When the government no longer has support of the base, it usually does not cede power peacefully, especially if the population has already been disarmed. History is littered with examples of gun control laws leading to atrocities against law abiding citizens, either at the hands of government or the illegally armed, often externally funded opposition to that government. Baghdad's Sunni population was substantially disarmed from 2003-2006 which made them easy targets for ethnic cleansing by Iranian supported Shiite militias or maligned Interior Ministry forces.
I happen to agree with Juan Cole who said in his 6/24/2010 post, "But it turns out that if you disarmed the Sunni Arabs, then the Shiite militias came at night to chase them away...... I don’t think Baghdad is now more than 10-15% Sunni, whereas it was probably about half and half Sunni and Shiite at the time of Bush’s invasion in 2003."
And to give credit where credit is due, I was avid reader of "Informed Comment" while assigned to MNF-I staff under both Casey and Petraeus in 2006-2007. While Mr. Cole did not have access to the same information that I did, he certainly had a deep (and correct) understanding of events that helped me put the intellgence pieces together. I offer a belated thank you, even if our politics may not exactly align.
"I can’t actually find any evidence that these people actually care about key liberties such as Habeas Corpus or the right to a fair and speedy trial before the government blows you away from the sky, or the prosecution of illegal wars abroad."
In the context of the establishment political paradigm, you are absolutely right. There seem to be very few politicians in office, or professors in academia for that matter, who respect individual liberty and rights. However, you may want to research lesser known, libertarian-minded Rule of Law platforms such as Ron Paul's. While supporting the individual right to self-protection, Ron Paul vehemently opposes such legislation as the 2012 NDAA which (still) codifies indefinite detention and military custody. He also works to reduce military spending and our presence abroad.
We are always quick to point out how one evil man can do horrific things with a legally owned firearm, but somehow forget about the kind of death and destruction that governments or others organized entities can inflict against a disarmed population. Aurora is a tragedy, but proposed gun control solutions could be a stepping stone for America's Mao, Stalin or Hitler of tomorrow. To think that "it can't happen here" is foolishly naive.
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When the government no longer has support of the base, it usually does not cede power peacefully, especially if the population has already been disarmed. History is littered with examples of gun control laws leading to atrocities against law abiding citizens, either at the hands of government or the illegally armed, often externally funded opposition to that government. Baghdad's Sunni population was substantially disarmed from 2003-2006 which made them easy targets for ethnic cleansing by Iranian supported Shiite militias or maligned Interior Ministry forces.
I happen to agree with Juan Cole who said in his 6/24/2010 post, "But it turns out that if you disarmed the Sunni Arabs, then the Shiite militias came at night to chase them away...... I don’t think Baghdad is now more than 10-15% Sunni, whereas it was probably about half and half Sunni and Shiite at the time of Bush’s invasion in 2003."
And to give credit where credit is due, I was avid reader of "Informed Comment" while assigned to MNF-I staff under both Casey and Petraeus in 2006-2007. While Mr. Cole did not have access to the same information that I did, he certainly had a deep (and correct) understanding of events that helped me put the intellgence pieces together. I offer a belated thank you, even if our politics may not exactly align.
"I can’t actually find any evidence that these people actually care about key liberties such as Habeas Corpus or the right to a fair and speedy trial before the government blows you away from the sky, or the prosecution of illegal wars abroad."
In the context of the establishment political paradigm, you are absolutely right. There seem to be very few politicians in office, or professors in academia for that matter, who respect individual liberty and rights. However, you may want to research lesser known, libertarian-minded Rule of Law platforms such as Ron Paul's. While supporting the individual right to self-protection, Ron Paul vehemently opposes such legislation as the 2012 NDAA which (still) codifies indefinite detention and military custody. He also works to reduce military spending and our presence abroad.
We are always quick to point out how one evil man can do horrific things with a legally owned firearm, but somehow forget about the kind of death and destruction that governments or others organized entities can inflict against a disarmed population. Aurora is a tragedy, but proposed gun control solutions could be a stepping stone for America's Mao, Stalin or Hitler of tomorrow. To think that "it can't happen here" is foolishly naive.