As predicted on this very blog, the race-baiters in Congress aren’t wasting any time at all. In response to the Trayvon Martin shooting, they are expecting you to beg them to take away your rights. Once again, self-defense is a natural right. Government has no authority to grant it to you, or to take it away. You are able to defend yourself by virtue of your humanity. Please understand, these cowards in Congress do not care about Trayvon Martin in the slightest. They just want to take away more and more of your freedom.
And a summary. The resolution is short- only four pages long- and resolves to accomplish five things:
1) Admonish officials who did not pursue an investigation. 2) Admonish parties who proposed Stand Your Ground in Florida. 3) Encourages future cases not to lean too heavily on SYG in place of a proper investigation. 4) Encourages rejecting of future SYG proposals. 5) Encourages repeal of existing SYG law.
It also seeks to "honor" Martin and his death. This is among the least harmless "controversial" things I've seen proposed in a while (it's just liberals arguing that SYG law goes too far in protecting gun ownership; nothing out of the ordinary), but leave it to SMuffin to make it into this huge deal.
Oh, and I wonder why he added "black lawmakers" into the heading? What a loser.
From: paperwarior | #015 What right are we talking about here? The right to be cleared of murder charges as long as you claim self-defense?
Defending yourself is a natural right. It doesn't count as murder if you acted in self-defense. If the government cannot prove the guy wasn't defending himself, that's not a valid reason to eliminate self-defense as a natural right. Not that they can, but you know.
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
From: TheKoolAidShoto | #017 Man, you can turn ANYTHING into a f***ing political agenda can't you? Even when it's kids getting shot by some idiot.
Yes, I'M the one turning this into a political agenda. Not the fascists in Congress who used this event as the justification for passing a bill that would unconstitutionally overturn a state law clarifying the use of self-defense.
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
Come now, SMuffin. Surely you can agree that the huge repositories of sketchy evidence against this kid warrants a trial, no? Even if you disagree with the anti-SYG provisions of the resolution, this one transcends the aisle.
From: Westbrick | #021 Come now, SMuffin. Surely you can agree that the huge repositories of sketchy evidence against this kid warrants a trial, no? Even if you disagree with the anti-SYG provisions of the resolution, this one transcends the aisle.
The resolution is completely pointless and is nothing more than political grandstanding and race-baiting. The purpose of Congress is not to override the decisions of local police departments.
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
The resolution is completely pointless and is nothing more than political grandstanding and race-baiting. The purpose of Congress is not to override the decisions of local police departments.
Like most things in Congress, it's a healthy mix of grandstanding, opportunism, sanctimony, and condescension, with a small spice of actual legislation thrown in. Here, the actual legislation boils down to a) condemning SYG and encouraging its repeal (which does not translate into "no gun laws"; it could simply be replaced by something more moderate), and b) denouncing authorities for not pursuing a full investigation. Nothing particularly noteworthy.
I also object to the way you're characterizing (caricaturizing?) the left. As you put it on your blog, they "do not care about Trayvon Martin in the slightest. They just want to take away more and more of your freedom." Who are you to say how such people feel? Why do you consider yourself privy to the motivations of liberals- who, I'll remind you, seek to repeal SYG only because they believe it best for the country? These are the kind of senseless comments that have built up the insurmountable political wedge that divides this country, and I feel we'd all be best served by toning them down.
Why do you consider yourself privy to the motivations of liberals- who, I'll remind you, seek to repeal SYG only because they believe it best for the country?
How do you know they only seek to repeal it because they think it's best for the country? It works both ways.
I know they don't care about Trayvon in the same way they know that Zimmerman only killed him because he's a racist. I'm using my judgment based on the available evidence. AS SOON as this story broke, I predicted that it would be used as an excuse to pass more stringent gun control laws. What a shocker, I was right!
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
From: Achromatic | #027 Question: If self-defense is a natural right why do we even need this stupid law.
Because government is inherently corrupt and predisposed to violate your natural rights.
Same reason we need a bill of rights at all, really.
As I said in my last post, Stand Your Ground is not a "law" really in that it doesn't prohibit any activity. It is merely a clarification of how the state of Florida will choose to prosecute (or not prosecute) EXISTING murder and manslaughter laws.
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
From: Achromatic | #029 Well the thing is before this law self-defense was a valid legal defense.
So since SYG doesn't give anyone anything, it doesn't matter if they repeal it.
Yay.
Actually no. In many states, they had a doctrine of "duty to flee" which basically means that if you're confronted with deadly force, you must make EVERY attempt to retreat, and you can ONLY claim self-defense by making a case that you couldn't possibly have retreated. Stand your ground just clarifies that you have no such responsibility. You need to have a standard one way or the other or the law cannot possibly be enforced consistently.
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
I also object to the way you're characterizing (caricaturizing?) the left. As you put it on your blog, they "do not care about Trayvon Martin in the slightest. They just want to take away more and more of your freedom."
In fairness, he said he's talking about the "cowards in Congress", not the left as a whole.
SmartMuffin posted... From: TheKoolAidShoto | #017 Man, you can turn ANYTHING into a f***ing political agenda can't you? Even when it's kids getting shot by some idiot. Yes, I'M the one turning this into a political agenda. Not the fascists in Congress who used this event as the justification for passing a bill that would unconstitutionally overturn a state law clarifying the use of self-defense.
would you care to explain to holocaust victims the horrors of american fascism
i'm sure they'll be amused
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Fast Falcon ate my bracket for dinner in the guru contest.
See being a Brit I still find it absolutely mind-boggling how easily obtainable guns and the like are in the States and that they are just a normal thing to have. In the UK both guns and knifes are outright illegal.
I'm in the UK atm but my house in America isn't actually far away from this (Apopka so like 40 mins) and I still have no idea how the law works in regards to all this.
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Crucifying my Oracle average one match at a time
I would think that knives designed to be used as a weapon would be illegal. Cooking knives and boxcutters wouldn't count, I'd think, because they're tools for food and boxes.
But I don't know.
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Everything is overrated - <D I would gladly take 90 whippings and be sentenced to 2 years in jail than have my account warned. - NotYou
what's even the point then, you can still murder someone just as easily with a cooking knife
It's nice to be able to say, "hey look, we're doing something against violence using knives!" even though in reality, yes, you can still murder someone with a cooking knife.
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Everything is overrated - <D I would gladly take 90 whippings and be sentenced to 2 years in jail than have my account warned. - NotYou
would you care to explain to holocaust victims the horrors of american fascism
I don't know any holocaust survivors. But if you'd like, I can set you up with some Soviet refugees who can explain to you how we're repeating all the same mistakes here.
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SmartMuffin - Because anything less would be uncivilized - http://img.imgcake.com/smartmuffin/barkleyjpgde.jpg http://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/
Congress proposes and even passes nonbinding resolutions all the time. This one doesn't even try to overturn Florida's law (which Congress has no power to do). All it would mean is that the members of Congress express their disapproval.
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Congratulations to SuperNiceDog, Guru Winner, who was smart enough to pick your 7 time champion, Link.
red sox 777 posted... Congress proposes and even passes nonbinding resolutions all the time. This one doesn't even try to overturn Florida's law (which Congress has no power to do). All it would mean is that the members of Congress express their disapproval.
Darnit, red, this is a Smuffin topic. Your rationality has no place here.