Free Republic

David E. Young Interview Our guest today is David E. Young, author, historian researcher... Before we begin, a brief biography is in order to introduce some of you to who this man is, what he's done, and why it's important for RKBA activists to know about his significant work. Biographical Information: David E. Young Born, 1947, Flint, Michigan Graduated with high honors, Michigan State University, 1972, with Bachelor of Science Degree in Park and Recreation Resources specializing in Environmental Interpretation (Naturalist). Have minors in Music Composition, Mathematics, Earth Sciences, and Biology. Retired from career with Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources...

Barack Obama is sticking by his defense of same-sex unions, despite the likelihood that it will flare up as a general election issue because of today's California Supreme Court decision legalizing it. Here's the Obama camp's response to the court decision: "Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as President. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage." The Republicans are likely to...

Vetertans for Constitutional Restoration (VetsCoR) is re-organizing to further our purpose and goals. We are firm in our cause and now require professional writers to express our position. VetCoR is looking for volunteers who can articulate our goals and inform Joe-six-pack & Soccor Mom and all Americans about the loss of rights they continue to lose. If you are interested and have the writing skills, please reply on this thread or privately to my screen name or ping Neil E. Wright. We need professional writers to make our point. Thank you for any assistance.

Mission Creep: The expansion of a project or mission beyond its original goals, often after initial success... Scooted out to the west to go fishing this morning. It's kind of broken country out that way, some ups and downs, not a whole lot of choices in your radio listening pleasure. Wound up listening to a whole lot of political radio. Actually, what we listened to, was a whole lot of people running their yaps regarding what their chosen variety of poison presidential candidate was "going to do for America". About the third time someone mentioned "Obama", "Clinton", McCain", "service" and...

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has a few choice words for your hometown newspaper. In an editorial Thursday, the Star-Telegram called the Republican land commissioner's position on the Christmas Mountains untenable, and said that "his obstinate invocation of the gun issue in the discussion borders on obsession." In a response Thursday, Patterson cites the oath he took years ago as an officer of the United States Marine Corps. He also notes in his 400-plus word letter that the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram may consider my position 'untenable' and my zeal for the Bill of Rights 'obstinate' and an 'obsession,' but I...

John McCain is getting catcalls for his speech on Tuesday declaring his preference for Supreme Court Justices in the mold of John Roberts and Samuel Alito.

I apologize for the vanity, and hopefully this ends up in the right forum. My interest was really piqued though and I'm pretty sure there are a few folks here who can give me opinions. I was reading the Constitution this evening and noticed that the 24th Amendment states in part: "[Voting privlidges] shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." The part of the Amendment which I found intriguing is the last three words, "or other tax". The Federal Income Tax, and...

At least they're open about it: the New York Times disdains Supreme Court justices who hew to the principles upon which this country was founded. The Times's admission came in the course of an editorial calling on Obama and Clinton to put aside their bickering and focus on beating John McCain. That is vital, in the Times's view, given McCain's pledge to nominate Supreme Court justices in the mold of John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Writes the Times [emphasis added]: Mr. McCain predictably criticized liberal judges, vowed strict adherence to the Founders’ views and promised to appoint more judges in...

Do you know the difference between a conservative and a neoconservative, or neocon? This is not just a question of semantics. It’s far more important than that. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that the future of our country depends on understanding the crucial differences between the two philosophies – and rejecting the latter. All of this was brought home to me most forcefully when a longtime friend sent me a copy of the speech he delivered at the Constitution Party’s annual convention in Missouri last week. I’ll tell you more about John F. McManus and the organization...

WorldNetDaily.com quotes Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media as saying: "The bill defines the term 'Millennium Development Goals' as the goals set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration..." "In addition to seeking to eradicate poverty, that declaration commits nations to banning 'small arms and light weapons' and ratifying a series of treaties, including the International Criminal Court Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol (global warming treaty), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

The duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county. He has law enforcement powers that exceed that of any other state or federal official. This is settled law that most people are not aware of. County sheriffs in Wyoming have scored a big one for the 10th Amendment and states rights. The sheriffs slapped a federal intrusion upside the head and are insisting that all federal law enforcement officers and personnel from federal regulatory agencies must clear all their activity in a Wyoming County with the Sheriff’s Office. Deja vu for those who...

