This handbook is for American's that realize we are responsible citizens capable of controlling our own destiny, just as our founding fathers realized it was theirs."

There really are good guys and bad guys and the bad guys could care less about laws. Having the right to personal defense is ultimately important as our Constitution has made clear and certainly the daily crime reports reinforce.

Mr. Obama is ill prepared for the job that may well be his. His economic plans are as poorly conceived as his stance against gun rights. Mr McCain is equally poorly prepared to lead us in a direction that resembles the America of yesteryear.

I plan to vote for neither and will either select a third party of simply write in my choice. Either way, we will enter an economic abyss that will bring out the worst in our citizens. At that time it will better to own a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not own one.

by Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments) on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 10:29:19 AM
 


In progress
Samuel BryanIn progress

Not to worry, William. The same justices who appointed Bush

will as likely as not, appoint his successor.

One question: what other rights do you value?

by Samuel Bryan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 111 comments) on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 11:25:25 PM
 


I am a writer and retired college teacher. I taught college courses in Economics and Political Science (I've a Ph.D) and I've written as a free-lancer for various publications. I now write a website and a blog at http://www.roman-empire-america-now.com. I am also active in the local Democratic Party.
Douglas SmythI am a writer and retired college teacher. I taught college courses in Economics and Political Science (I've a Ph.D) and I've written as a free-lancer for various publications. I now write a website and a blog at http://www.roman-empire-america-now.com. I am also active in the local Democratic Party.

Interesting

...that a conservative rails against Obama as a Liberal who will take his gun away, when liberals are worrying that he won't!

It's all very well to worship guns if society breaks down--as in Somalia or Iraq--or doesn't yet exist--as in the Wild West. I do hope that our society doesn't see what happened to Iraq in its future.

But the best way to bring on that kind of anarchy is to let everyone to have guns, regardless of whether they live in the wilds of North Dakota or in inner city DC. Yay guns! Let's all get machine guns, or AK47's and gun down the police and then we'll have real freedom--like Somalia.

I can guarantee you that most "conservatives" wouldn't like America as Somalia, either. The only people who would win would be the gangsters: is that what you want? 

by Douglas Smyth (17 articles, 4 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 55 comments) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 11:25:33 AM
 


Margaret Bassett is an 86-year old, currently living in senior housing, with a lifelong interest in political conumbrums. She hopes to hold out for one more presidential election. Bachelors from State University of Iowa (1944) and Masters from Roosevelt University (1975) help to unravel important requirements for modern communication. Early introduction to computer science (1966) trumps them. It's payback time. She's been "entitled" so long she hopes to find some good coming off the keyboa...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Margaret BassettMargaret Bassett is an 86-year old, currently living in senior housing, with a lifelong interest in political conumbrums. She hopes to hold out for one more presidential election. Bachelors from State University of Iowa (1944) and Masters from Roosevelt University (1975) help to unravel important requirements for modern communication. Early introduction to computer science (1966) trumps them. It's payback time. She's been "entitled" so long she hopes to find some good coming off the keyboa...

to see more of bio, click on member name

I try to think forward 50 years

My words will not haunt me, since I won't be around to blog. My community touts the virtues of NASCAR & NRA. But things change. Tickets to major events are too expensive and NASCAR for them is a spectator sport ala lounger. (You know the cant: major league baseball is just a way for the mob to get rich.)

Weapons are another matter. Without the right to keep guns, "you have no constitutional rights." Stock car racing was a refinement from revenuer days. A souped -p jitney could outrun the Feds after a still was raided. NASCAR is an American sport, so it's said. And it's a lot better than shooting the soandso's.

About the Supreme Court. We've got to keep it pure, they say. After all, that's why we vote--to keep liberals from rewriting our constitution. Since the fall of 2000, it's doing better. But why did they give Bush all that trouble over terrorists?

My perspective: Let voters flap their lips. Let politicians stump to the throngs. But in the end, if a president executes laws made by Congress, and Congress enacts good legislation, we'll have little to worry about after the next election. In Obama's case, he claims to be a constitutional lawyer. We can let him know if he starts being an imperial president.

So, it didn't work this administration? Point well taken. There are remedies citizens have. The ball always ends up in their court.

by Margaret Bassett (21 articles, 1359 quicklinks, 28 diaries, 819 comments) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 11:26:12 AM
 


A career video professional, Jim Stinson is the author of Video: Digital Communication and Production. He lives with his wife in Portland, OR.
Jim StinsonA career video professional, Jim Stinson is the author of Video: Digital Communication and Production. He lives with his wife in Portland, OR.

Strict construction is not the same as literal construction

Here's a note about English grammar that's not as esoteric as it might seem. A so-called "nominative absolute" is a clause that uses a present participle form of the verb, as in, "The party being over, he went home." Since this form feels a bit stiff and old-fashioned, we now say, "Since the party was over, he went home." So,

"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."

means:

"Since a well regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

The right to bear arms was included in the Constitution specifically to guarantee weapons for a militia. Since the National Guard has long-since assumed the militia's place, this sentence -- like the Constitution's treatment of Negroes, to pick another example -- needs to be re-thought in terms of the 21st century.

by Jim Stinson (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 59 comments) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 3:38:41 PM
 


I write to support free thinking and liberty.
William Falzett IIII write to support free thinking and liberty.

It doesn't say "right of the MILITIA to keep..."

It says "the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

There is nothing ambiguous about that.

by William Falzett III (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 9 comments) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 5:25:51 PM
 

 

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