My name is Robert Farago and I am a gun rights extremist. I reckon there shouldn’t be ANY laws restricting the right to keep and bear arms. No background checks, no concealed carry licenses, no government infringement whatsoever. In other words, I take the Second Amendment as writ. There aren’t a lot of journalists who ascribe to that interpretation, or anything even close. There are even fewer 2A loud n’ proud politicians. Or police. But there is Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke Jr. As you know, or should know . . .
Sheriff Clarke is solidly, publicly and now famously pro-gun. As the Fox News interview above indicates, Clarke believes the Founding Fathers enacted the Second Amendment to discourage and defeat government tyranny. Right answer! Clarke also knows which side of the fence he sits as a defender of firearms freedom. And who sits on the other side . . .
Fresh off his victory in Wednesday’s primary, pro-gun rights incumbent sheriff of Milwaukee County, David Clarke, Jr. appeared on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” to fire back at former New York City mayor and gun control advocate Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg’s Independence USA super PAC spent $150,000 to air a series of television ads targeting Clarke’s conservative pro-gun policies. But according to Clarke, Bloomberg’s efforts to influence the election backfired.
“He came in and thought he could spread a few hundred thousand dollars around to take a prized catch away that he could march around the country with in his failed crusade — his anti-gun crusade — and he could hold me up as an example of what might happen to others if they don’t get on board with him,” Clarke said. “But that didn’t work here. The public was actually turned off by it.”
Bloomberg’s loss is Americans’ gain. Regardless of the political calculus that Sheriff Clarke made to ensure his victory in the Democratic primary, we have in him a forceful, forthright spokesman for our natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. One who can now rub former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s nose in his failure to oust a defender of liberty. As Jackie Gleason used to say, how sweet it is!
Thank you RF for supporting the constitutional rights of citizens through the spread of knowledge. Any time bloomturd is able to poke his tail between his hypocritical legs is a good time. Hopefully people see the evil in such powerful tyrants like bloomy and friends. Money buying votes is not the America the founders had hoped for and should not be the America the citizens fight for.
Thank you. It’s always nice to hear the true intent of 2A. Not hunting. I’m not a “sportsman”. Defending liberty is not a sport.
“Defending liberty is not a sport.”
How simple, and yet how profound. Thank you for that.
I know I’d feel honored if Bloomberg dropped 150k to oppose my re-election.
Never thought I’d say it, but there’s a Democrat who would get my vote.
Clarke has pointed out that he is neither Democrat nor Republican. However, in a one-party area, the only way to win an election is to run as a Democrat.
Which is ironic in a way, because [lifelong Democrat] Bloomberg’s political career started when he couldn’t get onto the Democrat ticket – the establishment politicos had that locked up, so he bought the Republican nomination.
Bloomberg is NOT a “lifelong Democrat”…you’d better do some investigation…
I don’t understand why a Sheriff needs to declare a party affiliation.
Simple answer: Because it’s an elected position and you have to have a party affiliation to get on the ballot anywhere in the country.
Sad but True.
Because the US is a Republic with an established two party system. We are not a parliamentary cesspool.
There aren’t a lot of journalists. Fixed it for you Robert
Dirty words – damn lawyer and damn “journalist”
You think that a system in which the two dominant parties pass laws to benefit themselves and exclude challengers is somehow a good thing?
He’d get my vote and financial support as well – but he’s not a Democrat. Look past the labels and see the actions. Not sure if he’s an Independent Constitutional Conservative like I am, but probably something close. I don’t get a single whiff of the typical Democratic party increase taxes, increase government, suck up to the UN, dissolve borders, promote government healthcare crap. As someone who despises virtually everything that the Democrat party stands for, it is evident that this man does not fit the mold.
In a interview, Clarke called himself a constitutional sheriff. His actions have proven his claims. Wish there were many more chief law enforcement officers like him around the country instead of the political toadies and stooges that are the sock puppets of local politicians
Glad as heck I contributed to Clarke’s reelection campaign. Living in a famously anti gun suburb of chicago, I love to hear this guy take our local law enforcement to task from time to time.
Is this what my liberal acquaintances & family members mean when they say “corporate money does not belong in the political process”?
That’s a good question. If I had any liberal friends, I’d ask them how they felt about a rich white guy running a smear campaign against a black Democrat.
Wow. I just had to slap myself. I didn’t even realize this.
But that’s exactly what just happened!
Wow… I had not realized that either! I am going to keep this gem in the hip pocket for my next debate with an anti gun person.
Those crickets would be *deafening*.