I don’t think I have to restate here the evidence of the failures of our public school system. While it is true that an education system cannot deal with the disintegration of American society that is ongoing (again, ample evidence of this is all around us), it is also true that those low-income families that want a good education for their children have no place to go. After pouring more and more money into public school systems for 40-50 years with only further deterioration taking place, it is clear to those not feeding off the system that more money is...

Constitution Party stunner: Chuck Baldwin KOs firebrand Alan Keyes Convening its national convention in Kansas City today, the Constitution Party picked radio talk-show host Chuck Baldwin over former Ambassador Alan Keyes as its 2008 presidential candidate. The pick was seen as something of an upset, given Keyes' higher national profile. Known for his fiery stem-winders, Keyes is a two-time GOP presidential candidate who abandoned the Republican Party this month to join the Constitution Party, which believes in limited government and is committed to ending abortion and bringing American troops home from Iraq. But Baldwin's roots in the Constitution Party run...

The link to audio of the speech is reproduced in post #2. It's 22 minutes long.

Feminism on Red Alert by: Deborah Lambert, April 25, 2008 Question: What would inspire a conference on feminism at Harvard to feature conservative viewpoints? Answer: When it’s organized by Professor Harvey Mansfield’s Program on Constitutional Government. The flyer told the tale, saying: “a genuine debate with DIVERSITY of views on THE LEGACY AND FUTRE [sic] OF FEMINISM” adding that “Ladies Receive an Additional 50% off" (at the free conference)…” According to Anthony Paletta, some of the guests at this unusual forum were taken aback at the sights and sounds of conservative speakers like Jennifer Roback Morse, Wendy Shalit and Christina...

The Empire Strikes Back With Massive Attorneys’ Fee Request in CityNorth Case Clint Bolick, Goldwater Institute, April 24, 2008 While the Goldwater Institute’s legal challenge to the CityNorth subsidy moves to the Court of Appeals, one issue remains before the trial court that upheld the subsidy. Not content merely to demand $97.4 million of taxpayer money, the developers now are seeking hundreds of thousands more for their attorneys’ fees—from the Goldwater Institute. The City is, too. Rather than using the same huge in-house legal department that negotiated the deal, the City hired a high-priced private firm to defend it. The...

What would change if the US Constitution consisted of ONLY: Article I, Section 8, clause 18 (the necessary and proper clause) And: Article I, Section 8, c 1-3 (the commerce clause) The "Bill of Rights" could be replaced by The "Bill of Recommendations (subject to the whims of the Executive, Congress, and the Judiciary)". The First Amendment is already just taken as a basic recommendation, to be modified when convenient; same goes for the Second Amendment. The Ninth is toilet paper. The Tenth is a complete fiction, it may as well not even be there. So, what would change? I'm...

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AGAINST ISLAM A Proposed Constitutional Amendment (Note the need for this Amendment at the end) Background and justification to Amendment 28 (self-defense/survival measure) Whereas; Religion is defined as an institution dedicated to improving social conscience and promoting individual and societal spiritual growth in a way that is harmless to others not participating in or practicing the same; Whereas; the United States of America was founded on the ideals of individual rights, including the individual right to practice one’s religion of choice, or no religion, and that there would be no compulsion of religion, nor state sanctioned religion,...

Due to the number of posts debating the legality or wisdom of the state government of Texas' actions regarding the FLDS cult, I think this states the position of many of us. I'm sure there are some who would dispute this, but I found it to be thought-provoking. WHERE SHOULD THE LINE BE DRAWN? The line should be drawn in ALL organizations, religious or otherwise, where individuals are taught to violate the rights of others or to allow their rights to be violated. If instead of a religious organization, it was a non-religious organization such as a street gang that...

Every four years, conservative "pragmatists" trot out the "We Can’t Let So-And-So Win" mantra. Of course, the so-and-so in question is always the Democratic Presidential candidate. For all of my adult life, I have been listening to so-called "conservative" Republicans warn us of the impending doom that would befall our country if the Democratic candidate were elected. And this year is no different. This year’s Republican primary did provide a wonderful aberration, however, to the usual choices between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Republicans had an opportunity to nominate a real American constitutionalist, a statesman in the similitude of Thomas Jefferson or...

WASHINGTON -- The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency - a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people. Using authority granted by Congress, the government also plans to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained, whether they have been charged or not. The DNA would be collected through a cheek swab, Justice Department spokesman Erik Ablin said Wednesday. That would be a departure from current practice, which limits DNA collection to convicted felons. Expanding the DNA database, known...

