http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/north-carolina-declared-gun-free-zone-anticipation-of-hurricane-earl

Upon Governor Beverly Perdue’s declaration of a State Of Emergency on September 1, 2010 Dove Hunters, Concealed Carry Handgun Licensees, Target Shooters and all other gunowners cannot possess, transport or use firearms off their personal property as per N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-288.7

New Orleans did the same thing during Hurricane Katrina (and local and federal goons went door to door STEALING guns from honest citizens in the time when they needed self-defense the MOST!

I’m glad that in my state, there is a law prohibiting this sort of nonsense!

–Michael W. Dean

When Ted Olsen teamed up with his former adversary, David Boies, to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of two plaintiffs against Proposition 8 in California, one would have thought that the apocalypse was indeed nigh. Olsen and Boies were on opposite sides in 2000 when they were arguing before the Supreme Court about that little election issue in Florida… I think it was important, but I don’t recall. Anyway, the fact is, they teamed up and brought a lawsuit against the State of California. At the time it was filed, there was reticence and mistrust from the LGBT community. There was a real concern that if Olsen and Boies lost it would be disastrous precedent for future lawsuits to overcome. Lambda Legal was one group who was worried that the timing wasn’t right, and that a loss would be incredibly damaging. Some conspiratorial voices buzzed that Olsen was going to intentionally throw the case. But, no such thing happened, and they actually won, for now. There’s a good chance that this ends in California, though, because California may not pursue the appeal. Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have declined to pursue it any further, and as they were the defendants named, nobody else would have legal standing to defend Prop 8 before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If this happens and the 9th Circuit declares that there’s no standing, the case does not advance. That would be the best scenario for social conservatives, a containment of their loss, because a Circuit-wide defeat of Prop 8 would in effect wipe out any state law or state constitutional amendment that restricts marriages to one man and one woman. Other states would most certainly appeal that to the U.S. Supreme Court and it’s really a toss up at that point, because Judge Vaughn Walker- ahem- a Reagan conservative appointee- wrote a solid ruling that was based in constitutional law and analysis, and not the emotional, irrational whining of the Prop 8 defenders who almost seemed to be throwing their own case intentionally. But, this is not about the ruling in Perry v Schwarzenegger. There is a movement afoot that I have been sensing since this case was first filed.

Conservatives are turning the page on gay issues.

At first it was subtle. Just a little rustling in the wind. In 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney broke ranks with President Bush and declined to support a federal Constitutional amendment that would have forced a nationwide definition of marriage on all 50 states. Not for nothing, but many prominent Republicans at the time also recoiled at the idea of etching such a thing into our founding document. Many who did faced enormous criticism from liberals and conservatives alike. The next wave crested when the State of Massachusetts could not get the required votes to place a ballot initiative that would repeal marriage equality. The State of Iowa became the first state West of the Mississippi to enact same-sex marriage when their state supreme court overruled the ban on same-sex marriage and it’s held for several years now. So, when did conservatives see the writing on the wall and decide that the time was right to make a move? I would say it all began with the campaign and election of Barack Obama.

Barack Obama has, in the past, expressed his support for marriage equality back when he was doing community work in Chicago. Yet, when he ran for the U.S. Senate against the carpetbagger Alan Keyes, he dialed back his support to the fence-sitting position of ‘civil unions’. It was easy to look like the beacon of reason next to the virulently homophobic Alan Keyes, who called Mary Cheney a selfish hedonist and even kicked his own daughter out of the house for being a lesbian. Everyone knew that Obama was being groomed for a run at the presidency even while he was being sworn into the Senate, and on the national stage, the more vague you are, the more people you reach. He tried several times to reach out to socially conservative, religious Black people, first through using ex-gay singer Donnie McClurkin on his campaign tour, and then by inviting Rick Warren, pastor of the Saddleback Church, to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration. Warren has had his own litany of anti-gay screeds and arguably, the blood of many Africans on his hands thanks to his help in getting condom distribution stopped in countries ravaged by HIV/AIDS. Gay people were frankly livid at Warren got such a prestigious invite. Incidentally, many social conservatives were also livid that Warren accepted. Obama then failed to say anything about Propostion 8. He did not object to his words being used out of context in pro-Prop-8 ads. He did not say much a year later when a voter’s referendum was used to repeal the legislatively enacted same-sex marriage law in Maine, one that was heavily financed by out of state interests, similar to how Prop 8 was pushed. Obama’s justice department filed briefs in two cases, one defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act from a Massachusetts lawsuit, and another defending the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy by people who were suing to keep their careers in the United States Military. Both briefs were filled with insulting and demeaning characterizations of gay people. It was becoming clear that Barack Obama was no “fierce advocate” for the LGBT community. By the time Ted Olsen and David Boies filed the lawsuit, a plan was in place.

