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In last night’s speech, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump sounded to some more than a little like a dictator-in-waiting. “I alone can fix it,” The Donald pronounced. “I am your voice.” And “I will restore law and order.” Considering Mr. Trump’s lack of firm convictions — save his own ability to make “great deals” — these statements had a historical ring to them. And not in a good way, especially for those of us who cherish our firearms freedom. Yes, but . . .

As a proto-dictator, Donald Trump is strictly amateur hour. Not to go all Godwin, but if you’ve ever watched a full speech by the sine qua non of fascist dictators, Aldolf Hitler, you’ll know that Mr. Trump’s harangue last night lacked a certain je sais quoi: the emotional rhetoric and hypnotic cadence required to convince die Volk to follow him with blind obedience.

Although you always see excerpts of Hitler’s speeches when the mass murderer was in full flow — shouting and gesticulating wildly — he always began slowly and softly, building to a crescendo. Mr. Trump’s speech was compromised of nothing more or less than extended yelling. (My GF was waiting for Trump to say “you’re grounded!”) So much so that left-leaning journalists said Hillary Clinton could no longer be criticized for her characteristically shrill delivery style.

Equally, the Republican convention was a pale shadow of the spectacles Herr Hitler created to magnify his power. Sure, Mr. Trump arrived by private jet and entered accompanied by orchestral grandeur. But meh. If nothing else, the convention hall wasn’t packed with true believers. There was no shots of standing ovations with close-ups of of tears running down the cheeks of the faithful.

That is, perhaps, the most significant aspect of this analysis. While there’s some history in that regard, this is not a country that embraces fascism. Despite the destruction of gun rights that we’re seeing in various states, not to mention NICS, NFA and the GCA of 1968, Americans are a people deeply committed to individual liberty. We are not, in the main, sheep.

Which is one reason why I’m not overly concerned about a Trump presidency. Or, indeed, a Clinton presidency (as much, acknowledging the fact that most fascists are “progressive” or liberal). But the Constitution is the main reason I’m not overly concerned about either possibility.

Our Founding Fathers were well aware that a populist leader would seek to gain ultimate power over the federal government. The majority of Americans don’t know it, but ours is a three-part system with built-in checks and balances. It was designed to blunt the kind of dictatorship that bedeviled the Colonists, and create the legislative “gridlock” that’s currently bemoaned by both parties, but protects us from emotionally-driven, ill-conceived legislation.

No matter who becomes President, I believe that the United States Constitution will continue to provide the protections we need to keep and bear arms. Not perfectly, obviously (given the state of play in California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, etc.). But enough so that our gun rights will survive either a Trump or a Clinton administration.

For one thing, if Republicans can keep control of Congress, they will not roll over and play dead on gun rights for either a President Trump or a President Clinton. We saw this legislative reticence after Sandy Hook. We saw it more recently when the House “Freedom Caucus” torpedoed Speaker Ryan’s attempt to create a watered down “No Fly, No Buy” secret list gun ban.

Even if Republicans are severely diminished in the next election cycle, Democrats will not have free rein. When Democrats controlled both the Presidency and Congress, Obamacare passed by the skin of its teeth. I don’t think a federal assault weapon ban, for example, would be so “lucky.”

As for the importance of Supreme Court nominees to our once and future gun rights, it’s hard — not to say impossible — to “stack the Court.” Aspiring High Court judges have to pass through a vetting process, which requires at least some measure of Republican assent. And once a job-for-life judge assumes their responsibilities, there’s no guarantee that they won’t or will defend the Second Amendment.

In short, I have faith in the Constitution to blunt either a Trump betrayal or a Clinton anti-gun jihad. My real concern is what’s happening on the state level.

As mentioned above, gun rights are dead and dying in many states — even as they’re being revitalized and strengthened in others. There are only two ways gun rights can be reclaimed in these firearms freedom dead zones: by popular plebiscite or via the Supreme Court.

As California’s gun control misery proves, there’s little chance that voters in “gun-free zones” will suddenly reverse the curse where gun control laws been enacted, or are about to be enacted. Sure, American gun culture is strong. And getting stronger. But there’s little chance it can grow where it needs to grow to overcome state-based anti-gun antipathy. Not in the next generation. Or two. Or three.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Supreme Court has no will to strike down these unconstitutional laws. What’s more, the Heller decision’s “reasonable regulations” provision provides a suitable loophole for Justices seeking to defend or extend civilian disarmament. The Constitution is clear on gun rights, but those who consider it a “blue print for progress” (the current Democratic platform) are not without tactics, strategies of resources to defeat it.

And finally, Trump.

I vote my guns. So I’ll vote Trump. As Ms. Clinton and her party are committed to civilian disarmament, and Mr. Trump at least mouths support for the Second Amendment, he’s the better choice to protect our firearms freedom. And if Mr. Trump begins to attack our gun rights, or fails to defend them, I’ll do everything in my power to oppose him. And so it goes.

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133 COMMENTS

  1. Is it better for there to be a really bad presidsnt with a (D) by his (or her) name or an (R)?

    • Trump is certifiably insane. Hillary might push the country in contrary directions, but Trump marks the end of America.

      Seriously, listen to the non-information he shovels out to his groupies. There’s nothing there! NOTHING!

      How can anyone believe good will come from this? We are about to loose everything, and no (D) could be that bad.

        • They will both take your rights, and lots of them. It’s just that a couple of the rights that they will attempt to take differ between candidates.

      • I’ll take his nothing over what Hilary is clearly promising, on a variety of issues.

