Isaac Laquedem

The Laquedem Plan to restore the original intent of the Second Amendment

The post-Newtown debate over gun control and the Second Amendment has pitted advocates of gun control against believers in the Second Amendment.  Proponents of gun control (generally the same group as opponents of mass killings) can't see the sporting purpose in allowing people to possess and use 25- and 50-round ammunition clips.  Opponents of gun control strongly object to federal and state governments limiting their ability to buy and own any sort of weaponry.

Some government restrictions on private armories apparently withstand a Second Amendment attack: for example, we can't own machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and tactical nuclear weaponry. If the Second Amendment protects individual rights as broadly as its backers say it does, then the government can't prohibit us from owning these useful items of destruction.

How, then, can the Supreme Court make a principled interpretation of the Second Amendment that protects the private right to own guns without opening the door to my homeowners' association acquiring first-strike capability?  It occurred to me that the doctrine of original intent, favored by Justices Thomas and Scalia, offers an answer. 

The doctrine of original intent states that the Supreme Court should interpret the constitution in accordance with the intent of the Framers -- that is, the original intent of the document -- rather than to accommodate changes in politics and society.  Not every justice agrees with this, but it is a useful starting point.

The Second Amendment states that as a well-regulated militia is necessary for defense, the right of the people to bear arms shall not be abridged.  Most people who talk about the Framers' intent focus on what is meant by a well-regulated militia, and argue that the right to bear arms should be limited to the right to bear arms as part of a well-regulated militia.  I suggest that we should look instead at the Framers' intent in using the words "defense" and "arms." 

"Defense" has a plain and simple meaning.  It means defending territory that one already possesses, rather than attacking territory that one does not possess.  People can defend their homes.  ("A man's home is his ammunition cache," as the saying might be revised to read.)  People can as part of a militia defend their counties and states from invasion and insurrection.  It's consistent with that reading to say that people can't take guns to schools and shopping centers.

Similarly, the term "arms" meant to the Framers single-shot rifles and pistols, swords, bayonets, catapults, and cannons.  "Arms" didn't include automatic and semi-automatic guns, tanks, rocket launchers, and nuclear bombs.  A creative legislature might adopt, and an alert judge might uphold, a gun control measure that protected the right of the people to keep flintlocks at home to protect themselves against intruders, and prohibited people from carrying weaponry on the street.  I think the judge could even quote from opinions of several conservative members of the Supreme Court to show that the prohibition is consistent with the original intent of the writers of the Constitution.  It would be an amusing and possibly worthwhile exercise.

"Enhanced security" protects the visitors, if there were any

Every now and then I drive by a dam on the Columbia that has a small visitor's center.  For the last few years a sign near the dam that points the way to the visitor's center has had below it a smaller sign with the cryptic phrase "Enhanced Security."  What this means I have not figured out.  Perhaps it's meant to make visitors feel safer, knowing that the operator's security team will be watching out for their safety while they visit.  Perhaps the sign is meant to steer prospective terrorists away from this location and to dams without enhanced security.

When I passed by last week I noticed that the security has indeed been enhanced - the visitor's center is closed, keeping out the taxpayers and the terrorists alike.  I feel safer already.

Mark Twain helps Congressman Jerrold Nadler solve the looming debt ceiling crisis

As it does almost every year lately, the United States government is bumping up against the debt ceiling.  Congress sets the maximum limit on how much debt the federal government can issue.  Congress also commands the president to spend more than the government receives; that is, to run a deficit.  The administration can finance the deficit either by printing money or by borrowing more money, which increases the national debt.  Congress has approved raising the debt ceiling 11 times since 2001. 

Within a few months the government will have to print or borrow more money to pay for the spending that Congress has approved.  Several Republican representatives are making noises that the nation would be better off if the government shuts down when it hits the debt ceiling than if it borrowed to pay its bills.

Jerrold Nadler, a Democratic representative from New York, found a way in which the government could pay its bills without borrowing more money.  Possibly inspired by Mark Twain's story "The Million Pound Bank Note," and after some searching through our laws on coin and currency, he proposed that the Treasury mint a trillion-dollar coin in platinum and deposit it with the Federal Reserve.  Why the Treasury?  And why platinum?

The Federal Reserve Banks, not under the administration's control, print and issue our currency.  The Treasury hasn't issued paper money since 1968 when it gave up printing United States Notes.  The Treasury does, however, issue our coins, in denominations and with metal content strictly prescribed by statute.  All gold and silver coins, for example, must contain gold or silver that is worth more than the face value of the coin.  A $50 gold coin, for example, must contain 1.09 troy ounces of gold.  There's no profit to be made in making gold or silver coins.

The Treasury Department may, however, mint platinum coins of any denomination and weight that pleases the Secretary of the Treasury, including, in Mr. Nadler's proposal, a platinum coin with a face value of $1,000,000,000,000. 

Republicans in Congress (including Oregon's own Greg Walden) have lined up to oppose the trillion-dollar coin, though it's not clear whether they also oppose the government paying its bills.  An administration less charitable than the current one might offer to avoid the debt ceiling cliff by cutting federal spending in those states whose representatives vote against raising the debt ceiling.

Obama's health plan works -- just ask my aunt

Two years ago her doctor told the Aunt of the Left, who was bedridden and gravely ill, that she had only a few days to live.  Following her lifelong habit of questioning authority, the Aunt of the Left told her doctor that his schedule wouldn't work for her at all, as she needed to live long enough to see President Obama be re-elected.

At the time I didn't know how strongly the A. of the L. felt about President Obama, but I do now: she told me this story, quite cheerfully, a few weeks ago as we sat at her table sharing a pot of tea.  She's planning to be up and about on January 21 to watch the televised inauguration ceremonies.  I didn't think to ask her if she's changed doctors.

The Mayan calendar was wrong, and so was mine

I was intrigued by the number of people who believed that the world would end on December 21 because it was the last day of the Mayan calendar,yet had no fear of the world ending 10 days later, on the last day of the calendars on their own walls at home.

Happy New Year 2013

The earth's revolved around the sun,
A new year's come; the old year's done.
The happenings of twenty-twelve
Are mostly ones that we should shelve.
And yet, let's take just one more look
Before we close and burn the book.
A second term Obama wins
Against the two Mitt Romney twins.
He's slowly winding down our wars
In places not worth fighting for.
Beneath the Capitol's majestic
Dome, he'll fight some more domestic
Battles with our legislators,
The spenders and the flat-tax-raters.
The Mayans got it wrong -- and thus
The eschaton avoided us,
Depriving Congress of a nif-
Ty way to duck the fiscal cliff.
The House Repubs elect the speaker
And then proceed to make him weaker.
"We want" -- they cannot say it plainer --
"A more uncompromising Boehner."
More close to home, we have some new
Mayors, and commissioners too.
Charlie Hales won the race
To be our city's public face.
Good luck, sir, as our burgomaster,
Protect our streets from more disaster.
The graveled ones are not so new,
Perhaps it's time to pave a few.
Repeal, please, the tax on leaves
That gives Professor B. the heaves.
Oswego sweeps each street with curbs
Four times a year.  So should the urb.
To family both near and far,
I wish the best, where'er you are.
Good health to Aunts of Left and Right,
Octogenic¹ points of light.,
May the Laquedemitasse
Mature, but always know who's boss.
If providence lets him excel,
It's mainly due to Mrs. L.
May fortune wave its flag unfurled
O'er friends around this blogging world.

 

1.  "Octogenarian," the correct word, didn't fit the meter.