February 18, 2013

Guns and Tweets

If they interpreted the First Amendment the way they interpret the Second, the only freedom of speech we'd have would be 140 characters at a time, like on Twitter.

(This is a lot like a famous quote by one of my favorite Conservative authors/columnists, Ann Coulter, which goes something like:

"If Liberals interpreted the Second Amendment the way they interpret the First, the American public would have the right to carry personal bazookas by now. ")

One argument that liberals often like to make is "Well, sure, but the difference is, publishing news stories doesn't kill people. But guns (eg broadening the 2nd Amendment) do kill people"

Okay, even granted that point, even besides the fact that publishing news can, in fact, kill/ endanger people's lives, (Wikileaks, anyone?) it's a moot point. Theoretically, exercising you're 4th Amendment rights could also endanger people's lives, through the threat of terrorism. But you don't hear anyone complaining about that.... if anything, just the opposite, with Obama assassinating US citizens abroad, without trial. (By the way, just where, exactly, are all the loudmouthed 4th amendment nuts, who argued so passionately when Bush was in office? Huh? Where the hell are they now?)

Regardless of whether it may endanger lives, it's a Right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, it is not a "privilege" that the Government may take away nilly-willy.