Posted on 04/17/2015 11:48:06 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Ted Cruz thinks Americans should arm themselves against "tyranny," and Lindsey Graham thinks that's crazy.
As incredible as it sounds, there’s an argument going on right now between two Republican senators (and, potentially, two Republican candidates for the presidency) over whether the American citizenry should be ready to fight a war against the federal government. The two senators in question are Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, and they can’t seem to agree whether the Second Amendment serves as bulwark against government “tyranny.”
It all started with a fundraising email Cruz sent making the case that “The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution isn’t for just protecting hunting rights, and it’s not only to safeguard your right to target practice. It is a Constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny — for the protection of liberty.” TPM’s Sahil Kapur asked Graham what he thought of his Texan colleague’s view of the Second Amendment, and the South Carolina senator was not impressed. He even invoked the Civil War, which should make Cruz’s people plenty upset. “Well, we tried that once in South Carolina,” Graham said. “I wouldn’t go down that road again.”
This view of gun rights that casts personal firearm ownership as a check on the abuses of government doesn’t make a great deal of practical sense, and it betrays a lack of faith in our democratic institutions. But it’s become increasingly popular among high-level Republican officials who quite literally scare up votes by telling voters they’re right to keep their Glocks cocked just in case the feds come for them. Iowa’s new Republican senator Joni Ernst famously remarked that she supports the right to carry firearms to defend against “the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important.”
The obvious question raised by statements like those from Cruz and Ernst is: when does the shooting start? What is the minimum threshold for government “tyranny” that justifies an armed response from the citizenry? In 2014, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy was ready to start a shooting war with the feds to defend his illegal grazing practices, and he garnered the support of top-level Republican officials (they only abandoned him after he started wondering aloud whether black people would be better off as slaves).
It’s an important question because Republicans and conservatives – Ted Cruz included – tend to throw around terms like “tyranny” sort of haphazardly when criticizing policies and politicians they disagree with.
In May 2013, Cruz spoke at a press conference arranged by then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (remember her?) to vent rage at the IRS over its targeting of Tea Party-aligned non-profit groups. Cruz quoted Thomas Jefferson to suggest that the IRS scandal (along with Benghazi and Obamacare and other stuff) was a harbinger of “tyranny” from the federal government:
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Last January, Cruz said Barack Obama was running the country like a dictator because of his executive orders on immigration and the administration’s delay of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. “There are countries on this globe where that is how the law works,” Cruz said. “You look at corrupt countries where the rule of law is meaningless, where dictators are in power and they have things they call law. But what does law mean?”
Later that same month he wrote a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed suggesting that Obama’s “lawlessness” was a threat to personal liberty:
That would be wrong—and it is the Obama precedent that is opening the door for future lawlessness. As Montesquieu knew, an imperial presidency threatens the liberty of every citizen. Because when a president can pick and choose which laws to follow and which to ignore, he is no longer a president.
I don’t doubt that Cruz would argue strongly against an armed response to Obama’s immigration orders and tweaks to Obamacare. But at the same time, he’s the one bringing up government “tyranny” and “lawlessness,” and he’s the one bringing up the need to arm oneself in order to preserve one’s liberty. So he should be the one to explain where those two concepts intersect, and when an armed citizen would be justified in committing violence against the government.
The assholes at Salon are number one.
He’s defending the original intent of the amendment.
Liberals do not fear tyranny. I wonder why?
Fine. Let's take the fight to them; calmly reminding everyone of what those who created the Federal Government had to say about the issue; reminding all who will listen, also, that George Washington urged the Swiss system, which put military grade rifles into the hands of the teenaged boys; and reminding them of his clear understanding of the psychological value & public benefit of the move, because it illustrates, concretely, just how far from being somehow radical, is the Cruz position. (See Right & Duty To Keep & Ber Arms)
I wonder, if confronted whether Salon's writer could explain why Switzerland, for generations, had an incredibly low crime rate? The why is no great mystery to anyone who understands the psycholgical benefit of having a responsible citizenry.
Liberals always envision themselves holding the whip instead of working under its lash.
I remember that disgusting slob Harvey Weinstein, who HATES guns, when asked what he would do if the holocaust happened again, he said “I’d get a gun”. Like they are so easy to get once a nationalist army takes over. Thank goodness Israelis are much smarter than that.
Barry Goldwater re dux?
The cartoon is cute; but I seriously doubt that John & Lindsey would be very welcome in 1775 Virginia. Their combined IQ might approach that of one of the members of the House; but their intellectual integrity would at least be frowned upon.
OK, found a source from Huffington Post.
A California Senate canadate say Gays are Gods and calls for their protection with armed LGBT squads...
if you can afford it, now is a great time to
help friends and relatives acquire firearms of their own!
(get/give them guns and some good safety training of course...Let’s give “Salon” a genuine heart attack!)
Should we find ourselves disarmed as a country and in the same line to be sent to the ovens, I am pushing this jackass to the head of the line...
They’ll demand some ‘splainin,
and Cruz will do some skoolin’.
Nothing haphazard about the truth.
Rather than fight for liberty, Salon and its ilk would rather LICK the boot of tyranny on its neck.
He is in good company. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin did, too.
The more the lamestream media rants about Cruz the more I like him.
As you can see, with only a few minor exceptions, this guy cranks out two anti-Republican-snarkfests per day.
He's a hack. He's a photocopier with a left-leaning font and a team to switch toner cartridges.
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