Taking Aim at Second Amendment Restrictions

Aside from impacting the defense of individual liberty, six time Olympian  Kim Rhodes points out how California's ever increasingly restrictive gun laws are impacting shooting sports training.

Gary Johnson: Religious Liberty is a Black Hole

If one wonders why Libertarian Presidential candidate labeled Religious Liberty issues as a black hole in the Washington Examiner, consider the colloquy in the Libertarian debate with Austin Peterson.

Not knowing the law, the constitution nor respecting religious freedom of believers to act in accords to their conscience may make Johnson's words a black hole for votes in November.

Why Graham's Gone

December 21st was the last day for filing to be on the 2016 South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary ballot.  It is no coincidence that it was the same day the Senator Lindsey Graham dropped his quixotic campaign to be the GOP POTUS nominee.

Aside from absorbing accolades from the press corps in several of the under-card Republican debates,  Lindsey Graham has been a non-entity in the Republican Presidential Campaign.  The only place in which he excelled was consistently coming in last place all year in The Blaze's monthly Presidential Preferences among Glenn Beck listeners.

It is questionable if Senator Graham ever had a realistic pathway to primary victory in the GOP.  His best hope would have been to win as a favorite son in South Carolina and parlay primacy in the Palmetto State into Big Momentum going in the nine SEC primaries the week afterwards.  At that point Graham might have held some sway with delegates if there was an open Republican convention in Cleveland. Still those were pretty impossible dreams.

Alas, Graham only garnered 0.5% in most national polls and perhaps 4% in his home state of South Carolina. Graham presumably did not want to be thought of like Gov. John Connolly (D/R-TX) who famously spent $10 million to win 1 delegate in South Carolina during the 1980 cycle.

 Even though Graham won re-election to his third term in South Carolina in 2014, a colossal failure on the Presidential Primary stage might be a memory which loomed large in a state where he was considered a weak incumbent and only took 55% in the 2014 General Election.

Aside from ego, Graham seemed initially driven to strengthen the American military, especially during a time of war. Some might suspect this issue oriented campaign was meant as a counterbalance to a more neo-isoloationism espoused by his libertarian Republican rival Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).  However, Graham shifted to taunted Donald Trump from the small debate stage. He may calculate that his absence in the Republican field will allow his Senate sidekick, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to make a more consequential endorsement for the New Hampshire primary, which McCain won in 2000 and 2008 so his word may carry some weight.

Besides, Graham's reputation for warning "We're at war" along with his 30 plus years service in the National Guard may make him a candidate to be Secretary of State in a prospective Jeb! or maybe Marco Rubio administration, particularly if the Graham endorsement is timely and effective.

Mia Love on Government

Mia Love, the former mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, speaking at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.  She lost her race for Congress that year by 768 votes along with an alluvia of outside opposition cash.  

Love is again running for the 4th Congressional district.  If she wins, Love's message of traditional values and belief in the American Dream will confound critics who paint conservatives with a broad jaundiced brush.

h/t: TheBlazeTV