        Trump is offering a covered dish that could be sh!t or tenderloin (most likely a mixture of the two). Hilary is offering a big, open, steaming bowl of purulent, bloody diarrhea.

        Dish number 1 for me.

        No (D) can be that bad? I can’t think of a single D I would take over Trump, at least not one that has been active in politics any time during the last decade.

        • “Trump is offering a covered dish that could be sh!t or tenderloin (most likely a mixture of the two). Hilary is offering a big, open, steaming bowl of purulent, bloody diarrhea.”

          Bah! You’re basically saying you’ll take the candidate who has no predictable position over the one with a position you disagree with. It’s a gamble pure and simple and you honestly have no way to predict whether Trumps’s bowl of diarrhea might actually be worse that what Hillary has promised. BOTH options suck. We need more choices.

      • Please don’t think about politics anymore, put down the ballot, back away slowly and hand over your weed: you’re an idiot. I’m keeping the weed, though.

      • I’m not a big fan of Trump, I have serious concerns about his position on surveillance, internet, privacy, etc… but he will still be way better than a confirmed professional liar that lie all the time including to protect her rapist husband, a criminal and killer financed by Wall Street, communist Soros, Bloomberg and such… or even foreign entities and countries such Saudi Arabia (oh yeah, another crime). At this point, I would take a dog shit over Hillary Clinton!!

        And I don’t see any other (D) candidates that would be any better than Trump…

      • Sorry, but you’re an idiot if you think for a moment that Clinton will be better for the USA than Trump. She is a lying, conniving narcissist who has already jeopardized the security of the United States, completely screwed up in her infamous “Reset” with Russia, and was at the center of the Benghazi debacle. If you vote for her you are a traitor to the US and you should stop posting on this site and move on over to Tumblr where you will be welcomed with open arms. Trump wo;l;l break the pattern of the last 8 years that has seen the US divided internally and ridiculed internationally, along with being less secure than ever.

    • Not saying I’ve got any answers, but I do believe I’ve identified the question. I’d expect the man-child to be marginally better than the Hildebeest, but will it be enough to outweigh all the tarnish he stains that (R) with. Perhaps it’s best just to take our ball and go home and prepare for 2020. Perhaps not. Then again there might not even be a Republican Party by 2020.

      • As I mentioned in passing yesterday, Gov, as soon as this election is over I intend to change my voter registration to Independent. The Republican establishment has failed to provide a decent conservative presidential candidate since Reagan who got the nomination over the RINO protests. Worse, they actively work against true conservative candidates, Ted Cruz being a prime example.

        I strongly suggest that everyone who is disgusted with the GOP and its do-nothing RINOs should disavow their party affiliation by un-registering Republican and changing to ANY other party (except Democrat). It seems like the only way the Republican party will get any kind of serious message that we are not happy with them is if they see their official voter rolls all over America dwindle to nothing.

        Think of it like secession – It is not the Red States talking about secession, it is that the Blue States and their disregard for the Constitution have ALREADY seceded. In my opinion the Constitutional Conservatives are the true conservatives and the RINO GOP has seceded from us. Fine. Let them go. Meanwhile, vote Trump, He’s the best we’re gonna get this time around,

        • I changed my registration to Republican just to stop the man-child. I voted for Cruz, who was my first pick, but I’d have voted Jeb to stop Thedonald. Although the ‘establishment’ didn’t exactly get their man, they’re a lot happier with the one they’ve got then be stuck with a conservative.

          It’s telling what happened on the first day of the convention. Conservatives were pushing for a change in party rules that would punish states with open primaries, since the man-child owed his nomination in large part to party crossing Dems. The party bosses refused to take a roll call vote and instead pretended that Nays beat the Ayes. Conservatives constitute 40% of the populations but we’re the red headed bastard step children of our own party.

          If Thedonald wins in November I’m looking for a group of conservatives to start a new party. Get Cruz, Mike Lee, Ben Sasse, maybe my US Rep, Steve King and a few others to ditch the Republican party and I will change my registration on day one. Until then, I guess the best bet is to continue the inter-party revolt. We got rid of Boehner and Eric Cantor, let the heads continue to roll.

        • Already went non-partisan last local primary. It apparently threw my county for a loop as it was said I was the first one that any of them could ever remember doing so.

    • Which one makes it more likely that there is no one to pick up the pieces? Trump has already gone out of his way to ensure Cruz and his message of constitutionalism in general are utterly marginalized, far more effectively than Hillary ever could have, to be frank. Because he claims to speak for us and people believe him.

  2. Just remember that Trump is not beholden to the NRA or any other advocacy group. If after the next Orlando, he wakes up and says, “You know, I don’t think anyone should have an AR15”, he’ll act on his gut with no concern for ramifications.

    Better than Hillary, of course, but only because she is a fully known quantity as regards gun rights.

    • “Just remember that Trump is not beholden to the NRA or any other advocacy group. If after the next Orlando, he wakes up and says, “You know, I don’t think anyone should have an AR15”, he’ll act on his gut with no concern for ramifications.”

      Not quite. He will not beholden to the NRA or an other advocacy group, but he beholden to the Second Amendment voters who voted for him….unless he doesn’t mind losing their support in 2020.

      • Who did vote for him, over, say Cruz?

        Most of the Trump supporters I know (California, not America, I know, but still….), are either against gun rights, or agnostic. Most of them sound like they would happily give up their guns in exchange for the promise of one deported “Mexican”, or the promise the Donald would force one other person to overpay for some junk nominally “made in the USA”, versus ditto nominally “made in China.”

