Tag: James Madison
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How To Destroy Democracy, Step One: Hijack The Language
Words matter. In a democracy, they matter a lot. Ours is a do-it-yourself government. We don’t have a king or a dictator to solve our problems because we chose to solve them all ourselves – using the majority’s wisdom. In order to do that, we have to agree on a couple of things: to begin…
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America’s Gun Debate Made Simple: Find The Word “OWN” In The 2A
America should not be having a gun debate. That’s because the Second Amendment isn’t a puzzle. It was a straightforward fix to a very particular problem that was relevant then and not relevant now. The good news? Within that fix is our fix – the one we need to solve America’s intractable gun problem. The…
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The Emperor Is Naked And So’s His Gun
California experienced at least two mass shootings yesterday. One in Monterey Park (near LA), the other in Half Moon Bay, not far from San Francisco. Both, it appears, were angry men using firearms (instead of therapy) to resolve their emotional issues. That’s a pretty regular part of many (if not most) mass shooting incidents –…
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We’re Having The Wrong Debate About The 2nd Amendment And Guns: “Own” Isn’t In The 2A
This is very much an “Emperor’s New Clothes” situation. America watches a naked king ride by every day while pretending that this bloated, pink-skinned, pimply-and-pock-marked monarch is clothed. As we sit here today, we have it in our heads that the Second Amendment guarantees all Americans the right to own all the guns they want.…
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Why E Pluribus Unum Matters
Most Americans – if they think about the country’s founding – focus on “All men are created equal”. Alas, when our founders wrote those words, they didn’t mean them. Oh, they meant the “men” part. Only men could be other men’s equals. But by “men”, they meant only men like themselves: white, wealthy, land owning…
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Does the 2A Really Guarantee Individual Gun Ownership? No, It Does Not!
Sandy Hook… Uvalde… Las Vegas… Orlando… Marjory Stoneman… Columbine… Every-damned-day-in-America! How the hell did it come to this? True Fact: we have been bamboozled into accepting a bullshit framing of the Second Amendment. We have it in our heads now that the 2A is a gun *rights* amendment. It’s the exact opposite – there is…
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Republicans Aren’t Cowards, They’re Co-Conspirators
See something, say something. See something, say nothing? We need to ask why – under oath.
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What Do Conservatives Want To Conserve? The Past
Maybe the only honest thing your average conservative ever does is call him or herself “conservative”. Conservatives, by nature, want to conserve (although, ironically, one of the things most conservatives don’t want to conserve IS Nature but never mind!). The only important question, really, is what do conservatives want to conserve? The answer? Conservatives want…
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A Better America Versus A Bitter America
America has arrived at the fork in its road. This fork has always been here. Hell, it’s been waiting for us. In one direction lies the future. Though uncertain, it’s brimming with boundless promise for the most amount of people. In the other lies the past. The past was very good for some but downright…
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Democracy Is “Use It Or Lose It”
Winston Churchill famously said “democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried”. He said that after being voted out of office at the end of World War Two. Despite his cynicism (born of losing an election), he was right. Democracy is damned hard to pull off.…