How many of you think the Democrats are going DOWN?

[DonP]

It's never an all or nothing proposition

I had the opportunity to work with Larry Speakes, (Reagan's best press secretary) for several years.

He told us that "politics is always about incremental progress towards visionary goal."

He said that changing the political climate (gun control attitudes) is like:

"Playing a piano duet with a baby elephant. You have to force the elephant to move to one side and over a long period of time and a lot of elbowing and nudging in public and in private, the elephant gradually gives you a seat at the piano.

Over a couple of years, if you work hard, you take over playing the piano and the elephant has to fight for space. You will never get the elephant to leave entirely but with a lot of sustained effort you can control the keyboard."

I think the man had a point. Stop expecting any elected offical to wave a magic wand and undo forty years plus of legislation aimed at making uneducated people feel good at the expense of our rights.

Fight the battle one person at a time.

Worry more about your immediate family, friends, co-workers, educators, judges and second amendment friendly legiscritters at all levels, than Sarah Brady. The she will become "a voice crying out in the wilderness".

Educate people on the Bill of Rights, the whole BOR, and don't make "guns" the issue in every conversation. It makes people a lot easier to talk to if you have a conversation about the 1st ammendment and then transition to the second after you have them nodding their head on freedom of speech etc. The second ammendment has too damn many "evangelists" that sound like John Brown (he got hanged remember, even though he was right about slavery) and too few educators.

Keep voting for the people most likely to think and behave the way we do, whether that's a democritter or republicrat.

Enjoy the small victories and be prepared to be as patient as the anti's and socialists are. They keep getting up no matter how often they get knocked down and we need too as well.

It's like Rush says, "there are no graduates here, it's continuing education at its finest."

Don P.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Very well put, Don.

 

[RAThomas]

Remember the saying that all politics are local and "it's the economy, stupid". If the locals are doing good then the Republicans have a chance. If the economy is bad, then the Democrates have a good chance of taking over both chambers of the Congress. Our local US Rep is a Democrat and has a very large war chest that is probally larger than his closest Republican and this is in a conservative district within a Republican state, Kansas.

Two good areas: general janie is loosing in FL and hiterly is loosing it in the presidential pools.

 

[Jamie Young]

I think if the Economy Stays bad the Democrats are GOING DOWN. I know its weird but they are screwing up. I think 80% of people out there are getting sick of hearing about "The Bush Economy". They know its not his fault and when Daschle gets up there and blames him it back fires. I am counting My chickens before they hatch but............... I sense a potential back wash on the Dems. People want unity and most of the people that were unsure about Bush are ready to support him now.

 

[gburner]

Will the Democrats go down?

Yes indeed, but we'll probably have to flush several times.

 

[legalhack]

gburner, I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

succinct, clear, and to the point. God, I hate demo-rats.

 

[Jamie Young]

Thats pretty funny.

 

[OF]

As far as Bush and gun rights go, I'd be willing to bet money that it's Condi ("I'm a Second Amendment absolutist") Rice and Ashcroft that we can thank for 99% of GW's pro-gun attitudes. Without them, I really don't think we'd have a friend in this administration. Not one willing to put it on the line for us, anyway.

- Gabe

 

[Waitone]

IIRC Geroge XLIII was governor of Texas mid-1980's when the nation's first CCH law was written.

Once again I see us pro-gunners paying more attention to what people say about gun rights rather than what they do about gun rights.

 

[OF]

We'll see. If the '94 sunset happens, I'll eat my hat. But here's holding out hope.

- Gabe

 

[Jason Demond]

If we want it done, we will have get up, get out, and vote!

 

[Solitar]

it should be obvious

Look at the demographics of the democrats. It should be obvious they have us outnumbered both now and with future trends of birth rates and immigration. Republican presidential ambitions can survive only if they cater to Democrat/Liberal desires, i.e., gun control. The Republicans will continue to sell us down the river of no return bit by bit. Like having foul medicine mixed with jelly, they'll shove gun control, national ID, 24/7 surveillance, travel-tracking, etc. down our throats eventually.

Our only hope is to establish and hold Republican and, even more importantly, Classical Liberal strongholds in states and counties. Start with Maine where Perot beat Bush in '92. Or consolidate Montana and Wyoming (Idaho may be lost cause in the long run because the southern portion outnumbers the northern individualists.

 

[jdege]

"Look at the demographics of the democrats."

Look at them yourself.

The Democrats have built their entire strategy around the idea that ethnic group is all that matters.

And that's bull****.

There's no such thing as a "naturally Democratic voter."

 

[Jamie Young]

I personally think Bush is going to pick up more and more of the Hispanic vote anyway. I think the Black Vote is going to stay Democratic for some time. But I think the Hispanic vote is going to split right down the middle. Hispanic is kind of a broad term anyway.

 

[jdege]

What percentage of Miami's Cuban community do you suppose are going to vote for Janet Reno?

 

[longeyes]

Nothing except an asteroid, a civil war, or both is likely to reverse the entropic slide toward socialism. I was watching an interview with the head of Vivendi Universal. That man has a vision: global corporations and pop culture creating one happy, prosperous, carefree world. How many people will be left in twenty years who know what the Bill of Rights is, much less subscribe to its tenets? "Hey, dude, the BOR is SO OVER, haven't you heard? Think global!" It's about mental real estate, and that is controlled by government, media, and education, and we know where they want things to go. We can still do something but we are going to have to be a LOT more militant in defense of basic freedoms than we are right now.

As for Democrat vs. Republican, it's a case of one beast, two heads.

 

[jdege]

creating one happy, prosperous, carefree world.

Plato had the same dream, 3000 years ago - a perfectly designed, well-ordered society, with a place for everyone and everyone in his place.

But we aren't there yet.

 

[Hard_Case]

The Repubs will die long before the 'crats take their tumble to the grave. Hell, the Repubs are practically operating on the spastic twinges on a just died corpse, anyway. With the pervading of the 'big tent' concept, that party has gone more and more towards the left. RINO IS the Republican party. The 'conservatives' who still earn the name are the last vestiges of a dying breed. Soon the difference between democrat and republican will the the side of the ballot they will appear on.

I also don't think that there will ever be any major victories without bloodshed. How much effort is spent, on a national level, fighting against gun control legislation. How much gun control legislation is introduced vs. how much pro gun legislation? How many people in society know about the Second Amendment Protection Act versus the Military Sniper Weapons Act? The deck is just too stacked in the oppositions favor. Sounds insane, but in a mere 36 years, we will have reached the 100 year mark of US v. Miller. In 100 years, have any of the laws or codes involved therein been changed to respect our rights? Since it's founding, has the BATF grown any weaker, or in any major way been stopped from harassing gun owners? It's much more difficult to be content with the minor victories when the antis have been scoring the major ones. I am willing to put money that before my life is over we WILL see the registration of firearms come to pass. Course...that sounds kinda tacky since we won't know if it's true until I'm dead, and I can't well pay up if I'm wrong. I would also be willing to be that the AW ban will NOT sunset, but acheive a permanent stay. Since when have true statistics made a lick of difference?

The stats say that there are somewhere near 80 million gun owners in the US. In the 63 years since US v. Miller, the 34 years since the GCA, and the 8 years since the AW ban, when has more than TEN PERCENT of them been a member of a pro-gun organization. NRA claims around 4 million, IIRC. Most others claim several hundred thousand. And even if they do, would it matter. Does Diane Feinstein, or Charles Schumer ever think 'well, there's 80 million gun owners out there, many of them my constituents. Maybe I shouldn't piss them off today'. The battleground right now is in the system, masses, and in the media, and we've already lost the system. It is too corrupt and too bloated, and too interested in material gain, and would require a MASSIVE upheaval to return it to a representative form of governement. We have completely lost the media. Media bias, suggestive reporting, 'issue' based reporting.....no hope. Hell, a man defending his wife with a firearm gets classified as 'Violent man solves problem with gun, murder'. And the worst....education. The public system is one of the greatest tragedies of our era. Without that, with a majority of the children being programmed by the system instead of educated, the future is as good as lost.

Forgive my rant, but more often these days I find I don't care whether one calls themselves Dem or Repub. Either one has a disrespect on the rights enumerated in the Constitution. I keep reading the news, hoping for some small speck of light.....and it's just getting darker. A friend of mine...his father swore that in 35 years (back in 1995), America will once again shed it's own blood on it's own soil. I'm coming ever so closer to believing it will....

 

[Jamie Young]

Nothing except an asteroid, a civil war, or both is likely to reverse

Well I hope a nice chunk of Iron and Ice comes down from Outer space and smacks us. If thats what it takes I'll deal with the repercusions.

 

[kjm]

I was happy the Republicans lost control of the Senate! I was nervous since the very first thing they did was the Bankruptcy bill which was a blatent move to protect big business (bankers) against bad business decisions such as giving every college student a pre-approved credit card with an astronomical intrest rate. That made me despise the Republican party almost as much as I despised the Democrats and that is hard to do. The Republicans are every bit as much about group/class warfare as the democrats. I despise both, but in both can be found some decency (although I am unsure as to who would be a decent example of a Democrat).

I fear a Republican majority in Congress for the same reasons I would tremble at making Jerry Falwell the Dictator for life. Liberty is the only thing that makes my life worth living, and I pledge the worst type of hostility to any man or group that threatens my personal liberty or that of my children.