The U.S. Constitution is one of the most important documents to come out of the Enlightenment. It is the source of all power for the U.S. Government and the bedrock of all law. Fewer and fewer school programs emphasize teaching the Constitution and the government itself is marginalizing it. In this category I seek to understand the constitution and to emphasize its importance in maintaining the republic.
I have to agree with Obama — they have every right to build a mosque/community center near the World Trade Center. And those who oppose it have every right to do so as well. Both are protected by the First Amendment. I also agree that the president should weigh in because this is a...
Yesterday the New York Times published this article, which is a classic example of the feckless and blustering BS that is routinely passed on as valid arguments for gun control. The story opens with this paragraph: About 10,000 Americans died by handgun violence, according to federal statistics, in the four months that the Supreme...
The Supreme Court ruled that Chicago’s ban on handguns was unconstitutional by a vote of 5-4. The ruling reinforced both the 2nd amendment (right to bear arms) and the 14th amendment (due process clause). This is a great step forward for gun rights advocates but more will need to be done. Chicago’s mayor will...
A recent conversation on Twitter has again reaffirmed a long-standing theory of mine that the partisan rancor we have here in the U.S. is partly attributed to the very common misconception that the U.S. is a democracy, ruled by the majority. The founding fathers did not establish a democracy ruled by the majority, but...
That’s the front page headline of today’s Redeye, a free rag distributed by the Chicago Tribune. The two-page spread begins on page six with the following paragraphs (full story here: At the age of 15, Monica Sanders answered her phone to learn that her friend had been fatally shot in the stomach by another...
Let’s hope The Supremes keep this in mind tomorrow as they begin hearing McDonald v. Chicago: The District of Columbia’s murder rate plummeted by an astounding 25 percent last year, much faster than for the US as a whole or for similarly sized cities. If you had asked Chicago’s Mayor Daley, that wasn’t supposed...
Chicago is ramping up the propaganda machine before the fight with gun-rights activists in McDonald v. Chicago. Chicago public radio this morning briefly mentioned that homicides in Chicago were down in 2009 partially due to taking more guns off the streets. Then on the bus ride home, going past the NBC building I saw...
I must say, I agree 110%. The Constitution is crystal clear — there can be no mistaking that Congress alone determines if we go to war, how long we go to war, and how much we spend on said war. The President’s role in war is limited to Commander In Chief. In other words,...
I live in Chicago; one of the most restrictive anti-gun cities in the nation and I am ever mindful of the fact that “gun control” is nothing more than a restriction on law-abiding citizens. Those who would use a firearm to break the law, demonstrate by that very fact that laws against gun use...
I briefly mentioned the lobbying group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) here. The group’s mission centers around enabling mayors to combat gun crime through the following stated principles: Punish – to the maximum extent of the law – criminals who possess, use, and traffic in illegal guns. Target and hold accountable irresponsible gun dealers...