Wednesday, May 13, 2009

States' Gun Rights: The Next Constitutional Battlefield



From Time Magazine











The right to bear arms
is famously and specifically
referenced in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Alas, for advocates of the right, the language of the amendment gets tangled up in the regulating of militias and the interpretation of commas. Now, a multi-state movement is trying to find more robust constitutional support in another amendment, which makes no mention of weaponry at all.



The 10th Amendment declares that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." It inspired the so-called "Sagebrush Rebellion" three decades ago that swept the West, preventing the federal takeover of public lands pushed by the Carter Administration and propelling the self-proclaimed Sagebrush Rebel, Ronald Reagan, to the Presidency. Now it is being invoked by pro-gun advocates to press for state rather than federal regulation of gun manufacturers. (See pictures of America's gun culture.)
more

Monday, May 4, 2009

Condi vs a fourth-grader now?

more of a challenge than debating her former boss, I suppose...

Our illustrious former Secretart of State may be adept at dodging tough questions -- but her skills were no match for fourth grader, Misha Lerner.


Looking like she'd





stuck her face in a bucket o' bees,

Rice made her first public appearance in Washington, D.C., since leaving office at a Jewish Primary Day School where she fielded students' questions that had been developed beforehand with the help of teachers but had not been screened by Rice, the Washington Post reported.

Then one student asked, "What do you think about what President Obama's administration was saying about the methods the Bush administration had used to get information from detainees?"

Apparently the question was toned down

from the student's original question.

"Let me just say that President Bush was very clear that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the country," Rice said.

"But he was also very clear that we would do nothing that was against the law or against our obligations internationally. I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time."

"I know you are but what am I?"

Seriously, there were no hard feelings, and Rice even posed for a solo photo op with the young student as they spoke about Russia, the Post reported.




I hope the children

don't have nightmares after this.