The liberals I know won’t talk politics with me because inconvenient facts get used to annihilate their asinine arguments. Those facts and history itself clearly demonstrate that supporting statism is a fool’s errand unless you desire to be a mid level government bureaucrat or a petty dictator. I find it truly scary that so many are ready to be part of a system of subordination – and they vote. Without voter ID, they probably vote more than once.
@RF, are you going to have a post regarding that banner at the bottom of the screen? Did The Mexican government ask the U.S. government to hand over a list of all guns owned by residents in Border States??
WTF! Is that story true? Can they even legally do that?
Wow!, I guess it is true.
http://nation.foxnews.com/mexico/2013/02/19/mexico-asks-us-list-gun-owners
I was thinking the exact same thing – *Mexico* has the gall to ask the US to provide a gun registry for border states? How about they provide a list of politicians and the cartels they represent? Since the cartels and the government in Mexico are now effectively the same organization, Mexico is one step away from being Somalia.
IMHO, the proper response to the Mexican government would be to tell them to pound sand. Unfortunately, with the children in charge now, it’s more likely to be to roll over for a belly rub.
Actually, the proper response would be to quid-pro-quo the request.
We’ll have a border state gun registry… if Mexico gives up complete access to all their banking records – so we can track where the money for buying illegal guns is coming from.
That’ll be the end of Mexico’s request. The political class would rip someone a new orifice if said someone even hinted at implementing such a policy swap.
It was mentioned in the video. Watch it. It was pretty good.
Tell the effing Mexicans to let Andrew Tahmooressi out of their effing Jails first and we’ll “think about it”…then when Tahmooressi is safely back in the United States…tell the effing Mexicans to stick it up las culatas…
We should reciprocate and ask the Mexican government to “register” everyone who resides in Northern Mexico and give the list to us. To of course, make it easier on us when an illegal commits a crime.
/kidding, it’s not going to happen and I don’t expect it to happen, but I’m just trying to use insanity to make fun of it.
thank you, I had same wtf reaction when the NRA spokesman mentioned it and was wondering why no news on the before. Seems to be the Sort of thing our State Dept and DOJ would just do “under the radar screen” like F&F and Benghazi, and lie and stonewall if caught later. Given that Tuscon and Phoenix are already the kidnapping capitals of the US and most are unreported, because cartel run rings will kill the victim if police are involved, this would make home invasions another lucrative side business.
Hey, if Holder, HRC, and Obama cant take your guns legally, they’ll contract it out. Its not a bug its a feature, of the UN treaty…besides, we know its just bitter clingers and tea parties, domestic terrorists, according to Slow Joe.
If the nation endures a few more years of Obama / Hillary downward spiral, then what you speak of may become a real possibility.
They might wish to point out that they will be moving against Americans armed and ready, not subservient peons as in Mexico.
Why don’t the corrupt Mexican officials come and try counting themselves – we’ll see how far they get!
Milwaukee has one heck of an upstanding Sheriff there. I’d sure be proud to have this man as our Sheriff. The man puts truth, integrity and the safety of his people above politics. A Big Hoorah for Sheriff Clarke!
Sheriff Clarke Rocks. And I love Bloomberg too. Every dollar he spends helps the cause of the 2A. He has managed to take the anti gun message and wrap it into a package of elitist nannyism with a side of entitled hubris. It is hard to square his substantial business success with his complete lack of image self awareness.
His business success and lack of self awareness are both the result of the same thing: ego and self-confidence. What works in a Wall Street boardroom doesn’t necessarily play in Peoria.
You must be right. Sometimes you see someone who has risen to a position of some authority or success and wonder if they didn’t get there by correctly guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar. Nothing that I’ve seen in Mr. Bloomberg public conduct can possibly explain his undeniable success in business or politics.
“Extremist”? Not at all. But the fact that even many gun owners would call you such just shows how far down the road to serfdom we have traveled.
We have started the long road back to reclaiming what should be and mostly was for most of our history, an uninfriged right.
The anti- freedom extremists haven’t seen anything yet.
RF and Sheriff Clark have big brass balls.
Thanks TTAG!
That should be Clarke not Clark.
Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is the kind of Man I would vote for in a heartbeat! Thanks for naming him Gun Hero of the day!
Re: the $1m liability insurance policy mentioned at the very end, i wonder how cheap it’d actually be, considering you’d have millions of gun owners playing in and NOT that many claims since legal gun owners are hardly a problem.
I am NOT saying i am ok with something like this. Rather, i think the anti-2A folk think it’d be some huge obstacle to gun ownership because of the price tag but i really feel like they’d be in for a rude awakening once the actuaries got done with it.
