A cynics view of the "Defend the Constitution Rally" this weekend.

I have become a little cynical.  When someone tells me how much they love the constitution, I am tempted to ask them, "which parts of it?" or "which constitution?"

This weekend there is a "Defend the Constitution Rally" in Waynesboro TN.  I would love to rally to defend the constitution. However, some of the participants in this event, in my view,  have a very warped view of the constitution.  For a complete list of speakers and to learn more about the event follow this link.

Joe Carr

Some of the speakers I know; some I don't. I know and respect Bobbie Patray head of Eagle Forum.  I share her values and most of her political positions. Some, I know who they are, but do not know enough about them to know what their specific views are on the Constitution. There are some at this rally who I do not respect and who's view of the constitution I would not trust.

Senator Joe Carr will be a participant in this "Defend the Constitution Rally."  I am sure he really loves the Constitution; he just doesn't love that "supremacy clause" part of it. Carr believes in the long discredited theory of nullification.

He is seeking to replace Lamar Alexander in the Senate. While many consider Lamar too liberal for their taste; Joe Carr is too nutty for my taste. While various national conservative organizations have joined the fight in other states to unseat a liberal  with a more conservative challenger, they have not rallied to help Carr. They know he can't beat Lamar and also that he is an embarrassment to conservatives. He is too far outside the conservative mainstream to be taken seriously.

Dr. Bill Warner

Another participant in this "Defend the Constitution Rally" is former Tennessee State University physics professor Bill French who goes by the name "Dr. Warner." He runs the Nashville-based, for-profit Center for the Study of Political Islam. I am sure Dr. Warner loves the constitution, except for that First Amendment:  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Dr. Warner was a leader in the effort to stop Muslims from building a mosque in Murfreesboro.  Dr. Warner will tell you that Islam is not really a religion, instead its a totalitarian ideology and as such Muslims do not have the right to build a house of worship. That is not someone I would want to rally with to defend the constitution.


Another participant in this event this weekend is John Harris, Executive Director of the Tennessee Firearms Association. Now, John Harris loves himself some second amendment. He likes it so much that he makes it mean things it doesn't mean. He likes the right to bear arms so much that he thinks he should have to right to bear arms in my house, even if I don't want him to.  His organization pushed the bill in the state legislature that said a person has the right to carry a gun onto the property of his employer even if the employer had a "no guns" policy. Most people see the specific rights enumerated in the Constitution as restrictions on government.  If I do not let you carry a gun into my house or my place of business, I have no more violated your Second Amendment rights than has The Tennessean violated your First Amendment rights by not publishing your letter to the editor. The Second Amendment prohibits government from infringing on your right to keep and bear arms. It does not prohibit me as an individual or a business owner from saying, "no guns allowed." The view of John Harris would trample property rights. That is a danger to the constitution!

If you want to go to the rally this weekend, go and have fun, but don't take your instruction for what it means to defend the Constitution from the likes of Carr, Warner, and Harris.

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