May 2012 – Page 12 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Happy Cinco de Mayo

I think the holiday is now celebrated more in the United States than in Mexico. But that is probably appropriate. The day celebrates the defeat of the French Army against a numerically inferior and more poorly equipped Mexican Army. The geopolitical consequence was to keep Napoleon III out of North America, and also prevented the French intervening on the side of the Confederacy. So it is no small irony that the reason the Union remained intact is thanks to 4,000 Mexicans who never considered, on May 5th, 1862, that they didn’t stand a chance against a French army twice its size.

Nevertheless, the French ultimately prevailed in installing a puppet government in Mexico, but after the end of the American Civil War, the United States was able to provide assistance to the Mexican liberals to expel the puppet government, thus ending monarchy in Mexico. So today is a day you can drink to Union, the eventual end of monarchal rule in Mexico, and a French military defeat. I can drink to that.

SPLC Double Standard on Domestic Terrorism

If you’re a huckster like Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, only some kinds of domestic terrorists are worthy of following closely. Others, not so much.

â€œWeâ€™re not really set up to cover the extreme Left,â€ they admit when, after several occupiers were busted in a plot to destroy a bridge, they are confronted with whether they plan to follow the Occupy movement.

A more honest answer would be that the people who bankroll the SPLC are far lefties, and “not really set up to cover the extreme Left,” means they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them. But at least you know what SPLC is all about.

Ted Nugent Says Mitt Backed His Rhetoric

The media doesn’t seem to want to let this issue die, but then again, it would seem that neither does Ted Nugent. Is it good for Romney, or bad for Romney? I tend to think that Romney is better off without the controversy, but Romney also has a hard time reaching the kind of people Ted Nugent reaches.

OC Fail in California

Now they are looking to ban open carry of rifles.

Constitutional Carry in Pennsylvania

It would seem that we have a bill introduced, HB2176. It does not, at this point, have many cosponsors, and has yet to be scheduled for a hearing. It would be worthwhile to put pressure on the members of the House Judiciary Committee to try to get this a hearing.

It is no doubt an uphill battle, and I expect this time around, it won’t even get a hearing. But it’s worthwhile to get it on legislator’s radar screens.

Resolution of Contempt

The Committee on Oversight & Government reform is making their case for a vote to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in the Fast and Furious scandal. Also see this statement from Rep. Trey Gowdy.

Self-Defense: How Not to Do It

Generally a bad idea to try to shoot shoplifters. It will tend you get you in trouble with the authorities. Is a bottle of liquor really worth someone’s life? Especially given the shot went errant and narrowly missed killing an innocent third party.

It’s also not a good idea to play cop. When cops make mistakes, they get to claim qualified immunity. When you make a mistake, you get to claim top or bottom bunk in the prison. Not exactly fair, but that’s how it goes.

Air Rifle Ban in Scotland

Apparently it’s being pushed by a couple that lost a child to an air rifle. As much as people might feel for them, we ought not, in a free society, remove other people’s freedoms for the sake of a single grieving couple. Grief seldom makes good public policy.

But this does go to show, eventually they will come after anything dangerous. They will turn the world into a huge padded cell, for your own protection. Future generations will never miss freedom they never had.

Constitutional Carry Shot Down in New Hampshire

Apparently a number of legislators thought it was just to dangerous, and there was no need for the Granite State to replicate the bloodshed and carnage that runs rampant next door in Vermont, which has never required any permit, and does not issue them.

More on Robert Bork

A reader pointed out that Robert Bork signed onto an Amicus Brief in Heller in support of Mr. Heller. So it would seem that Robert Bork has had a change of opinion since his earlier days when he embraced the collective rights theory.