Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 56 March 2006 Have you ever been frustrated by someone labeling you as far right on the political spectrum, simply because you desire a return to a correct interpretation of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights? I don't think it's fair at all to be called on the right of an issue, simply because you want the issue viewed in it's correct context. It's not correct or accurate to be labeled as coming from the "right" side on something like the right to keep and bear arms, when all you really desire is a return to a view much closer to what the Founding Fathers intended. I believe that there's a political centerline on every issue. On the left of the issue, we see the Socialists or Communists. On the right of the issue, we see the Fascists. The Fascists believe that the wants, whims and desires of government supercede the freedom of the people. What we're actually doing in supporting and defending the Second Amendment's guarantee, is we're protecting the center from the left, while the left portrays us as being from the right. It's somewhat comforting in a way when you fully realize that true constitutionalists are really in the exact center of any political issue. We're not from the right at all, we're merely to the right of those on the left. Below is an article written by Mr. Alan Korwin, who is the author of a book called Supreme Court Gun Cases and is a warrior for the Second Amendment. I hope you enjoy it, I did. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH A Ben Franklin Special this month!!! Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US Founding Father "Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you." -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US Founding Father "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 (1706-1790 US Founding Father "... as all history informs us, there has been in every State & Kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing & governed: the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in dethroning of the Princes, or enslaving of the people. Generally indeed the ruling power carries its point, the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes; the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure. There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh, get first all the peoples money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants for ever ..." -- Benjamin Franklin, before the Constitutional Convention, (June 2, 1787) (1706-1790) US Founding Father "He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity, will change the face of the world." -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US Founding Father +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM AFFILIATES I've just added some more online retailers as affiliates. Take a few minutes to check them out. If you use any of these online retailers, please create a shortcut to the following page and use it to link to your favorite retailers, as I make a small commission for each sale. http://www.savetheguns.com/affiliate_links.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH My gun safety tip of the month has more to do with being a good friend and neighbor than anything else. Someone I know was threatened by a convicted rapist who she helped put in prison. I merely offered my knowledge to help her and her family keep safe after their recent purchase of their first firearm for self defense. If you're aware of a friend, family member or acquaintance who has recently purchased their first firearm or is considering a first firearm purchase, I encourage you to offer your knowledge of gun safety and your knowledge on how to go about choosing a first firearm and all the different decisions that have to be made when considering a first gun purchase. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of families have introduced new firearms to their homes. I simply encourage you to help these people as you're able to. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NRA MEMBERSHIP If you're not an NRA Member and you refuse to join, could you find time to e-mail me and tell me why? Being an NRA Membership Recruiter, I think I'm pretty prepared to defend the NRA from any harsh critics. If you want to learn more about NRA Membership, go to my "NRA Membership" page: http://www.savetheguns.com/nra_membership.htm If you're a current NRA Member, check your card and see if it's time to renew. If it's time to renew, or if you want to give a membership to a friend or family member, just click the following link: http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR017807 I'LL BE RUNNING AN NRA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE PRETTY SOON THAT INCLUDES A PARTIAL REIMBURSEMENT FOR NEW NRA MEMBERS. KEEP POSTED... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MINUTEMAN MONTHLY AIMING POINT FOR MARCH 2006 Possible News Error 1/20/06 Dear Editor, I think your news coverage is using terms such as "left" or "right wing" in a misleading way. Briefly, when you represent politics as a straight line, to the left is socialism and to the right is fascism. So when you describe a political effort as coming from the left, for example,you're really using a euphemism for some degree of socialist-style governance. Socialism is an avowed arch enemy of the American Dream. The American Dream -- freedom -- stands precisely between the total state-control models of the far left and right. To the extent we sway either left or right, we weaken the very thing that makes us good. This is lost in reporting that broad brushes things as being simply left or right. Our central ideals of rule by the people, limited government, delegated powers, ownership of property and the fruits of your labors, these make America great, a shining beacon still drawing immigrants. They are also liberties detested and lost as you stray left or right from the American center. Now, "leftist" for example, does accurately portray many political entities you cover, like the welfare state, socialized medicine, government schools and such. "Right" however, is often incorrectly attached to things in the middle, for an interesting reason. An example illustrates. Owning guns and lots of ammunition is typically characterized as right wing. But if you think about it, in this country, owning guns, ammo and knowing how to use them is precisely the baseline, the American way, practiced nationwide since that right appeared in our charter in 1791. This right to arms is something you do not and cannot have under left-wing socialism or right-wing fascism. It helps define those autocracies -- a powerless subservient populace. <<{SaveTheGuns.com comment-- Actually the practice of owning guns and lots of ammunition is quite a bit older than the Second Amendment, but we get Alan's point.}>> To the extent any socialist- or fascist-leaning forces are active, they eat away at American principles balanced between them, in this example, the (some would say wild) freedom to keep and bear arms. If the American left had its way, no one would have guns but the police, a classically socialist position. But here's the rub: why doesn't the so-called right-wing also seek to disarm the populace, as fascism dictates? How can the strongest support for gun ownership actually come from the "radical right"? Because those people aren't the right wing. Defending gun rights is centrist, not fascist. It gives people power, not government. The right to arms, like firm religious belief, a strong moral sense, reducing taxation, love of country -- things often portrayed as "right" are the classic American model, right in the middle. The media are getting it wrong. Here's why. From the left, where most of America's anti-gun-rights sentiment resides, the American Dream is indeed to their right, but that doesn't make it "the" right. The moderate, God-fearing, gun-toting, compassionate citizens with a set of moral values are central, the What-America-Is-All-About component, not right wing. You see, it's not about the left against the right. The left is fighting the middle. America faces a battle between its core values, and socialism. And now we've come full circle -- because the arch enemy of socialism is us. Walking the dynamic road between the left and the right, our American way is jeopardized every time a news outlet sugar coats a socialist-leaning (or less common but equally dangerous fascist-leaning) piece of politics by calling it merely left or right. And characterizing fundamental elements of the American Dream as right wing, because they are to the right of the left, is simply inaccurate, not a proper policy for good journalism or reasoned debate, and should be abandoned. Alan Korwin, Author Supreme Court Gun Cases The Uninvited Ombudsman Contact: Alan Korwin Bloomfield Press 4718 E. Cactus #440 Phoenix, AZ 85032 602-996-4020 Phone 602-494-0679 FAX 1-800-707-4020 Orders http://www.gunlaws.com alan@gunlaws.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks, Marc Richardson Owner/Founder www.SaveTheGuns.com "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government. Far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." James Madison (1751-1836) Fourth President of the United States. To opt-out of further e-mails from www.SaveTheGuns.com simply reply with "Unsubscribe MMM" in the subject line.