The Gun is Mine

Well, it looks like the Supreme Court got one right yesterday. By a razor thin margin of 5 - 4 the court affirmed the Second Amendment conveys an individual right to the people, and that total gun bans are unconstitutional. Thank God.

Please ignore all the news stories you've read about how this finally settles the "ambiguity" inherent in the second amendment. There's nothing ambiguous about it. It states:

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.

Some people believe that this means that guns are only allowed for the purposes of the State governments forming militias. This ignores the fact that 200 years ago the people and militias were interchangeable. "You have a gun? Good, get your ass down here. We're forming a militia. Yeah, just like last week".

Regardless, the text couldn't be clearer. The authors simply put their reason for the right before the right. It could have just as easily read "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, because we know we need militias". The only people that think that is ambiguous are people that don't like guns. They wish that it didn't guarantee a right of the people, and delude themselves into believing that while the other nine amendments in the Bill of Rights all convey rights to individuals, the second applies to the state governments. Ok.

What should scare you and all your friends is that four justices on the court thought that they could change the constitution based on their political beliefs. Four unelected individuals were about to change one of your fundamental rights as an American because a) they could, and b) they didn't like that right. Make no mistake, this was a victory for freedom loving Americans. And I thought I'd sleep easier knowing that they ruled the correct way. But I'm scared about how close we came to losing our right to self-defense. And for those of you that hate guns, what if this had been about freedom of speech, or the right to a speedy trial? How would you feel if you had been one vote away from losing something like that?

I'm thankful for the way it turned out, but it illustrates how important the upcoming presidential election will be. If Gore had been president then Justices Alito and Roberts wouldn't be there, and I would no longer have the right to keep and bear arms. Today Obama said he supported the court's decision, but that makes little sense considering he opposed two of the judges that ruled for the second amendment, i.e. Alito and Roberts. Even if I had had no other reasons, I would have been happy to vote Bush over Gore or Kerry simply because of judicial appointments.

Our founding fathers never intended for the supreme court to have this kind of power. Few people realize that the court granted itself the authority to rule on the constitutionality of a law. Think carefully this fall when you cast your vote. When it comes to judicial appointments it's not about conservative versus liberal. It's about who will do the job of a judge, and who will legislate from the bench.

MLK - man, do we miss you

There are quite a few articles and television programs honoring the assassination anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. this weekend. Many speculative articles are coming out asking "what would have happened if he had lived?" The more appropriate question is "what happened because he died?"

First, let me say that I truly believe MLK was a great man. Free of flaws? No, he was human like us all, but I am an admirer. The negative impact of his death on blacks and America in general almost can't be measured. His death opened the door to race-baiting jerks like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. It opened the door to preachers like Jeremiah Wright that profess anger, lies, divisiveness, hate and a focus on the past; rather than peace, equality, unity and a focus on the future.

I have to believe that the lack of King's influence these past decades contributed to the decay of black culture and society. Unwed teenage mothers are practically an epidemic in the black community. Black leaders encourage an entitlement system that made blacks slaves again - slaves to government handouts and reverse discrimination, destroying ambition and pride.

Whether King's assassination was the work of one man or a conspiracy, it has had far reaching effects. Blacks lost their spiritual, moral and political captain, and they've been adrift every since, to their detriment and America's.

President Obama - get used to it.

I rarely make predictions, even though I'm more than competent to do so. There's a fairly safe one I can make right now: assuming Obama gets the Democrat nomination he'll be the next president of the USA.

"But H.K.," you ask, "how can someone who has so little experience, few accomplishments, and who clearly doesn't know the first thing about our Constitution become president?" Well, it all starts with McCain, and hinges around him. He is obviously going to be the Republican nominee. Now, if you put Hillary up against him she would make him look statesmanlike and seasoned, and he would make her look like a bitter, socialist shrew.

But, if you put Obama up against him, McCain will look like a withered, angry white guy, and he'll make Obama look like a vibrant, young everyman.

The other factor is the mainstream (i.e. liberal) media. Even though many on the left like McCain for pissing off fellow Republicans, they won't support him. They'll be behind Obama 100%, and they'll do everything in their power to cover up his deficiencies and make his empty populist rhetoric seem substantive.

Is the country ready to elect a black man to the nation's highest post? I think so. Plenty of white people feel we continue to owe the black community...something. I can't imagine what anyone owes them at this point, but plenty of people will feel like they've put the check in the mail by voting for Obama. Done and done.

Plus after eight years of Bush people want "change". What, exactly, do they want to change? They don't fucking know. They hear the media tell them that millions of people don't have healthcare, or that we're torturing people, or that the economy is in the tank. Great, let's elect someone who will give us Canada's healthcare system, which is so great Canadians come down here to get treated. Let's just ask captured terrorists nicely to tell us their plans. Maybe a little ice cream will loosen those tongues? And let's take more money out of the pockets of people that actually earn it, and give it to bums that don't. That will surely help the economy.