        “Trump the rallying point for POTG’ers” really only surfaced, once he was the foregone candidate. Compared to Hillary, Governor Brown is a raging gun nut, so that’s not really saying much of anything.

        I do hope his “voters” really do care enough about guns, to not willingly be led to slaughter by empty promises of The Donald saying something mean about some Mexican. But I can’t say I’m too convinced.

  3. I get In Name Only politicians be they DINOs or RINOs. Trump is dishonest for me because we know he has a long strong history of siding with and hanging our with Democrats. Him on the GOP ticket is a disgrace to RINOs. I cannot support him. This election is f-ed up in many directions.

  4. Barring something miraculous, I’ll be voting Trump. I may need a couple of shots of Jim Beam first, but he hasn’t yet called me a domestic terrorist, or the enemy he’s most proud of.

    • You’d better lay in a supply ahead of time because the liquor stores in my state are closed while the polls are open. That’s supposed to insure that only sober people (or those who bought their supply the day before) vote -and we all know how that’s worked out in the past.

  5. Donald Trump is my hero… when standing against “Never stop laughing” Hildebeast Rottingham Clinton. #NeverRottingHamHildebeast

    • As I always say, we can fix anything Trump breaks, but it will take decades and thousands or maybe millions of lives to fix what Hillary has already planned for us. Also, considering we are stuck with this two party system, if someone does not vote for Trump, they are essentially voting for Hillary.

      • Sounds like a self fulfilling prophesy to me. If everyone resigns themselves to always having a 2 party system then it will be that way. And spare me the line about not voting for either is a vote for Hillary. No it’s not, it’s a vote for Gary Johnson or a wrote in or whomever the person votes for. You may not like it but if enough people broke from the flock you would get a viable challenger to both evils.

        • I will, thanks. As long as the ballot box is open for use.

          After that we’ll switch to the ammo box.

      • Basically it comes down to John Galt versus Dagny Taggart versus Francisco D’Anconia. Dagny tried to save the dying system that vilified her as it fed off her. Francisco did his best to accelerate the inevitable death of the system. John got out of the way and let it die, while planning how to build it correctly.
        Too bad the movie versions of that book were so terrible. They could have introduced millions of people to the ideas of free market libertarianism.

    • For crap sake…what are you going and bringing up a deadly serious factual issue that has provable negative results and which provably has been directly complicit in the on-going erosion of the Constitution, Individual Liberty and the Republic itself?

      According to most faithful patriotic ‘Muricans, one is supposed to shut the hell up, abandon your principles (for those scant few who actually have and hold to any) and vote republican cause the other turd is steaming and smells worse….time after time after time.

      Just substitute the name ‘Trump’ and ‘Clinton’ this time, for the names of the lesser turd de juor over the past many election cycles, er, I mean staged clown-circuses. Same arguments, same non-principled prag horseshit, same fear-mongering…same inevitable results.

      We have merely taught the globalist-collectivist cabal over the many decades that they never need to adhere to the Constitution and they can feed the public anything at all, stage any quisling they choose or dress one up like a populist if needed, and safely continue their relentless march toward global governance.

      Lunacy.

      • “The South” died of a principle (and they had the US constitution backing them up).

        I do agree that principles should obliterate any other consideration, even the possibility that holding to principles would result in loss of the nation; down the rabbit hole to the Alice-like world of those who believe Venezuela is a raging socialist success story. Better to boast of being principled, than pragmatic. It is definitely preferable to usher in the swift national death posed by the Democrat cabal, than to align with a scoundrel who just might be the only tool adequate to pull the country from the precipice of the slow national death offered by the Republicans.

  6. If Clinton wins, the danger is more subtle: Congress will more than likely go along with her Supreme Court picks, the justices will rubber stamp expanding executive authority, and roll back gun rights. The liberal media will go along with the program. If Clinton wins, I highly doubt the GOP will have the stones to filibuster a nominee.

    Clinton’s authoritarian streak is just as big as Trump’s. She has a more passive-aggressive style ((denying media access, deleting emails).

    Under Trump you will need a rifle just in case, and have a rifle. Under Clinton you will need one and not have one.

    • Truthfully the modern filibuster is just a publicity stunt. It gums up the works and slows things down, but it doesn’t STOP any legislation from being passed.

      Its a great tool for raising awareness, but a lousy defense strategy.

      • Is this supposed to be funny? A filibuster is typically used to prevent a vote, and there are many historical examples of its successful use.

    • A liberal who in a Fox News interview would not directly call himself a libertarian, and who said he does not believe in absolutism of rights, and who choose a very anti gun running mate. He destroyed any chance that party ever had.

      • THIS.

        Why waste my vote on an obscure 3rd party that doesn’t represent my beliefs any more than the other two? (and I’m a hardcore libertarian). I’ll stay home or vote for Mickey Mouse before I vote for Johnson – he doesn’t represent me.

    • No. Just no. His policy choices are even worse than the other two. How this guy is Libertarian, I don’t have a clue. I’m tired of the Facebook Memes showing it to be awesome or hip or something because he isn’t Trump or Hildabeast.

      • “His policy choices are even worse than the other two”

        How the FARk can you even hope to claim that you understand Trump’s “policies choices” He’s 110% unpredictable

    • No can do. Johnson does not support freedom of religion and his VP pick is a gun grabber. No and no.

      • Please tell me how Gary Johnson does not support the 1st amendment and freedom of religion? Or do you actually mean that he doesn’t intend to initiate an Evangelical Christian equivalent of sharia law?

