Attendance Skyrockets at Del Mar Gun Show (VIDEO)

At ABC News 10 San Diego:



Reminds me of a couple of years ago at the O.C. Fairgrounds, "Long Lines, Ammunition Shortages at Orange County Gun Show."

Here's Ryan Anderson's New Book on Homosexual Marriage

They got into the debate on homosexual marriage and religious freedom at last night's debate, as well as the ideological fidelity of Chief Justice John Roberts. (On Twitter, some folks pointed out that Ted Cruz was hypocritical.)

In any case, here's Ryan Anderson's book, at Amazon, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom.

I really disagreed with Mike Huckabee. Folks need to flesh out the distinctions between Kim Davis' obligations as a public servant and elected official vis-à-vis her rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment. It's a complicated question, because while she has rights to freedom of religion, as a public official she could be violating citizens' protections against state sponsorship of religion.

Ruling in Twitter Harassment Trial Could Have Enormous Fallout for Free Speech

From Christie Blatchford, at Toronto's National Post:

What’s believed to be the first case in Canada of alleged criminal harassment-via-Twitter is just a judge’s decision away from being over.

After hearing closing submissions Tuesday from Chris Murphy, who represents 54-year-old Gregory Alan Elliott, Ontario Court Judge Brent Knazan is expected to rule on Oct. 6.

In the balance rides enormous potential fallout for free speech online.

Elliott is charged with criminally harassing two Toronto female political activists, Steph Guthrie and Heather Reilly, in 2012.

Allegations involving a third woman were dropped.

The graphic artist and father of four lost his job shortly after his arrest, which was well-publicized online, and if convicted, could go to jail for six months.

These are astonishing repercussions given that it’s not alleged he ever threatened either woman (or any other, according to the testimony of the Toronto Police officer, Detective Jeff Bangild, who was in charge) or that he ever sexually harassed them.

Indeed, Elliott’s chief sin appears to have been that he dared to disagree with the two young feminists and political activists.

He and Guthrie, for instance, initially fell out over his refusal to endorse her plan to “sic the Internet” upon a young man in Northern Ontario who had invented a violent video game, where users could punch an image of a feminist video blogger named Anita Sarkeesian until the screen turned red.

Guthrie Tweeted at the time that she wanted the inventor’s “hatred on the Internet to impact his real-life experience” and Tweeted to prospective employers to warn them off the young man and even sent the local newspaper in his town a link to the story about the game.

Elliott disagreed with the tactic and Tweeted he thought the shaming “was every bit as vicious as the face-punch game”.

Until then, the two were collegial online, with Elliott offering to produce a free poster for Guthrie’s witopoli (Women in Toronto Politics) group.

As serious as the ramifications of a conviction could be for Elliott, so could they be dire for free speech online, Murphy suggested in his final arguments.

He said the idea that all it takes to end up charged with criminal harassment is vigorous participation in online debate with those who will not brook dissent “will have a chilling effect on people’s ability to communicate, and not just on Twitter”.

In fact, Murphy said that contrary to what Guthrie and Reilly testified to at trial, they weren’t afraid of his client — as suggested by both their spirited demeanour in the witness box and their deliberate online campaign to call Elliott out as a troll.

Rather, Murphy said, they hated Elliott and were determined to silence him — not just by “blocking” his Tweets to them, but by demanding he cease even referring to them even in making comment about heated political issues.

To all this, Guthrie pointed out once in cross-examination that feelings of fear, like all feelings, “develop over time”, and snapped that she was sorry she wasn’t “a perfect victim” who behaved like a conventional victim.

The criminal harassment charge is rooted in the alleged victim’s perception of the offending conduct.

The statute says if that conduct caused the alleged victims “reasonably, in all the circumstances, to fear for their safety”, that’s good enough.

Yet Guthrie and Reilly didn’t behave as though they were remotely frightened or intimidated: They convened a meeting of friends to discuss how Elliott should be publicly shamed; they bombarded their followers with furious tweets and retweets about him (including a grotesque suggestion from someone pretending she was a 13-year-old that he was a pedophile); they could and did dish it out.

“They were not vulnerable,” Murphy said once. “They are very accomplished, politically savvy women. If they can’t handle being mentioned in the tail end of a political discussion (on Twitter), then they’re in the wrong business.”

Pft. Guthrie and Reilly should be the ones on trial here. They've obviously mounted a campaign to destroy Elliot, and they weren't scared a bit. They're typical far-left feminist social justice warriors out for the blood of those who dare to disagree.

Still more.

Scott Walker Launches Presidential Campaign 2016 (VIDEO)

This guy is a serious mainstream conservative candidate with a record.

