Posted on 07/27/2012 6:19:33 AM PDT by xzins
Is it possible that Mitt is an inexperienced and undisciplined candidate, or should we begin viewing his comments as trial balloons?
The latest possible trial balloon came this past Monday in an interview with Larry Kudlow. In that discussion, Romney relates the situation in Aurora, Colorado to his time in Massachusetts when he was able to ban weapons such as the AR15, one of America's favorite sporting rifles.
Romney...the law that we signed in Massachusetts was a combination of efforts both on the part of those that were for additional gun rights and those that opposed gun rights,...Where there are opportunities for people of reasonable minds to come together and find common ground, that’s the kind of legislation I like. (http://www.nbcuniversal.presscentre.com/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=11599&NewsAreaId=2)
Romney has given us other trial balloons in recent months.
First, he consistently affirms RomneyCare, the massive government intrusion into healthcare that was the blueprint for Obama's massive government intrusion into healthcare. Sadly, Romney's health care plan included many items absolutely unacceptable to social conservatives. His continuing support for his program has many conservatives legitimately wondering if he intends merely to "fix" ObamaCare. Perhaps he thinks it would be better if just a little more in his own image.
Next, and only this past April, was Mitt Romney's support for gay couples. Compounding that problem was his assertion that gay couples should be allowed to adopt children. There are compounding problems with that, too. Mitt Romney has long had a special relationship with the gay-agenda wing of both parties. He has in the past given those advocates special assurances that he is the man they want in office. Just this past week, when Obama permitted military uniforms to be worn in a gay pride parade, there was no protest from Mitt Romney that this author can find. (Since pro-life chaplains can't march in pro-life parades in uniform, one wonders at the double standard.) To cap this off, during the debates, Romney indicated he was just fine with permitting open homosexuality in our military.
Now we have the governor who instituted strict gun control on "offensive weapons" reaffirming that decision. But that is not the critical part of the message.
Mitt Romney actually said on Monday -- this past Monday -- that when he can get legislators to agree on gun control, then "that's the kind of legislation I like."!
I can't help but dissect "that's the kind of legislation I like." What does that mean? Does it mean he's all in favor of signing gun control legislation if he can get legislators to originate it? That way, of course, he wouldn't be the only one taking the heat.
Does that mean that he doesn't really have a core value opposing gun control, that he'll sign on if he's not the only one with his neck on the line?
Trial Balloon or undisciplined comment?
You be the judge. But, you also better be careful, and make sure Romney never has a large enough group of RINOs to team with democrats to bring him gun control legislation.
After all, "That's the kind of legislation I like."
The concept is good, the implementation is impossible. Romney given a GOP controlled Congress will simply make the country more socialist. (See G. Bush with a GOP Congress). Definitely need the GOP to control Congress but NOT with Romney as President, Romney is a socialist (like Bush). So he is no better than the current Marxist occupant of the White House. Best thing to do is 3rd party at the top of the ticket and GOP down ballot. Deny Obama a mandate and hope the House and Senate can keep him in check.
Conservatives getting rolled by the GOPe time and time again has to stop. "If not now then when?"
Who knows a 3rd party candidate might get a little traction and be a real factor in the election. But one thing is for sure the conservatives need to be in open rebellion over their "2 party system" that is in fact 1 party with two wings, socialist/Marxist. I am off the plantation.
The only argument that used to be slightly convincing was Supreme Court appointments argument, well John Roberts nullified the voting GOPe for good court appointments arguments. Now there is absolutely no reason to vote GOPe, ever.
A wonderfully apt point.
-- Edmund Burke "And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for the second; that second for a third; and so on, till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering." -- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Samuel Kercheval, Monticello, July 12, 1816 "When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers 'just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty. If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for the selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws." -- Noah Webster“The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.”
I would knock off the insinuations that Romney critics on FR have a hidden agenda in wanting Obama re-elected. It’s one thing to debate an ABO position, it’s another thing entirely to sling that kind of trash around in the process.
As someone who plans to vote for Romney (because Obama is an absolute disaster) I do fear this. If Romney wins, Republicans had better stand firm against gun control. To be fair, even Bush said he's sign an Assault Weapons Ban if congress put one on his desk.
That is the unknown danger Romney represents.
You are correct. We do know this about Obama. While he is clearly not a fan of private gun ownership, he hasn't done anything so far to curtail the Second Amendment while in office. In fact, he has been a huge disappointment to the proponents of gun control (who understandably had high expectations upon his election).
The usual road to slavery is that first they take away your guns, then they take away your property, then last of all they tell you to shut up and say you are enjoying it. – James A. Donald
The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, bows, spears, firearms or other types of arms. The possession of these elements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to permit uprising. – Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese Shogun, August 29, 1558
When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually...I ask, who are the militia? They consist of now of the whole people, except a few public officers. But I cannot say who will be the militia of the future day. If that paper on the table gets no alteration, the militia of the future day may not consist of all classes, high and low, and rich and poor... - George Mason, Virginia Constitution Convention To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them. – George Mason
Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. – John F. Kennedy
...arms...discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. ...Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them. -- Thomas Paine
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed." --Thomas Jefferson
We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists. - Patrick Henry
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." -- Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776,
"What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789 - Elbridge Gerry
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people's liberty teeth keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than 99% of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour." (GEORGE WASHINGTON -Address to 1st session of Congress)
The militia may be here destroyed by that method which has been practiced in other parts of the world before; that is, by rendering them useless - by disarming them." (GEORGE MASON)"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 inevitably ruined." Patrick Henry During Virginia Ratification Convention 1788 (Elliot p.3:45)
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed...." Noah Webster (An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Webster1787)
CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER (Commander, Lexington Militia Company) "Every man of you who is equipped, follow me..Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they want to have a war, let it begin here." Lexington, MA, 19 April 1775, as British troops approached on their march to Concord to implement gun control (Mine Eyes Have Seen, Goldstein 1997 & Quotes for the Military Writer, U.S. Army Command Information Unit, Library of HQ TRADOC)
DANIEL WEBSTER (Representative and Senator from New Hampshire, U.S. Secretary of State ) "Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption for authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
HUBERT H. HUMPHREY (Senator, Vice President) "Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms...The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard, against the tyranny which now appears remote in America but which historically has proven to be always possible." (22 October 1959)
WINSTON CHURCHILL "If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
beenaround: My take on this (in bold) is Romney was speaking generally about legislation, any legislation which is passed with a bi partisan effort. I do not deny he had this particular law in mind as well since it is part of what I believe to be a statement of wider scope then just the gun control law.