        And yes, Bill Weld once support gun control 25 years ago. He’s admitted that it was a mistake, that it didn’t improve things, and that given the choice he wouldn’t do it again. On the other hand, Donald Trump supported gun control 14 years ago, and again after the Pulse Nightclub shooting. And he hasn’t apologized for either. The difference here should be pretty obvious to anyone with common sense though: One is a VP with no direct control, and the other is a major party presidential candidate.

    • I cannot, in good conscience, vote for either Clinton or Trump. Johnson has my vote as I’d rather have my principles shot from underneath me than kill them off myself.

  7. I’m torn. I hate Hillary and everything about her but I really don’t want to miss the chance to see her stroke out or pop off an aneurysm on live TV. Being POTUS would increase the chances of that. Such awesome GIFs that would make.

    • That’s interesting because I’ve recently been thinking she was going to have a massive coronary somewhere on the campaign trail causing all kind of MSM hysteria. THE HINDENBURG IS ALL A FLAME, OH THE INHUMANITY!!

  8. Your faith in the Constitution is short sighted. The Constitution is only as strong as those who are interpreting its messages. Obama, Hillary, and the left in general would love to load the Supreme Court with Justices who are not strict Constitutionalists. They want it to be a living, mutating document that can be interpreted different ways at different times. Their goal should be downright scary for someone like you who is counting on the document to keep the evil forces in check.

    • What I was thinking when I read this. Obama couldn’t get his DREAM act passed in Congress, so he just did it anyway (and extended it). The courts have told him to stop, but he hasn’t. He has openly defied both other branches of government. Do you think for a minute Clinton wouldn’t do the same? Of course, Trump might do something like that as well. But I suspect, if he a lawless bastard, he will be much more likely to be a pro-America lawless bastard than an anti-America lawless bastard like Obama.

      • ^^THIS!

        Reminds me of the quote from the movie The Rocketeer where the Mafia guy says: “I may not make an honest buck, but I’m 100% American.”

      • Absolutely! If Trump f$cks up, then he’s likely out in 4 years. The media actually does a decent job of holding Republicans accountable. Heck, they hate everything Republicans do even if it’s good. Not so for Democrats. The media is allergic to Dem accountability.

        The next POTUS appoints lots of judges who decide gun cases, from SCOTUS on down. A Hillary presidency would cause lasting damage, and she’s promised to import 700,000 Syrian refugees, and is quite cozy with Islam.

      • Exactly. In Trump we’re getting a hired gun. We don’t have to particularly like him and he doesn’t have to particularly like us. He’s here to do a job nobody else within the political class seems willing or able to do.

  9. Im so proud of Farago. I have criticized him repeatedly for taking Trump to task over his flimsy stance on gun control. Glad to see him turning the page.

  10. I think there is a lot more to sorry about from Trump’s second term than his first. Going by his book (where he says that no matter how much you talk, it’s hard to keep people without actually DOING something) he knows he can’t possibly win reelection if he can’t keep his promises.

  11. You should have titled it “…and love the Donald.” just to make the Strangelovian allusion stronger.

  12. I agree with Farago except for the scenario in which Clinton wins and the Dems control the Senate. They will surely ram through as many Liberal Justice nominations as they can with no regard for what the republicans think. Democrats are ruthless that way.

    Look at the way they rammed through anti-gun legislation in states where they controlled the state government. I think that is the model we’d be looking at. Even if they don’t believe their laws would be effective, they’d pass them just to kick gun owners in the teeth for daring to resist their agenda in the past. A mean-spirited lot, those Democrats.

    • Furthermore, look at the way they rammed through Obamacare, and how the SCOTUS rationalized certain obviously unconstitutional provisions by claiming that words don’t really mean what they mean.

      A Clinton Presidency with a Dumbocrat Congress could push us past the point of no return. Immigration laws and voting laws would be enacted to ensure a continuing flood of (D) voters for the foreseeable future.

  13. Wow RF, I want whatever you’re on. If I may rip off, a beheaded French king, “after me, the deluge”. That’s how I feel about a Shrillery presidency.

  14. Yeah Robert I’ll vote Donnie(not that he’ll win Illinois-Reagan was the last one) but I don’t share your faith in democracy. Or Trump. All about GUNS this time around-and Trump is better (I hope!). I just hope trump doesn’t f#ck up too bad…my so-called rights rest on a thread in Illinois.

    • Unfortunately you’re right.

      Its gotten so bad that now my priorities in a candidate are more survival minded.
      “When they come for the guns will be the time to start using them.”

      The longer we can stave that off, the more peaceful a life my children can potentially have.

    • There is no good choice. Single issue or holistic, you can’t create a candidate that reflects your views.

    • So, if you had someone you know without a doubt will restrict your gun rights like the MA AG just did, what issue in your opinion is more important where you are ready and willing to throw your gun rights out the window for that other issue?

      Taken as a whole, both candidate suck. You have a buffoon on one side and life long criminal on the other side? Whichever you choose, the country is in for a long hard 4yrs.

  15. I really dis-like Trump. If it were not for his dad’s money to capitalize his fun little projects, we would not even be discussing him. He is a NYC loud mouth, obnoxious pushy douche, with horribly tacky tastes. It is already clear that, should he win, we will essentially be electing his daughter and son-in-law (who’s family is wrought with tax evasion, fraud and scummy intimidation – basically a jewish version of Trump). BUT, i also really dislike the alternative, so Trump may be the lessor of 2 evils. I really believe America will be worse off on all points no matter which one wins, such as it is.