It's going to be interesting to see how his bid plays out. Carl Cameron on Fox News earlier said the Walker was tops in the polls, right behind Jeb Bush. He omitted mention of Donald Trump, for reasons I'm not exactly sure except to discount the real estate tycoon as a fly-by-night longshot. He's no longshot at the moment, and Walker will have to debate him at one of these upcoming conservative conclaves.

In any case, at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Scott Walker makes it official, will kick off 2016 campaign in Waukesha."

And at National Journal, "Can Scott Walker Have It Both Ways: Conservative Now, Moderate Later?"

Well, can anybody have it both ways? It's not just Scott Walker. (At Memeorandum.)

Freedom Playmates Rule 5

At Egotastic!, "PLAYBOY BUNNIES STRIP DOWN FOR FREEDOM."

BONUS: At Blazing Cat Fur, "Evening Photo and Vape Update."

Chelsea Handler Topless Waterskiing for 4th of July

Man, looks like everybody's going to have to go topless this holiday, heh.

Because freedom!

Here's Ms. Handler on Twitter, "Happy Independence Day!!"

Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'Happy 4th of July America!'

He's a happy warrior for American freedom.

You gotta love it!

Happy #July4th. Thank you, U.S.A. pic.twitter.com/V7bjrPJvHK

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) July 4, 2015

In Defense of Chrissy Teigen's 'Free the Nipple' Campaign

The Sports Illustrated model is fighting a public battle against Instagram's censorship of her topless photos. See People Magazine, "Chrissy Teigen Posts Revealing Instagram Photo After Her Topless Photo Was Removed, and the Hollywood Reporter, "CHRISSY TEIGEN WAGES WAR AGAINST INSTAGRAM'S NIPPLE BAN."


Kelsey Harkness takes issue with Teigen at the Federalist, "Chrissy Teigen, FreeTheNipple Doesn’t Fight Discrimination."

Then see Sonny Bunch, at Free Beacon, "The Federalist’s Orwellian Notion of Freedom Is Disconcerting."

Also, from AoSHQ:

I support @chrissyteigen in her noble struggle to show me her nipples. Godspeed, good woman!!!

— TheUltraYachtLife (@AceofSpadesHQ) July 1, 2015

Why It's Still Important for Your Family to Watch Fireworks

Strip away all the non-stop far-left propaganda and hate-based persecution campaigns and Americans still have abundant freedoms to revere. Indeed, it's so good sometimes we take our liberties for granted. All the more reason to clue your kids in on all that's great today, and to educate them about the current leftist campaigns to strip liberties and make America a terrible place to live. They hate this country.

From Maggie Hamilton, at Pajamas:

Anyone who bleeds red, white, and blue knows that unless we teach the next generation of freedom lovers their roots, and what was and is continually sacrificed for their freedoms, it will turn into a holiday that’s good for cookouts but nothing else.

So, buy those flags and wave them high and let your kiddos wave them proudly. Throw a couple sparklers in for good measure. Yeah, they’re hot and dangerous if not supervised — so join in the fun. Show your kids the importance of celebrating their nation’s birthday. Make it personal for them, and don’t be afraid to let them know about some super-cool, ancient guys and gals who persevered for their cause — even though society deemed them wrong — and in the process founded a new world where we are free to create life, enjoy liberty, and pursue happiness. Take time to tell them why we have huge displays in the skies and hot dogs to eat, and why you may get teary at the sound of our National Anthem. Maybe it will spark a conversation; they may even find a new hero. At the very least, they will beg to go see the fireworks in person.

Via Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit.

How One World Trade Center is Bringing New Energy to Lower Manhattan

I can't wait to get to New York again to visit the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and of course the One World Trade Center tower, with its new observatory open to the public May 29th.

CBS This Morning, my favorite morning news show, broadcast from the top of the tower yesterday.

More: "'CBS This Morning' makes history with first broadcast from One World Observatory"; "Take a tour of new One World Observatory"; "Bird's-eye views of NYC under your feet at One World Trade Observatory"; and "Take an interactive, guided tour of New York City with One World Observatory's City Pulse."

New Wall Street Tycoon Backs Ted Cruz

Well, that oughta shake up the race a bit. Money is the mother milk of politics, as they say.

It's a new era these days, with super-pacs and all.

At the New York Times, "Hedge-Fund Magnate Robert Mercer Emerges as a Generous Backer of Cruz."

Ted Cruz Runs First Advertisement of 2016 Campaign

At the Washinton Post, "Ted Cruz’s first campaign ad invokes ‘the transformative love of Jesus Christ’."

