On Rights, Government and God

Last Monday about mid-morning, my facebook page started popping up with a bunch of my friends changing their profile pictures to a red square with an big white block equal sign (=) in it. These friends were expressing their support for “equal rights” (which is really code for gay marriage) in light of the Supreme Court hearing on California’s Prop 8.

Without going into my view of same-sex marriage, Prop 8, etc., this got me thinking again about rights. More specifically, what are our rights? How does our view of rights agree with and contradict the Constitution? How do we understand Constitutional rights and is the Bill of Rights all inclusive?

It has taken me several weeks to accurately draft a response to these questions, so if this post seems stale it’s because I have been working carefully to put the right words in place. Sometimes haste is not our friend.

This train of thought is really a continuation of a discussion I had in some depth with my cousin over guns. His argument is that while I might have a right to keep and bare Arms, the government has a right to regulate and limit what I can and can’t keep. “Uninhibited gun ownership is not a god-given right.”

John McCain, you are a twit.

Following the epic 13 hour Rand Paul filibuster last Wednesday, the liberal Republicans have been out in full force. Both John McCain and Lindsey Graham have thoroughly expressed their distaste of the Tea Party before but couldn’t help making it known again. Frankly, I’m a little surprised that we haven’t heard from Orrin Hatch as well in all this.

Among the attempts to shame Sen. Paul, Sen. Graham created a shame chart (showing the number of Americans killed in the U.S. by drones vs by Al Qaeda) and Sen. McCain used the term “Wacko Birds” and said Sen. Paul’s filibuster was “unhelpful.” In fact, the old, angry has-been that the American people rejected twice as president of the United States has the gall to even claim he and people like him were the future of the Republican party.

Frankly, Senator McCain, you are a twit.

The American people rejected you, Senator. They rejected you and your vision for America twice. They rejected people like you. They don’t want your brand of “freedom”.

Rand Paul’s Filibuster

Senator Rand Paul (R-TN) is currently on the floor of the Senate filibustering the nomination of John Brennan. He is doing this primarily over the issue of whether or not the Obama Administration can order drone strikes against Americans on U.S. soil.

The Blaze reported on this yesterday and included a copy of the letter from Eric Holder which states in part:

“The question you have posed is…unlikely to occur, and one we hope no President will ever have to confront. It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the United States. … Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular facts and circumstances before advising the President on the scope of his authority.”

Translation: We are claiming it’s unlikely in hopes that you leave us alone, because we haven’t done it yet but we might.