We fought a pretty good war to rid ourselves of a king. I seem to recall though that even after the war against England, some people simply wanted a different king. Luckily, liberty minded heads prevailed and we gave ourselves a constitutionally limited republic of federated states and put the power of people’s lives into their own hands.
At some point, the office of President started turning into Elected King. I’m OK with a single person having veto power over bills submitted to him, this negative system acts as a part of the checks and balances that make a republic work.
But Executive Orders? A King’s Decree with a prettier name.
I don’t like them from any president. I wouldn’t trust Ron Paul with EO powers. It’s the Ring Of Power – I’m sure even the purest of heart would eventually feel they needed to do something that would violate liberty.
As I’ve mentioned before, humans have a king shaped hole in their head they need to fill. Why we allow a single person to issue a decree that affects an entire nation and actually give a shit about it is so beyond me it’s incomprehensible. If some wino walked up to you and said “I have declared that you must feed me filet mignon!” you’d tell him to fuck off, but elect said hobo to office and suddenly his word is gospel?
Folks, we’re getting to a point where we just need to stop following these ‘decrees’ by those who pretend to be our ‘masters’. They’re just humans like you and me, but people who have been in politics for so long they’ve lost the ability to empathize with being an American. Until we can convince our friends, family and neighbors that the very small cabal of idiots who are elected are just stupid people who can’t get jobs elsewhere and that we shouldn’t put much stock in what they say, we’re toast because those very same friends, family, and neighbors will voluntarily adhere to the decrees and not think twice about letting the force of the state to bend your knee as well.
Comments
I'm a Jewish American gun owner, supporting member of three pro-2A organizations, and a former airborne soldier. I enjoyed reading the biblical passage Sean quoted. 2,500+ years later, people and human events haven't changed much under the surface. It disgusts me that the ultra-orthodox (Hasidic) Jews believe and teach that the form of government God wants for the Jewish people is a constitutional monarchy. In other words the end-result would be, in their vision, a tyranny of religious extremists and a puppet king (they can bless to live long or condemn to die soon) controlling the minutia of people's lives. I'd rather keep living free among my Christian gun owning friends.
"Jewish leaders, especially those in the politically correct "Reform" branch, preach that gun control is "a solemn religious obligation", contrary to the teachings of their sacred scriptures and their own history."
Reference; "If someone comes to kill you, arise quickly and kill him." The Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin. 1994. The Schottenstein Edition. New York: Mesorah publications. Vol. 2, 72a.
Quoted from: Raging Against Self Defense:
A psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality
By Sarah Thompson, M.D. © Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership 2000
Dr. Thompson is Executive Director of Utah Gun Owners Alliance,www.utgoa.org and also writes The Righter, www.therighter.com, a monthly column on individual rights.
I recently did a search for the word sword through the entire Bible, looking for instances of "sword control" (as a proxy for arms control in general). I found one instance of sword control, in 1 Samuel 13:19, which reads "Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:" The only arms control in the entire Bible is by the Philistines to support their occupation of Israel and their oppression of the Israelites.
On the other hand, in Luke 22:36 Christ Himself tells his disciples to buy swords if they don't already have them: "Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
I share your disgust with the concept of "Executive Orders" that end up being binding on the whole country. Smacks of despotism.
But the crashing irony of this situation is that, in a way, these Obama orders are a pretty textbook example of the sort of thing EOs are _supposed_ to be for. The head of the Executive Branch (which the Constitution makes him) is giving orders to employees of the Executive Branch. A head of any entity who can't give orders to the employees of that entity isn't much of a "head". And although we in the gun-rights community have grave suspicions about the use to which some of the initiatives he's calling for will be put in the future if Obama has his way, as a matter of law nothing in these orders has anything to do with anybody who doesn't work for USG.
(And now that I've taken a public stand which could be interpreted as a defense of Barack Obama, y'all really ought to be checking out some profit-making opportunities with the snowblower concession in Hell...)
Thanks for your reply. The reform branch is essentially a wing of the democrat party. Unfortunately, many American Jews have come to associate a gun (an inanimate tool and often a weapon that can be used for good or evil) with the actual centuries of oppression and murder by human beings in government, evil doers, and exploiters.
Most of the reform branch's rabbis are radical feminist supporters (male or female) or lean that way. Feminism had its origins with Marxism/socialism and that ideology is about gun control over the masses of citizens.
Increasing numbers of people are learning that there is not a Commandment 'thou shall not kill'. The actual Hebrew is better translated as 'thou shall not murder'. There is a big difference! God ordered the ancient Jews to kill their enemies on several occasions. The language mistake was made when translating the Hebrew into Greek before it later was translated in Latin long ago.
I noticed that one of your articles was sourced by the JPFO Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. They are a great organization of which I am a member. The JPFO's DVD 'Innocents Betrayed' when governments have turned on and slaughtered their own people is a tear jerker.
Well, with Elvis gone, once Michael Jackson passed, there was a void....
"Put no trust in princes,
in mere mortals powerless to save."
(New American Bible)
Israel Asks for a King
...
6But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
10Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattleb and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
21When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”