Ghost Shirt Arguments
The right falls into the left’s frames with ease. Race issues are an obvious one, as recently Rep. Greene complained about the $450,000 for separated illegals by citing the lack of Democrat movement on reparations for blacks. It is idiocy and admitting the left’s frame of the necessity of any money. On occasion, the right takes angles on their own that can lead their flock astray.
A major one is the issue of gun rights, commonly tagged or described as 2A in reference to the second amendment. Over and over GOP politicians cite the constitutional right to own firearms. This is a legal right all Americans have. They pound the table about this.
Actual action is hit or miss. Lobbyists track the changes, with some states empowering individuals and others using backdoors for restriction. Tennessee passed legislation allowing permit-less concealed carry while equally right wing Indiana has killed similar attempts. Deep blue states and new blue states add in new regulations whenever given the chance. It’s a safety or public health issue now to obfuscate the truths about gun violence the left will not acknowledge. It is the nuance of legal rights that the right gets bogged down in.
Better rhetoric is that the right to own firearms is a natural right. A natural right is something we consider inalienable and universal. A legal right is just legal code granted by the government of the time. The founders’ view was of natural rights all men should have and not be restrained. There is the natural right of self-defense, and one must have the weaponry to defend oneself. Criminals will always use the weaponry of the time that gives them the greatest chance of success, so citizens should have the same opportunity to defend themselves.
There is a philosophical difference between the right and left now where the left has not just gone pro-criminal but cheerleads criminality. It is not organized banditry destroying businesses and creating chaos. It’s just shoplifting! Rape and murder are tragic accidents of life. Even when pressed about being robbed themselves, liberals will say they wouldn’t fight back. They are sheep to be slaughtered or eloi to be sacrificed to enjoy their urban playgrounds. It is part of their decay into passive consumers.
The GOP waves the Constitution around and speak ferociously about defending it. The Constitution is the GOP’s ghost shirt. What has the Constitution done to protect use from the steady erosion of freedoms? How does it protect us from the private, corporate trampling of our rights? We live in anarcho-tyranny which only the most naive do not see. There is a purpose to this rhetoric.
The day will come when the Supreme Court curtails gun rights or Democrats disregard judicial review and push hard on guns. Attacking the 3D printed gun movement is important to the left because 3D printed guns would squash any hope of disarming Americans. When that legal disarmament day comes though, the tough guy GOP politicians will shrug and say, “the courts decreed. It’s the law.” They will tuck tail and distance themselves from prior rhetoric. Framing gun rights as a natural right in an age of personal firepower and lax law enforcement will gird all of the right for this moment. Judicial diktats cannot erase that. It is a natural right to defend oneself with the same weaponry that criminals have, especially when the government that claims a monopoly on justice and violence shirks its responsibilities.
It will be easy because it was all about legal rights and those can disappear with law as easily as they were granted. Legal rights mean less in an age of overlords with completely different mindsets. Those first rights spelled out centuries ago were considered universal for the Anglo descended defectors from the British Crown. These new rulers are long separated from those men in mind and spirit. Their minds see opponents to disarm, not fellow citizens to extend the basic right to defend oneself to for life, liberty and happiness. The idea of natural rights is not granted to dehumanized outgroups. The ghost shirt movement with its promoters ended in a bloody massacre. That is all the Constitution waving will grant the right today.