Wait, I get it. You're pissed about Iraq? You want to "bring the troops" home. You do realize Obama refuses to pledge he'll immediately start a troop withdrawal if elected?

Anyway, McCain won't stand a snowball's chance in Hell against Obama. The media will make sure you think he is JFK with a tan, and that McCain is old and crazy. I hope to God my prediction is wrong, but I doubt it will be. We'll have at least four years of liberal judge appointees, empty talk about universal health care, a relaxing of our fight against muslim extremists, pillaging evil corporations, etc.

There's a small chance that McCain and Company will do an effective enough job of making Obama look like the ultra-liberal neophyte that he is. They might do an effective enough job of making McCain look like a comfortable grandfather we can trust in. But I doubt it.

President Obama. I don't like the sound of that, but at this point I might as well get used to it.

Merry Christmas - except in the Holy Land

It's very easy to be a Christian. Christianity is unique among the world's major religions. As a Christian, you do not have to perform any tasks to get into heaven. Jesus loved us so much he died for all our sins, including yours. He took the heat for you so you can get into heaven. All you have to do is acknowledge Jesus as your savior, and you're in. Many people (I'm looking at you, Catholics) have the mistaken belief that you can't get into heaven unless you perform good works or jump through certain hoops. That's simply not the case. Your faith in Christ gets you in. We, as Christians, do good works and try to lead a Christ-like life because that's what he'd like us to do. Contrary to popular belief, it is very unlikely that St. Peter is there at the pearly gates with his book to list off all your sins. Jesus has opened the door for you, if you're willing to walk in.

And so we reach Christmas again. We reflect upon the importance of Jesus's birth in light of what he did for us. It's very easy to gather round the tree, in front of the fireplace, and honor his birthday with gifts to each other in our Western world. But for many Christians, all they have this Christmas is Jesus' message. No, I'm not necessarily talking about the poor and homeless, although they certainly deserve our attention. I'm talking about persecuted Christians throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East. Even today, when we get bombarded with media attacks against Christianity or we see our fellow Christians everywhere we go, there are Christians that are clinging very tightly to the message of "peace on earth".

Muslim persecution of Christians goes largely unnoticed by the mainstream media. As you read this, in the Middle East (where Jesus was born and from where his message spread througout the world) Christians are becoming an endangered species. That seems so hard to fathom here, where there is a church on every corner, and we are almost led to feel guilty about how many of us there are and how our religion is pushed on people when we simply say "merry christmas".

But right now some Christians live in fear because of there beliefs. For a brief moment in 2001 this country felt what it is like to be those Christians, but we've quickly forgotten. I highly encourage you to read this article:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWEwZGJiMDEyOWU0ZWM0YWNmMThmMmQyOWQyZDM1OGI=

and do more research yourself. Let us not forget our brethern in the Holy Land this Christmas. Let us remember them in our prayers this Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Yes, it is very easy to be a Christian...for us.

If you're thinking of voting Democrat...

Couldn't have said this better myself:

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12269

Soldiers dying equals bad - killing babies equals good

Today on the way home I had a car in front of me with two interesting bumper stickers. One was calling for the troops to come home - specifically "bring them home ALIVE". On the other side of the bumper was a sticker saying Keep Abortion Legal.

I have to assume two things about this hypocrite. One, he probably didn't give a crap about soldiers before they could be used as an anti-Bush slogan. Two, he probably is ok with abortions all the way up to right before a birth would take place. Regardless, he wants all the soldiers to come home alive, but he's ok with mothers killing their unborn children. I bet he's against the dealth penalty, too. But...he has no problem with abortion.

If you're one of those people, please post a comment and explain your thinking to me. Soldiers sacrificing themselves for our freedom - not okay. Crimials convicted of heinous crimes being executed - not okay. Killing an unborn child for reasons as diverse as "I don't want it" to "it could really crimp my lifestyle" - okay?

Falcons follow-up

Ok, I was wrong about the Falcons. They'll be lucky to win five games this year, but it won't be Harrington's fault. He played a fantastic game against Carolina today. The o-line played well, too.

Why did they lose? DeAngelo Hall basically lost the game for us with those unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Stupid and juvenile. Is he a professional football player? Does he get paid millions to act like a jerk-off? He's so arrogant that he probably doesn't care (or perhaps realize) that he lost this game for the Falcons today. I hope his teammates tear him a new one. His penalties weren't the only ones, but his actions sucked the life out of the Falcons and breathed a new one into the Panthers. He negated what was an otherwise great effort by the whole team. Maybe someone will slip a tack in his shoe while he's in the showers.