I am not one of those people who believe the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights limits ONLY the central (Federal) government.
A Washington Examiner article on 20 July 2014 by Blake Seitz contains the phrase, "the constitutionally-enshrined authority of the 50 states to do wrongheaded things."
Oh geez please, Mr. Orthodox Libertarian!
California, for example, has already gone plenty overboard on the Wrongheaded Things, and the process of judicial Right-heading of these things seems injuriously slow. What should be unconstitutional restrictions on the first amendment right to free speech are tolerated in California and elsewhere because of some people's unscientific but strongly held belief that the murder of unborn children has overriding benefits. What should be unconstitutional restrictions on the second amendment right to keep and bear arms are tolerated (method-of-carry bans, ammo bans, handgun roster bans, rifle and shotgun bans by type...) because of some people's unscientific but strongly held belief that, well, guns are scary. Or something. I am sure that California would try to figure out a way around the third amendment to quarter troops (or surplus prison population?) in the homes of citizens if Sacramento politicians could find a way to make a buck out of it. Same with all of the Bill of Rights.
There are limits to the "constitutionally-enshrined authority of the 50 states to do wrongheaded things." Limits that are and of right ought to be imposed by the United States upon the several states. Yes I am in favor of strong central government within the limits of Madisonian (Constitutional) Federalism.
What kind of conservative are you, anyway! (I can hear straw Libertarians jeering like a line of stoats and weasels behind the fence.)
I guess I'm just much closer to being a Theodore Roosevelt conservative than I am to being a Murray Rothbard pro-abort eugenist holocaust-denier anarcho-libertarian.
Showing posts with label constitution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label constitution. Show all posts
7/21/2014
2/25/2013
Platelet Theory
About 40 years ago I had an accident with a power tool. An immortal and infallible teenager working for a general contractor who did home remodels, I got into a shoving match with a bottom-of-the-line Skil brand 6" circular saw. The dull blade bound up, kicked back, bounced off my torso, and back into my left hand. This was going to require stitches.
As it turned out, no tendons or bones had been terribly damaged. Many stitches and many years later, it's good as new, plus the added features of having a Wizard Grade lightning-shaped scar on the second knuckle of my left thumb, plus the ability to predict rain 36 hours in advance. (Don't ask me how it works, but I can feel it.)
But here's what I want to focus on today: on the way to the Emergency Clinic, the bleeding stopped.
In a battle between skin and steel, skin always loses. Blood will flow. But the instant the bleeding starts, it also starts to stop. At least the body attempts to stop the loss of blood. Clotting agents being present in sufficient number, and absent high pressure arterial bleeding, the bleeding will stop.
Here's the point. One platelet cannot stop the bleeding. But a whole bunch can. At least they can do their microscopic damnedest to stop it.
What I'm really talking about is Gun Control.
What good can one armed citizen do against the might of a tyrannical government? That question is used to pooh-pooh the idea that Joe Citizen's right to keep and bear arms was spelled out in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States because Joe just might have to do something to stop a Government Gone Wrong. One armed citizen -- what good can that do? Might as well turn all those guns in and trust to the benignity of the controlling power. What good can one armed citizen do when the bloodletting starts?
What good can one platelet do when the bleeding starts?
We The People act in unison to defend as well as originally to create these United States. And yes the fact that the people are free to keep and bear firearms is important every day, whether called into action or not. Only by being extremely numerous and widely spread can the body politic be adequately protected by these platelets of freedom.
As it turned out, no tendons or bones had been terribly damaged. Many stitches and many years later, it's good as new, plus the added features of having a Wizard Grade lightning-shaped scar on the second knuckle of my left thumb, plus the ability to predict rain 36 hours in advance. (Don't ask me how it works, but I can feel it.)
But here's what I want to focus on today: on the way to the Emergency Clinic, the bleeding stopped.
In a battle between skin and steel, skin always loses. Blood will flow. But the instant the bleeding starts, it also starts to stop. At least the body attempts to stop the loss of blood. Clotting agents being present in sufficient number, and absent high pressure arterial bleeding, the bleeding will stop.
Here's the point. One platelet cannot stop the bleeding. But a whole bunch can. At least they can do their microscopic damnedest to stop it.
What I'm really talking about is Gun Control.
What good can one armed citizen do against the might of a tyrannical government? That question is used to pooh-pooh the idea that Joe Citizen's right to keep and bear arms was spelled out in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States because Joe just might have to do something to stop a Government Gone Wrong. One armed citizen -- what good can that do? Might as well turn all those guns in and trust to the benignity of the controlling power. What good can one armed citizen do when the bloodletting starts?
What good can one platelet do when the bleeding starts?
We The People act in unison to defend as well as originally to create these United States. And yes the fact that the people are free to keep and bear firearms is important every day, whether called into action or not. Only by being extremely numerous and widely spread can the body politic be adequately protected by these platelets of freedom.
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