NRA already has something like that. Doesn’t matter though. The whole premise is to make guns harder to own. Thus it is restrictive gun control.
NRA already has something like that.
It would be a blunder for the anti gun crowd if legislation for gun insurance passed. The ranks of the NRA would swell from owners seeking low cost insurance.
Oath keeper! God bless him. 🙂
I find it interesting that a lot of the men with badges like Clarke, those with the balls to not only stand up for rights but to declare it publicly, are elected Sheriff’s, not political appointees.
Somehow seems important and worth mentioning…
Robert, I wouldn’t call you extremist.
As written, the constitution, declaration of independence, bill of rights, and all other major political writings from that time period say that the government is only supposed to protect rights. Never to take them away.
The second amendment was so important, that out hundreds of proposed rights to add into the bill of rights, it is number 2. The bill of rights absolutely tells the government what they are to protect. With that said, not a single federal system related to gun owners actually protects them. They are all restrictive. Every single restriction is by writing unlawful.
Is someone who supports the 1st Amendment as writ or the 4th amendment as writ a ‘free speech extremist’ or a ‘freedom from unlawful search and seizure’ extremist? Probably not.
Strange that desiring the same adherence to the 2nd Amendment makes one an ‘extremist’ these days.
Clarke is a true Patriot.
I live in Az and thank god we have Sheriff Joe.
..AND..if Mexico or the U.S. thinks I’m going to register my guns they can kiss my ass…
i’d like to think our state government would give a big FU to the feds if asked to provide such a registration
Don’t rely on Rick Perry to comply!
Sheriff Clark is an ok guy. He’s great on guns and the like and I definitely do not dislike him, but what about innocent until proven guilty? Asset forfeiture laws operate contrary to that principle and constitutional guarantee, yet Sheriff Clark’s department is asset forfeiture happy… amongst some other major issues.
That was the best 4 minutes and 20 seconds of news talk video I ever watched.
Is it just me, or does there seem to be a “sorting out” going on among Americans these days… identifying the “wheat vs. tares,” metaphorically speaking?
Here’s another GREAT interview with Clarke from yesterday (8-14-14)
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/14/pro-gun-milwaukee-sheriff-bloomberg-made-huge-miscalculation/
Any enemy of Bloomberg is a friend of mine.
Now, can anyone from The Big Cheesy tell me if Clarke is a good CLEO?
He turned around the House of Corrections. Does is darndest to balance his budget when the County keeps cutting it. Cleaned up the crime at the lakefront. Publicly calls out political corruption. Encourages cooperation of the public when it comes to crimefighting. Darned good CLEO!
This write up has a lot of good information
http://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2014/08/09/incumbent-sheriff-david-clarke-addresses-crime-in-midst-of-campaign/
jsonline which did not endorse him stated in an editorial to ignore the attack ads. And it was not even their candidate. They do not like Clarke for his pro-gun stance but came out to defend him against the attack ads. From what I can read, he does a good job
Writing as someone who voted for Sheriff Clarke, I can tell you that the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office has very little actual police work to do, as the area is highly urban and there is a responsible city police force for all of it. Instead, they run security at the county courthouse, operate the county jail, patrol the freeways and excellent (huge) County park system, and act as a force multiplier by running things like SWAT and VIP security.
All that said, Sheriff Clarke has a big mouth and puts it to good use. He may be the last decent person serving residents of Milwaukee, and highlights needed improvements in our civic institutions where he sees them. Which earns him no end of ire from other local politicians.
No, you are not an extremist, RF, any more than the Founders were extremists. Keep up the great work.
Tikkun olam.
Well RF I’m pretty close to your version of 2A absolutism, but I just don’t see supporting violent felons such as rapists, child rapists, kidnappers, home invaders, etc. owning guns. Nor do I want them voting, for that matter. If we had a more functional justice system that actually executed people like James Holmes, things would be different. I’d also take a look at significant welfare reform, border protection, deportation, elimination of Obamacare, elimination of government spying, elimination of the ATF and TSA, etc. And if we actually executed mass murderers, jailed or executed rapists, and released pot smokers and such from jail, then I see the 2nd Amendment exactly as you do. Our nation has a lot of work to do, and Obama is the perfect man to…go golfing.
Mexico asks the US for gun owner registry…
In the immortal words of Napoleon Bonaparte… “La F*ck You!”
That’s French.
I wish My sheriff had half the Magentas that He has..
Larken Rose has a few choice words about registration:
http://youtu.be/F_efrJdyuwk?autoplay=0