Tuesday Superficiality: Guilty as Charged, I Suppose

JJV's latest contribution concludes with the accusation that I "cheer on" left wing "attacks on constitutional norms", specifically (insofar as I can comprehend) threats to dissenting conservatives, gun owners and religious believers. Pretty weighty stuff. Let's take a look!

Dissenting Conservatives. Sure, I'd love for them to shut up until they come up with something indicating an effort at critical reasoning. Should that involve government expenditure for room and board in a tropical setting? I think not. Millions for defense, but not one cent for blowhard camps!

Gun Owners. Civilians should not be able to possess military-grade assault-type weapons or any ordnance not required for basic hunting or home defense. Firearms should be registered in a manner analogous to our regulation of motor vehicles. (Hillary's coming for your pickup trucks!) Firearm insurance should be required, again using car insurance as a model.

I recently met a man who has amassed a striking number of shotguns and rifles (plus a few pistols), each with their own history. He also prepares his own cartridges as needed. I have no problem with this, outside of a reflexive multi-cause nervousness around guns, because this guy knew what he was doing and was psychologically level. I kind of forget why I brought this up except as an illustration of my tolerance of law-abiding citizens with whom I might not necessarily agree. On the other hand, whenever I pass NRA headquarters on I-66 I make sure to flip those bastards off.

At the same time, the militarization of the police over the last twenty years has been a disaster and must be undone to the extent possible.

Religious Believers. No one is being persecuted for their religious beliefs in this country in the way I suspect JJV is thinking. Now, are citizens being protected from the imposition of religious beliefs in violation of civil liberties? Yes, and I suppose if you squinted real hard from a position of former cultural dominance, that could look like persecution, were one to define "persecution" as "being prevented from imposing your will on everyone constantly." At the risk of blasphemy, I suspect that's not what Jesus had in mind in the Eighth Beatitude.

Ok, Fiona's fencing now, I have better things to do.