Minuteman Monthly Issue 5 December 2000 In this 5th issue of the Minuteman Monthly I will address some of my thoughts and feelings concerning Election Day 2000 and provide quite a few links that you can use to voice your opinions too. .......................... .......................... Joke "How many Palm Beach voters does it take to change a light bulb? None. They can't find the hole!!" .......................... .......................... QUESTION A bit of trivia The first firearm was invented in the... A) 1320's B) 1430's C) 1540's Answer near the end of this month's newsletter. .......................... .......................... Election Day 2000 was a day that will live on in America's memory for decades to come and students of politics will be studying this election 300 years from now. If you have any newspapers laying around with lots of good Election Day 2000 information in them, I would suggest that you preserve them and put them away because they might be worth money someday. Ever since the Militia Act of 1903, and the National Firearms Act of 1934, private and lawful ownership of firearms and politics have been inseparably linked to one another. The Militia Act of 1903 divided the militias of the States into an organized militia and a reserve militia. The organized militia would be a group of men under State government control who would drill regularly and be ready to be called upon for service. The reserve militia would consist of all other able-bodied males between the ages of 18 and 45. The National Firearms Act of 1934 created a nationwide bureaucracy for registering gun owners who chose to own fully automatic machine guns and silencers, among other things. Since these two acts were passed by Congress, the days where gun owners could assume the Congress would abide by the original intention of the Second Amendment were numbered indeed. Gun owners would have to keep one eye on their targets and another eye on Congress and the President to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms was not further infringed upon for the foreseeable future. ............................... Before Election Day 2000 the polls showed a near dead heat between George W. Bush and Albert Gore. Little did we know in late October and early November how close the race between the two would become. I have been trying to get law-abiding gun owners to register to vote and get active in opposing gun control since I was a teenager, not even able to vote myself. Since I started www.savetheguns.com, I have been pushing even harder to get law-abiding gun owners off their couches and easy chairs and into the fray. In the year 2000, I have done just about all I could as a single individual to help elect the right people to public office. I have worked harder in this year than in the previous 5 years combined. I have had to keep a very watchful eye on the Clinton-Gore administration and I REALLY did not like what I saw in regards to their positions on private firearm ownership. Early on I had the feeling that I would have to fight very hard to make sure that the Clinton-Gore years were not going to continue right into a Gore Administration. You just had to know that if there was ever going to be multiple Constitutional Crises, Clinton and Gore would be at the heart of them. Bill Clinton and Al Gore's administration has been relentlessly attacking lawful and private gun ownership since 1992. I fought hard again to help make sure that a pro-gun majority was elected to Congress. Thankfully, there is still a pro-gun majority in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. But I must warn you now, that it is a VERY, VERY slim majority indeed. Some gun control bills in Congress might come down to 1,2 or 3 votes either way and I know that I will have to call on you often to make sure your Congressmen know how you feel. ................................ ................................ Now for the election itself. The big issue on November 8th, the day after the election, was the so-called "Butterfly Ballot". This is exactly the same ballot that I used in the 1996 election cycle. It really does not take a master's degree in engineering to follow the simple instructions on the butterfly ballot. There are candidates on both pages, with a strip of holes to punch going down the center. The candidates for office simply alternate down the middle. All the holes were clearly marked by arrows indicating which hole to punch. We only get to vote for the office of president every four years. It would be quite reasonable to take an extra 5 seconds to make sure your punching the right holes. There are clear instructions on the ballot to make sure that the holes corresponding to your candidate are punched through and that the hole is cleared so it can be readily picked up by the machine. Ballots where the holes are not cleared may not be picked up by the machines. Common sense dictates that someone who would take the time to vote for president, would make sure that they did so correctly. Ballots that have not been used correctly should not be counted at all....period. ............................... ............................... Our men and women in the military who are stationed around the world, protecting our freedom should not be getting treated like they have been by Gore's Campaign team in Florida!!! There reportedly was a memo sent out by the Gore Campaign to make sure they get as many military ballots tossed out as they could. Al Gore as everybody expected was no friend of our men and women in the military. Nearly 40% of the military ballots in Florida were dismissed and thrown out because they did not have a postmark on them. This enraged me and I am not even in the military. Incidentally, the rule that they used to toss out those ballots was only half observed, you see, the ballots did not need a postmark if they were signed and dated. Those military ballots should all be reconsidered and I E-mailed the Florida Supreme Court and the Gore Campaign and told them so. I have received many E-mails from military personnel from overseas that they did not even receive ballots to vote with on time from many stateside precincts in many states. Pennsylvania seems to be the one most complained about in this area. This would be a great time to E-mail the Florida Supreme Court. supremecourt@flcourts.org ............................. ............................. Please find time to E-mail the Florida State Legislature. The Florida State Legislature has the Constitutional power to override the Florida Supreme Court. It is essential that the Florida State Legislature knows how America feels. http://www.keepandbeararms.com/takeaction/automailers/default.asp Copy and Paste this entire address into your browser. Once the page opens, choose the Florida Legislature and select all the members at once and send away.......... ............................. ............................. This is a fine Web page full of quotations from Al Gore. Please take the time to visit. I enjoyed it and I'm sure you will too. http://www.gargaro.com/algore.html http://www.rnc.org/TheGoreFiles/ Here is another that you might be interested in. ............................. ............................. In the last few years, the President of the United States has become more powerful. It has become more difficult to override vetoes from the President and the President has use of the line item veto. The next President of the United States will replace about a third of the United States Supreme Court and possibly as much as 44% of the highest court in the land. It is of paramount importance that a pro-freedom president fill the White House. This would also ensure that Vice-President Dick Cheney would be a tie-vote breaker in the United States Senate. ............................ ............................ Sound Off On The Election http://community.cnn.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@@.eea4246 Copy and Paste this entire web address into your browser. Register on this message board and post away. ........................... ........................... Go here and sign your letter to Al Gore telling him to step down and bow out. http://www.electionintegrity.com/home/g349.cfm ........................... ........................... You could also take a moment to E-mail Al Gore at the Whitehouse. vice.president@whitehouse.gov ........................... ........................... Finishing Up In conclusion, I believe that the Gore Campaign and its lawyers have conducted themselves in an onerous and unacceptable manner. Dragging our election process through the court system is detrimental to freedom and liberty. In 1960, during the last very close election, Richard Nixon could have contested, cried, kicked and demanded, but he stepped down instead. As a result, many saw Richard Nixon as a national hero, even though he lost. Obviously there is no such higher ground attainable by the Gore Campaign. If Al Gore had stepped down after the vote was certified by the Florida Secretary of State, Gore might have had a chance to win in the 2004 election cycle, as Richard Nixon came back to win. However, after this fiasco, I seriously doubt that an Al Gore could even get the Democratic Nomination. I have seen, talked to and E-mailed quite a few Democrats who said they voted for Al Gore, but after they got a real good look at his character, they would not vote for him again. .............................. .............................. ANSWER A bit of trivia The first firearm was invented in the... A) 1320's ............................. ............................. With the pro-gun majority in the United States Congress getting thinner and thinner every year, it is more important than ever before to get a pro-gun White House. Please feel free to forward, print, post and fax this newsletter to anyone you wish. Thanks to the few people who have recently purchased some Savetheguns.com T-shirts.