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Topic: OT: Texas mayor shoots daughter, then herself... (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Marc Baptiste
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Joined: 17 June 2004
Location: United States
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | 1  
To disregard a written prefatory clause in the established supreme law of the land... the Constitution, is not just an act of judicial activism; it is just plain arrogant.
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Don Bohm
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | 2  
Hey Al, how many Americans do you actually know? Or is this viewpoint based on shit like "The Jersey Shore" and all the other reality shows?
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Randy Lahey
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | 3  
Don, a lot of Canadians feel a smug sense of superiority over Americans.
Violence in the USA is one of the things Canadians will point to as justification of their superiority.  You won't get that attitude from me.  I love going to the USA, American TV, American movies, American Music, and American Beer.  I still like Canadian beer, but I would happily give up Canadian TV and Movies forever, if I could legally subscribe to DirectTV.
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Michael Penn
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 6:01pm | IP Logged | 4  
A few facts in re understanding the operative clause (the right) vis-a-vis the preamble in the 2d Amend:

The phrases “keep arms” and “bear arms” only appeared in colonial statutes concerning the militia. These statutes qualify as the “popular understanding” of the Second Amendment because such statutes had to be known by all the colonists and were well distributed. Not in one instance did this phrase appear in laws concerning self-defense, hunting, or gun laws. The Constitution was drafted by America's greatest legal minds and it is undisputed that the Founding Fathers understood how “keep arms,” “bear arms,” and “well regulated militia” were incorporated in each colony's statutes. An exhaustive look at all the colonies laws shows there is not one instance of “keep arms” or “bear arms” being used in any law besides militia laws.

See Patrick Charles, The Second Amendment: The Intent and Its Interpretation by the States and the Supreme Court (2009).
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Don Bohm
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 6:29pm | IP Logged | 5  
Thanks Randy, I appreciate your comments! 
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John OConnor
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | 6  
JB -- at least in terms of officers KIA.....
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William McCormick
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 6:53pm | IP Logged | 7  
Hey Al, how many Americans do you actually know? Or is this viewpoint based on shit like "The Jersey Shore" and all the other reality shows?

*******************

I've been to Al's house and I can tell you for a fact that his words are being misinterpreted. People in other countries do have dislike for us. When I lived in Germany many of them outright hated us. They hated how we always seemed to try to force them to do things our way. Wrong or right, many countries do think we are all a bunch of assholes.

I think that's the point he was making. Not that each individual American is like that.

And in truth I look down on us when shows like "The Jersey Shore" are as popular as they are.
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Brad Krawchuk
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | 8  
Based on everything I see in the American news (and I don't get Fox!) I'd back Al's statement that Americans seem more irrational than other countries. 

I mean, I'm not even watching Canadian news shows about America, I'm watching the same stuff you get, and all the coverage I see is about people calling for Obama's resignation over the economy, the oil spill, his birth certificate. I see people saying the devil is taking over the country because health care has passed and it's socialism. 

This isn't even stuff that's being presented by Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly et al. This is stuff I see on local news stations from Detroit, Grand Forks, Fargo, etc.  

Outsider looking in? You people are coming across as extremely irrational. Most news coverage I watch from down there doesn't present a solid counterpoint to the whole Tea Party movement, it just presents whatever Tea Party supporters are saying. Are they rational? No. Does every American agree with them? No. Are we outsiders seeing a balanced counterpoint from America to the whole Tea Party thing? No. 

The only real counterpoints and objections I hear to most of their schtick is here on the board, or on articles you folks post here. I have to LOOK for it. Otherwise, everything coming over the airwaves FROM YOU is basically "Socialism is evil! We're not racist! We want guns! Check brown people's ID! Health care is evil! Obama isn't American! Government shouldn't regulate business! If business ran the country, it'd be better! More Oil! Keep drilling!"

Seriously, the stuff that gets aired in our country ON YOUR CHANNELS is strange, scary stuff. I'm not saying you don't have other opinions, or that everyone is a right-wing nut, but your so-called "liberal media" doesn't make you folks look liberal at all. 

If the rest of the world only has what American's show us to go on, then yeah, you people seem a lot more irrational than most other countries. And not because we paint you all with the same brush - we're pretty understanding that there are other voices and opinions in your nation - it's just we can't understand why you don't give them the same attention and volume you seem to give the nuts. 
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Jodi Moisan
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Posted: 01 August 2010 at 8:05pm | IP Logged | 9  
Oh wait are we talking about  tea party Americans, then yes I agree with the thought "stupid Americans". LOL
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Ed Fahey
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Posted: 02 August 2010 at 6:24am | IP Logged | 10  

Like it or not Americans live under a microscope, where our local news and TV shows are broadcast seemingly everywhere in the world. This being the case it's not surprising for outsiders to draw conclusions based solely on what they see on TV, which is hardly as impartial and true to reality as you might want to think. Issues are sensationalized to draw ratings.....can people in other countires not realize this?
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Wayde Murray
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Posted: 02 August 2010 at 7:06am | IP Logged | 11  

Ed wrote:

Issues are sensationalized to draw ratings.....can people in other countires not realize this?

**

And by that same logic the people living in the United States should realize when they are being exposed to sensationalized reporting...yet how many actually do?  According to your argument, a heavily biased media outlet or network shouldn't be effective because people would realize that it's not impartial or true to reality.
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Brad Krawchuk
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Posted: 02 August 2010 at 7:17am | IP Logged | 12  
Issues are sensationalized to draw ratings.....can people in other countires not realize this?

---

Yes, I can realize this. Thus the whole part where I said...we're pretty understanding that there are other voices and opinions in your nation - it's just we can't understand why you don't give them the same attention and volume you seem to give the nuts. 
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