  16. Any linkage between Hitler and Trump is delusional.

    For his entire life, he’s worked in New York, the most Jewish city in the world not named Tel Aviv, living under a microscope without the slightest hint of antisemitism.

    On the contrary. His daughter is Jewish. His grandchildren are Jewish. Top executives in his organization are Jewish.

    This is a Nazi?

  17. There’s no telling what Trump might actually do, but we all know what the Hildebeest will do. If you want to have any semblance of freedom four years from now, then you’d better vote for Trump. By the way, now the 5th Circuit has enabled massive voter fraud by voiding the Texas voter ID law, don’t assume that Republicans will carry Texas without your vote.

  18. Built in checks and balances? That’s nothing but empty rhetoric used to sell authoritarianism. The truth is that the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial wings of government all work for the same team – government. There are no checks and balances.

  19. “Sure, Mr. Trump arrived by private jet ”

    Point of clarification:

    He arrived by a trans-oceanic capable airliner… 🙂

  20. C-ton, is an obvious verboten choice given her stentorious support for tighter restrictions on the 2nd; she can only “progress” to blatant confiscation.

    Trump is the only option, but given what I have seen of him over the years, I worry that the possibility that he caves on supporting the 2nd exists. I can easily foresee him compromising on guns with the left in order to receive sole glory for bipartisanship that has eluded the left for generations. He is all about Trump, and while he has received NRA support, I still worry that his unfettered ego can still kick us all from the frying pan and into the fire.

  21. In the past, I have believed that the presidential nominee from both parties where smarter than me.

    I have held the belief that there is no presidential candidate worse than Hillary Clinton.

    This year, I have been found to be wrong on both counts.

    I am not a Trump fan but will be voting.

    There is assumption that the Senate majority will hold — that is yet to be seen. If it does not hold, the courts are all in Jeopardy. And, that does not mean just SCOTUS. All the lower level courts are in play. It is estimated that next POTUS will be able to nominate up to 500 judges at all levels of the Federal Court over the next 4 yrs due either current vacancies or known retirements pending. And that should scare the crap of any freedom loving person should Hillary be the one to pick all those judges.

    Sure, there are checks and balances, but that all goes all out the window once all the courts are lost.

    Trump sucks — but I don’t trust the courts to Hillary. That is the only reason I am voting. This go around I do not even care about gun rights — we will have zero rights once the majority of the courts go Left. The progressives have always used the courts to get what they want and with no other voice, they will be able to do so. While Left or Right they both bad, we do know for fact that the Left has no moral objection of making shit up and twisting words to get what they want.

    Even many Right leaning judges picked will suck, I will still take my chances over a liberal judge

  22. So this election is like choosing which gun to stand in front of.

    Trump is like a Brown Bess. Maybe it’ll kill you, maybe it’ll miss by six feet.

    Hillary is more like a Ma Deuce.

  23. I disagree on most of Mr. Farago’s main points:

    “I believe that the United States Constitution will continue to provide the protections we need to keep and bear arms.”

    Response: the U.S. Constitution is quite literally nothing more than a piece of paper. While it expresses a powerful ideal, it is itself powerless to enforce the ideal. It is up to all of us to enforce its ideal. If we are not willing to enforce its ideal, well, just look around …

    “For one thing, if Republicans can keep control of Congress…”

    Response: I do not believe they will keep control of Congress if Hillary wins.

    “[Congress] will not roll over and play dead on gun rights for either a President Trump or a President Clinton.”

    Response: the Republican majority in Congress cannot even reduce our death-spiral of budget deficits. And they recently even proposed a “no fly, no buy” bill as well as bringing it to a floor vote in the Senate. If Trump wins and the Republicans increase their majority this election, then I am guardedly optimistic that they will at least hold the line. Otherwise, we stand to lose even more than we already have.

    “Even if Republicans are severely diminished in the next election cycle, Democrats will not have free rein. When Democrats controlled both the Presidency and Congress, Obamacare passed by the skin of its teeth. I don’t think a federal assault weapon ban, for example, would be so ‘lucky.'”

    Response: the proverbial mask and gloves are off — there is no doubt that Progressives ARE coming for our firearms. Their rhetoric coming up on this election cycle has never been more open and vitriolic. If Hillary wins and the Democrats get a majority in Congress, I am confident that they will, as first order of business, ban military-style semi-auto rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. And there will be no grandfathering. I suspect that they will ban all registered NFA items as well. Feeling emboldened after that, they might even set their sights (no pun intended) on all other semi-auto firearms including handguns, rifles, and shotguns … and I would not put it past Democrats to even go after pump-action shotguns. About the only thing I feel relatively “safe” about are revolvers and bolt-action “hunting” rifles … and maybe lever-action rifles.

    “As for the importance of Supreme Court nominees to our once and future gun rights, it’s hard — not to say impossible — to ‘stack the Court.’ Aspiring High Court judges have to pass through a vetting process, which requires at least some measure of Republican assent.”

    Response: Democrats had no trouble confirming U.S. Supreme Court Justices Kagan and Sotomayor — both obvious enemies of the Second Amendment. What makes you think Democrats would have any trouble installing anyone else they want, with or without “Republican assent”? And what makes you think Republicans would publicly dissent against any given nominee anyway? All the Democrats would have to do is issue a press release telling everyone that Republicans are responsible for shutting down government (the courts) and Republicans would confirm the nominations before the echo of the press release faded.

