The Wild West (aka New Hampshire)

The hardcore conservative element in this country has turned a corner and walked about 10 yards into thin air, suspended over a deep canyon, Wile E. Coyote style. The only thing holding them up is the energy generated by publicity from cable news coverage.

Who among gun users, even the most ardent hunters, sports marksmen, police, or professional soldiers, would consider displaying a loaded firearm at a Presidential appearance? You would have to be either off your rocker, suicidal, or a publicity-seeking fringe republican-guided human missile (i.e., 'patsy').

OK, so it's a Right for Americans to bear arms. Great. But Rights must be exercised responsibly. Rights like firearm ownership are granted by society - by the will of the people as expressed through government, and can be removed if misused. And I would think packing at a presidential party would reasonably fall within the definition of 'misuse' - at the very least it's 'use of guns without the full engagement of brains and with a total lapse of common sense'.

And who among the millions of dedicated public servants would allow someone so obviously out to cause trouble to pack heat during the President's visit - to cause trouble? In the Wild Wild West, patrons of certain social establishments were required to check their firearms at the door. There were, even in those 'free' times, restrictions on Rights. In New Hampshire, those restrictions don't extend to protesters with loaded guns who just may have a bone to pick with the President.

So how determined to wreck health care reform must the republican right be? They can't win on merit, so they make the whole thing about perceived erosion of rights, and egg on the gun nuts to make a crude point at a public meeting. That's 10 yards over the abyss folks, and it's a long way down.