I have to admit, it’s a good plan.

First, you quietly drop the opposition to same-sex marriage and gays serving in the Armed Forces. Even if you oppose it, just let it go, because eventually these battles will be lost. The second is to have some conservatives actually outflank the President on these issues. Not conservatives who actually have any power, mind you, but a few big names that might open some eyes, like Dick Cheney and Laura Bush. It makes Obama look weak if he can’t even throw a bone to members of his base. Ken Mehlman comes out. GOProud puts on a conservative gay convention and has Ann Coulter speaking, not to mention such sponsors as Tammy Bruce, Grover Norquist, Margaret Hoover, John Hawkins, Lisa DePasquale, Bruce Carroll & John Ciccone, Christopher Barron & Shawn Gardner, Jimmy LaSalvia, Craig Engle, Christopher Taylor & Anthony Cirone, Roy Eappen, and Jessica Lee.  Glenn Beck even takes a few steps back and telling Bill O’Reilly that there’s bigger fish to fry than gay marriage.   The plan is, I believe, in two years, to split the gay vote from two fronts- the first is dropping opposition to or even expressing support for marriage equality, and the second is to use Islamophobia to convince us that compared to Muslims, Christians are downright docile.  Lastly, they get to one-up a president who has had a lot of trouble putting his words of support into any tangible action that benefits gays & lesbians. If the Republicans manage to deliver marriage equality while Obama waffles on it, it’s going to go a very long way in getting new GOP support in 2012.

Some have said that the social conservatives in the GOP won’t stand for it, but I believe that they will endure it, because the thought of four more years of Obama enacting what they believe to be a socialist, communist, non-citizen, Muslim (okay, look, birthers and other people who try and paint Obama as something completely foreign- he’s black.  Deal with it, okay?  Get over yourselves.) agenda is more frightening to them than two dudes and two chicks getting married. So the GOP will downplay their social cons and their theocratic cons, and use the Tea Party movement to recruit gays by one-upping the president and the do-nothing Democrats in Congress. Even though their motives are purely political and have nothing to do with, oh, doing the right thing for LGBT people, they get to wrap themselves in the mantle of acceptance and equality while they evangelize a new batch of gays & lesbians into Republicanism.

I’ve been there. I’m a recovering Republican. I’ve seen what this kind of governance has done for this country and I can’t say I like what I see, and that has nothing to do with marriage equality or LGBT issues. It has more to do with giving away so much power to megalithic, unaccountable corporations who have undermined capitalism and representative democracy,  which as a result, is systematically destroying a once prosperous American middle class, and in this endeavor, Democrats are also complicit.  They have just as much blood on their hands as Republicans.  I am all for diversity of thought and public opinion in the political sphere, I am not one who thinks that all gays should vote Democrat, but I do ask that you think about this sudden shift in opinion and ask yourself why they want your vote so badly that they’re willing to throw 30 years of pandering to Christo-fascists and Moral Majority types under the bus to get it. Perhaps they see that younger generations aren’t quite as hip to the disturbing anti-gay messages of the late Jerry Falwell or the severely aged Pat Robertson. Perhaps they see Islam as a far greater threat to the West than homosexuality.  No doubt we have to keep a watchful eye on crazy radical Muslims, but the degree of fearmongering going on lately is a bit much.  Whatever the reason is, remember, they’re not doing it because they genuinely believe in marriage equality. They want something from us. They need something from us. Our problem is that we’ve forgotten how to be demanding. We’re a cheap date, anyone knows by watching how we fawn over Democrats who make us promises they have no intention of keeping. So let’s stop being such pushovers and start dealing, and make them come to us hat in hand. Democrats too, it’s time that we hold them responsible for broken promises, stalling, and inaction as well. Screw it, while we’re at it, ANYONE who feels that they’re simply being pandered to, stop being so easy and start holding the feet of your elected officials and candidates to the fire. Let’s hold them all accountable for selling out the American Dream while using volatile but meaningless social issues to distract us from how badly we’re being shafted.

~Matti Frost

President G.W. Bush and fmr. RNC chair Ken Mehlman.

