Holder: 'To-be' or not to be

January 5, 7:45 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Hearings are starting on president-elect Barack Obama's cabinet selections. Of particular interest to gun owners:

U.S. Attorney General to-be Eric Holder will be before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 15th.

"To-be..."

That's a heck of an assumption from the "authorized journalists" at MSNBC. It's like it's a done deal--all that's needed is the rubber stamp.

Some of us are demanding Holder not be confirmed, and leading that charge is Jeff Knox of The Firearms Coalition:

Gunowners need to be pushing members of the [Senate Judiciary] committee very hard to delay and block the confirmation.

Why? Among other things:

Earlier this year, Eric Holder--along with Janet Reno and several other former officials from the Clinton Department of Justice--co-signed an amicus brief in District of Columbia v. Heller. The brief was filed in support of DC's ban on all handguns, and ban on the use of any firearm for self-defense in the home. The brief argued that the Second Amendment is a "collective" right, not an individual one, and asserted that belief in the collective right had been the consistent policy of the U.S. Department of Justice since the FDR administration.

Y'know, even the Supreme Court justices who ruled against Heller didn't go that far. This is the guy we want in charge of interpreting and enforcing federal gun laws? I don't think so.

What's needed in addition to contacting the Senate Judiciary Committee members is for all gun owners to contact their senators, demanding, not asking, that they put a hold on Holder. Again, per Knox:

Holder’s appointment to be AG must be approved by the Senate. While it is highly unlikely that opponents could muster the 51 votes needed to reject Holder’s appointment, a single Senator can place a “hold” on the confirmation and effectively lock up the system just as Democrats did with a number of President Bush’s judicial appointments and the appointment of John Bolton to be Ambassador to the UN. Once a “Hold” has been placed, a supermajority of 60 votes is required to break the hold. With enough vocal opposition to Holder’s confirmation, Obama could be forced to withdraw the nomination and select someone else to be his AG.

"But...but...but..." some naysayers (i.e., those who would rather make excuses than lift a finger) have told me, "My senators are anti-gun. It won't do any good to write them."

Good grief.

I'll talk about that wrong-headed attitude tomorrow.

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RNC Chair debate today

Those of you who were around over the weekend know I was trying to rally gun owners to press the RNC on including a substantive query on Second Amendment support to all candidates in today's Washington Press Club debate.

A few things:

We succeeded in turning the pre-debate poll around in favor of Ken Blackwell. Michael Steele had held a comfortable lead before we got involved.

Go vote in the poll. It's important that Steele, a guy who says "Society should draw lines. What do you need an assault weapon for, if you're going hunting?" be given a big "thumbs down."

Also, go the the RNC Debate website to ask your own question, to vote on questions to increase the likelihood of their being heard, and to view the debate today at 1:00 PM EST.

Two things to watch for: Will they ignore us, or if not, will they ask a softball question to allow a meaningless Obama-style "I support the Second Amendment" platitude that tells us nothing?

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Give me liberty

Blogonomicon has put together a very good pictorial summary of the 1936 short film, "Give Me Liberty," starring John Litel as Patrick Henry.

This is really cool. Go on over and have a look.

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And let's give a warm welcome...

To Daniel White, the new Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner.

In today's column, Daniel explores the concept of "common sense" gun control.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am about this new opportunity.  I'll be linking to him regularly, and encourage you to bookmark his page and make it a regular place to visit.

Congratulations, Daniel! Go get 'em!