John Roberts

The Bill of Rights

As citizens of the United States, we have several constitutionally protected rights enumerated in amendments to our Constitution, which was adopted by the states in 1788. The first twelve amendments were introduced after the constitution was ratified, by future president, James Madison. These amendments were suggested by another future president, Thomas Jefferson, who was minister to France at the time. Of these twelve amendments, ten were ratified by the states and became the Bill of Rights.

The first three amendments were written to safeguard personal liberties, the next five were written to safeguard personal justice and the last two dealt with un-enumerated rights and reserved powers (protection of the states’ rights). The first three are sacred rights of the citizens of the United States, and are widely considered God Given rights:

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms (more on this later)

Third Amendment: No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in the time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

These three amendments are the backbone of the liberty we, as Americans, have fought bravely to protect and were largely responsible for our original fight for freedom: The Revolutionary War. Based on Jefferson’s urging, Madison wrote these amendments to protect the fundamental rights of our ancestors – rights they did not enjoy under British rule.

The Second Amendment is what this article is about. It may be the least understood and the most easily twisted (by those who want to limit your freedoms) of the first three amendments. Only 27 words in length, it may well be the most controversial of all amendments in the Bill of Rights:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

What were the true intentions of our Founding Fathers when they wrote this amendment? Was it so a strong state militia could be easily called to service in the event of an attack by enemies, either internal or foreign? Was it to allow people to keep and bring arms to bear in the event they were being threatened? While easily contorted by those who wish to threaten our 2^nd Amendment rights, the answer is very simple. The amendment was written to allow all legally authorized citizens to own firearms and bear them for their protection. The first part of the amendment, referring to a well-regulated militia, is misleading. Because the United States had such a small Federal Army at the time, it necessitated the citizenry be able to quickly assemble to protect the new nation. But the most important consideration about all the amendments in the Bill of Rights, with the exception of the tenth, is that they all apply to individual citizens and not the Federal government or state governments. If the Founders believed it was only about the militia, it would not be placed amongst all of the individual rights.

Our right to keep and bear arms is a God Given right. One should be able to protect themselves, their family and their friends. Federal courts have upheld this right in District of Columbia vs. Heller and McDonald vs. Chicago. But this sacred right is constantly under assault. Gun rights groups are under constant assault by gun grabbers who want to restrict our ability to keep and bear arms – and most importantly own the types of guns we want to own. In fact, as recently as June 9, 2016, the 9^th Federal Appeals Court of San Francisco ruled there was no constitutional right to carry concealed guns. Federal appeals judge, William Fletcher, writing for the 7-4 majority, stated,

“We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.”

While the San Francisco Federal Appeals court is a very left leaning, the gun grabbers had a very significant victory with this ruling. It will inevitably be appealed – probably all the way to the Supreme Court – a court which currently, thanks to President Trump, has a majority of conservative justices. But with Chief Justice John Roberts the wild card, we cannot count on the Supreme Court to protect our Second Amendment rights.

Conclusion

Given our current political climate, we face grave threats to the freedoms our sage Founders desired to protect for all future citizens of our great Republic. Whether it be limitations on free speech, freedom of assembly or our “Right to keep and bear arms,” we must not sit on the sidelines passively. Call or write your U.S. representatives and your senators. Let them know that you want your freedoms protected. Do it today. Once these freedoms are gone, they will be nearly impossible to get back.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ,
The Grey Beard Biker™
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Yes, I said it. I am embarrassed. The world watches the United States. And I might say they watch what goes on here closely. Today, our country is more partisan than I ever recall it being – and that is saying a lot. Like many of you, I watched a most amazing State of the Union Address earlier this week. President Trump rightfully highlighted all of his major accomplishments. He was sincere. He offered to reach across the aisle to help with a school choice and an infrastructure bill. But everything fell on deaf ears on the Left.

We Learned our Lesson

The Republican Party has turned into the new party of inclusion. We learned our lesson when we rushed to impeach Bill Clinton – and Clinton actually broke the law. Not surprisingly, he was not convicted by the senate. We paid for rushing into a partisan impeachment during the next general election.