    The only way I see us coming out of this with positive momentum is if Trump wins the election and Republicans increase their majority in Congress. That alone will suggest that the majority of people in the U.S. support the Republican platform … which will make Republicans feel good enough about their prospects for reelection to hold the line — and maybe even advance the line — on the Second Amendment.

    • As clear as Hillary is about basing her campaign on gutting the 2A, that would also prevent any Dem from planning on winning votes in that manner for many decades.

    • Whether the OCA “passed by the skin of it’s teeth” , it still passed and is now the law and efforts for the last seven years to overturn and unfund have proven to be fruitless. That can happen with a “Common Sense Gun Control ” law also.

  24. Two observations, one language trivia, the other regarding the US political/government structure.

    RF made reference to “die Volk”. That term is from Germanica Sprachen (German speaking), or Deutsch (from which we generally get Dutch, as in Pennsylvania Dutch). The phrase in Anglich (English) is most often spoken as “die (as in to become deceased) Volk (as in Volkswagen). In reality, the phrase should be sounded as “dee Folk”, meaning “the people”. “Volk” is the origin of Folk, as in “those folks”.

    And who really cares about all that?

    Regarding the ability of Trump to become il Duce’ (chief, leader, boss, duke), the Congress will likely render him relatively tame. There are enough leftist Repubs to keep legislation under control, and temper appointments (like those to the Supreme Court). Congress, under both parties are content to let Obama erode the functions of Congress, but Trump engenders enough dislike that Congress will feast upon thwarting him. The same cannot be said of Hillary; Congress will give her whatever she demands, as with Obama.

    The structure of government (three branches) will prevent Trump from doing much of anything (which is likely known to Trump, and explains his overture to Kasich to become de facto president). Trump will tire of things rather quickly. Rather doubt he would run for reelection. Still, ABC.

    • I wonder how many RINOs in the senate would welcome a superpac for their next primary opponent with a few million dollars in it, funded by Trump for a worthy opponent. I suspect he would whip *them* into line.

  25. So many 2nd A guys and gals are not that happy with the DJT or Hildsbeast choice? Well look to your left and then to your right because those are the folks that voted Trump in the primaries, yep fellow firearms owners. Sixteen other candidates fell by the wayside, it was theirs to win also. You can’t say DJT didn’t have “the fire in the belly “.

    Is any candidate perfect? Nope far from it, in fact going back to 2000, not all that many folks were overly enthusiastic about GW or McCain because of their record on border security let alone the 2nd A. And everybody should remember G.H.W. Bush and his immediate capitulation with his Executive Order on imports. And he was Reagan’s VP. What did GW, McCain and Pappy Bush have that was more truthful on 2nd A matters than DJT? Nothing.

    Regarding Congress as a firewall. During obama’s first term and the first two years of his second, Majority Leader Harry Reid refrained from allowing any “gun control” legislation to be proposed because they had bigger fish to fry, namely the OCA. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wanted GC legislation, but deferred to Reid. There’s no doubt that they could have gotten a “Comprehensive Assault Weapons Ban” and other “common sense gun safety” laws passed even with Republican resistance. I’m sure obama regrets listening to Reid on that; no signature legislation on guns.

    So bottom line, DJT isn’t perfect, but he says the right things. The NRA has strongly endorsed him. You might want to have a little more enthusiasm, especially for down ticket coattails, to firewall the Congress if not for anything else.

  26. I wonder how the voters felt in 1856 – four years before the union fell apart and the Republican Party became a national player. Somebody had a chance to avoid 4 years of horrible bloodshed – I’ve seen the graves from the Civil War and I know what that conflict cost this nation. Forget what happened to the government and just add up the cost in human lives and destroyed property on both sides. Nobody in 1856 had the wisdom to see into the future and act proactively to avoid the conflict that killed so many.

    So where are we now? I see the four horsemen being saddled because I believe that some of the POTG want Hillary to be elected so that we can have the excuse to do an armed insurrection and hang the lot of them. That may work in the ninety nine cent Amazon survivalist novels, but I’ve seen war and it ain’t pretty. All of the fantasies go away when the blood starts to flow.

    My best hope is to keep the Apocalypse at bay by voting Trump. I’m not impressed with him, but Hillary is lots worse and I’ll go for the best deal I can. Maybe we need to think seriously about breaking up this country but that’s for people with more wisdom than I’ve been gifted with.

  27. Americans are a people deeply committed to individual liberty. We are not, in the main, sheep.
    We are in the main a people committed to getting free crap paid for by someone else.
    The problem with Socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.

  28. To me, Trump’s speech seemed to swerve back and forth between effective populist BS and the psychotic. As the years have gone by I have parred down my life’s ambitions to simply dying with as clear a conscience as possible. Voting for a psychopath, even if a mild one, would leave me with me with less hope of achieving that. So, I am guessing it will be the Libertarians for me.

    • I don’t know whether to commend you for “voting your conscience” or tell you that you may as well vote for HRC.

      I just don’t know….

      Oh, yes I do.

      • I tell you what, if Hillary wins because of one vote in MN you can blame me all you want. The odds are at least millions to one against that, so I suspect I am playing the odds well in addition to avoiding condoning a bad actor.

  29. Speaking of amateur hour, this blog. You’re still going on about Trump? Look at this like a thinking adult for once– If a man elected to two terms as President controlling both the House and Senate while being able to rail road his executive actions through government on charisma alone didn’t manage dictator for life, why the f*ck is Trump even worth a footnote on your website, let alone mentioning Hitler in the same sentence? The fact this was actually a fear of yours is amazingly laughable when there are so many other billionaires out there that truly deserve evil genius status.