Press conference with Alan Keyes April 15, 2008 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time Hazleton, Pennsylvaniawww.alankeyes.com

A reader recently reminded me of a poignant, though fictional, account attributed to Taylor Caldwell. While I do not recall which of her works it appeared in, its resonance is applicable to where we find ourselves today. It seems, as the account goes, there was a group of men from the then young city-state of Rome who wished to draft an iron-clad constitution for their budding civilization. They visited Pericles for advice. Reputedly, upon the men's departure, Pericles shook his great head, knowing that their constitution would not stand regardless of implanted safeguards because – according to Pericles – when...

Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes has chosen April 15 to make a major announcement of his intentions, following indications he has broken with the GOP. A life-long Republican who has increasingly cited the party's failure to match conservative rhetoric with actual performance in the political arena, Keyes said he will reveal his reasons for departing the GOP at a press conference scheduled for 8:30 pm ET, at the Best Western Genetti Inn in Hazleton, PA. The event will be video-streamed live at Keyes' website, www.AlanKeyes.com. Keyes added that he is looking to the Constitution Party as a possible home...

A Tulsa County judge heard legal arguments Friday in a court action that challenges the constitutionality of a new state law dealing with illegal immigration. District Judge Jefferson Sellers did not rule on the matter and did not set a date for a decision. Attorneys now have the opportunity to submit proposed "findings of fact and conclusions of law." Those pleadings are due two weeks after a transcript of the court hearing is prepared, and the transcript is expected to be ready in a week. The plaintiff in the case is Michael C. Thomas, identified as a resident taxpayer of...

Important Supreme Court Decision Rejects UN High Court over US Treaty Obligations By Piero A. Tozzi (NEW YORK — C-FAM) A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision reaffirmed the right of the United States to govern its affairs in accordance with the US Constitution rather than specific provisions of international treaties. In the process, the Court rejected a directive of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Medellín v. Texas not only reaffirmed principles of sovereignty and self-government, but also undercut arguments of international pro-abortion activists that accession to international treaties requires nations to disregard domestic constitutional protections for the unborn. In...

The Virginian Pilot has decided that displaying a Christian cross crosses the free speech line. Free speech must allow nude dancing and sex shows because if we close them down, we are on the slippery slope to Fascism. But displaying a cross? Horrors! People will get the idea that anything goes regarding that First Amendment. Let’s read that once again: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government...

Constitutional Literacy at Risk by: Malcolm A. Kline, April 07, 2008 Americans’ awareness of their freedoms and where they came from are at a low point and the institutions that once passed on that knowledge are largely to blame. “The public’s veneration of the Constitution is combined with a low level of knowledge,” Andrew Busch, a professor at Claremont McKenna said at the Heritage Foundation last Thursday. “Many did not know there were three branches of government,” he observed, referring to polling data.... (snip).. “One student told me the three branches of government were the president, the mayor and the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A week before the tax filing deadline, Treasury Department watchdogs are saying that inadequate controls over the IRS computer system could make confidential taxpayer information more vulnerable to hacking and theft. The office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is warning that the lack of monitoring could allow a disgruntled employee or a hacker to disrupt computer operations and steal taxpayer data. The IRS, in response to the report, agreed that it needs to improve oversight of who has access to its computers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Barack Obama, who informs campaign audiences that he taught constitutional law for 10 years, might be expected to weigh in on the historic Second Amendment case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices are pondering whether the 1976 District of Columbia law effectively prohibiting personal gun ownership in the nation's capital is constitutional. But Sen. Obama has not stated his position. Obama, disagreeing with the D.C. government and gun control advocates, declares the Second Amendment's "right of the people to keep and bear arms" applies to individuals, not just the "well-regulated militia" cited in the amendment. In...

The Second Amendment is only 27 words long — the same as this paragraph — yet the United States Supreme Court has never fully explained what the words mean. That may change in June, as could the legal landscape and political strategies of gun-rights advocates. The court that month is expected to rule on the constitutionality of a handgun ban in Washington, D.C. In reviewing the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, a majority of justices have signaled a willingness to accept that the Second Amendment guarantees law-abiding Americans an “individual right” to own firearms — not just the...