Then, starting in 2009, we managed to survive eight years of an Obama administration which had plenty of scandals of its own. Just in case you have forgotten them, here is a partial list of them:

Operation Fast & Furious for which Attorney General Eric Holder refused to comply with House subpoenas
Hillary Clinton email scandal
IRS targeting of conservative organizations (Lois Lerner)
Benghazi
The hacking of the Office of Personnel Management which exposed personnel files of Federal employees
Solyndra
Paying the terrorist supporting regime of Iran for the release of American hostages
Biden’s quid pro quo with Ukraine to fire a government prosecutor investigating his son – something which was largely unknown during Obama’s tenure but is well known now

There was plenty a Republican controlled House of Representatives could have used for impeachment – but we never yelled to impeach him. Republican freshmen representatives never screamed they were going to “impeach the mother fucker” on their first day in office – as Rashida Tlaib did. Conservative celebrities never threatened to move out of the United States. Conservatives were not pictured holding the severed head of Obama. There was no wide spread call for impeachment. Period.

Fast Forward to 2016

Even before Donald Trump was formally nominated by the Republican Party, there was noise of impeachment. Obama oversaw a FBI which illegally obtained FISA warrants to spy on Carter Page – an American citizen. Representatives such as Jerry Nadler, Maxine Waters, Adam Schiff and others were screaming for impeachment while Trump was president-elect. It has not stopped since. When the Russian Collusion narrative failed, they jumped on an alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine as enough to impeach Trump.

After wasting their entire first year in the majority, the house Democrats impeached Trump over nothing. They have done absolutely nothing for their constituents for nearly 13 months. It is absolutely beyond despicable.

This is an embarrassment

This has been a week which has provided more evidence of an economy humming along in hyperdrive, falling illegal border crossings and a president willing to reach across the aisle to get things done for the people. Additionally, we got to hear the closing arguments of house managers and the president’s counsel. We knew going into last weekend that the Senate majority leadership had defeated the Left’s attempt to retry their impeachment case by inserting new witnesses. Throughout last weekend, and early this week, we heard nearly every Democrat say how unfair this was. They said, “How there could not be a trial without witnesses.” Blah, blah, blah! Cry me a damn river.

**Courtesy of the awesome https://www.grrrgraphics.com/**

My embarrassment increased exponentially with the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night – and it had nothing to do with the speech. President Trump had ever reason to be proud of the accomplishments of his administration. But it did not matter how good the news was for ALL Americans – the Leftist crybabies would not cheer for the good which is happening right in front of their damn eyeballs. The things which are positively impacting their constituents. The only exception was Senator Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) who stood up and applauded very regularly while sitting next to two of the biggest sour apples of the bunch: Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Kamala Harris (D-CA). Even things which should have received bi-partisan support did not: an original Tuskegee Airman who was promoted to brigadier general, a young black girl who was given a scholarship to attend a school of her choice and most glaringly, a family reunited when the husband, who had been serving overseas, appeared in the stands to surprise his wife and two children.

But what really sealed the entire embarrassment deal for me was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). We had to sit through the entire SOTU while watching her make faces, roll her eyes or shake her head. And then at the conclusion of the address, while the house chamber was shaking with applause, she proved just how partisan of a damn witch she is by tearing up the official speech in front of all of America – and the world. Maybe it’s true that when an aging senior citizen starts going downhill they actually start acting like a little child again. Because that was exactly the way she acted. Like a damn child.

Wednesday Healed All Wounds

**The Liberal rag, WAPO, proclaims, “Trump acquitted!”**

While it was no secret that Donald Trump was not going to be convicted by the Senate, it was quite a relief when it really happened – made better by Chief Justice John Roberts proclamation that DJT was acquitted of all charges. The voting went fully along partisan lines, with the one exception of Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) voting to convict Trump of abuse of power. It goes to show just what a damn RINO he is – and in my humble opinion it will cause his constituency to fire him during his next election. I had hoped that Sinema would stray from her Leftist partisan hacks and vote against conviction, but after applauding during the SOTU address, I am sure she was dressed down by her party’s leadership.

Looking Forward to 2020

I wish I believed this was the end of the partisan witch hunt. But old Jerry Nadler has said he may subpoena John Bolton to testify in front of his house committee. I am fairly certain we will see no mellowing of feelings on the left and nothing substantive will be accomplished by the House of Representatives before the 2020 General Election – an election I am hoping will sweep a Republican majority into the House of Representatives, increase our majority in the U.S. Senate and sweep Donald J. Trump into a landslide victory. Because the Democrats need to pay for acting like little children.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab