Walter Mitty's Second Amendment

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 16 Feb 2002 13:00:00 GMT
Mike Shelton - Olympic Authority - cartoon commentary on the "authorities" in charge of the Olympics. My title. Hehe.

Mike Shelton - Global Warming God - cartoon commentary on GW's response to "global warming". Again, my title. Hehe.

From The Federalist:

As for money [in politics], it's just a symptom. Overweening government has wormed its way into nearly every aspect of our lives. Our pervasive regulatory and redistributive state creates huge incentives for profiteering. Because of the big government problem there's a big money problem. By cutting government down to size, we can minimize the influence of big money. Restoring the Framers' notion of enumerated, delegated and thus limited powers will get the state out of our lives and out of our wallets. That's the best way to end the campaign-finance racket and root out venality without jeopardizing political expression. Until then, let's protect political ads at least as much as we protect Internet porn and flag burning. The suppression of political speech is intolerable in a free society. Not surprisingly, when the state tries to control political information, powerful forces work to outwit the system. That's the way it should be if the First Amendment means anything. -- Robert A. Levy

I finished Jeff Snyder's Nation of Cowards. Truly marvelous stuff! Don't miss it. It's a collection of essays that were previously published, some with different titles, mostly in American Handgunner. One of my favorites, though they're all incredible, was "Walter Mitty's Second Amendment", an email version of which you can order for $4 here. We've kept our right to keep and bear arms, but we haven't kept our liberties, because each time they've been taken from us, we've rolled over, secure in our ability to defend them with guns when necessary. But Mr. Snyder said it really well. My ten second take-away from the book: It's not about guns. It's about your right to life. You don't need anybody's permission to defend your life. No amount of statistics, no legislature, no law, and no court has any affect whatsoever on that right, unless you allow it. How you choose to defend yourself is also nobody's business, unless you initiate force. But read the book. There's a lot in there.

DRCNet - Half of Governor Johnson's Drug Reform Package Passes as Brief New Mexico Legislative Session Ends - he didn't manage to decriminalize pot, but he did significantly restrict civil asset forfeiture and got rid of some mandatory minimums. Good work Mr. Johnson! [drcnet]

  • Civil asset forfeiture reform. The bill enacted by the legislature will require that a defendant be convicted of a crime before that person's assets are frozen. Proceeds from any assets lawfully forfeited will go to a crime victim fund, with any left over going for drug treatment, prevention and enforcement. Under current law, local law enforcement agencies kept all asset forfeiture proceeds.
  • Reform of sentencing laws to remove some mandatory minimums. The bill passed this week will allow judges to exercise discretion in enhancing sentences for habitual offenders if either the current or at least one of the prior offenses was a drug offense. Under the old law, judges must enhance sentences.

Garry Reed, The Loose Cannon Libertarian - Nannies On Parade - tongue-in-cheek response to news stories from the nanny state. Hehe.

In a related story, 25 tons of Tennessee Moon Pies with an estimated street value of $1.2 billion were seized in a sting operation by armed agents of the Federal Office of Official Diets (FOOD). Moon Pies are manufactured in clandestine labs known to the underworld as "bakeries." The seized contraband tested positive for sugar.

Andre Goldman at Laissez Faire Electronic Times - Relativism and Absolutes - Mr. Goldman points out the falacies in many pithy phrases. Some things are relative. Much of the world we deal with every day is absolute. [grabbe]

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