Earlier this week, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman came out of the closet, confirming rumors and reports about his sexual orientation that have been around since 2003. Mehlman was also the campaign manager for President George W. Bush during his 2004 re-election campaign. Mehlman was the strategist who came up with the idea to put marriage rights to the ballot box in 11 states in 2004 and several more in 2006 in order to get social conservatives to come out and vote, using homophobia as a way to keep Republicans in power. He’s not the first closet homo to betray his own, but he is by far the most powerful in recent years to do so.

Mehlman now claims to support marriage equality and has expressed a desire to help achieve that end. Putting aside my outrage at this guy for a moment, let’s look at this practically. I don’t know if the damage he did can be undone. He’s created a climate in which over half the states now have some sort of state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, with some states like Texas going so far as to outlaw civil unions, domestic partnerships, or any private legal agreement that confers upon same-sex couples any semblance of marriage rights. Legislators cannot override these amendments. The courts are hesitant to, except in California, and that was only because same-sex marriage was actually legal for a short period of time before Proposition 8 went into effect. As that case waits to be heard by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, efforts to defend marriage equality in the states that have it, and to at least stop further amendments in states that have yet to pass them, continue on. Though the anti-marriage equality movement is waning and groups like the National Organization for Marriage look more and more silly each day, there are still some powerful people out there who still are unwilling to support full marriage equality for gay & lesbian couples.

Like President Barack Obama.

It is sad that Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, and Ken Mehlman have all come out in support of same-sex marriage. That Ann Coulter is being ostracized by World Net Daily for speaking at a gay Republican (GOProud) convention. That Glenn Beck said on The O’Reilly Factor that we have “bigger fish to fry” than same-sex marriage. It’s stunning to me that Barack Obama would waste a political opportunity to be ahead of the curve, and it looks to me like conservatives are making a bold move to capture the gay vote. Obama, on the other hand, who promised to be a “fierce advocate” for the LGBT community, has been one great big letdown. In 2009, his justice department filed a brief (known as the DOMA brief) in federal court, defending a lawsuit against part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, in which it compared same-sex marriages to incestuous couplings. Gay people were noticeably pissed. In response, Obama promised to sign into law a bill that would provide domestic partnership benefits for federal employees. We’re still waiting on that one. Granted, he did sign the Matthew Shepard Act into law, which added sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability to the federal hate crimes statute, but this was hardly an act of courage. The law was attached to a defense authorization measure. Two years prior it passed the House and Senate as a stand-alone bill that was vetoed by President Bush. With a greater Democrat majority in both houses, he couldn’t get this done by itself? And then there is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Oh boy, is the Obama administration blowing it on this one. The wind is at his back on the repeal of this terrible law, and yet, he continues to pander to the dwindling number of people on the right who support this ban on gay & lesbian servicepeople for no rational reason. His “study” is a joke, the survey being conducted is loaded with homophobic questions, gay soldiers are not guaranteed secrecy if they take the survey, and people can take the survey as many times as they want. Can you say “skewed” and “unscientific”? I don’t remember Harry Truman conducting a survey before he ordered the military to be racially integrated. Soldiers follow orders. This should be a no-brainer.  As Rachel Maddow mentioned, spending a little political capital goes a long way in winning respect, not just from your base and the people who voted you in, but from yourself.

I don’t even want to get into Obama hiring an “ex-gay” gospel singer for his campaign tour, or all his other borderline homophobic crap he’s dabbled with the whole time he was courting the gay vote. Ken Mehlman was a high-ranking Republican who was closeted and did do a lot of damage to the cause of equality, but he would have done the same if he were straight. We opposed Mehlman and the agenda he put forth back then. I am far more concerned with elected officials who claim to be ‘fierce advocates’ for me who then refuse to do jack shit when it comes to repealing terrible laws that keep us second-class citizens. Ken Mehlman betrayed himself. Barack Obama has been betraying us since before he got elected.

Food for thought.

~Matti Frost, 8.28.2010

Excerpt from “We Will Not Disarm”, a song Neema and I are working on for the documentary. The song opens the film.

I think this is some of my favorite raps lyrics ever:
—–

Freedom’s ONE piece.
It’s guns, weed and anything you feel you need
just as long as you don’t steal it, take it or fake it.

You know I’m Persian
but no frontin’, if this were the 300
I’d be startin’ for the Spartans and
And I’d fight ’til I’m departed.

Successful home gun defense illustrates unfairness of Chicago gun laws

Written by

David Codrea, Gun Rights Examiner

“An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a man who broke into his South Side home Friday morning,” Becky Schlikerman of The Chicago Tribune informs us.

