By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
For those of you who don’t recognize the statement it is the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The very fact that it is the Second Amendment marks its place in the hierarchy of rights that were guaranteed to the American people.
Today I don’t want to discuss the most popular section of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms. After a short discussion of the First Amendment, I want to turn your attention to the need for a well-regulated militia.
First off, the First Amendment was designed to keep Congress from making any law “establishing a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”. Someone apparently forgot to tell President Biden and Governor Sisolak that this provision of the Constitution exists, as they placed major limitations on the practice of religion due to COVID.
While the First Amendment prohibits the government from abridging the freedom of speech, there are those who are calling for the stifling of parents at school board meetings. Surely classifying a parent who objects to the actions of a school board a domestic terrorist and to intimidate them with a threat of an FBI investigation abridges free speech. I believe a private company selecting what they print or display is not a limitation on free speech. However, I do not believe the government has a Constitutional right to restrict the content published by a private company.
The freedom of the press was violated by the federal Bureau of Land Management when they censored the news reports of an incident involving a ranch family in southern Nevada. During this same incident, the same agency violated the rights of the people peaceably to assemble. The violation of this provision of the First Amendment has becomes the norm. It is experienced on a regular basis throughout America.
Second only to these provisions of the First Amendment, which no one pays much attention to any more, is the protection of the right of the American citizen to organize a well-regulated militia. In 1747,
Benjamin Franklin purposed a military force independent of the Pennsylvania colonial government. This call for a military organization outside the government came about when the Pennsylvania proprietor failed to protect the people of Pennsylvania from the attacks of the French and their allied Indian nations on colony’s western border.
The federal government, much like the Pennsylvanian colonial government, has failed to protect its citizens from the invading hordes crossing the southern border. “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion;” Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution.
Today the people of the states bordering our neighbor Mexico are facing an invasion of immense numbers. Those who find no harm in this invasion might want to study American history to discover how the United States took these very lands from Mexico by flooding the area with immigrants in the early 1800’s.
In violation of the Constitution, the federal government is doing nothing to stop, and in fact, through their actions are encouraging the invasion.
While much of our attention has been drawn to the Second Amendment when discussing the need for a militia is also addressed in Article I, Section 8, Clause 15: The Congress shall have Power . . . To provide for calling forth the Militia to…repel Invasions; . . .
Since the federal government is given the power to call up the militia in a time of need, the Constitution recognizes the right of the States to have a local militia. This locally controlled body has the purpose of protecting the citizens of a state against a foreign invasion and can be Constitutional employed to defend their borders when the federal government refuses to do so. Notice the emphasize is on a well-regulated militia, not a vigilante mob.
In 1747, Ben Franklin stated it this way: “Being thus unprotected by the government under which we live we do hereby, for our mutual defense and security, and for the security of our wives, children and estates… form ourselves into an association.” The proprietor of the Pennsylvania colony, one Thomas Penn, reacted to this call to arms the same way many Americans would react if a prominent Texan were to call for the formation of a well-regulated militia to defend the Texas border. When Thomas Penn replied to Franklin’s militia efforts, he stated: “This association is founded on a contempt to government, a part little less than treason.” In a subsequent letter Penn expressed his belief that Franklin was a dangerous man and that “I should be glad if he inhabited any other country.” This is an early example of the “old love it or leave it” argument.
No one asked me but… Has anyone else picked up on the inherent racism of the NFL Players Association in their concussion protocol for compensating their members who suffered brain injuries while playing. The degree of injury to qualify for compensation is based on a differential between the perceived inferior cognitive ability of athletes of African descent and those of European decent.
This is a league that has recently fired a head coach for what they perceived to be racist statements made over eleven years ago. Interestingly enough, out of over 600,000 documents reviewed, only the Raiders head coach was found to have made racist comments. I must admit I find this hard to believe. Could this have anything to do with his continued criticism of the Commissioner of the NFL?
The NFL on Wednesday pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumes players of African descent are endowed with lower cognitive function than their Caucasian teammates. When I heard this, I must admit I found it hard to believe that the NFL would say, let alone put this sentiment in writing. This cannot be laid on white supremacy for only 24.9 percent of the NFL players are Caucasian, and for the most part, the leadership of the NFLPA is made up of members who are of Americans of African descent.
The thought of the week… “…to deal with border security…it’s like having a fire in the back of your house that you need to put out first before you talk about who you’re going to let in the front door.”
– Henry Bonilla
