Not as bad as they will say it is (I think)
So the Supreme Court of the United States (aka SCOTUS) has just ruled the Arizona law requiring voters show proof of citizenship.
And that is a bad thing. However its not as bad as the headlines are going to make it look.
From what I can tell and I’ll grant you that I’m not a lawyer but it seams to me that the SCOTUS did not invalidate this type of law, they said that the various states couldn’t create new election requirements beyond what the federal government has in place.
In other words, its OK for voters to be required to show proof of citizenship, but a State can’t make that call, it can only come from the feds. So that is a bad thing, but not as bad as it could have been. It also makes sense especially after reconstruction and the poll tax baloney that happened shortly after the civil war.
We want free and fair elections and it makes sense in a post-civil war/civil rights movement era that the states aren’t totally trusted to create their own election law. Now just because it makes sense doesn’t make it right. As a federalist I believe that the United States properly should be a collection of mostly autonomous states united under the loose regulations and laws from the federal government. Now that hasn’t really been the case since the civil war but its what it should be.
Anyhow, there is still hope for us to have fair elections, albeit a very small one.
links:
http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/arizona-v-the-inter-tribal-council-of-arizona-inc/
Why HB 972 is a bad idea (as written)
You all know that I am a stringent supporter of “more guns everywhere all the time” and that one of the major infringements upon us as gun owners is that we cannot carry into some locations, specifically in the case being dealt with in Texas HB 972 onto college and university campuses.
Now on its face HB 972 would allow CHL licensees to carry onto college and university campuses, however there is a section specifically section 46.035 b which states:
(b)The president or other chief executive officer of aninstitution of higher education in this state, on behalf of theinstitution, and after consulting with law enforcement, students,staff, and faculty of the institution, may adopt written rules orregulations prohibiting license holders from carrying handguns onpremises owned or leased and operated by the institution, on anygrounds or building owned or leased by the institution and on whichan activity sponsored by the institution is being conducted, or on apassenger transportation vehicle of the institution. A written ruleor regulation adopted under this subsection may remain in effectfor not more than one year after the date of adoption and may berenewed, reenacted, or reenacted and amended by the institutiononly after consultation with students, staff, and faculty of theinstitution.
I’ve been looking over the bill (HB 972) which I believe is up for action during the special session.
And while I initially supported it, I must say I think that it will be worse than not having a bill at all. The opt-out portion basically neuters the law in total, as I said in my previous email, universities will not actually listen to law abiding gun owning, licensed concealed carriers, they will just opt out.So it will be worse for us if this bill is passed with the opt out portion intact, that if no bill regarding concealed carry on campus were passed at all.
Please relate this to Sen. Williams for me and if possible get him to amend the bill to force at least the public universities to allow us to carry on campus.
Thank you,
I encourage you all to contact your state senatorial critters and get them to either edit this bill or to shoot it down. This is not just imperfect legislation, it is bad legislation, which I believe will short-circuit our chances of getting the effective real world ability to carry our handguns on campus in Texas for the foreseeable future.
Memorial Day 2013
I have always found this to be one of the visceral photos related to memorial day.
Freedom is not free, the price paid for us to live in such a wondrous place as this is borne not simply by those who serve and die for our freedom but by those who they leave behind.
A quick look at the world and at history reassures us that such a heavy price, while costly and dear is indeed worthy of that which is purchased. This amazing land has brought more hope, light, freedom and happiness into this dark sad planet than any other nation in all of human history. And that is only because men and women through the years have stood up and put their life blood between us and evil.
So thank you to all who are now or have once worn the uniform of our nation’s armed forces. You and your brothers in arms fallen afield are not forgotten, the blood price for what we have is remembered.
I have nothing more to offer than my thanks and so I give it;
Thank you.
…there ought to be a law
One of the speakers at the NRA convention talked about the same thing I’ve said for a while; the left wins because they live and breathe their fanaticism, the rest of us have real lives and don’t like to be mired in politics.
This article is amazingly absurd, its open propaganda! I don’t know which is worse, the idea it puts forward implicitly that parents should not be allowed to pass on their ideals, morals, values and hobbies to their young children or the explicit attempt to connect all children back to the shooting in December last year. Its just insane that this is written in an American newspaper basically vilifying those who observe and promote a basic human right and a fundamental right enshrined in the US constitution.
And they act the same when it comes to Religion and Education. I saw an article not too many days ago and I find it highly upsetting! Not because the author of this obvious propaganda disagrees with homeschooling and is obviously and painfully trying to stereotype all homeschoolers into what they want to portray as a abusive situation (they even use the word “endure” to refer to one girl’s life as a homeschooler). No what bothered me is that for these people, these busy bodied, nosy neighbor type weasels the solution to every problem they see is to layer on some extra helpings of Government! It solves every problem! Even those that don’t exist… especially those that don’t exist.
Poor little peoples, they didn’t like their upbringing where they were loved and cared for, taught morals and values and a worldview consistent with that of both their parents who were very interested in their lives. Sounds awful doesn’t it?
Government is not the answer, it almost never is but especially when it comes to caring parents educating and preparing their children it never is.
And its not like homeschooling creates some of or most of the best educated, smartest, most successful people in American society today all without any input or “assistance” from the government.
Oh wait haha! yes it is, my mistake I was thinking of public school.
