Thank goodness, albeit another split decision, the court came through with a good decision. In DC v Heller, the court ruled in favor of gun ownership. We discussed this case back when arguments wrapped up in April. For those of you that are sure to argue that my position yesterday was that the court should have stayed away from the state’s right to legislate on the death penalty, one must understand that there are significant differences here.

One (death penalty) has to do with the meting out of punishment, which is certainly addressed in the 8th amendment.  For that reason, the court certainly has a role in ensuring that the 8th Amendment is not abrogated.  In Kennedy v Louisiana, however, the case does …

• Obama is still close to Clinton in the polls in Pennsylvania.
• Hillary steps up and admits she “said some things that weren’t in keeping with what I knew to be the case” about her trip to Bosnia in 1996.
• Hillary also says “I may be a lot of things but I am not dumb” instantly losing the dumb vote. Or maybe acquiring it. Hard to tell.
• Pope Benedict acknowledges sex abuse scandal “badly handled”.
• Sharpe James, former mayor of Newark, NJ, is convicted by a Federal Jury of fraud and conspiracy. Reuters waited until the 7th paragraph to mention James was a Democrat.
• Obama is wearing a flag pin again.  I’d feel better if he got a flag tattoo. ————— No I wouldn’t.
• Florida wants

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

– 2nd Amendment, US Constitution

As you may already know, the Supreme Court heard arguments today regarding the case of a Washington DC resident who wants to own a gun and keep it in her home for self defense purposes. The law in the District of Columbia prohibits her from owning having a handgun in her home… from even owning one. For background on the case, the SCOTUSBlog.com site (SCOTUS stands for Supreme Court Of The United States) has some good information. From their site:

Within seconds after the defender of the District law, Washington lawyer Walter Dellinger,

I’m still a little overwhelmed by the events of Valentine’s Day.

People died or were injured and should not have been. It never should have happened. As with any other shooting of this type, we will have days of analysis about the drugs that this young man stopped taking, about the easy availability of the weapons he used, and why stronger measures need to be put in place to limit the availability of these weapons from unstable members of the public.

What a bunch of nonsense.

I was hit with a surprisingly poignant question from my wife after the death toll was first announced:

Can I learn to fire a gun?

Wow. That hit me like a ton of bricks.

One thing about your friendly …

I am white, grew up in a predominantly white community in Connecticut, later moving to Rochester NY, and eventually Iowa. In Connecticut, I experienced the busing of the late 60’s and early 70’s, which was extremely difficult for all of the students. There were a lot of angry kids, parents, and tension was always high.

What Martin Luther King Jr. did in the early 60’s was nothing less than heroic. He had a powerful influence on African Americans and white America as well. My parents supported his work, and admired what he accomplished. Although he didn’t live to see a great deal of the impact he had on America, he left a great legacy to a society that needed (and still does today) to seek …