ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

 

No individual of any age has a need or a right to own and carry an assault weapon or an AK-anything.  It is not needed for hunting, target practice or protection.  The one and only purpose of an assault rifle is in its name – to assault.

Conservative icon Barry Goldwater once said (highlight is mine) –

“I've never used an automatic or semi-automatic for hunting. There's no need to. They have no place in anybody's arsenal.”

We must totally ban all assault weapons.  It should be illegal for an individual to purchase, own and carry an AK-47, an assault rifle, or any such weapon, or anything that converts a traditional rifle into an assault weapon.  Upon passage of the ban legislation the government should begin a program to buy back all currently held assault weapons.   

The Second Amendment to the Constitution has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with a citizen’s personal right to carry any kind of gun. 

Conservative former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Warren Burger, nominated to the Court by Nixon, has observed –

“The Gun Lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American People by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”

He explained –

“The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies – the militia – would be maintained for the defense of the state.”

The state militias that existed in the time of the Revolution have been replaced by state police, the National Guard and the US Armed Forces.  State militias no longer exist – so the Second Amendment is obsolete and has no application today.

The sale, purchase, and use of guns should be regulated just as automobiles and boats are regulated – as Burger suggested in 1992.

I believe -

* All gun owners must have a valid license, which must be renewed every year. The initial issuance of a license must be based on a thorough and comprehensive background check.

* To get a license a person must pass a written test and a “practical” test. Gun licensees must demonstrate they know how to properly operate and maintain a gun.

* Underage individuals must not be allowed to own guns.  The minimum age for a driving license is usually 17, but the minimum age for owning a traditional gun should be 18.

* Gun owners must be required to have insurance similar to auto insurance.

* We must title and tag each gun at point of purchase, so each gun is registered in a local data base and law enforcement can know if a person is stockpiling an excessive number of guns.

* Guns must be inspected at least every other year.

We have had too many mass shooting tragedies not to act.  The Republican Party must acknowledge that American lives are more important than political contributions.

TODAY’S “RIGHT-WING” ARE NOT TRUE CONSERVATIVES!

 

Today’s extreme “right-wingers” have no concept of true conservative philosophy and should NOT be called “conservatives”.

The political agenda of the so-called “Evangelicals” of the religious right is contrary to true conservative policy.

Abortion, homosexuality or same-sex marriage are NOT conservative issues – they are religious issues.

The ability OF an individual to own an assault rifle or AK-47 or the like is not part of the Second Amendment protection – and an assault rifle ban is perfectly allowable under any interpretation of the Second Amendment.  Protecting an individual’s right to own an assault rifle is NOT a true conservative policy.

Nobody can doubt that Barry Goldwater was a true conservative.  Here are a few of his quotes-

“I've never used an automatic or semi-automatic for hunting. There's no need to. They have no place in anybody's arsenal.”

“Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy.”

“The great decisions of government cannot be dictated by the concerns of religious factions. We have succeeded for 205 years in keeping the affairs of state separate from the uncompromising idealism of religious groups and we mustn't stop now. To retreat from that separation would violate the principles of conservatism and the values upon which the framers built this democratic republic.”

“I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process.”

“I am frankly sick and tired of the political preachers telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?”

“A woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.”

“The conservative movement, to which I subscribe, has as one of its basic tenets the belief that government should stay out of people’s private lives. Government governs best when it governs least – and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone’s version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays.”

“You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.”

“Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar.”

“The big thing is to make this country quit discriminating against people just because they're gay. You don't have to agree with it, but they have a constitutional right to be gay. They're American citizens.”

THIS I BELIEVE

 

Every single Republican in Congress who does not vocally recognize and acknowledge that the January 6^th attack on the Capital was a traitorous and treasonous terrorist attack - no different than the 9/11 attacks - and not just an attack on the Capital building but an attack on American democracy,

AND

does not vocally denounce EACH and EVERY person who instigated, facilitated and participated in the attack and insist that ALL be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law, as terrorists and traitors . . .

MUST be vilified and voted out of office ASAP.

They are not fit to hold national public office.  They have totally abandoned their oath and responsibility to protect the Constitution.

 

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THESE PAST FIVE YEARS?

 

Here, in my opinion, is what we have learned from the Trump debacle.

30+-% of Americans have apparently historically been ignorant and/or racist.  The Trump presidency emboldened and empowered these racist morons, turning them into an actual organized voting bloc.

While this 30% is a minority of Americans it is a majority of Republicans – because Trump’s core cult of ignorant racists, which includes bigoted extreme fundamentalist alleged “Christians”, tends to gravitate toward more right-wing politics.

The remaining actual intelligent and true conservative “traditional” Republicans when added to the majority of Democrats adds up to between 67% and 70% of Americans, which is why 2/3 of Americans, a majority, have always opposed Trump and his lies and nonsense, and oppose the policies and beliefs of today’s Trump-embracing Republican Party.

Clearly the greatest enemy of America, American values and American democracy is today’s Republican Party, which has observed that a majority of its current members are ignorant racists and consistently panders to their ignorance and bigotry.