Independence (II)
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
Declaration of Independence
Labels: history
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
9 Comments:
Happy Fourth, dood. No celebration here in die Schweiz (our own independence day is coming up, in honour of 1 August 1291). I'm not afraid to say I'm a bit homesick for the dirty D town; this day ranks right up there with Bastille Day among the few holidays I celebrate (Mardi Gras and Passover being the only ones of comparable importance).
My best wish is for you to think of the circumstances in which this passage was written, when we were still subjects of the king. While the Supreme Court asserted the "personal protection" aspect of the 2nd amendment this term, they did not address the "anti-tyranny" aspect of the law -- much to my dismay.
Think about it -- what if instead of merely blogging or making huffy statements about moving to Canada if McCain wins, those of us on the fringe of our neighborhood / town / mainstream political thought truly felt as though we had no choice but to take up arms against the TSA, the FBI, or god forbid Blackwater. Can you imagine a bunch of pacifist unitarians in cambridge melting down their church bells for bullets?
As we gun nuts like to say, it's the second amendment that protects all the others. It's the ultimate in worst case scenarios, but necessary because we hold these rights to be inalienable: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Here's to all three!
By
KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 10:12 PM
uh, dood?
if you think your personal arsenal is what's keeping the government (or Blackwater) at bay, you're delusional.
seriously.
By
Barry, at 11:04 PM
right, but this is exactly my point -- in the Miller decision circa 1929 the court had to make the distinction between guns commonly used in warfare versus for hunting or personal protection. This is why, for example, the laws against short barreled shotguns (or machine guns, or artillery, personal nuclear weapons, etc.) were unchanged by this decision.
The court has finally gotten rid of this whole "militia" nonsense, which was the rationale behind DC's gun ban. Imagine if you will that the citizenry is armed with rifles and not handguns. Would you agree that an oppressive government or an invading army has an easier job controlling the citizenry than one where the citizens have both rifles and handguns?
The Swiss require every male citizen under 50 to keep a rifle at home, and pass a marksmanship test once a year until the age of 40. Yet they do not permit the keeping of handguns -- they're much more portable, and more commonly used in crimes relative to rifles.
The same situation exists in Canada. In fact I believe Michael Moore made exactly this point in "Bowling for Columbine" when he compared the crime rates in Windsor vs. Detroit -- gun ownership rates are nearly identical, yet Detroit has more crime.
So what is it about America that causes us to be so violent? I submit it is the same spunk that also gives us the greatest economic opportunities for class mobility, freedom of speech and religion, etc. The same ethic shared by the drafters of the Declaration.
dcr
By
Allison Kort, at 3:23 AM
words cannot express my disappointment upon learning that Allison Kort and DC Rollins are actually the same person.
sigh.
By
Barry, at 8:55 AM
you're joking, right? We both read Kevin's blog religiously, and I've noted there several times that Al is my wife (I often post as her to avoid her anger at having to login to gmail again).
If it's any consolation, she's every bit the liberal you are. She doesn't blog, but her facebook profile is chock-a-block with socialist drivel. I suspect her law students are to blame for a lot of this, or perhaps her crazy jewish parents: a bourgeois intellectual academic couple to beat the band, whose zeal for Obama is matched only by their israeli siblings' zeal for McCain to start bombing Iran back into the stone age so that the temple can be rebuilt.
More to the point, we're the sponsors of the annual seminar on second amendment law, which is to say we auction off a day of "shotguns and beer" to raise money for the animal rights and anti-capital punishment law clinics at Duke. (Also, she hates guns.) This year Bob Levy gave a brilliant speech at the law school, less than a week after addressing the US Supreme Court in the Heller case announced last week. I've never been as pleased to personally hand someone a financial contribution as I have done for the Institute for Justice (sponsors of the case).
By
KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 9:55 AM
well, for starters, i don't do anything religiously.
i check in at BCR pretty much on a daily basis, but i rarely have time to read the comments. i probably make it to the comments section on one out of every 4 or 5 posts, and then it's mostly to put in my two cents. if kevin and i decide to stalk about something from his blog on the radio show, then i'll make sure to familiarize myself with all of the comments on the subject.
this blog has certainly started taking up much more of my time than it used to.
oh, and i have neither a facebook page nor a myspace page.
sorry to disappoint.
By
Barry, at 10:06 AM
I'm not disappointed -- you're old! Happens to the best of us.
Does this mean you're not going to answer my question regarding the relative difficulty of conquering / oppressing a population that owns knives -> rifles -> handguns -> machine guns?
By
Allison Kort, at 3:25 PM
It's a meaningless question.
Let me ask you this. Which country receives the better deal: The US in its relationship with Iraq, or China in its relationship with the US?
By
Barry, at 5:50 PM
China. What do I win?
By
KeepDurhamDifferent!, at 3:28 PM
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