Alphecca: The NY Times: Wrong As Usual

November 24, 2006

The NY Times: Wrong As Usual

From an editorial castigating Senator George Allen for introducing a bill to allow concealed carry in national parks:

America’s confusion about the Second Amendment is now nearly total. An amendment that ensures a collective right to bear arms has been misread in one legislature after another — often in the face of strong public disapproval — as a law guaranteeing an individual’s right to carry a weapon in public. And, in a perversion of monumental proportions, the battle to extend that right has largely succeeded in co-opting the language of the Civil Rights movement, so that depriving an American of the right to carry a gun in public sounds, to some, as offensive as stripping him of the right to vote. Senator Allen’s bill is, of course, being cheered by the gun lobby, which sees it not as an assault on public safety but as a way of nationalizing the armed paranoia that the National Rifle Association and its cohorts stand for.

Actually, it is only the tired, biased, gray old lady of journalism and her ilk that is totally confused by the Second Amendment.

Even such liberal constitutional scholars as Allen Dershowitz and Lawrence Tribe admit that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right. While liberal courts have not always ruled it such, recently the 5th Circuit did. And why, if the First, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, et cetera, all refer to individual rights, would the 2nd Amendment mysteriously not?

Further, the right of self-defense is ingrained in almost every living creature on this planet. Some would call it a "God given right", Constitution or not. It -- the right to bear arms for personal protection -- is very much a civil right.

*Sigh* No wonder, except in the bastion of a few liberal homes, the Times is no longer the "newspaper of record."

Update: And further proof that the NY Times is hopelessly, liberally biased and corrupt, is that while castigating Allen, they completely hide the fact that his victorious opponent in the VA senate race, Democrat Jim Webb, supports the measure!

Update 2: Steve Chapman has a good op-ed at RCP on the whole thing.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at November 24, 2006 07:18 AM

Comments

What this country needs is the total elimination of case law so that we can retrieve the Bill of Rights from beneath the pile of legalize that it's buried under.

Posted by: Robert at November 24, 2006 11:31 AM

"Newspaper of Record" indeed. More like the "Newspaper of Wreckage."

HT: Ann Coulter

Posted by: Gerry N. at November 24, 2006 05:22 PM

That writer wasn't just wrong. He is a liar.

Posted by: Tyler D at November 25, 2006 05:17 AM

Just another right wing smear job against the NY TImes, cause they are soooo liberal. Sorry, but the garbage media(Pyjama Media) and garabge mouths on the right can't hold a candle to the NY TImes. Are you going to tell me that a partisan rag like the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Times has the same caliber of writing and reportage? Right wing morons like Hannity or O'Reily who whine about the liberal media are hypocrites par excellence, since the all "news" they deliver is total partisan slant.

Posted by: Jake at November 27, 2006 11:16 AM

How is pointing out a rather glaring omission in an editorial of the fact that the candidate the NY Times constantly promoted through their op-ed writers, Jim Webb, has exactly the same position as the one they are slamming Allen for, regarding extending the right to self-defense in our national parks?

And yes, I think the "caliber of writing" as well as reporting in the Wall Street Journal is far better than in the New York Times. Put the tin-foil hat back on.

Posted by: Jeff Soyer at November 27, 2006 11:39 AM

Has anyone bothered to inform Jake that the legal scholarship (not to mention findings of Congress, which must have some merit in a discussion of the Constitution, and of course the writings of the drafters of the Constitution) is very much of the mind that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right, not a collective one?

If being utterly and completely wrong at the most basic level is indicative of quality writing, then this piece shows the Times to be an outlet for same.

(Furthermore, the Times' crack about the Civil Rights era is amusing, given gun control being used to disarm and oppress newly freed blacks (and keep them oppressed), and firearms being very useful to individuals in stopping an armed mob.

Universal armament of all adults of sound character (ie, not felons, and under the old restricted use of felony) is the greatest guarantee of civil rights vs. a hostile government or local majority.)

Posted by: Sigivald at November 27, 2006 04:19 PM

Shhh, if this gets passed Jake's line of "work" will become more dangerous, that is armed robbery in national parks.

still not sure how they're constitutional...seems to me there were specific purposes the feds could take land for, and pretty scenery wasn't one. That's not to say I don't like them, I just hate fed abuse and overstepping.

Posted by: Tom at November 27, 2006 10:18 PM

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November 24, 2006

The NY Times: Wrong As Usual

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

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Colony: Alchibah