    For f*cks sakes, stop this BS already.

  30. I’m voting Trump. I will take a chance on him as opposed to letting Hildebeest and Bill run wild in the White House for 4 to 8 years.
    The Constitution has been largely ignored by Imam Obama and followers in the past 8 years. So, at this point I am not sure I have faith in the power of the Constitution to protect any of our rights, but I would dearly love to be wrong about that concern.

  31. See a lot of great arguments for why Hillary cannot be allowed to be inaugurated, but few for why Trump should be. Hillary being arrested in a coup or Trump dying of a heart attack the night he’s elected so Pence can take over are both superior scenarios, from what I’m hearing, even from his supposed supporters.

  32. I’m really concerned that all of your readers are brainwashed by fox news. To vote for a presidential candidate based on one issue is pandering suicide thanks to our two party system. I think Robert is correct in saying that we need not fear fascist promulgation. However, this doesn’t eliminate the fear I’m thinking about. In fact, the majority of our issues have yet to be created and do we want an uneducated bigot running our country and representing our people when these problems arise or a more flexible, progressive leader? This reasoning is limiting the scope of the presidential issues. Why do we in fact elect one person as the face of our nation? The consequences of electing Trump far exceed those of electing Hilary. His reductive rhetoric and perturbant claims only remove trust from our allies, instill hatred in our contiguous neighbors, and further divide us as a country. Voting Trump would be a HUGE step in the wrong direction. And his idiotic VP thinks preserving coalmining jobs should be a priority for us… um, get a clue? Not to mention the feminist issue of having a powerful female leader for once in this crippling hegemony of male dominant society that we conform to. YOU’RE ALL SHEEPLE, THE MEDIA RULES OUR MINDS!

    • Kmeisner,

      Everyone has their own pet issue, here its the 2nd A, over at the “Greens” its tree hugging. Perhaps your’s is America’s space program so learn how to be a little inclusive.

      Regarding your statement: “having a female leader for once in this crippling hegemony of male dominant society that we conform to.”

      The last time I checked there are female mayors, council members, governors, state & federal representatives and senators, police ∧ fire chiefs, generals & admirals, heads of agencies, captains of industry and small business owners. Pretty much the sky is the limit, if you have what it takes and try.

      One other thing, don’t confuse title or position with the term “leadership”, they are two completely different things. H.R. Clinton has had a number of titles, but she rarely has demonstrated the traits of a “leader”. Those would include setting the example, taking responsibility and not just credit, owning up to mistakes instead of blaming others and following the rules/laws that others have to.

    • “. . .The consequences of electing Trump far exceed those of electing Hilary. . . .”

      Sorry, but you are quite wrong. The Democrat Party has moved sharply left in recent years and has wholly embraced “progressivism”. Hillary Clinton, has clearly identified herself as a progressive. Most people or woefully under-informed about just what being a progressive actually means. In the 1920’s and 1930’s American progressives (many of whom went to work for FDR during the Great Depression) were very much attracted to Italian fascism. These were the intellectual progenitors of contemporary progressives like Hillary. Not much has changed. The “crony capitalism” promoted by modern-day progressives is just another name for fascism. Say what you will about him, Trump is no fascist. But Hillary most definitely is.

  33. The end result of this plan of action is a net loss for liberty overall. It’s attempting to bail out the Titanic with a teaspoon.

    Instead of more boiling the frog, perhaps a rapid heating up by government is what will make it jump. If it doesn’t jump then, while there was still time to save itself, it was essentially dead already.

    • Nope, the frog just learns to like it; that is why the Republicans have basically adopted most of Obama’s first term platform with their candidate.

      At a certain point, the frog is too damaged to think straight about getting out, and doubles down over and over until the end.

      • It is my understanding that that is a myth. Frogs jump out of the water when it gets uncomfortable. Humans, maybe not.

  34. I would totally be on the fence about Trump, but he has one thing strongly in his favor;

    TRUMP HAS THE RIGHT ENEMIES.

    Hollyweird, at least one Saudi prince, the GOP establishment, Mark Zuckerberg, the Mexican president, Islam, the MSM, Glenn Beck, illegal alien lovers, and every progressive loon on the planet.

    Vote Trump

  35. I’ve said it once, i’ll say it again, I would have voted for Bernie, I’ll never vote for Hilary. She can get away with shit Trump never could. Trump will get held to a higher standard than Hilary would because more people will be looking over his shoulder waiting for him to fuck up. I don’t think it’s possible for Trump to fuck up the country like I know Hilary will continue to do. Horay for Trump!

    • Wonder if any of the Trump staff (or even The Donald) understands that in certain communities “Law and Order” is traditional code for harshly cracking down on minorities?

      • And your point is?

        From Breitbart:

        In 2012, white males were 38 percent of the population and committed 4,582 murders. That same year, black males were just 6.6 percent of the population but committed a staggering 5,531 murders.

        • “Law and Order” candidate just might not be a selling point in much of the population Trump will need in order to win. “Law and Order” is not a statement that screams “inclusion”. Or better, does not promote “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” in the broad demographics that historically were targets of “Law and Order”. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win, Hilly is starting with 240 in reliable states. Trump can’t afford to shrink his voter population.

      • Of course they do. That’s exactly how they intend it to be understood, as well – not by the minorities, of course (Trump is already showing a 0% rating with Blacks in some polls; if he cared, time for that was a long time ago), but by the majority that he’s pandering too. It’s exactly what Atwater described, and what Nixon used.