Madison Browning, 8, spent a recent school day coloring, playing on swings at a park and whirling to Japanese string music at a cozy dance studio. Caedyn Curto, 13, studied biblical scripture at his family's kitchen table before tackling decimals, completing a biology test and revising a journalism essay. The Browning and Curto families, both of whom live in the South Bay, have embraced very different styles of education. But they now find themselves on the same side of a battle to continue teaching their children at home in the face of an appellate court ruling that home schooling in...

two-year investigation netted one of the state's largest heroin seizures and disrupted a sophisticated, mid-level distribution network operating in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, officials with a Ventura County drug task force announced Thursday. Working with multiple agencies, Ventura County drug agents in late February captured more than 131 pounds of black tar heroin at a home in Downey, said Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks. Based on its purity, the heroin could have resulted in more than 1 million doses on the street, with a value approaching at least $10 million, Brooks said. Investigators also found 28 pounds of methamphetamine...

ATF is deploying its resources strategically on the Southwest Border to deny firearms, the “tools of the trade,” to criminal organizations in Mexico and along the border, and to combat firearms-related violence affecting communities on both sides of the border. In partnership with other U.S. agencies and with the Government of Mexico, ATF refined its Southwest Border strategy. ATF developed Project Gunrunner to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico and thereby deprive the narcotics cartels of weapons. The initiative seeks to focus ATF’s investigative, intelligence and training resources to suppress the firearms trafficking to Mexico and stem the firearms-related...

"Wisconsin governors have long been allowed to sign off on budget bills but do some tricky erasing first. They could delete words, numbers, sentences, paragraphs or some combination of all of those, to create entirely new meanings never intended by the original authors — a legislative twist on the game of Mad Libs. Like when Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat, scratched out some 700 words from a section of the 2005 budget bill, leaving behind just 20 words that, when stitched back together, moved $427 million from the transportation fund to education."

Administration Asserts No Fourth Amendment for Domestic Military OperationsPosted by Kurt Opsahl What Could It Mean for Warrantless Domestic Surveillance?Update: Click here to read the AP article on the Yoo memo and the Fourth Amendment.Today's Washington Post reports on a newly released memo, "Memorandum for William J. Haynes II, General Counsel of the Department of Defense Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States" (March 14, 2003) , which which was declassified and released publicly yesterday. Balkinization has commentary on the very troubling opinion. While the newly released memo focuses on "asserting that federal laws prohibiting...

OTTAWA - The Conservative government briskly backpedalled away from a suggestion by one its own ministers that constitutional negotiations would be re-launched if the Tories were handed a majority mandate. Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn sought Wednesday to douse the flames of constitutional speculation he himself fanned in remarks to a newspaper. The influential Quebec organizer told a national newspaper that if they win a majority government, the Tories would want to "put some meat" on their recognition of Quebec as a nation with a new constitutional deal. Blackburn sought to play down that possibility after his musings were met with...

One of the central tropes of the political campaign now taking place is the need to "change" or "reform" our political system. Sen. Hillary Clinton has said, "We need a new beginning when it comes to reforming our government." Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Harvard Crimson because, the editors declared, he has the capacity "to fundamentally alter the way our broken political system functions." Nor is such rhetoric confined to Democrats, who have every incentive to portray a government largely controlled for the past eight years by Republicans as seriously deficient. Sen. John McCain tells visitors to...

Yesterday (March 31st), Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced the laying of the government's foundation stone for the next big financial bubble, heralding an era of hyperinflation and probable further runs on the U.S. dollar. Of course, like most politics, there is usually a 'good' reason and a 'real' reason for actions. Today's announcement was no exception. In today's case, the 'good' reason was the effective 'policing' of the financial, derivative, insurance and mortgage markets. Some cynics could be excused for thinking that the so-called 'restructuring' and massive increase in the powers of the Federal Reserve Board were like locking the...

CARVER — Regarding the Scripps Howard column of March 24, 2008: “Is gun ownership really an individual right?” Ben Boychuck got it right in the column. The Second Amendment protects an individual right. Mind you, it does not give one a right. It protects a pre-existing, inherent right of self-defense. It is impossible to view it as anything else, given all other individual rights protection guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. To say the Second Amendment is some sort of group right is preposterous. Joel Mathis, on the other hand, made an interesting point bringing up O.W. Holmes’ observation that...

