‘Conservative’ case for Mitt Romney no case at all

“[I]f conservatives really want to roll back government, keep America out of new and far more dangerous foreign wars, generate new jobs and save the country from total financial ruin, they have only one realistic option: Rally behind Mitt Romney,” political writer (and dual citizen/editorial honcho over at The Globalist) Martin Sieff asserts in a Fox News commentary. The reason is a familiar one to those who have been following (and cleaning up after) “lesser of two evils” advocates for some time:

The first and most important reason for choosing Romney is that he, and only he, of the remaining Big Three candidates has any chance at all of beating Barack Obama.

No, he does not either. Because elections are typically decided by a few percentage points, and a critical mass of gun owners simply will not hold their noses and vote for the guy. In spite of the cajoling, in spite of having future Supreme Court nominees held over our heads, in spite of accusations that those who refuse to chip in to procure the campaign whore du jour being pimped by devoid-of-principle party apologists will bear responsibility for whatever politically transmitted disease follows.

Argue with that if you like, but it’s reality—and one the GOP has been forced to face on far too few occasions. Had we made it clear early on that unacceptable candidates would be treated as such, they would no longer dare offer them to us.

Because no matter the amount of flipping and pandering Romney does on the gun issue, and no matter who he gets to provide the escort service to give his gun cred the appearance of wholesome respectability, he can’t erase what he did and said back when he had power and didn’t need to trick gun owners into giving him more:

“Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romneysaid, at a bill signing ceremony on July 1 with legislators, sportsmen’s groups and gun safety advocates. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”

In fairness, Sieff does acknowledge selected Romney weaknesses—along with those of other candidates. But he does so against the benchmark gold standard for neocon political acceptability, what “the revered George Will” thinks.

In case you were wondering, here’s how George Will reveres our unalienable right to keep and bear arms:

Two staggering facts about today's America are the carnage that is a consequence of virtually uncontrolled private ownership of guns, and Americans' toleration of that carnage…Gun control advocates who want to square their policy preferences with the Constitution should squarely face the need to deconstitutionalize the subject by repealing the embarrassing amendment.

As if a right wholly independent of the Constitution can be repealed. As if it's dependent on inclusion. You’d think a “conservative” would understand this.

The hell with that, the hell with elitists who find rights embarrassing, the hell with say-anything-to-get elected Romney, and the hell with Party Über Alles globalist hacks. And the hell with anyone who counsels that not embracing “pragmatic” politics means we’ll end up surrendering our rights to the gungrabbers when they end up passing disarmament edicts, or approving anti-gun judges to rule on them.

What they really mean is, they will surrender theirs.

If they don’t wish to face that scenario, the solution couldn’t be more straightforward: Find us an honest man. And they can hold their noses for a change.

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A step up in Oregon

From Oregon Firearms Federation:

As you may know, the Oregon University System has chosen NOT to appeal their loss in the Oregon Appeals Court. The decision in the lawsuit our foundation filed said that the OUS does not have the authority to make up rules denying CHL holders the right to possess firearms on OUS property. While this was an important victory, it is clear, that as we predicted, the OUS plans to use every trick they can find to circumvent the court's decision…On another more positive note, your efforts undoubtedly had a profound effect on the Superintendent of the Newberg School District who has now reversed her illegal "no guns" policy.

Click here to read the rest.

If you’re from Oregon, are you a supporting member of OFF? If not, don’t you think you should be? Or are they supposed to do all this work on your behalf just because?

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Brian Terry fundraiser

Just a reminder: It’s tomorrow.

Documentary filmmaker Fleming “Tex” Fuller will be there researching for his current production dealing with Gunwalker. Mike Vanderboegh and I are both excited to be working closely with him on this important project. If you’re going to be there, I understand he’ll be pointed out from the podium and will be happy to meet with folks and talk about this new effort.

The guy has done amazing work in the past getting access to top people and places. Carve some time out this weekend to watch “First Strike” and you’ll see what I mean.

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Help wanted--inquire within

Regular readers: If you agree that mainstream press coverage of the gun rights issue demands a counter-balance, please help me spread the word by sharing Gun Rights Examiner links with your friends via emails, and in online discussion boards, blogs, social media sites, etc. Then get more commentary at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance.

, Gun Rights Examiner

David Codrea is a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He is a field editor for GUNS Magazine, and a blogger at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance. Email him at dcodreaAThotmailDOTcom.

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