Some resources for women in the US or guys who have women in their lives or LGBT persons that still want rights. Here is one resource as an option.

@redredred The Republicans are already talking about a national abortion ban.
And the day before Roe v Wade was overturned, the SCOTUS overturned a local New York law.
Republicans don't care about states' rights.

@BohemianBabe the NY law was in direct contravention of 10% of the Bill of Rights. No state can enforce a law that is in opposition of the constitution. The 10 amendment gives states the right to extend citizens rights so, under the constitution states can legalize abortion or weed etc. The fact that some Republican somewhere is talking about a national ban is as meaningless as the jabbering of AOC. Alito had more meaningful things to say when he said it was limited to Roe.

@redredred Bullshit. States do that all the time and Conservatives only care if it's something they disagree with. And do we really even want to get into what the constitution ACTUALLY says about guns?

We're dealing with Authoritarians here. They don't care about local laws.

@redredred And conveniently the people who get to "interpret" the constitution are a bunch of right wing extremists with a job for life. No conflict there.

@redredred Your statement about the NY law proves your original statement to be BS. State laws won't matter with religious extremists interpreting what is constitutional.

@PicturesOfABetterTomorrow the second amendment states that people gave a right to keep and BEAR arms. The NY law made bearing arms virtually impossible. That means the NY law was unconstitutional. No state law can be valid if it violates the constitution.

What don’t you get?

@redredred It says:
Saying individual people have the right to own any guns they want is a stretch.

But really, does anyone care what the constitution says? Pro-gun people would be pro-gun regardless.

@redredred Well regulated and militia have definitions like all words. That doesn't translate to every random idiot being entitled to one.

@redredred Oh and fun fact. Nowhere does it specify firearms at all. So giving you a pointy stick or a club would also be in keeping with the 2nd amendment. Arms just means weapon. It says fuck all about guns. And yes the word firearm was in common use in the 1770s so you can't even pretend history was the reason for that interesting choice of words.

@PicturesOfABetterTomorrow i don't think the authors foresaw the firearm fetish as being a thing.
I believe their women and themselves were happy with the size of their dicks.

@redredred If states are allowed to choose for themselves then why not individuals for themselves. It amounts to "leaving it up to the people to decide". Isn't that the whole point?

@Scribbles Take a graduate course on the Constitution the way I did. This is no way to explain it all.

@Carla read the federalist papers,


"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
- Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776

"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787
"What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Stephens Smith, son-in-law of John Adams, December 20, 1787

"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
- Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785

"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824

"On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823

"I enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775, until November, 1777, since which there has been no event of any consequence ... I think that upon the whole it has been about one half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in others less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with his gun from his infancy."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778

@redredred Honestly, do you think anyone cares about what the constitution says?

@BohemianBabe I do. Since the days of monarchy the central question of governance is the source of authority. Kings used to claim hid put them on the throne. People bought it. There was a clear line of authority from heaven to the peasants.

At about the time our constitution was ratified, the French guillotined their king and a few hundred others. Their revolution failed and 25 years later they were kneeling to an emperor.

Ours survived in part because it forms a rigid, almost unquestionable source of all governmental authority and yet can change if necessary albeit with some difficulty

I honor the Constitution because it should not subject to the whims of judges or others. It is supposed to be rigid, a backbone to the law.

Just my opinion.

@redredred
And yet, for a long period, Americans couldn't even vote unless they owned land. The constitution did nothing to grant us a democratic society, it didn't even prevent slavery. And needless to say, it would be pretty hard to find a president who didn't ignore the constitution when they saw fit.
Also, keep in mind that authoritarian countries like China also have constitutions where they claim to be a Republic. Constitutions mean nothing, what really matters are institutions.

If the constitution says something that's bad for society, why should we blindly follow it like a holy text sent by the gods? Especially since it's failed in the past to help us build a better country.

@BohemianBabe here’s a tip,

“Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good”

Sure, it possible to find flaws in the US Constitution. Recognize though, it was the first, real (and still the best) attempt at self-governance, limited government and personal freedom tied, inextricably to personal responsibility.

Since it was adopted, self-proclaimed saviors-of-mankind have given us nazi Germany, the USSR, Cuba, Pol Pot, Communist China snd a whole host of collectivist swamps of misery and death.

@redredred It's not that the constitution is flawed. It's that it's completely useless. The constitution says everyone is created equally, but that didn't stop slavery because words on a paper can't stop people from doing things. Slavery was eventually banned for economic reasons, then we pretended it was banned for being unconstitutional.

And again, if something is good or bad, who cares what the constitution says? If Socialism works better than Capitalism, should we not have Socialism because it might contradict something that someone wrote on a piece of paper 200 years ago?

@BohemianBabe read the 13th amendment and get back to me. Do you think the US invented slavery? The US Constitution outlawed slavery. Did it take too long, sure but there are more black slaves TODAY in Africa than there ever were in the US.

You can form a commune and have all the socialism you want, go ahead. It’ll be instructive. The rest of us don’t have to repeat the same dumb experiment that has failed every time it been foisted on a bunch of know-nothings who can’t read history.

@redredred That's Whataboutism. I said that the constitution didn't prevent slavery, not that America invented slavery. Like every other country on Earth, words on a piece of paper don't drive policy. People and institutions do.

Socialism has never actually been tried on a national level, but that's beside the point. The point is it makes no sense to not do something because of the constitution.

@BohemianBabe you’re holding people of the 18th century to 21st century standards. Should the doctors of that age be faulted for not knowing what we know? The US Constitution freed some people when the whole earth was enslaved to kings, Czars, Khans etc. it was a noble start and still, as amended reflects the greatest degree of freedom on earth.

Socialism has been tried on a national level. North Korea, Venezuela, the USSR, Khmer Rouge Cambodia p, National Socialist Germany, and several other horror stories are all glittering examples of socialism in action.

If Socialist ideas are so wonderful, why do they have to be mandatory?