LiberT

If you know anyone living in California’s 16th Congressional District (San Jose, currently held by Democrat Zoe Lofgren), feel free to pass on information about Edward Gonzalez’s campaign to defeat her. He is already the Libertarian candidate in that District, and if he gets enough write-in votes in the GOP Primary, he will also be the Republican candidate! There are currently no official GOP candidates in that Primary, so a write-in is an easy win.

Yes, it is true I’m a big fan of permitting terrorists to own guns. What?, you may ask. Apparently, that is the attack being used by some in our almighty government who hope to infringe upon our right to defend ourselves.

Consider this recent Senate Homeland Security hearing on Capitol Hill:

On Tuesday, as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Lieberman held a hearing to give Lautenberg and King the opportunity to promote their bills S.1317 and H.R.2159, to prohibit the possession of firearms by people on the FBI’s “terrorist watchlist,” and Lautenberg’s S. 2820, to maintain records of approved instant background check transactions for a minimum of 180 days. The watchlist bills further propose that a person seeking relief in court from these new restrictions would be prevented from examining and challenging “evidence” against him, and that the judge deciding whether the person had been watchlisted for good reason be limited to summaries and redacted versions of such “evidence.”

So we are to rely on our government to come up with a list of people who they decide is a terrorist or has terrorist “leanings”. Well, we already are relying on our government to do this, and like many things the government gets involved in, this too is a big fat failure.

For instance, in 2008 CNN reports on a pilot who was on the “terror” watch list:

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) — James Robinson is a retired Air National Guard brigadier general and a commercial pilot for a major airline who flies passenger planes around the country.

He has even been certified by the Transportation Security Administration to carry a weapon into the cockpit as part of the government’s defense program should a terrorist try to commandeer a plane.

But there’s one problem: James Robinson, the pilot, has difficulty even getting to his plane because his name is on the government’s terrorist “watch list.”

This is not an isolated case. There have been numerous cases of mistaken identity where suddenly completely innocent people have found themselves on the “government’s” terror watch list. Here’s a more recent case of an 8-year old boy found on the list:

Najla Hicks, a photojournalist who was once cleared to fly with Vice President Al Gore, said the family was amused by the mistake at first but that quickly wore off and seven years later they are still trying to clear it up.

“I understand the need for security,” she added, “But this is ridiculous. It’s quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane.”

The incompetence of so-called “watch lists” demonstrate the primary idiocy in any law attempting to prohibit guns from those on these government lists. However, there is perhaps an even stronger argument against infringing on the rights of government-labeled “terrorists” like innocent airline pilots and young children.

Do you think terrorists give any consideration to any law prohibiting them from doing anything? If that were the case the Twin Towers may still be standing today.

By nature, terrorists are criminals. Time, effort, and money spent on passing laws that will end up only applying to innocent people is time, effort, and money wasted. All of which are in short supply these days.

Ignoring their predilection for using bombs, not guns, yes, I’m absolutely in favor of permitting terrorists to own guns. If they are permitted to own guns then law-abiding citizens will be permitted to own guns and in the end, the law-abiding citizen is the best deterrent to terrorism.

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• Ballack ruled out after challenge from Kevin-Prince Boateng
• Midfielder’s absence will harm Germany’s bid for success

Germany’s captain Michael Ballack has been ruled out of the World Cup with the ankle injury he sustained playing in Chelsea’s 1-0 FA Cup final win over Portsmouth, the German Football Federation (DFB) has confirmed.

Ballack was injured by a tackle from Portsmouth’s Kevin-Prince Boateng in which his ankle buckled. Although the midfielder tried to play on, he was forced to come off the field before the half-time interval. He left Wembley with his leg in a protective boot. The 33-year-old underwent an MRI scan in Munich this morning to assess the damage, and the scan showed ligament damage to his right ankle.

“National team captain Michael Ballack is out of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa,” the DFB said. “This is the result of an MRI on Monday morning in Munich. A tear of the medial collateral ligament of the right ankle was found. The right ankle is immobilised in a plaster. He will have to wear a special shoe for two weeks.

“After the diagnosis of national team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt today, a complete healing of the injury is expected. Ballack’s return to training is possible at the earliest in eight weeks.”

Ballack was angry about the challenge from Boateng and said yesterday: “It wasn’t a good tackle. I’ve seen it on TV and it didn’t look a good tackle. When I was on the pitch, I knew it would be really difficult to carry on. I tried, but it wasn’t possible. I’ve had a few injuries and if you can’t carry on, that’s always a bad sign. Sometimes it’s bruising or sometimes it’s a nerve that stops you.”

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