Tag: constitution

If It Saves Just One Child’s Life…

It’s the ultimate tug-at-the-heart gun control argument. If it saves just one child’s life, isn’t it worth it? How could any intelligent, caring, common-sense person disagree with anything proposed under such an umbrella? After all, it’s for the children!!! Well, I guess I’m just a despicable human being since I disagree.

Let’s say for just a moment that we comply and implement every one of the gun control elitists’s draconian, anti-constitutional measures. This would include, but not be limited to, a complete ban on so-called “assault-weapons”, semi-automatic and pump operated firearms, “high capacity” magazines and handguns. Bolt-action hunting rifles and single-shot shotguns, all that are legitimately needed for hunting can be kept with a license, for now, since the government respects the Second Amendment. Australian-style buybacks (a.k.a. confiscations) are implemented and “Mr and Mrs America turn ’em all in” is the new law of the land. What then?

First, let’s look at what this will accomplish. Law-abiding citizens will turn in their previously legal firearms for mass destruction. Very few firearms will be in the hands of the civilian population and those that remain, along with restricted quantities of ammunition, will be under strict regulations for storage, transportation and use. The days of carrying or keeping a firearm for personal protection will be gone. We will save that one child’s life.

But what about the criminals, gang bangers, thugs, hoodlums and terrorists? The law now says no one can own firearms, certainly they will comply, right? Umm.. No. These are people who, by the very definition of them do not follow the law. They have never been able to legally own firearms or ammunition and their use in criminal activity breaks even more laws. They now enjoy a government imposed armed advantage over every single law-abiding citizen in this country. What in god’s green earth would make anyone believe they would willingly give up the tools of their trade when they know the incredible advantage they have gained against their intended victims?

Well, at least the supply chain of guns will be shut off now and they won’t be able to get any more, right? Umm.. No. Every day, tons and tons and tons of illegal merchandise is smuggled into this county. Everything from drugs to jeans to electronics to automobiles to people. How are firearms going to be a problem? It already happens today, packed in right along with everything else. And we aren’t alone here. Australia and the United Kingdom, whose gun control models our elitists seek to emulate, have HUGE illegal firearm smuggling problems. It just isn’t part of the narrative we are told to believe. Take a look at what the London police confiscate every single day to see how ineffective a ban would be for criminals.

Certainly violent crime will drop and we will all be safer, right? Umm.. No. Criminals, who have long since lost their fear of the law, law enforcement and the courts, have really had only one obstacle left, an armed citizenry. With this obstacle removed, very little stands in their way. Again, go to the most gun controlled countries around the world and see what their violent crime rate is.

But what of the police you say? They will protect us, right? Umm.. No. You’ve heard the phrase “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away”? Even with a vastly increased police presence, demanded by an ever increasingly victimized populace, the best police response is going to be minutes away at best at any given time.

Try this simulation if you would. Do burpees or run in place while holding your breath for two minutes to simulate fighting for your life. Assuming someone called for help the instant you were attacked AND the police can take the call, dispatch an officer and the officer arrives in that two minutes, you’ll be just fine, right? Umm.. No. All this assumes the most ideal circumstances which sadly, will never apply to you. It also assumes you were not shot, stabbed, strangled, poisoned, folded, spindled, mutilated, stapled or paper clipped in the process by someone who really doesn’t care about your life or anyone else’s.

So why do I disagree? Because if we decide to trash the Constitution and Bill of Rights with the promise to save that one child’s life, we will sacrifice scores more in cities and towns all across the country. No, I’m not saying it’s acceptable to lose a single child’s life or that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. But how do you justify sacrificing so many for the hope, the dream, the fantasy, of saving just one?

How many children would grow up without parents because the parents couldn’t protect themselves? How many wives and husbands would lose their partners because they were not allowed a means of defense? How many parents would lose their children because they are not allowed to keep them safe?

Yes, let’s save that one child by not letting someone else decide who lives and who dies.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #2ndamendment, #constitution, #billofrights, #tosaveonechildslife, #notavictim, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com

He Who Controls The Present

You may recognize this snippet and what it means. The full quote is “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” It is from George Orwell’s 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, a futuristic portrayal of a post world war society dominated by government surveillance and public manipulation. It is also one of the few books I’ve read that gave me a serious case of the heebie-jeebies.

So why dust this off now? With the movie “Snowden” recently released, it seemed the appropriate time to see how we are measuring up.

Regardless of if you consider Edward Snowden a patriot, whistleblower or traitor, the information he disclosed is significant. It confirmed what few knew, many suspected and most feared; the depth of the United States government’s worldwide surveillance program. While there are many different programs covering telephone, Internet, email, encryption, commerce and geolocation; the end result is the government’s ability to monitor and connect every aspect of a target’s electronic life in ways we wouldn’t have thought possible. To accomplish this, everyone’s data is harvested en masse. Innocent, law-abiding citizens’ information is collected and stored right along with the terrorists.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four’s reality, citizen monitoring was done by undercover agents as well as by two-way telescreens in public places and individual homes. It not only distributed content, but also monitored the people, listening and watching for signs of subversive tendencies or rebellion.