The Left Opens Fire on Ted Cruz!

At great talking points memo at Bill O'Reilly's, including commentary from Monica Crowley and Kirsten Powers.

Watch: "Ted Cruz For President - O'Reilly Talking Points."

Ted Cruz Tilts 2016 GOP to the Right

Hey, I can dig it, especially if he slows down the RINO momentum.

At LAT, "Ted Cruz's entry into 2016 race puts pressure on Republicans":

Sen. Ted Cruz jumped into the 2016 presidential race Monday in the same way he intends to run his campaign: upstaging rival Republicans with a splashy, impassioned speech that sought to drag the national conversation further to the right than many in his party want to go.

The Texas senator’s chances of winning the White House are narrow, polls suggest. And his aggressive tactics and brash style during two years in the Senate — including nudging the GOP toward the 2013 government shutdown — have alienated many of the Republican leaders whose support he probably needs to become the nominee.

But in addition to raising his political profile, Cruz’s candidacy is certain to play a role in the GOP primaries as he becomes a spoiler and potential kingmaker, forcing establishment favorites — such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — to confront tea party preferences on immigration, same-sex marriage and social welfare programs.

Cruz's zeal for small government and a muscular national defense reflects the views of many Republicans. But GOP strategists acknowledge the divisive firebrand may drive the debate too far to the right for mainstream political tastes — just as many party leaders say he has done during his short time in Congress. He could force his 2016 opponents to embrace positions in the primary that they might regret when facing the Democratic nominee.

“He's going to raise important questions that other candidates are going to have to answer, especially on social issues,” said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “Are you pro-life? Pro-marriage? Ted Cruz has been very bold and he sort of puts pressure on people like Jeb and Rand [Paul] to speak about the issues.”

But Aguilar warned that Cruz's stances, such as his opposition to President Obama's program to defer deportation for millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, could alienate voters in the general election if embraced by other candidates.

Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, makes no apologies for his goal to shake up the mainstream. He has said repeatedly that he wants to be seen as the “disruptive app” of GOP politics.

“It is the time for truth,” Cruz told an enthusiastic crowd of Liberty University students Monday. “It is the time for liberty. It is the time to reclaim the Constitution of the United States.”

It was no accident that he chose to launch his presidential bid at the religious campus founded by the late pastor Jerry Falwell. Not far from the historic Civil War site of Appomattox, Liberty University has been a popular destination for Republicans seeking to bolster their conservative credentials. It also boasts an alumni and donor network that extends far from the campus, nestled near the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

Cruz appeared onstage in a massive sports arena amid waving American flags and Christian rock music. He emphasized his family's personal struggles and Christian faith, calling on “courageous conservatives” to join him as he seeks to ignite the same grass-roots movement that propelled him to the Senate in 2012.

“The answer will not come from Washington,” he said. “It will come only from men and women across this country, the people of faith, the lovers of liberty.”

Still more at that top link

Ted Cruz Announces Presidential Bid: 'It's Time to Reclaim the Constitution' (VIDEO)

This man is the patriot's patriot.

I don't know if it was a great speech but there's no doubt he meant every word of it. He's a true believer in American exceptionalism.

And no teleprompter at that. Pretty impressive.

More at the Washington Post, "Cruz one of many courting GOP’s hard-right wing."

And watch: "Ted Cruz Presidential Announcement Full Speech (C-SPAN)."

ADDED: At Instapundit, "ANN ALTHOUSE ON TED CRUZ’S OPENING: 'This is a truly powerful speech. Just brilliant'."

Winston Churchill Death 50-Year Anniversary (VIDEO)

Video via Telegraph UK, "How the UK honoured its wartime leader."

Some 350 million around the globe tuned in to watch Winston Churchill’s funeral when it took place 50 years ago in 1965.

On January 15, 1965, Winston Churchill suffered a severe stroke. The long-retired former Prime Minister was now 90 years old. He died nine days later on the morning of Sunday January 24 at his home in London.

Following his death, by decree of the Queen, his body lay in state for three days at Westminster Hall. It was only the second time that the Monarch had bestowed a state funeral on a Prime Minister.

Some 300,000 people visited Westminster Hall to pay their respects to the man who led Britain’s defence against the Third Reich during the Second World War.

On January 30 1965, Churchill's funeral was held. The state funeral service was the largest in world history up to that point in time, with representatives from 112 nations.

Silent crowds lined the streets to watch the gun carriage bearing his coffin make its way from Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral accompanied by representatives from all the services.

In Europe 350 million people, including 25 million in Britain, watched the funeral on television.