Ted Nugent's March 31st WMU RKBA Speech 2008/04/01 by MCRGO member Skip Coryell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The below review was written by MCRGO member Skip Coryell after attending the Ted Nugent speech at Western Michigan University which was sponsored by the WMU Republicans. Skip was able to spend time backstage with Ted as well as with MCRGO Executive Director Chuck Perricone and MCRGO Board of Directors member, Sheriff Dar Leaf of Barry County. "Amen Brother! Preach it!" People were shouting, clapping, and raising their hands to the sky, some sitting in the pews, others standing, but if there had been decent aisles...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether a religious group must be allowed to put its monument in a city park near a similar Ten Commandments display. The justices agreed to hear an appeal by the city, Pleasant Grove in Utah, arguing that a lower-court ruling for the religious group could affect whether cities around the nation must display privately donated monuments on public property. The Summun religious group, founded in Salt Lake City in 1975, sought to erect a monument to the tenets of its faith, called the "Seven Aphorisms," in a...

It's good to see The Second Amendment proudly upheld out in Nevada.

Like everyone, I’m on pins and needles to see the decision, all the speculation is fun but meaningless, but fun. Yes, the Court seemed favorable to an individual right and overturning the D.C. total gun ban, even the lamestream media picked that up. But then you have to think about the Kelo decision (eminent domain) and McCain-Feingold (free-speech ban before an election), and it’s got to worry you. There’s no crystal ball. The biggest problem I see is difficulty the Court faces in recognizing Second Amendment rights to invalidate the D.C. law, and somehow limiting that decision so laws don’t...

It is a most dangerous game we’re playing here. The major news outlets seemed to agree with my assessment (and I went out on a limb with that, 12 hours before any of them), that the High Court seemed ready and willing to unequivocally affirm an individual right to keep and bear arms. [NOTE: see my pre-game and post-game eyewitness reports here: http://www.PageNine.org] But it doesn’t end there -- it barely starts there. If the Court affirms, does that mean Gun Laws of America (listing every federal gun law, with plain-English descriptions), is erased? How much of it becomes null...

Recovering from the Whirlwind of the Day Heller Case Goes Better Than Expected by Alan Korwin, Co-Author Supreme Court Gun Cases The bottom line is, I think we’re going to be OK. When Justice Kennedy flat out said he believes in an individual right under the Second Amendment, there were no gasps in the hush of the High Court, but you could tell that the greatest stellar array of gun-rights experts ever assembled, all there in that one room, breathed a sigh of relief -- we had five votes to affirm the human and civil right to arms. The transcript...

Barring some event of staggering significance, Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for president. Many, though, believe Obama doesn't deserve it. His refusal to walk out of the Chicago church where his former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., made many incendiary remarks, including that AIDS was a white plot against blacks, render Obama too duplicitous and morally deficient to inhabit our highest office. Obama was straight in his speech on race about being an imperfect candidate, not possessing the moral purity his fervid supporters have wished upon him. Hillary Clinton supporters, and many of the media's bloviators, say...

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Brazen Mexican drug gangs are escalating their war with the army and each other, murdering a record 720 people this year and opening up a gruesome new battle front on the U.S. border near Texas. Nationwide, the pace of drug killings is well ahead of last year, when President Felipe Calderon's military crackdown on the country's powerful smuggling cartels began in earnest. As the army struggles to contain bloodshed in hotspots from the border area to the Caribbean coast, murders in rundown Ciudad Juarez, over the border from the Texan city of El Paso, have...

Boston police officials, surprised by intense opposition from residents, have significantly scaled back and delayed the start of a program that would allow officers to go into people's homes and search for guns without a warrant. The program, dubbed Safe Homes, was supposed to start in December, but has been delayed at least three times because of misgivings in the community. March 1 was the latest missed start date. One community group has been circulating a petition against the plan. Police officials trying to assuage residents' fears have been drowned out by criticism at some meetings with residents and elected...

California State Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), introduced a bill aimed at skirting the Constitutional right to bear arms. Assembly Bill 2062 would require that gun owners obtain a permit to buy ammunition. Applicants for a “permit-to-purchase” would be required to submit to a background check, pay a $35/bullet fee, and wait 30 days to receive the permit. “The Constitution may say the people have the right to bear arms, but it doesn’t say the arms have to be loaded,” De Leon said, touting his own “stroke of genius.” “We will make guns into useless paperweights and put...