Posted on 08/06/2019 2:38:32 PM PDT by Ennis85
President Trump's vision to "make America great again" was not expected to include a litany of horrifying hate-fuelled violence yet it is becoming the leitmotif of his time in office.
Mr Trump has stood accused of sowing division and bigotry rather than helping to unite and heal.
His kowtowing to the gun lobby has made it difficult to mount a defence, especially when combined with his inability to tone down incendiary language.
This issue is, of course, far bigger than President Trump - somehow, mass-shootings have become routine in the US. Political paralysis in combating gun violence is astonishing given the scale and tragic toll it has taken on American society.
A ban on sales of military-style assault rifles, as well as high-capacity magazines, is still awaited.
Astonishingly, although the weaponry used in these murders was made for war, designed with the explicit purpose to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible, it is readily available to buy on American streets. The vital background checks needed to determine who can obtain a firearm have yet to be made mandatory. Solutions such as the need for federal licensing or mass buy-backs have yet to be realistically explored. In the immediate hours after the latest tragedies, President Trump remained out of sight at his New Jersey golf course. Americans did not glimpse the president in the immediate aftermath of the El Paso massacre.
Yesterday, in calling for "strong background checks" for gun purchases, he bizarrely insisted such a bill be tied to immigration reform. Needless to say, he gave no indication how or why such legislation might be paired. Linking immigration to the dark sickness of mass shootings sweeping the US is disingenuous. The victims and their families need much more from politicians on all sides.
Democrats have not been as strident as they might in standing up to gun lobbies - in many of the swing states needed to win the 2020 election, gun control is too divisive an issue to risk sticking one's neck out. Yesterday, Mr Trump blamed what he called "fake news" for stoking "anger and rage" in the wake of the two gun attacks which killed a total of 31 people, one of which is being treated as a case of domestic terrorism. Yet in recent weeks, he has issued racist tweets about four women of colour who serve in Congress, and at rallies he has spoken of an "invasion" at the southern border.
He can hardly deny his re-election strategy so far has placed racial animus at the forefront in an effort his aides say is designed to activate his base of conservative voters. It is an approach not seen by a US president in the modern era, and surely one in direct conflict with making America great. Yesterday he said: "We must have something good, if not great, come out of these two tragic events!"
If he is sincere, he need only exercise his executive powers to assert the constitutional right to bear arms ceases to take precedence over the right to live. Yet you wouldn't bet on it.
Didn’t aborted babies have a right to live over the right of the mother to kill her child?
It’s illegal to shoot people.
If 1 Democrat steals money and keeps it in his Freezer should send all Democrats to Jail ?
If we could call these mass murders just late, late, late term abortions, all would be fine with the left.
If this is a vote, I say yes...lol
You beat me to it. “Right to live” my ass from the side which treats abortions as everyday life..
Right to bear arms IS the right to live
Dumb Micks fail Civics 101. They've invalidated their own opinion through ignorance.
“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824
“To disarm the people…[i]s the most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788
The 2nd Amendment is about the natural right of every man to defend himself from both criminals and a criminal government. All governments tend towards tyranny and the Founding Fathers knew that there would come a time when those in office would put their interests and power before those of the citizens and attempt to enslave them. This is why in 1787 Thomas Jefferson wrote “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure.” to affirm the right of the people to rebel against one’s government.
Below are other quotes from the Founding Fathers that affirm that understanding of the 2nd Amendment.
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.” – Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.” – Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt (the Younger), Speech in the House of Commons, November 18, 1783
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined…. The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.” – Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1778
“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state. In a single state, if the persons intrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28
I started doing that very thing on Saturday.
I suggest we a start doing that.
nope... the only right that is killing people is the made up right to an abortion which has killed 100 million or so.
Standard communist boilerplate agitprop.
Astonishingly, although the weaponry used in these murders was made for war..
Stated by someone that can never have served a day in the military. None of the weapons used are war weapons!
Constitutional rights are. The end! Step away!
That!
And this...
A right to bear arms is grounded in the right to live
But the right to abortion isn’t taking over the baby’s right to life...?
My sentiments exactly.
Too bad the wet noodles don’t have the guts to share that thought in public.
...unless you are Antifa.
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