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| Now turn your barrel and cough. |
It's a given that every Republican presidential candidate will run for president as a strong supporter of gun rights.
But Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is arguing that the Second Amendment includes a right to revolt against government tyranny, a point of emphasis uncommon for mainstream presidential candidates.
"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," Cruz wrote to supporters in a fundraising email on Thursday, under the subject line "2nd Amendment against tyranny."
This "insurrectionist" argument, as Second Amendment expert and UCLA law professor Adam Winkler calls it, is popular among passionate gun owners and members of the National Rifle Association. But major party candidates for president don't often venture there.
"Most presidential candidates who support Second Amendment rights focus on self defense. In the past many have also emphasized hunting," said Winkler, author of the 2011 book Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. "It's pretty rare for a presidential candidate to support the right of the people to revolt against the government."
For those who are confused about, or may have forgotten, exactly what the 2nd Amendment says:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Now some interpret this to mean that every citizen should be allowed to own and carry on their person any weapon of their choosing in case their government got a little uppity. But other folks, let's call them "rational," believe the forefathers simply wanted to ensure that "well regulated militias" had access to weapons in order to quell unrest within their states or to defend against attack from a foreign government.
You know I would agree with Ted Cruz only if I was assured that the very first government representative to have a gun shoved in their face by a freedom loving patriot was Ted Cruz himself.
I wonder how many bullets he would have to dodge before completely rethinking this position?
Is it wrong that I would like to find out?
I wonder how the average gun nut would defend himself against a drone strike.
ReplyDeleteThat is the point you aren't getting 4:29.
DeleteWhew. A revolution to overthrow Ted Cruz. Really. There's a much easier, less expensive way: vote Democratic.
ReplyDeleteGod Almighty, no one has tried to take guns away from anybody in this country (although it might be a good idea to do so). All that those among us, who are sane, is serious gun legislation in every state. And, I might add, laws that punish adults if the children in their care shoot anyone. And, I might also add, laws that protect require police personnel in every state to learn how to police without shooting first and thinking later. Ted Cruz is an idiot. Remember Michele Bachmann the teabaggers she surrounded herself with on the steps of the Capitol to lead a revolution. She seemed okay with an armed revolt. These Republicans would shoot themselves in the foot first if you handed them guns.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
I love the thoughts in your head Beaglemom.
DeleteDisclosure - I had a beagle as a child and adore snoopy.
I'll supply the weaponry if they aim higher than their foot.
Delete"Is it wrong that I would like to find out?"
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all. I join with you in that thought.
It was my first thought. Second was has either of the Cruzes read any history that's not in the Bible?
DeleteConnie, this is what they don't get. They're stuck in the Old Testament and refuse to acknowledge that when Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was rendered in two putting an end to Moses Law.
DeletePardon me, Gryph and fellow atheists, but what these people are doing is NOT anything Christian whatsoever. What they're trying to "take this country back" to is downright horrifying.
I am certain our founding fathers had no inkling military grade weapons nor were they advocating for a non-democratic take over of the government by extremists.
ReplyDeleteDude, you are the Government!
ReplyDeleteWell, if he is sincere and not a cowardly hypocrite, his first act as president would be to dismiss his Secret Service detail so as not to impede the 2nd amendment rights of any citizen who felt the need to act against perceived government tyranny, right?
ReplyDeleteYes.
Deletedowl
So where was Ted Cruz while Dumbya was on his crusade to slash and burn America? Why didn't he and his militia rise up and kick Georgie Boy's ass?
ReplyDeleteHey Teddy Boy, you would have to prove tyranny....talk is cheap. Playing to the Bundy Bunch and the KKK.
ReplyDeleteIt's astounding to me how much flak Tim McGraw is taking for headlining the upcoming Sandy Hook Benefit Concert. There really are people out there that think it never happened but another government set-up to take away their gunz.
DeleteThese are the whack jobs that Cruz and Palin appeal to. The absolute dregs that cannot keep enough tin foil in their house for the hats they don.
Article I, Sec. 8 of the Constitution they claim to revere soooooo much is absolutely clear on what the sainted founding fathers meant by a militia and what that militia was for.
ReplyDelete".....To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
Follow that up with facts of the Whiskey Rebellion.....
Pompous
ReplyDeleteRepugnant
Irresponsible
Cynical
Kink
Ok. For the dumbasses out there, and there are quite a few. The founding fathers did not have a standing army. The young country could not afford to pay for one. Hell, during the Revolutionary War, when the money ran out, the conscripted solders ran away. Militias were how we formed our army. Civilians had to have guns. The country could not afford a huge arsenal. When conflict arose, an army was formed from the militias, and funded by the States Representatives. Pretty simple concept. We have read a lot into the 2nd Amendment, since it was drafted. By the way, for the patriots (or idiots), if it we not for the French, we would still be drinking tea. Sarah you are a stoopid bitch. Shut up with your lies already.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about "a well-regulated militia" do they not understand?
ReplyDeleteThey would jail any outlaw who had AK-47s hidden under their bed.
The state-run militia was to protect the citizens from the ungovernable who seek to bring down the government on their own.
It's there in plain English. It's not what the NRA shouts about.
They do that to increase paranoia and, therefore, their corporate profits.
It takes a certain personality disorder to keep feeling paranoid within their own communities. The Founding Fathers weren't paranoid.
They don't read and they certainly can't interpret.
DeleteNo critical thinking skills.
They rely on the likes of Limbaugh and Cruz to tell them what to think and the NRA to tell them how to vote.
These nutjobber talibangelicals have been telling everyone exactly what they want to do. Seize control (by whatever means necessary) and eliminate the infidels (whoops heretics).
ReplyDeleteThis is more of the same.
Cruz is correct. Gryph is wrong.
ReplyDeleteIf one day, future failed-presidential-aspirant Theodore "Ted" Cruise decides to demonstrate how one angry, angry man with an AK47 and a box of teflon coated cop-killer bullets can topple a tyrannical US government led by a black man of uncertain origins and unreliable religious affiliations, I pray to Jeebus that the members of the SWAT team summoned to "quell the insurrection" are all wearing body cams. I'm not advocating bloodshed, but if Ted chooses to turn his foolish anti-American rhetoric to suicidal action, I'd like to see the results on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteWho is Theodore "Ted" Cruise? Are you referring to Rafael Eduardo Cruz? He is not proud of his given name. Does Cruz not appreciate his Cuban Heritage? How does one get 'Ted' from Eduardo?
DeleteI like "America's Top Model" as much as anyone else, but it isn't Tyra's knees that got her the show. Ted needs to do some reading before he sends out e mails that misinterpret the constitution. He's gunning for leader of the free world, and his interpretation is just laughable.
ReplyDelete"Just turn your barrel and cough" Great Advice!
While there will be a few nuts that will still vote for him, this will eliminate more than it gains. If the media hammers on it. If it's ignored and swept under the media rug, not so much.
ReplyDelete'baggers and rabid right wing will vote the company line and anyone with an R next to their name gets a pass.
Plus...the only President worse than a black man is a white woman. Right? I can see their bumper stickers now.