The problem here, isn’t what the problem these nasty busy bodies who want to run everyone’s lives think it is. The problem is not guns, homeschooling, pervasive religion, or intolerance the problem is people who want to run everyone’s lives. Who want government to step in and make sure everyone is the same, quantifiable, known, measured and indoctrinated in state ideology. They cannot abide it when gun folks raise their kids to be gun folks, Gothardite quiver full folks raise their kids to be likewise or normal Christian folks raise their kids to believe in God, Heaven, hell and creation. And they attack free folk with propaganda from their 100,000 watt bull horn all the time.
Free people are different, we raise our kids differently, we believe differently and we are bloody well heavily armed (and so are our kids for that matter) its a dangerous and crazy life but its better and provides for just a little bit of happiness unlike anything experienced anywhere else or anywhen else on earth. And we just want to live our quiet lives in peace but we keep getting blasted by this bloody 100,000 watt bull horn and its getting pretty darn annoying. … there aught to be a law…
Statesmanship & Conviction
Massive, massive respect for Rand Paul today:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/6/rand-paul-filibusters-brennan-nomination-cia-direc/
This is how you do it folks.
This is what guts, conviction and statesmanship look like.
I don’t always like or agree with the Pauls, I usually think their isolationist foreign policy is scary dangerous, however one can never doubt their conviction to their beliefs and ideology, something our side sorely needs today.
Go get’m Sen. Paul.
System Failure
You know, I read this headline and I’m far from surprised.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/21/Republicans-set-to-cave-on-Hagel
Does anyone remember when the last time was Republicans actually stood up for anything? They cave on budget issues, social issues, foreign affairs issues, liberty issues, etc. and not once do we get anything back. Are we trading a pass vote for this assclown Hagel for removing silencers, short barrel rifles and short barrel shotguns from the NFA list? Or a cut to welfare, food stamps or other socialist federal programs? HAHA You and I can only dream of having statesmen with the ability to successfully barter good deals with our communist opponents, hell right now I’d settle for statesmen willing to call their opponents by their true bright RED nomenclature.
Instead we get to sit back and enjoy the saber rattling that our politicians do knowing it’s all a show. We are represented ladies and gentlemen by a bloody great herd of peacocks. All feathers, no balls. And this is why we continue to slide away from the things that made America great once, and more and more into the social, political and cultural morass that is slowly killing everything that used to make this a wonderful country, the best country.
We are watching a system failure and without real opposition by the Republican elected officials at the federal level there is no way for mere public opinion and outcry to stop or even slow down the Obama machine. Every single Senator and every single Representative with a very, very few exceptions need to be primaried out of office next election. Because the vast, vast majority of folks in DC supposedly fighting for good ole’ American values are either fighting for the other side, or totally worthless.
The same goes for the entire Republican leadership, they need to go, all of them, from the State leadership on up. Its baby out with the bathwater time, cause due to total lack of any signs of life I’m pretty sure that thing drowned a couple decades ago. Its slash and burn time, every elected official should face a primary challenge and every single race in every single county needs to have opposition, I don’t care if its a well loved Sheriff, judge or mayor, if they run as a Democrat, run someone against them. If its a worthless no-spine republican, run someone against them in the primary, and if you lose there run an independent against them in the general election. Its time for an ideological purge. If you aren’t one of us, you are the enemy and were gonna run you out of town.
Audentes fortuna iuvat
Wrath of God in Romans
In Romans 1 and the first few verses we read that the book was written to believers (saints) in Rome. That is an important concept to remember as we read the rest of the book.
In 1:16 read that the power of God for salvation is available to those that believe. Now most Christians I know read “salvation” and think “heaven”, but as a good student of literature, bible or otherwise, we should seek what the author meant and find what that salvation is from e.g. we should ask ourselves “salvation from what?” Rather than reading into it we should read what it says. In verse 18 we get our answer “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” In the verses following 18 Paul explains examples of the wrath of God “God gave them over” (vs. 24, 26, 28) it is a scary thought that one aspect of the wrath of God is that he would let us “do what we want” but that is consistent with a free-will view of the bible. If you’re not convinced that the salvation in the book of Romans is from a temporal experience of God’s wrath I’ll come back to it.
When we get to cheaper three Paul is into a section on justification (note the word used is not salvation of saved) and explains that by the works of the law will no flesh be justified (v3:20). “being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets” the Jews should know these things because the prophets told them(v3:21). Even in verses 3:25-26 explaining that the forbearance of God put the punishment of the past Jews sins under the law that believed, put their sins on Jesus. Paul in the whole chapter is emphasizing that there is no living under the law that is righteous; we are only justified by faith. In chapter 4:3“For what does the [OT] Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”
Then in the middle of chapter 5 he starts bringing back the concept of being “saved” that he is talking about in chapter 1. Explaining in verse 9 that “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” (Note we are justified now not later, but we shall be saved, they are two things) then concluding the chapter with “as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In chapter 6 of Romans Paul is saying don’t continue in sin just because the grace of God will continue to cover the sin. (6:1-2, 15) We are not slaves we have the Power of God (1:16) so we don’t have to be.
Now fast forward to chapter 10 I think is even clearer that Justification/Righteousness and Saved/Salvation/Sanctification are two concepts in Romans.
Romans 10:9 confess and believe to be saved; 10:10 Paul explains “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness” and “with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” two things not one.
Now is this saying there are two conditions for eternal life? or that just because someone believes doesn’t mean that are “saved” from the wrath of God?
Paul explains what he is saying in reverse order in 10:14-15: to call you must believe->to believe you must hear->to hear one must preach->to preach one must be sent. Each one is built on the next.
The one major point of Romans is that believers don’t only receive justification (eternal life) but we also have access to the Power of God (1:16) to no longer be slaves to sin and be saved from the wrath of God here on earth.
-MNS
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