Guest Editorial
BY DWIGHT KEHOE | MAY 28, 2014
Some people are more equal?
Dear Dr. Carson,
First of all I would like to tell you how much you are admired and respected by millions upon millions of Americans. At that "Breakfast Dinner" where you spoke, the people of this country were blessed to be able to see and hear, for the first time since Obama took office, a person stand up and say what needed to be said.
Your life story, which we hope will have many additional chapters, has been one spent perfecting the most delicate of surgical procedures and as a result you have saved many lives not just by your own hand but by the hands of others who have learned and now follow your techniques.
If the epilogue of Dr. Ben Carson had already been written, no one could ask more of you. But now it appears we are asking for more. From that first thrilling moment America became aware of you, not one of us who have endured the last six years, which by the way have felt more like six decades, could get the thought out of our heads that we may have found the man who could undo the damage wrought by the leftist usurping the hallowed chambers of our White House.
It is understandable that politics and many social issues connected to that dirty game are not your area of expertise as you have spent your time learning to help people and to serve them. Politicians and the players in this new field you are about to enter, seek to help themselves and to be served by the people. So be forewarned. If you do take on this new battle and many desperately hope you will, the sharks, the rats and other vermin will seek to destroy you and your reputation at the first hint that you may endanger their fiefdom. When it starts, and it will, the onslaught will be overt and covert. It will come from known foes and supposed friends.
Where you stand.
I have listened to you very closely over these past several months and have found you to be clever, intelligent and your soft spoken delivery demands attention and respect. Qualities we haven't seen in this country for many years.
Because I run a conservative commentary website it is very important to me and to TPATH's readers that I know and understand your positions on the issues prior to any commitment. As of now I believe I have either heard or read all your speeches and interviews since that day I referenced above. For the most part, bravo! But not all the parts.
Your interview with Glenn Beck and a previous one for which I won't mention the interviewer, concerning the 2nd Amendment gave me pause. No, it actually did more than that, it created concern.
Here is what you said, quote: “I think if you live in the midst of a lot of people, and I’m afraid that that semi-automatic weapon is going to fall into the hands of a crazy person, I would rather you not have it.”
This bothers me on several fronts.
First it indicates that you may harbor beliefs that people who live in large cities, those law abiding citizens who are in daily peril, not just on the streets during the day but in their homes at night are somehow less responsible, less trustworthy than their brethren living in the suburbs. Without getting too deeply into demographics, it seems clear that you consider some groups more eligible for Constitutional rights than others.
Second, just as all citizens must be afforded the same rights equally, all rights, those which are spelled out in the Constitution, must also be adhered to. A breech of one aspect, one right, one Article or one Amendment, because it feels good or for any other reason, will expose all rights and render them vulnerable.
It would seem that there is a perception that there are "crazy people" only in the cities. There are of course crazy people and criminals everywhere. That is one derivative of the right of self defense. But even if one could find these crazy people only in the midst of a lot of people, why then would you not want law abiding citizens to be equally armed as are the "crazy people"?
Personally I would think that if a crazy person was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and intent on doing harm, you would rather a citizen under threat be armed with one. Across this country, areas where a lot of people live, a lot of people die. Honest, law abiding, hard working people, left defenseless by do-good-liberals, make up a large portion of the dead. Many of which would not be, if they had not been deprived of their Constitutional right to protect themselves, their family and their property. Living in the midst of a lot of people should not be cause to render them defenseless.
