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To: pgkdan
Other than Alito and Roberts on the court has Bush brought ANY true conservatives to serve in his administration???

The guy who was over the FBI, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was pretty good, at least on the RKBA. He wrote:

let me state unequivocally my view that the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms.

While some have argued that the Second Amendment guarantees only a “collective” right of the States to maintain militias, I believe the Amendment’s plain meaning and original intent prove otherwise. Like the First and Fourth Amendments, the Second Amendment protects the rights of “the people” which the Supreme Court has noted is a term of art that should be interpreted consistently throughout the Bill of Rights. United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259, 265 (1990) (plurality opinion). Just as the First and Fourth Amendment secure individual rights of speech and security respectively, the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to keep and bear arms. This view of the text comports with the all but unanimous understanding of the Founding Fathers. See, e.g. Federalist No. 45 (Madison); Federalist No. 29 (Hamilton); see also, Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1764 (“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”). George Mason at Virginia’s U.S. Constitution ratification convention 1788 (“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people . . . To Disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”)
...
In light of this vast body of evidence, I believe it is clear that the Constitution protects the private ownership of firearms for lawful purposes. As I was reminded during my confirmation hearing, some hold a different view and would, in effect, read the Second Amendment out of the Constitution. I must respectfully disagree with this view

182 posted on 07/01/2008 12:57:29 PM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: El Gato

Personally, I think that Ashcroft’s hard-line stance on RKBA issues and b00bies on statuary are why Jorge Arbusto replaced him.


193 posted on 07/01/2008 1:05:03 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
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