What if we could go back in time for an hour and ask the founding fathers what they meant? Would we still allow just about anyone with enough money to buy a gun?
What if the tea party was black?
What if the Supreme Court hadn’t overstepped its authority and appointed George W. Bush president?
What if we hadn’t invaded Iraq?
So many “what ifs” I spend too much time pondering. Today, we’ll address the first two questions.
Free Press Senior Editor and “Superpower of Peace” columnist Harvey Wasserman is also senior advisor to Greenpeace USA and the Nuclear Information & Resource Service. He is author or co-author of a dozen books, including SOLARTOPIA! OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH, A.D. 2030 and HARVEY WASSERMAN’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. His latest missive, “The Second Amendment DEMANDS gun control” spells out my thoughts on the matter. He’ll join us in the first hour of the show to discuss the piece and what the founders meant by “a well regulated milita.”
The Second Amendment DEMANDS Gun Control, by Harvey Wasserman
COLUMNS
Harvey WassermanThe Second Amendment DEMANDS gun control
January 13, 2011The Second Amendment supports those of us who would CONTROL guns—and thus prevent the insane slaughter that compromises our security.
James Madison and the Founders of this nation would be enraged to see the Second Amendment being used to put guns in the hands of the Tucson shooter and so many others like him.
The debate over the violent hatespeak of Sarah “Lock & Load” Palin and her Foxist ilk is long overdue.
But so is a careful national reawakening to what the Second Amendment actually 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.”
Of the first Ten Amendments, this is the only one that contains a rationale for what it requires.
The Bill of Rights is the law of the land, clearly stated. Guarantees of religion, speech, assembly, the press, freedom from torture and so much more are natural rights, inherent to the human condition.
But the right to bear arms is granted only in the context of a well-regulated militia and thus the security of a free state.
A National Guard, yes. Heavily-armed lunatics roaming the streets unregulated….NEVER!
Lawyers and the courts have been fighting over guns for 220 years, since that great day in 1791 when this magnificent document was ratified. The essence of the Founders’ intent was embodied in the Supreme Court’s 1939 Miller decision, the prevailing judicial view until the recent coming of a hard right NRA-based court very much out of synch with the sane balance our nation has tried to maintain between gun rights and the public good.
As we’ve just seen in Tucson, these faux “conservatives” have allowed renegade ownership of rapid-firing instruments of wholesale slaughter.
This imbalance clearly threatens “the security of a free state.” The Second Amendment says access to these weapons must be strictly regulated.
As a free and lawful people, we have the LEGAL DUTY to end this unconstitutional madness.
Make no mistake: this murder and mayhem has been made possible by the claim to a Constitutional right that is NOT there.
The assassins and mass murderers who continue to threaten our national security make ever so clear the reason for the Founders’ demand that gun ownership be regulated.
These are dark times for those who demand sane regulation of gun ownership. But courts come and go. Public opinion and political power, like the common law, change and evolve. These murders in Tucson—just the latest in a long, horrifying, thoroughly avoidable procession of senseless, gun-inflicted tragedies—underscore once again that this is a struggle we can never abandon.
And in continuing to do this work, gun control advocates must not cede a legal inch. WE are the the ones with the REAL “Second Amendment remedy”….the clear Constitutional demand for a “regulated” gun ownership that serves rather than destroys the “security of a free state.”
—
Harvey Wasserman’s History of the United States is available athttp://www.harveywasserman.co
In the second hour, we’ll think about the climate in this country if the tea party was made up of black people instead of what it is made up of. The question was asked in a very creative way by MC, activist and entrepreneur Jasiri X:
- What if the tea party was black
Holding guns like the Black Panther Party was back
If Al was Rush Limbaugh and Jesse was Sean Hannity
And Tavis was Glenn Beck would they harm they families
If Sarah Palin was suddenly Sistah Soaljah
Would they leave it with the votes or go and get the soldiers
Yall know if the tea party was black
The government would have been had the army attackWhat if Michael Baisden was on ya FM dial
For 3 hours every day calling the president foul
Would they say free speech or find evidence how
To charge him with treason like see he’s unamerican now
What if Minister Farrakhan prayed for the death
Of the commander in chief that he be laid to rest
Would they treat it as the gravest threat or never make an arrest
Even today he’s still hated for less
What if President Obama would have lost the election
Quit his job so he could go talk to the left and
Bash the government for being off of direction
Fraught with deception
And told black people they want all of our weapons
And we want our own country and called for secession
Would he be arrested and tossed in corrections
For trying to foster aggression
Against the people’s lawful selection
Our questionsWhat if the tea party was black
Holding guns like the Black Panther Party was back
If Al was Rush Limbaugh and Jesse was Sean Hannity
And Tavis was Glenn Beck would they harm they families
If Sarah Palin was suddenly Sistah Soaljah
Would they leave it with the votes or go and get the soldiers
Yall know if the tea party was black
The government would have been had the army attackWhat If black people went on Facebook and made a page
That for the death if the president elect we prayed
Would the creators be tazed and thrown in a cage
We know the page wouldn’t have been displayed all these days
What if Jeremiah Wright said that everybody white
Wasn’t a real America would you feel scared of him
If he had a militia with pictures that depict the president as Hitler
They would kill and bury that
Wait
What if Cynthia McKinney lamented the winning of the new president
And hinted he wasn’t really a true resident
With no proof or evidence
Would the media treat it like a huge press event
They would have attacked whatever group she represents
They would have called her a kook on precedent
And any network that gave her due preference
Would be the laughing stock of the news so our question isWhat if the tea party was black
Holding guns like the Black Panther Party was back
If Al was Rush Limbaugh and Jesse was Sean Hannity
And Tavis was Glenn Beck would they harm they families
If Sarah Palin was suddenly Sistah Soaljah
Would they leave it with the votes or go and get the soldiers
Yall know if the tea party was black
The government would have been had the army attack- released 04 October 2010
Written by Jasiri X
Produced by Cynik Lethal
Check out Jasiri X’s “4 Haiti” too…