There is no constitutional right to incandescent light bulbs per se. Although perhaps there should be. But the right to bear arms is so fundamental it would be implied by natural law even if there were no constitutional provision defending it, even if the second amendment were repealed. I believe the Founders set it forth in words primarily to remind us, their posterity, of all our options in preserving our liberty. The Founders were not positivists. They did not believe they could create rights by legislation, only that they could formally recognize rights we naturally had by virtue of being made in God’s image.
This, BTW, is a means of predicting what the left will do. The philosophy of the left, especially the new aristocracy emanating from Harvard law school and the like, is positivist. They firmly and uniformly believe that it is they who giveth rights, and they who taketh them away, blessed be the name of the almighty state.
Once you understand this, you understand their disdain for the Constitution. To them, those old rights are just the product of a primitive patriarchal social construct that we are struggling to evolve beyond. They are really just the means by which those old dead white men oppressed everyone not lucky enough to be them. We can create new rights, evolve to our full potential, etc etc, if only we can get out from under those old oppressive constructs. We are the people we’ve been waiting for. They actually find that drivel inspiring. At least the useful idiots do.
Of course, not everyone on the left is an idiot, and if you follow those same sticky strands of positivism to their logical conclusion, they will lead you to the center of the web, the bleak, hedonistic cynicism of Nietzsche’s Will to Power, where promises of equality, of new rights that will finally resolve the injustices of the ages, are not believed by those who make them, but are simply tools to get to the top of the power pyramid. Period. They view our commitment, as conservatives, to natural law and divine morality as the chains that make us predictable and therefore easy to manipulate. They see themselves as genuinely free to do whatever it takes to fashion the world according to their own enormous egos. No lie, no murder, no outrage of any kind is too great if it will advance them to greater power. They are incapable of shame. This is the dark heart of tyranny, the spider that consumes all who travel too far toward the center of that orb. We cannot afford to underestimate what they might be willing to do to live out their psychotic collectivist fantasy at our expense.
Correct. Congressional, or worse, executive action to take our arms would violate our Constitution three ways. It would violate the 2nd and the 9th Amendments. Thirdly, there is nothing "necessary and proper" in seizing our arms to execute an enumerated power.
In a way, I hope Chairman Obama attempts his gun grab. Let's get to our national decision sooner rather than later. Are we to be free or slaves?
“They are incapable of shame. This is the dark heart of tyranny, the spider that consumes all who travel too far toward the center of that orb. We cannot afford to underestimate what they might be willing to do to live out their psychotic collectivist fantasy at our expense.”
Spot on...
They want to fight...Why is it so hard to fathom for some people on our side of the political spectrum???
They want us to start it, when the truth is they created the instability, with a clear intent to instigate the conflict...
We need to accept the fact that we will never be given a fair shake (perception) in this deal, regardless of what happens in the near future...I’m not going to worry about how I look at the end of the day...Having that decided, it makes my outlook on the future a little less stressful, less of a burden...
I do have a minor dissagreement with your statement about the Second Amendment being a “fundamental” right...In my interpretation, and one that is noted in those pesky documents those old foagy white guys in wigs just (that some would think) pulled out of their posteriors, /sarc...
The right to keep and bear arms is a moral, yet “unalienable” right that is decreed upon us by an authority HIGHER than ANY government instituted amoung men/women...So what God has decreed, to me, that is something only he can remove...
The key to all of this is that this nation HAS lost its VIRTUE...Not from a morality sense (bible thumping exercise) but from a simple human trait to understand what is right and what is wrong...The citizenry are ultimately responsible and accountable for the state of affairs this country is in, and the majority are not virtuous people...Granted, none of us are perfect...But we have a serious problem, and the agenda of a few people has grown into a mob of useful idiots...
Those Fabians have been working on this endgame for decades, and we are just about there for their liking...
We may very well have to shrug off this form of government, and re-constitute it...Bu tunless we have people with the virture to do so, we are nbot going to correct the problem anyway...
The “what’s in it for me” crowd needs a stern lesson in humility, a dose of grace, and a slap on the behind to make an impact in that direction...
When and if this goes down against those of us who understand the show, no one will really win this battle...A lesson will have to be learned on both sides of the political/social/moral spectrum...
Those that wrap themselves around the idea of what it means to be a virtuous people will prevail and move on...Those that do not...Well, it won’t look good for them...
Just my opinion...