The Second Amendment has fared relatively well considering the unremitting war waged against it by the left. To the degree that the Second Amendment retains for us the right to bear arms as a real constitutional right, it does so because the NRA has generated enough political clout to intimidate politicians, even Democrats, into good behavior. The lesson I learn from this is that top down politics are doomed in the long run to fail us. The Republican establishment is a despicable example of an elite, ruling class that attempts to retain its power by running top down campaigns every two or four years. The NRA has run a bottom up campaign that has long-term power and has been extremely effective. The Republican establishment has failed time after time with its top down approach.
I am wary of expecting more from politicians then we have forced them to deliver. It is a rare politician that attains the stature of Ronald Reagan who can actually stand against overwhelming forces to maintain his conservative principles. I am willing to forgive him some missteps. I am not willing to forgive, for example Lindsey Graham who will cave on every left-wing judicial appointment. But the real failure, and the real remedy, is to find a bottom up way to force the Lindsey Grahams of this world to behave themselves or go.
It is foolish to blame politicians for flip-flopping or for being "mushy" when it is the electorate, Pogo, it is us, that demands them to be so.
Culture trumps politics and bottom up beats top-down.