The suspect, we are told, was armed:

“The officer…fired his service weapon several times, killing the intruder…”

Neighbors are supportive:

“They invaded his home, he did what he had to do…”

A core issue behind the McDonald Supreme Court case was so if the neighbors’ homes are invaded, they’ll be able to do what they have to do. That the Daley administration continues to fight recognition of their right to do so every step of the way ought to be all any fair-minded person needs to know…..

More here.

Oath Keeper Sheriff Richard Mack – interview for the movie “Guns and Weed: The Road to Freedom.” Filmed at Wyoming Liberty Fest in Lander, August 21, 2010.

http://www.sheriffmack.com/

http://oathkeepers.org/

THIS FOOTAGE NOT YET COLOR CORRECTED OR AUDIO FLUFFED.

“Guns and Weed: The Road to Freedom”

http://www.gunsandweed.com/

A film by Michael W. Dean and Neema Vedadi. Drops Spring 2011.

View the pre-trailer (be sure to watch in hi-def mode!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo2a1QQDgOk

Keywords:

Sheriff Mack, Richard Mack, Oath Keepers, Oathkeepers, Graham County, Arizona, Libertarian, 10th amendment, constitutionalist, gun rights, Wyoming liberty fest, Sheppard Humphries, Neema Vedadi, Michael w. dean, nullification, guns, weed, legalize marijuana, liberty, Ron Paul, freedom, states’ rights, US Constitution, saving America, Bill of Rights, Richard Mack vs SPLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, tyranny, gun control, gun grabbers, Brady campaign, war on drugs, obamacare, war on guns

I think a lot of libertarians and Republicans tend to not want to “rock the boat.” For instance, I have a Goldwater Republican friend who lives in Phoenix and he hates illegal immigration, is directly affected by it in a negative way, but doesn’t like what the governor’s doing there, because it “causes unrest” and “goes too far.”

Whereas liberal progressives LOVE to yell and demand their “rights.” It’s a problem…..libertarians just basically want to “be left alone”, that’s almost the common DEFINITION of libertarianism. And the definition of progressivism is that they LOVE to screech, tell people what to do and “push the envelope.”

Libertarians should all own and carry guns. Carry a handgun and own a rifle. It reinforces the idea of self-defense, in everything. Guns are not only a physical tool, they are a psychological tool. Carrying one reminds you that libertarianism isn’t just “leave me alone”, it’s “if you push me too far I’ll push back.”

Some may think that “rocks the boat” or “goes to far”, but I’m a peace-lovin’ man and it makes a lot of sense to me.

ZAP: Do not initiate aggression.
ZAP 2.0: Do not initiate, OR ACCEPT, aggression.

–Michael W. Dean

–Michael W. Dean

Republican Liberty Caucus endorsee, Ron Micheli says that “Sheriffs are the ultimate authority.”

I dig it. Commonly considered a fringe belief, it’s actually codified into the Posse Comitatus Act:

Posse Comitatus (Latin): Power of the county. The whole force of the county: that is, all the male members of a county over fifteen, who may be summoned by a sheriff to assist in preventing a riot, the rescue of prisoners, or other unlawful disorders. Clergymen, peers, and the infirm are exempt.

From the Casper Tribune:

CHEYENNE — Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Micheli’s support for a movement to recognize local sheriffs as the ultimate law enforcement authority has drawn fire from his opponents and runs counter to an emphatic warning from a federal judge in Casper.

Micheli insists the higher power of elected sheriffs is an extension of states’ rights spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. In a recent interview, he said that if elected, he would appoint a state attorney general who agrees with him.

“I will appoint an attorney general who understands the 10th Amendment, and who understands states’ rights, and we will do everything possible to enforce them,” Micheli said.

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution specifies that all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people.

“A federal authority, if he comes into a local jurisdiction, should be in communication, and should be working with the local sheriff before an arrest is made,” Micheli said. “The fact (is) that the sheriff is the authority in that jurisdiction.”…

….An Associated Press report earlier this year found that the push to declare sheriffs as the highest law enforcement agent in the land is gaining traction nationwide. Many federal officials say the effort is misguided…..

Micheli has been endorsed by Richard Mack, a former sheriff in Graham County, Ariz., who is active in the loosely organized movement called the Oath Keepers. The group enlists law enforcement and military personnel to pledge that they would refuse 10 unconstitutional orders, including any commands to confiscate guns or to perform warrantless searches…..

Sounds like a good way to push back against federal encroachment.

–Michael W. Dean