If there's a reason for a sitting Supreme Court Justice to be featured on a Sunday morning cable news talk show, I can't think of one. I remember when the viewpoints of these men and women were tightly held, lest they reveal a potential bias in a case yet to appear before the Court.
But this particular group seems to revel in the political realm more than any other. Scalia and Thomas, in particular, seem quite eager to take part in highly partisan political events and commentary.
Scalia appeared on Faux News Sunday for an interview with Chris Wallace, and in it he suggested Americans might very well have a right to "bear arms" of the rocket-launcher variety, as long as they're hand held. See, as long as you can "bear" the arm, it's potentially legal to his way of thinking.
When you start to discuss sane solutions to the gun culture violence in this country a lot of the bullshit you hear is from people who have knee-jerk reactions from either side of the controversy. It's almost impossible to have a rational discussion about limiting the number of bullets carried in a clip, for example, because that is the foot-in-the-door weakening of our 2nd Amendment rights the lunatics of the radical fringe swear Obama and liberals are out to deny the American public.
But surely we can agree that James Holmes wasn't entitled to carry a rocket propelled grenade launcher into a theater, right? Isn't it safe to assume there are SOME limits to what a person can legally "bear" from arms manufacturers? Are bazookas okay? Is it a little over the line if a person wants to take his street sweeper 12 gauge riot gun to the little league game?
But I think the larger, and far more insightful conclusion one should take from Scalia's comments should be this: it matters who wins the White House in November.
With several elderly Justices on the verge of retirement, and the very real possibility of two or more Justices being named by the next President, we all have a vital stake in making sure those nominated aren't cut from the same partisan cloth as Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas.
When legislatures around the country seem to be in a competition to see who can most severely restrict abortion rights, contraception, and voting rights, the possibility for those issues to be argued before the Supreme Court are likely. The landscape of America as we know it depends on the makeup of the high court.
This asshole scares the living shit out of me. I don't care who you are or what motivates your politics, you should be able to recognize the absurdity of having no limits to the reach of the 2nd Amendment beyond "what a person can physically carry."
Register, and vote, if they'll let you...
5 comments:
In my youth, I thought things were bad in this country. But I had hope, and thought that it would improve. What a naive, dumb ass I was.
Where can I get shoulder-fired Stinger missles?? I want to create my own "No-Fly Zone" here UP on the Tundra!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Theaters - they seem fine with that; but why not into the House and Senate Chamber and the High Court?
the Ol'Buzzard
I thought that your title read "Take your pig to work day."
I was disappointed to see that it was merely ABOUT a pig.
I came back from vacation to another stink in Kansas, they want to modify the law for open carry. It will most likely pass, then anyone can just go anywhere with a gun sticking out of your boot or pocket or just walk around holding it. First time I'm in Target and a guy walks in with a glock in his hand I'm on 911 and sprint to the parking lot. How the hell do I know his intent, for all I know he's arrived for his 15 minutes. Guns make you safe, think Beruit, Iraq, Afghaniland? Guns kill 30k a year in USA, hell Mexico killed only 40k in 10 years of drug wars, who's safer?
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