Consistently Inconsistent!

New rule # 20

If you're going to be an extremist in your insistence that the Second Amendment means what you say it means and that you are guaranteed the right to have and hold all the ordnance you could ever want, then you must be equally rabid in support of  all the Amendments, especially the First one.

          The Bill of Rights was not part of the original Constitution of the United States, but was added at the insistence of several southern states as an inducement for ratifying the original document. There are ample resources available to any literate person to learn the background and etiology of this group of amendments. There were originally twelve , but only ten were ratified expeditiously (by 1790). One was ratified in 1992 as the 27th Amendment, which limits Congress' ability to increase their own salaries until after an election has occurred (yes, 202 years later!).   The remaining proposed amendment of the twelve  is still technically before the states for consideration, but deals with the size of the US House and would, if it were adopted  have allowed for up to 6,000 representatives (with current US population)!  If you think 435 is a pain in the ass, reflect on the possibilities.

          Nowhere is there specified that any of these 10 rights of the people is more important than any other. Additionally, there are some, but not many, qualifiers in the language which might be interpreted as ambiguous. The Second Amendment has such language .  "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  There has been significant debate over the years as o the intent of the "well regulated militia" qualifier. It is not my intent to debate it here, but to point out that the lunatic fringe represented by the National Rifle Association and their ilk, interpret it as an absolute guarantee, not subject to debate, and some,  even some Tea Party Congressmen, have suggested the impeachment of the President for conducting a public dialogue or even discussing what it might mean and what may be done vis a vis gun violence.

          What is troubling about this is that the selfsame Second Amendment absolutists are chief among the unwashed and the ignorant who excoriate the ACLU for insisting that the First Amendment, which has NO qualifying language, by the way, should be enforced to the letter. They are the imbeciles of ideological inconsistency (sorry, channeled William Safire  for a sec.) who sign petitions urging the deportation of Piers Morgan for stating his point of view on television, while supporting the Westboro "Baptists," in spirit at least, in their hate filled rants.  The gun nuts are the "prayer in school" shouters, they are the same crowd of misanthropic maniacal morons who, two generations ago, placed road signs urging us to "Impeach Earl Warren" because they disliked federal enforcement of other amendments, especially the 14th.  They are the same clique of twits who screamed that Miranda (Fifth and Sixth) was just a scumbag, so the Amendments didn't really apply to him.  They made up the lynch mobs during the Jim Crow era who decided that none of those amendments/rights  applied to persons of color. Most amazingly, they are the  far rightists who still get misty eyed at the mention of Ronald Reagan, even though as ex-President, Reagan pushed for and very vocally supported the 1994  assault weapons ban.

          In like manner, the hard line artillerists scream about many USSC decisions based on the Bill of Rights and its application, as being too liberal.....except of course for the Second Amendment which, in their eyes is an inviolable absolute which would allow them to have and hold the weapons which from 1870 until 1960 they used to withold rights guaranteed under the other seven personal liberty   Amendments to the darker skinned portion of American society.   

          Let me state my thesis once again in plain speak. If you want to insist on strict, to the letter enforcement of the Second Amendment, then be just as adamant in your support of the other seven personal rights Amendments or shut the F**k up!