ford1342: Good post, and welcome to TFL.
Davis:
Not read much on Duncan Hunter, eh? Snowballs' chance, of course, but he is the best candidate.
I have read about Hunter, and I don't agree that he is (or was) the best. He's great on some issues, but his support of warrantless electronic surveillance is a major negative in my mind. It's all about giving away freedom in the name of "security."
He's also endorsed neocon foreign policy, including the insane idea of a pre-emptive
nuclear attack on Iran. The neocons are engaged in a game of global gun control: "We and our allies can have these weapons, but you can't." The idea that Iran is a threat to America is ludicrous. Israel has its own nukes: let them worry about Iran.
By the way, the security cameras you mention are mostly installed in major cities with very "liberal" governments.
Yes -- especially in places like NYC, where Giuliani was mayor. Yet many actually think he's a "conservative." In any case, my position is that the Democrats and the Republicans are both bad on these issues.
In any case, do you seriously think Clinton or Obama would not expand it? Clinton, of course, who was involved with all of those FBI files???
I think they would, though perhaps not as aggressively as one of the neocons.
It really could depend on which candidates have closer ties to the military-industrial complex. Those are the ones who will be most likely to pumping more funding into the development of new technology that will be used first to dominate foreign populations, then eventually to control Americans.
Back to Kerry, who do you think he would have appointed to the Supreme Court? How would we feel about Heller at this moment?
I have no faith whatsoever that the current Supreme Court will acknowledge the true meaning of the Second Amendment. The "conservatives" on the court come closer to "law and order conservatives" than anything else.
At best, I expect them to grant us a partial victory. If they see full- or semi-auto weapons as a threat to state power, then they'll probably agree that they can be regulated. No one will be more thrilled than I'll be if I turn out to be wrong, but I don't think I am.
Besides, what about the Bush administration's amicus curiae brief that favors a watered-down interpretation of the 2A? That's an example right there of what we have to continue to look forward to
forever if we continue to support the lesser of two evils. Our rights will continue to be whittled away.
On the other hand, what if all gun owners had started voting libertarian back in 1980? Each of us would probably have an M249 in his safe.