As his coffin passed down the Thames from Town Pier to Festival Pier on the Havengore, dockers lowered their crane jibs in a salute.
The coffin was taken to Waterloo Station to be loaded onto a specially prepared and painted carriage - part of a funeral train - to take the body to Bladon, near Woodstock.

He was buried in the family plot at St Martin's Church, not far from his birthplace at Blenheim Palace.

And, at Wikipedia, "We Shall Fight on the Beaches":

Turning once again, and this time more generally, to the question of invasion, I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against invasion, still less against serious raids, could have been given to our people. In the days of Napoleon, of which I was speaking just now, the same wind which would have carried his transports across the Channel might have driven away the blockading fleet. There was always the chance, and it is that chance which has excited and befooled the imaginations of many Continental tyrants. Many are the tales that are told. We are assured that novel methods will be adopted, and when we see the originality of malice, the ingenuity of aggression, which our enemy displays, we may certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel stratagem and every kind of brutal and treacherous manœuvre. I think that no idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered and viewed with a searching, but at the same time, I hope, with a steady eye. We must never forget the solid assurances of sea power and those which belong to air power if it can be locally exercised.

I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government – every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Still more, from William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "No more finest hours."

Well, sadly so.

Who Today Takes a Proud Stand for Freedom?

Not many sadly.

Or, well, while many talk the talk, few walk the walk. Might be dangerous, you know.

From William Kristol, at the Weekly Standard, "Men With Chests":

Who today takes a proud stand for freedom?

Two who did, men of [John F.] Kennedy’s generation, died last weekend. The achievements of Walter Berns and Harry Jaffa are chronicled elsewhere in this issue. Both understood that freedom was precarious and the American republic was precious. And both were students of Leo Strauss, and therefore understood the weaknesses of the modern accounts of freedom.

The life’s work of both was shaped by the problem identified by Strauss in Natural Right and History: Modern thought, most decisively in Germany, had abandoned the idea of natural right and of any claim that there might be reasonable grounds for an attachment to freedom. Strauss remarked in 1952 that “It would not be the first time that a nation, defeated on the battlefield and, as it were, annihilated as a political being, has deprived the conquerors of the most sublime fruit of victory by imposing on them the yoke of its own thought.”

Berns and Jaffa, each in his own way, sought to preserve that sublime fruit of victory. Whatever differences, important and transient, there were between the two of them, both understood that saving freedom required historical and philosophical rethinking.

Strauss’s discoveries in the history of political philosophy had the effect of liberating his students from the yoke of contemporary thought. But Strauss and his students understood—indeed, emphasized—that such a liberation could not mean simply ignoring the challenges to or wishing away the weaknesses of modern freedom. Berns and Jaffa each tried to work through the arguments and rediscover the history that could deepen our understanding of the conditions of freedom, and thereby inform and strengthen our commitment to freedom. The greatest tribute we could pay to Berns and Jaffa is to rededicate ourselves to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly advanced.

RTWT.

Pamela Geller on Rick Amato Show: 'There Is No Other Choice' But to Defend Freedom and Fight Radical Islam

I was able to log onto Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs early this morning as I signed off from the Internet. I tweeted:

.@PamelaGeller's Atlas Shrugs is up and running: http://t.co/HCowAPFQ3J #PamelaGeller

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 16, 2015

But the DDoS attacks are continuing and Pamela's blog has been taken down again. She's been putting the word out on social media, and requesting support to keep her work going. Bob Belevedere reports on that at TCOTs, "DDoS ATTACK ALERT: @PamelaGeller Needs Our Help."

And at the end of his interview with Pamela, Rick Amato asks if she worries for her safety amid "this current climate we're in." The question caught Pamela a little by surprise but not without a ready response: "Of course ... but the alternative is laying down and dying, and abridging my freedom..."

Watch: "Pamela Geller on One America News, Rick Amato Show: Jihad, Islam and the West's Denial."

73 Years After Pearl Harbor, Sacrifices Continue

Today's the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

At the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, "73 years after Pearl Harbor, the sacrifices for country continue":

On Saturday, flags flew at half-staff throughout Franklin County in honor of a newly fallen soldier -- Army Spc. Joseph "Joey" Riley of Grove City, Ohio. The death of the paratrooper and grandson of a World War II veteran -- who had been a popular local football player before he joined the Army 2 1/2 years ago, -- was a reminder that on this 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, brave U.S. service members are still putting their lives in jeopardy overseas...

More.

How the Civil War Created Thanksgiving

From Kenneth Davis, at the New York Times.

Also, from President Abraham Lincoln, at Real Clear History, "A Wartime Proclamation of Thanksgiving":

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

More.