As we near Jan 20 & w/it the possible ends of our republic, free speech, etc, various media have news items, op-eds and even online ads of special interest. A “Free Event” in Boone County is a “Constitutional Carry and Self-defense Workshop” sponsored by “USCCA.” [FN1] 1/6

Folks at USCCA, & vendors (e.g., holster makers) have gr8 SEO. [FN2] Rand Corp summary of States w/concealed carry reported of 59 methodologically stronger studies; most found uncertain effects, while 5…

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The GOP is not the “party of Lincoln,” but the party of Lee Atwater. For 120 years, the GOP’s values were equality, democracy, & regulation of big business. Atwater saw strategic value in “wedge issues.” One of several wedge issues in the last election [FN1] was Gaza’s 1/7



occupation by Israeli military. [FN2] Middle East crises are not black-and-white. Nearly two millennia of anti-semitism was capped by The Holocaust. Jews who sought to escape were turned away by other countries… Continue

Since 11/05, maga people are giddy. For years they have yearned to grab 2A stockpiles & settle old scores. Their green light will turn “on” if trump takes office & declares “civil war.” But civil war is neither “civil” nor “war.” U.S. statute defines war: 1/10

“armed conflict, whether or not war has been declared, between two or more nations; or armed conflict between military forces of any origin.” [FN1] The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. [FN2] The U.S.…

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The Framers [FN1] created checks & balances between branches of the national government to protect against its possible abuses & to prevent any of the branches from becoming too powerful. [FN2] Another worry: republics “afford too easy an inlet to foreign corruption.” [FN3] 1/11

This was the context for creating “electors” to select “the Chief Magistrate of the United States.” [FN4] The “choice of the person” so important was “not to any preestablished body, but to men chosen…

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