In words that he has come to regret, Barack Obama opined as to why he was having a hard time winning over many blue-collar voters: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

It was a throwaway line to a private audience at a San Francisco fund-raiser. And it was made public on a liberal Internet blog, not by right-wing commentators. But Mr. Obama's opponents seized on the quote. It was evidence, they claimed, that he is "elitist," caricaturing middle Americans as gun-toting, immigrant-despising, religious rednecks – who are also deeply unhappy people. And as a contrite Mr. Obama admitted, "I am the first to admit that some of the words I chose, I chose badly."

The comment may or may not be an indication of Mr. Obama's real views about those ordinary Americans who've not enjoyed the full...[ more...]

  Many honorable men have walked this earth...

I wish I could just leave the statement as just that, only while looking for highlights of Mr. Heston's work to commerate him I came across a Hate blog.  Talking about Mr. Heston's Anti-black, Anti-jew, Anti-hispanic remarks and then linked to the speech.  I had not read that speech before today, after doing so it became clear that Charlton Heston took on the role of a founding father.  Being proud of who he was and willing to fight for others to push back the fear that allows pride in themselves as well.   I post the speech as a whole.  Without fear because I read it, not skimmed it, read it. Since I understand freedom I guess it made more sense to me than it does a liberal who only saw hate.

December 7, 1997

I like it when the party of Lincoln honors our free heritage. This nation has been blessed by the minds and mettle of many good people, and...[ more...]

Sergeant Alvin York's against-all-odds capture of a heavily fortified German machine gun nest in the Argonne Forest of France 89 years ago made York an American legend.

With seven other American infantrymen, he took 132 German prisoners and silenced German machine guns that had slaughtered Allied troops. His actions earned the humble Tennessee farmer an iconic status alongside Daniel Boone and a title declaring him the greatest American hero of World War I. He was held up as the very embodiment of humility and courage.

Which is why officials at Nahant's public library were thrilled four years ago to discover what they say is one of the captured German machine guns in the library attic.

"I tripped over the gun one day, not knowing what it was," said Daniel deStefano, the library's director. "I picked up what I thought was a pipe. It was the barrel of the gun."

Library officials say they researched markings on the gun and searched local newspaper...[ more...]

A Second Amendment advocacy organization is asking the Bush administration to withdraw a legal brief that leaders fear could be used to support "any gun ban – no matter how sweeping," as long as some court somewhere determines it is "reasonable."

The concern comes from Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, whose group is pleading with the Bush administration to withdraw an anti-gun brief filed by the U.S. Solicitor General in a Supreme Court case regarding a District of Columbia ban on handguns.

The document from U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement noted since "unrestricted" private ownership of guns clearly threatens the public safety, the Second Amendment can be interpreted to allow a variety of gun restrictions.

His brief suggests gun rights are limited and since they are subject to "reasonable regulation," all gun limits imposed by the federal government should be affirmed as constitutional.

"Given the...[ more...]