Wolfgang von Skeptik

A DISCONCERTING SIGNAL OF DEFIANCE

FOR A NUMBER OF rock-solid reasons – the Bush Administration’s brazen obstruction of the Armed Pilots Program, the administration's support for radically reducing legal firearms ownership by criminalizing all mental problems, Bush’s endorsement of the so-called “assault weapons” ban and his intent to outlaw gun shows – I have long maintained there is not a nickle’s worth of difference between George Bush and Sen. John Kerry on Second Amendment issues.

In fact I believe it is at least arguable that Bush is actually worse – worse because of his deceptiveness, especially as expressed by former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s view the Second Amendment guarantees what is indeed an individual right. For as undeniably correct as the Ashcroft position is, it has always been clear to me it was never anything but eyewash, tolerated by the administration merely as an especially dishonest vote-getting ploy – that the administration’s real stance toward the Second Amendment is undeniably proven by its (ongoing) policy of doing everything possible to thwart the arming of our airline pilots, the will of Congress be damned.

That my estimate is correct is now proven by the President’s appointment of Alberto R.Gonzales as the new U.S. Attorney General. Here is what The Washington Post said yesterday morning:

Behind the scenes, Gonzales clashed frequently with Ashcroft's Justice Department. He felt blindsided when Ashcroft, early in the administration, announced that the department would embrace, for the first time ever, a view of the Second Amendment that regards gun possession as an individual right on a par with freedom of speech or religion.

Never mind that WaPo’s “first time ever” assertion is an anti-gun Big Lie. The point here is that Gonzales clearly opposes the Second Amendment – that it is entirely likely he would overturn the right of individuals to own firearms for personal protection. The remainder of the Post report, which says nothing more about Gonzales’ anti-gun ideology, is available here. (Sorry; registration required.)

The Gonzales appointment – which was applauded by one of America’s leading anti-gun zealots, Sen. Charles Schumer (D., NY) – is a disconcerting signal in at least three ways. First, it is a slap in the face to the National Rifle Association and to Second Amendment advocates in general, absolute proof the always-bogus Bush/gunowner honeymoon is forever ended. Second, the appointment is an important concession to Hispanics, 71 percent of whom are said to favor “gun control,” though the survey-findings that make this claim, available here (and scroll down), leave the precise meaning of “gun control” undefined. Third, I cannot doubt the appointment signals the ultimate triumph of the unrestricted-immigration/amnesty-for-illegals alliance of Cheap Labor Republicans and Big Bureaucracy Democrats, with long-term results I do not even want to contemplate: ruinous to the pay scales of working Americans and toxic to the cultural foundations of the nation.

Bottom line, the Liberals and perhaps even the far Left may have won this election after all: with Gonzales in the AG’s office and Sen. Arlen Specter (RINO., Pa) at the judicial-appointment switch, the prospects for meaningful change (especially on the Second Amendment) are somewhere between zilch and bupkes.

Ironically this relates, albeit distantly, to what I had intended to write as this weekend’s secular homily: an analysis of how the collapse of the Soviet Union is directly responsible for the present-day American crisis – a crisis that surely includes not only the ruinous plague of illegal immigration but the frequent anti-voter treachery of both our political parties. Alas, I am still too busy with freelance work to transform the intended preachment from draft to completed essay. Though all but one of my free-lance assignments are finished, late-breaking news has dramatically altered the form and content of the last of these November reports, so I am likely to be tied up for nearly another week.

Hence my apologies.

Meanwhile, have a great weekend!

Posted by Loren at November 12, 2004 06:48 AM