Your statement is what is known as "whistling past the grave yard".
“We are losing our country to godless socialism and what does the GOP do? Run an abortionist/homosexualist statist whose socialist RomneyCare program was the blueprint and impetus for ObamaCare! Screw that!! I’ll vote for the GOP’s candidate for the presidency when they run a CONSERVATIVE!! Otherwise, to hell with them!! The GOP is fast cementing their place as part of the problem! Wake up America!!”
No I will not vote for an abortionist for president. Period. It’s no secret. I’ve been posting that I will not vote for Rudy/Romney abortionist for many years.
Welcome to Free Republic, America’s exclusive site for God, Family, Country, Life & Liberty conservatives!
Romney does not qualify on any count!
I use that quote frequently and don't attribute it, because then I'd have to ping the author and he has better things to do than be reading his own quote so often. You may guess who said it originally, I agree 100%.
It's ironic that this quote comes from Gerry, who developed the method of geographically engineering a voting district to be favorable to a particular politician or political party. Political gamesmanship is much more of a "bane" of liberty than a standing army.
A noble hope and wish, but as I’ve posted before, I’m concerned whether or not that REALLY makes any difference, based on the non-performance of the TP frosh group we’ve elected to date.
While it was just MHO at the time I initially wrote those comments, consider the following quote that has appeared in several places on the web (EMPHASIS IS MINE):
“We don’t need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples,” Lott told the Washington Post, referring to the conservative South Carolina senator who has been a gadfly for party leadership and a champion for upstart conservative candidates.
“AS SOON AS THEY GET HERE, WE NEED TO CO-OPT THEM.”
With having to confront:
>foreign owned suppliers of programmable voting machines, >reguiring ID to vote being painted as racist and evil,
>purging voter rolls of the dead, duplicated and non-human classified the same way,
>outright packing of polling locations with bussed-in non-residents,
>Lamestream media duplicity in promoting all things liberal,
>the blatant hypocrisy of the left on ANY and ALL subjects
>the left’s BIG LIES being accepted by the general public as truth,
>the INCREDIBLE ignorance of the general public on a whole spectrum of issues such as: OB’s birth certificate and suppressed background, what’s going on with globull warming, OB’s rampant Executive Order Generator,his cadre of unelected/unconfirmed “czars”, Ob’s assassination list, use of drones for civilian monitoring, the TRUE impact of OBCare,
>and a whole host of other campaigns against our basic freedoms,
We now have an establishment MAJOR PLAYER admitting that there is a covert program to convert incoming newly elected and uncompromised representatives over to the dark side.
Where are we to find a glimmer of hope for this once great nation??
1st. Romney won’t be implementing any more gun control than we have now. He simply won’t be compelled to by a non-existent majority on the left. In fact, the reality is we will have the numbers on our side, not just in Republicans but in Democrats who cherish the 2nd Ammendment.
2nd. The context of “Where there are opportunities for people of reasonable minds to come together and find common ground, that’s the kind of legislation I like.”
It isn’t that he approves of more gun control but the context of what he said is that he prefers bipartisan legislation.
4th. Romney is an opportunist and a manager. He will look to a majority Congress for direction on issues he will support.
#1 FUMR
Conservative Vermont Vet is history and good riddance!
It was only my opinion on what Romney said in the interview which I watched. I agree with the quote in your post.
THX
An EXCELLENT shirt treatise on the 2ndA.
Here’s my position for what it’s worth:
There should be ABSOLUTELY NO debate about the Second Amendment.
(a) It is NOT about hunting, target practice/competitive shooting or protecting your home and family.
(b) It’s sole purpose was to guarantee to We the People a method of replacing the gubmint if and when exercise of the FIRST Amendment rights failed to resolve conflicts.
(c) Had gun registration been in place in 1776, the Brits would have confiscated them all, and today we’d all be speaking with British accents.
END OF DISCUSSION.
That is truly conservative thinking.
(By the way, my felony was bearing arms and no I didn't threaten anyone with a gun, I simply possessed it - I'm in Illinois)
Wow. I thought he was already gone, LOL!
The first shots of the American revolution were fired over gun control. The Brits were coming to lexington to confiscate weapons, gun powder, and lead.
C'mon, LH, just the way you wrote that says you're not happy with the situation. If you're an ABO, then we need you to hold Romney's feet to the fire. Send a letter to his campaign and tell him to quit making dumb comments.
There is no law that says you have to go in lockstep with every silly thing a canddiate says.
I failed to appear for court on a drunk driving charge some 20 years ago.
Oh the horrors, no telling what kind of bloodthirsty behavior a handgun might cause me to do.
Romney doesn’t have a reasonable mind when it comes to gun control, he’s a gun grabber just like Chuckie and his Rat cronies.
We have to get Conservatives in office down the ticket to thwart whichever turkey is elected to WH in this election.
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