Even George Orwell couldn’t have envisioned the world we live in today where we have so willingly embraced the technology that monitors us. We have devices that listen to our every word and waits for commands. Our email providers electronically read our messages so they can provide us with additional relevant content. We carry with us devices containing all our contacts, emails, browsing history, financial information and so much more. These devices can pinpoint our locations to a few feet anywhere in the world, 24/7/365. Video surveillance is ambiguous with cameras in our phones, cars, homes, stores and in public places. And of course we share where we are, what we are doing along with pictures for everyone to see. We accept all this enthusiastically and rejoice at the great convenience it provides. We also look at those who shun the technology with distrust for surely they must be hiding something.

While the control of our language hasn’t gotten to the level of Orwell’s Newspeak yet, we are being provided with new euphemisms such as “justice involved individuals” or “undocumented immigrant” to replace words that are no longer politically correct.

We are told to trust that government access to the most sensitive information about every aspect of our lives is protected and only granted ‘legally’ and for our own safety, even if the laws and processes for accessing it cannot be disclosed to us. At the same time we are told the government cannot recover its own emails because a single server, laptop or handheld device has been corrupted.

We look at the books being put out by those in power now. Even when the so-called biographies are revealed to be factually inaccurate, we know that one year, five years, 20 years from now; all that will remain is the carefully crafted narrative and none of the dissent. By creating their own version of the past today, they are insuring their legacy in the future.

While we try to balance the benefits of technology with the intrusiveness that comes with it, we also have to remember our basic rights. For this, we return to the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Fourth Amendment.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

If we believe the Fourth Amendment still applies in our modern digital world, then we need to be a lot more concerned with our data and who has access to it. We need to reject the argument of “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear”. Our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our way of life does not say it’s okay just because it’s the government that is doing it.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Benjamin Franklin. “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #constitution, #billofrights, #4thamendment, #1984, #liberty, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com

Respect

Sitting during the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance has become the latest wave of politically correct, social justice inspired protest. Supposedly, it is being done to show solidarity with the black lives matter movement, alleged law enforcement brutalities and economic disparities. In reality, it just makes the people doing it look stupid.

Is the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance associated with oppression of any minority group or way of thinking in this country? Does the United States flag symbolize hate and oppression of people? I’m going to say HELL NO! It’s just the latest made up distraction designed to inject more controversy and segregation in our country during an election year.

Let’s look at the pledge:

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Somehow, somewhere, someone is translating this into hate. How exactly are they getting oppression out of “with liberty and justice for all”?

Then our National Anthem:

O! say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Written by a witness to the attack on our soil during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812, it is a celebration of our strength, stamina and persistence as a nation against the forces wanting to suppress it. Interpreting “the land of the free and the home of the brave” into an oppressive society is beyond comprehension.

Who is doing this? High profile and very highly paid athletes and now the college and high school students who are emulating them. And let’s not forget the fringe elected officials at the state and local levels. They too need to have their 15 minutes of fame so it looks like they might actually care about their communities.

First off, let’s take a look at our nation. It is called a melting pot for a reason. Our population is the descendants of immigrants from around the world. Members of every race, religion, and belief system have come to our shores looking for the better life afforded by the freedoms our Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee. It continues, as it has since the beginning, as more come to share in the American dream.

Of course, that American dream came at a price. It was paid for with the blood of patriots, beginning with the Founding Fathers and continuing throughout our history with the men and women of our military forces. They have given their lives so that we can live free.

Among those rights is the right to free speech affirmed by the First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Our First Amendment is unique in the world. The irony is of course that without it, the form of protest these individuals are engaging in would be unlawful and, in some nations to this day, severely punished.

So my reply to this latest group of social justice warriors, please do continue with your silent protests. It is your right and I shall defend your right to do so even if I disagree with your point of view. But don’t think it won’t come at a cost. It is also my right to reject you and those who support you. It is the right of your sponsors, employers, ad agencies and everyone who has to deal with you and your elitist views to cut their ties with you and let you dangle out there on your own.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to do something useful instead of sitting on your butt, how about spending a little bit of your eight digit salary trying to fix some of the issues you are complaining about? How about going into the communities yourself and mentoring at risk youth? How about giving a helping hand to those who don’t have and never will have the advantages you were able to obtain in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Maybe, just maybe, if you were to teach them what our National Anthem stands for, they too would help our nation achieve “liberty and justice for all.” Maybe if you showed a little respect, they would too.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #respect, #nationalanthem, #pledgeofallegiance, #constitution, #billofrights, #firstamendment, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com