the inflammatory yarn

It appears that the Virginia Tech shootings seems to be bringing out the worse in some people. According to ThreadingWater, ‘real courage means standing up to the tyranny of the National Rifle Association‘, but from where I’m standing, the NRA in some circles seems little more than derogatory code words for the Second Amendment. The NRA is presented as a three-word argument against the right of people to keep and bear arms. The perspective represents a rather lacklustre commitment to genuine liberties and freedom.

In the comment section, Paul summed up this powerful mood of conservative ambivalence towards real freedoms, ‘I cherish my second amendment right as an American born citizen’ however, the Second Amendment is fine for people like Paul, but for people born elsewhere (aka foreigners) unalienable Rights for them is a no no. According to Paul, this ‘does not give them the right to have this cherished second amendment privilege’. A fundamental liberty is magically transformed into a mere ‘privilege’ for the fortunate few. The idea that all men are created equally sits uncomfortably with the notion that the Second Amendment should in someway be a privilege. This notion is crystallised in the political phrase ‘education is a right, not a privilege’.

Indeed, you don’t hear of anyone taking Virginia Tech to task for enrolling Cho Seung-Hui do we?

I just don’t think you can use the actions of a crazy loser like Seung-Hui, to justify chipping away at peoples civil liberties – believe it or not, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are causes that are still worth fighting for.