Thou Shall Not Infringe

When making a list (from groceries items to things we'd want along on a camping trip) we typically begin with our most important concerns. Our Founding Fathers did the same when penning the Ten Original Amendments: The Bill of Rights.

It was no accident, then, that Freedom of Speech was included in the First Amendment and the Right to keep and bear arms was the essence of the Second Amendment, as these concerns topped the list as our Founders sketched The Bill of Rights.

AMENDMENT II. Right to keep and bear arms.
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.

A key word in the above sentence is "infringed," a verb, which signifies action, such as to transgress or exceed the limits of something. The word can also be thought of to violate, to defeat, or to invalidate something. Infringe, by any name, is oppressive.

However, to counter all chance of oppression in the Second Amendment, our Founders preceded the word infringed with three other words: "shall not be." In full context their intention was that "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

But the gulf between intention and reality has widened, most perceivably in recent weeks under this country's "new administration." Quite simply, if I may butcher the title of an old Jerry Lee Lewis hit song, "There's Been a Whole Lot of Infringin' Goin' On."

Way back when, the infringing on guns and other matters led to the Boston Tea Party. How about today's infringing? Where's it headed? And how bad will it get before we return some measure of sanity to our government? What do you think?

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
- James Madison

^^^That is precisely has been happening for years now. WE have let little things go here and there.
Viewed seperately, these small restrictions of liberty were made with a promise of safety or comfort.
Viewed together, They build a ever growing wall between reality and liberty, seemingly impenetrable by our will alone.

Thomas Paine said,"A long habit of not thinking a thing Wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being Right."

How fitting. Many people, having lived with curtailed liberties their whole life, believe it to be a normal state.

Personally, I don't think there is a way to turn back now, even if the government made concessions, etc.


I think too many people are too worked up over the loss of their freedoms.....and I think that's a very good and long overdue thing!



The question is now, at what point is the government ready to surrender to the will of We the People?

That will determine how this whole thing plays out, IMHO.

The determining factor will be violence.

If When the government uses violence against the people.
It will more than likely be some accident by law enforcement, that will, like the bellows to glowing coals, provide the necessary requirements for fomenting an uprising. That's basically what happened during the Boston Massacre.
Mordern day analogue--Kent State anyone? Imagine something similar occuring today....

Sorry if I quote Thomas Paine quite a bit, but he is one of my favorite writers. And he has an answer for almost everything.
"...and then tell me, whether you can hereafter love, honour and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land?"
"Small islands not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island."

Washington DC an island? How fitting.

Don I agree that violence will be a tipping point, but I can also see a different, scarier scenario playing out.

I can see some violence happening against the American people and the government using it, once again, to play upon the feeble minds of many and suggest that they need more control to protect us.

I also see the economic situation as a tipping point. It has definitely brought more people to realize how far our country has been removed from what its supposed to be. However, I can see the government using a failed economy to bring on more government control and possibly a different government all together. Can you say Amero?

There's no doubt they are already instituting tons of government control over the banking industry, not to mention the whole GM thing. There's also been talk about a world currency and Geitner didn't seem to think that was a bad idea, if I remember correctly.

Its a road we shouldn't be on, but we're already well along the bumpy route. There's no doubt its a dead end, one way street. Can we muster the strength to make a U-turn up ahead and go against the grain for the good of the USA?

That remains to be seen.

I can say with certainty that people are angry.
I work at my Family's convenience store. Most of my customers are mid-middle class. Most everyone that is a productive member of society, is angry.
They haven't quite made that anger productive. Many of them haven't written, called or e-mailed their representative.
There is alot of talk, yet no action. I understand that people have alot to attend to in living their lives, yet we need to advocate they contact their representative.

I e-mailed Issakson and Chamliss today to voice my dissaproval over their "yes" votes for the GIVE Act.
http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?GIVE-Mandatory-Service-Act-Strips-First-Amendment-of-Volunteers-559

It is 6 billion to volunteers. It is aimed primarily at youngsters. Can you say Re-education?
I thougth volunteering was about giving, not receiving.

The most troubling aspect of all this for me is knowing we are not plowing new ground, except for the sky-high numbers of the current debt. History shows we've been down this road before and it does not end at Disney World.

Sadly our country had been here before but what is different is the degree, both horizontally and vertically. We are leveraging the GNP so much deeper and am handing out marks to any taker in on the planet. That is different. We are whoring our country to stay afloat.

I may not see the government directly surn its guns on its people in my lifetime. What i suspect will come first will be such economic conditions that rioting mobs and gangs will surface. Bands of "Robin Hood" thugs will go from neighborhood to neighborhood reaping goods for the gang. That will happen after the dollar collapses and we are taiking wheel barrows to 7/11 for a loaf of bread. This is not new. Just a hell of a lot bigger.