I am getting more and more positive that we have neglected our duty of eternal vigilance for the last 70 or so years.
Antisemitism was always there and will likely always be there. It was just pushed out of the public discourse because of the social stigma from the Holocaust. That stigma is falling away with time.
While that statement is probably accurate, I was referring to more than that... basically with respect to fundamental civil rights (and on more than just 2A matters) versus the authority of the government.
As I've said before, it is the core function of any government, anywhere, anytime, to progressively limit rights --that is, to make laws to limit what you can and can't do (or be).
The problem is we haven't been diligent or "vigilant" enough to yank the leash when government gets too casual and heavy-handed about our freedoms and rights.
So now we have situations where, e.g., "no knock" searches and helmet laws are perceived as OK, since they only affect them damned hippie crackheads and those leather-jacketed motorcycle ruffians.
Without many of us seeing the inherent danger in those laws (and judicial decisions). So we devolve into a bunch of compliant little good citizens who can no longer "fight city hall." Yes, forcing people to cross major urban streets at designated and controlled crosswalks is in general a good thing for overall traffic flow, but ultimately we get persons in power who think they can limit the sizes and contents of soft drinks.
Nobody yanked the leash between those two things, so it got to the point where one of our Leaders could actually and seriously suggest regulating soft drinks. It was only then that our vigilance got alerted and the leash got yanked.
Terry, 230RN
