First They Came for the Guns

First They Came for the Guns
by Ted Lang, Associate Editor

November 21, 2002

Columnist Ted Lang The NRA was first to say it, and now they're so much part of the current political scene that they are incapable of appreciating their own tragically accurate prediction. Their axiom offering that the abolition of firearms will precede the destruction of all rights has finally happened. And due to the bias of the mainstream establishment press against guns exhibiting their preference for all-caring big government precluding the need for private citizens to be armed, Democrats have shot themselves in the foot by partnering with the media to demonize Republicans.

Their thinly veiled contempt and hatred for constitutionally mandated government based upon Judeo-Christian religious principles has been viciously thrust upon Americans via the "political correctness" of the unholy alliance of the Democratic Party and the media. A government-controlled press is bad enough, but when that press favors one party over another, what meaningful degree of representation in government is left to the people?

And how can a republican form of government exist when there is no equal representation of the people being governed? How long does it take for we-can-do-whatever-we-want arrogance to settle in? The Founding Fathers anticipated the dangers of government. Benjamin Franklin warned that although we have a representative, republican form of government, no amount of written protections in the Constitution can substitute for the required vigilance of the governed to ensure that our representation continues and that our freedoms remain in tact. He warned that he and the Founders gave us a republic, "if we can keep it."

Regrettably, the Founders made one huge mistake. They depended upon a "free press" to educate and inform the populace. An informed and educated people cannot be enslaved especially when the people of that nation started its history with the concept of boundless freedom for each individual citizen. Only tyrants fear an informed, armed populace. And Democrats have consistently embraced both gun control and a doting, obedient press to help them demonize Republicans by propagandizing and dumbing-down the public. Their success continues in New Jersey and California.

The success of Democrats and their supporters in the media and Hollywood in trashing Republicans has bred the arrogance that led to the midterm election Bush Revolution. Yet in selecting left-liberal Nancy Pelosi to lead them, their message is clear: they will continue to press for higher taxes, abortion, a weakened military, and yet more gun control in the face of increasing threats to an increasingly disarmed American populace.

We have had the First Amendment seriously compromised by the Bush-McCain "campaign finance reform" law. We've had the Tenth Amendment virtually eliminated via the Civil War and the Brady Bill. The Patriot Act has abolished Amendments Four, Five and Six. And the United States Federal Police have been made stronger by the soon to pass Homeland Security debacle. What is left of our individual freedoms?

We are unrepresented. Only gun controllers have a voice, and they represent an un-American minority. Only Tim Russert desperately needs a tax hike because "we" are running short of funds. And only a majority of Americans conveyed a grass roots mandate to Republicans, dismissed by Democrats Pelosi, McAuliffe and Moyers as unimportant and insignificant; and their views are precisely correct. America has no real representation, so more infringements on paper in the form of continued unconstitutional legislation are on the way, especially in the "Party" states of California and New Jersey.

And notice who is always the target of our so-called republic's "elected representatives?" Is it terrorists, criminals, or a foreign power? No, of course not! In a tyrannical dictatorship, it is always the law-abiding, decent citizenry that just wish to be left alone that are made to suffer. And as all levels of American government continue to strip us of our freedoms, our private property, and our guns, Muslim terrorists marvel at their astonishing success! Sun-Tzu was right; we've lost the war and nary a shot was fired! ***

In addition to his work at The American Partisan, Ted Lang is a government analyst and a political freelance writer. He has written for numerous websites such as USA Daily, where he is a columnist, The Patriotist, Sierra Times, as well as New Jersey newspapers. Lang holds a BA in political science and an MBA.

Photo of Columnist Ted Lang courtesy of the author