Alphecca Speaks

If you don't read Alphecca, you should. He used to describe himself as a "gay gun nut from Vermont." Nowadays he claims "Alphecca is a proud member of "the lunatic fringe of the US right". Whatever. I have a sneaking hunch that if Jeff and I ever sat down with a bottle or whiskey we'd find that we're a lot closer to each other in philosophy than either of us suspect.

I've read his stuff for two years now. No, I'm not on his blogroll, nor is he on mine. However, Jeff often speaks truth to power, like this example.

Let that be a warning to the DNC because there are a hell of a lot of voters just like me. Don't give us anti-gun candidates. Stop all the bullshit about "sensible gun control" unless you want to hear about "sensible free speech" or "sensible restrictions on abortion". Put up candidates who honor our Bill of Rights and you'll win a lot of elections.

Furthermore (DNC, I'm still talking to you...) your candidates must do more than pretend to support gun rights, they must have a demonstrable voting record to prove it. When the Democrats begin defending the 2nd Amendment (and as an individual right as the other 9 are) as vigorously as the 1st and 4th, they'll have a cakewalk into the White House.

I'm registered Republican but many of the local candidates I vote for are Democrats. I really don't give a rats-ass who the candidate is as much as what he stands for. And, like Jeff, I am sometimes a single-issue voter. I will always come down on the side of individual freedom and the Bill of Rights. If a candidate wants my vote, he or she better convince me that my rights will be safe.

Here lately, the bell-weather test of civil liberties isn't free speech or abortion rights. It is gun rights. The right to carry openly. The right to carry concealed, the right to have my gun in my truck. The right for law-abiding Americans to enjoy the shooting sports. Give me a candidate who believes in the individual right of the people to keep and bear arms, and I'll show you a candidate who will defend the other nine of the Bill of Rights. That's the candidate I want in office and one that will get my vote.