Anonymous is correct. ALEC has gained control of most or all the lawmaking bodies in 26 states, and is rapidly pushing through about 2,000 bills it has drafted over the past 29 years. They are, for the most part, laws to divest the states of money, land, clean water and air, independent governance, and all state-subsidized services. Kochs are among the small handful of zillionaires at the top, whose agenda is to convert this into a country with a very rich proletariat and a very impoverished population--and, you may have noticed, they are succeeding.
For whatever reason, Kochs personally like Walker, think he's just the thing for their program, despite his many errors and the dozen or so actions of his that the FBI is presently investigating. They are spending up to $100 million (against a max of less than one million) to retain the governorship of Wisconsin in the recall election on June 5.
I appreciate that you took the time to write in and share your views about where you agree and disagree.
One of the things that has been lost in the debate over the Florida law and ALEC model is that you already had a recognized right of self defense in every state in the country if threatened with death or severe injury, but what the bill does is change the ability to assert that defense in a court of law into a legal immunity in ways that are designed to keep a case from going to trial and thus prevent a jury from considering whether a homicide was justified.
That's one of the reasons so many people are outraged by the law, because it was cited to prevent a jury from hearing all the facts.
If your loved one were killed by a gunman who claimed self-defense, surely you would want to have an open and fair trial to fully examine such a claim.
I think we all would.
The right to trial by a jury of our peers is also one of the fundamental amendments in the bill of rights and it is intended to ensure there is a democratic check on the justice system so that people are not wrongly convicted and also not wrongly exonerated, although the jury process is not perfect.
In the October 2010 issue of American Hunter distributed to subscribers the NRA had a center fold of every office up for vote in NH and rated every person running for each office and on their voting record, and if and how the NRA favored them.
I gave my copy to our local SEIU/SEA 1984 for who I was contracted to at that time but as far as I know, nothing became of it.
Keep up the good work!
Bill
William E Merrow
W Deering, NH
Although I support your efforts to expose ALEC, I do not support your criticism of the NRA. "Stand Your Ground" laws cannot be blamed for the way Zimmerman botched the handling of his Neighborhood Watch duties. Maybe you prefer to cower in the corner as criminals take over your neighborhood, but I don't. I firmly believe that we have a right and an obligation to protect our families. The police cannot do it simply because they cannot be everywhere at once. The 2nd Amendment gives everyone the right to self-protection. The NRA is an organization that promotes gun safety, self-protection, and the right to bare arms. Those are necessary ideals in a free and open society. Ask the Jews or the Armenians if it was a good idea to give up their guns. Show some back bone people.
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