        • Hhhhmmm. I was thinking Trump et. al. were fixating on lawlessness by the president and other members of the administration (DOJ), and just grabbed onto a simple phrase. Never thought they would claim to reach out to minorities, then slam them with the “we’re gonna stop all this complaining by blacks and hispanics, and whatever”.

        • “Law and order” as used by Trump is clearly in the same context as “blue lives matter” and complaints about how crime is up (e.g. like this). So this has nothing to do with administration, and everything with what or who is implied to be the reason why said crime is going up. And while he’s not naming names – just as Nixon didn’t – his voters know what he’s actually talking about here, just as Nixon voters understood the implications (at least on the gut feel level).

          As far as his claims that he’s reaching out to minorities – those claims are only ever mentioned whenever someone accuses him of being racist, as a defense. I’m not aware of any policies by Trump that would entice those minorities specifically, or any targeted campaigns etc.

        • The implication of your analysis is that Trump is a run-of-the-mill racist, bigot, or big government tyrant. I was thinking that one does not need to attribute evil to acts better explained as stupid. But with Trump, we are not likely to find out until he becomes president.

          I read a book once, where all the great nations were engaged in a world war yet the US was a very minor player (alluded to, but not named). Maybe the advent of Hillary vs. Trump (both reprehensible candidates) is the beginning of fulfilling fiction, where the US voluntarily becomes a minor world power, an unnamed foot note in the next world war.

        • Not necessarily. The implication of my analysis is that Trump believes that running on an essentially racist platform will get him elected. He doesn’t need to be racist himself to do so; he only needs to covet power, and to believe that there are enough racists to appeal to that would give him that power.

          I suspect the real motivation is even more low-level: he constantly needs to hear others tell him how great he is. And the most obvious way to do so is to establish a power hierarchy with himself on top – so long as everyone else is subordinate to him, and he is not subordinate to anyone, he’s confident that he is “better” than those subordinate, and expects to be treated by them as such. If he can’t be on top, then get as high as possible, to maximize the number of people he’s above. It’s a classic narcissistic personality disorder (aka megalomania).

          I think this explanation meshes pretty well with what we’ve seen of his character so far. On one hand, obsession with polls and other numbers and metrics (personal wealth, how much money his businesses make, how beautiful his wife is etc), especially as publicly reported. On the other hand, obsessive (to the point of hurting his own material interests) aggression towards those who would challenge those metrics in any manner – e.g. that judge in the Trump University case.

        • Agree, Trump is all about Trump. Interesting that in all his years as a public figure, racism was never attributed, until he decided to run for President. Wonder if all the racism charges would have been levied if Trump had run as a Demoncrat.?

  36. Clinton would likely not be able to do much within the time span of her presidency as long as the republicans are able to hold on to the house. What I worry about is the longer term consequences of her appointing supreme court justices.

  37. >> And if Mr. Trump begins to attack our gun rights, or fails to defend them, I’ll do everything in my power to oppose him.

    What if Mr Trump begins to attack your other rights?

    More importantly, what if Mr. Trump begins to attack other rights of other people, but not you and your family?

  38. It’s taken me more than a few days to read all the comments on this post but I’m finally finished and here is my take and my prediction .
    1st , on the economy , Trump +1 Hillary -7 .
    2nd , on Foreign Affairs , Trump -3 Hillary -2
    3rd , on shrinking the Federal Government , Trump +2 Hillary -9
    4th , on creating jobs for Americans , Trump +7 Hillary -7
    5th , on creating jobs for Illegal Immigrants , Trump -9 Hillary +9
    6th , on protecting our Constitutional Rights , Trump +5 Hillary -5
    7th , on securing our Southern Border , Trump +9 Hillary -9
    8th , on bringing honesty and integrity back to the Presidency , Trump -9 Hillary -9
    9th , on strengthening our relationships with our Allies , Trump +2 Hillary +3
    10th , on cutting wasteful spending , useless programs and agencies , Trump +5 Hillary -8
    11th , on getting rid of Obama Care and Government Ins. completely , Trump -9 Hillary -10
    12th , on getting rid of Obama care for some other form of Gov. controlled Ins. Trump +5 Hillary -5
    13th , on specifically keeping our rights to keep a musket in our homes , Trump +10 Hillary +3
    14th , on specifically keeping our rights to open carry an AR over our shoulder , Trump -9 , Hillary -10
    15th , on using the pen to get things done through Executive Orders , Trump +10 Hillary +9
    16th , on reducing the National Debt , Trump -3 Hillary -10
    17th , on reducing trade deficits with other nations , Trump +7 Hillary -10
    18th , on building a stronger LONG TERM future for America , Trump -10 , Hillary -10
    What I predict : Trump will juice the economy the first few years , he will start a trade war with China , Mexico and South America , he will stimulate Nationalism and populism among the mostly rural and working population while agitating and alienating many of the progressive countries around the world that will attempt to derail the growing nationalistic tendencies of a growing swell of Americans . He will close the boarder with Mexico and create great internal political and economic strife there that will eventually start to bubble over creating even tighter clamping . He will relieve student debt by indentured servitude creating a new brown shirt ( black shirt ) or ( red white and blue ) shirt regiment . He will go against his NRA promises and enact bans on certain guns . He will increase the middle class while clamping down on the middle poor . He will become more and more imperialistic and his advocates will grow more zealous in their support and admiration . He will go after Hillary Clinton legally and bring her down . He will move the populist even more to the left in the guise of Nationalism and WWIII will follow .
    OR NOT . he he .

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