Harris Talks ‘Freedom,’ Except Where Second Amendment is Concerned

Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris talked about freedom and the right of Israel to defend itself during her acceptance speech. She didn’t mention the rights and freedoms of American gun owners to do likewise.

Kamala Harris delivered a powerful acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, declaring, “I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, she said no such thing about standing up for the rights of American citizens, whose votes she wants in November, to defend themselves. There was no promise to ensure American citizens would always have the ability to fight back. 

Writing at The Hill, opinion contributor Keith Naughton observed, “Funny thing is, she didn’t really say that much.”

She didn’t have to because it was clear thousands of Democrats in the United Center were mesmerized by Harris. They were giddy about her defense of abortion, and her multiple attacks on Republican Donald Trump, as affirmed by a quote from California delegate Kathy Bowler in Reuters: “She hit every single point about representing everyone, representing the country, dealing with the policy areas, foreign policy, working for the middle class.”

No, she did not. She doesn’t represent the views of 80-100 million gun owners, and never has. As California attorney general, Harris was sued by gun rights organizations at least twice.

According to a transcript of her address, she mentioned, “The freedom to live safe from gun violence—in our schools, communities, and places of worship.” (Second Amendment activists may wonder where that freedom is specified in the Constitution unless it is covered by the right of the people to keep and bear arms.)

For a primer on what Harris has said about the right to keep and bear arms, look no further than a new 15-second message posted by the Second Amendment Foundation on social media. It says everything one needs to understand about where Harris stands on gun rights. The video was posted earlier this week as Democrats were celebrating in Chicago.

 

YouTube video player

Well, actually, not all of the Democrat delegates were celebrating. A Texas man was likely scrambling to get his finances in order after being robbed at gunpoint Wednesday morning while walking along a Chicago street.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms had some bristling words for the “Party of Gun Prohibition” in the aftermath of the robbery.

“This is an objective lesson for the Democrats,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Their efforts to disarm law-abiding citizens while promoting a soft-on-crime agenda have been a massive failure, and this incident proves it. They want to make it difficult for honest citizens to own and carry guns, while they have been unwilling and unable to keep guns out of criminal hands, especially in crime centers such as Chicago, which—no surprise here—has been run by Democrats for decades.”

He noted reports that the U.S. Secret Service had warned delegates leaving the convention hall to remove their badges “because of multiple robbery attempts” this week.

“Maybe if Illinois Democrats had adopted legislation recognizing all non-resident carry permits, allowing visitors to Chicago and other Illinois cities to carry guns, this sort of brazen crime wouldn’t be happening,” Gottlieb said.

“Democrat policies have allowed repeat offenders to escape jail time and continue robbing people,” he bristled. “We’re glad nobody was hurt, but this should send a signal to Democrats about their misguided gun control and soft-on-crime efforts. The experiment has failed and it is time to try something different. But, since we’re talking about the party of gun prohibition, Democrats appear to be stuck on stupid, which is why bad guys roam the streets and good guys literally pay the price.”

The Hill’s Naughton offered a particularly brutal observation of Harris' acceptance speech. He said it was “right out of the political consultant and pollster playbook.”

“She followed the standard structure of someone introducing herself to voters for the first time — begin with the humble bio, contrasting it with your venal opponent and then hitting the main policy issues, weaving in criticisms of your opponent and, of course, de rigueur patriotic references,” Naughton wrote. 

When Harris talked about freedom, she focused on the “freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. The freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis. And the freedom that unlocks all the others. The freedom to vote.”

Where American gun owners are concerned, it’s that last freedom that could derail the Democrat's apple cart. The freedom to vote includes voting to keep Harris out of the Oval Office and electing a Second Amendment-friendly Republican majority to both houses of Congress. The opportunity will come Nov. 5.


About Dave Workman

Dave Workman

What It Means to Choose Freedom by Bari Weiss

This past Sunday, Bari Weiss gave a speech at 92NY called “The State of World Jewry.” The address is a historic one. Over four decades, it has been delivered by the likes of Elie Wiesel, Abba Eban, Amos Oz, and more. But for a sense of the state of Jewish life in America these days, you only need to have walked by the building in the hours leading up to and after the speech. You would’ve found that police had cordoned off the entire block and for good reason: anti-Israel protesters, many wearing masks, gathered to intimidate Bari and those who came to the lecture. On the way in, you would’ve been screamed at—told you were a “baby killer” and “genocide supporter” among other choice phrases. You might have even glimpsed Jerry Seinfeld being heckled and called “Nazi scum” on his way out of the talk. The NYPD and the entire staff of 92NY made sure that everyone who attended the talk was able to do so safely. But everyone must ask themselves: Do you want to live in a country in which simply giving a speech about a Jewish subject requires police protection? What does that reality say about the state of our country and our freedoms? Bari’s words offer some measure of explanation about the moment we find ourselves in and how we might emerge from it.

Possible Deal to Free Most Israeli Women and Children Hostages Reportedly Near

AP Photo/Adel Hana
Joe Biden said during a briefing at the White House that a deal to release hostages being held by Hamas is near. “I’ve been talking with the people involved every single day. I believe it’s going to happen. But I don’t want to get into detail,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

In Israel, long-time Washington Post foreign correspondent David Ignatius reports on the outlines of a deal.

“The general outline of the deal is understood,” the Israeli official explained in an interview Monday, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. The tentative agreement calls for Israeli women and children to be released in groups, simultaneously with Palestinian women and young people held in Israeli prisons.

Ignatius reports that Mossad is very much involved in this part of the process, verifying the identities of Israeli citizens that Hamas is considering releasing and making sure that Palestinians being released are not connected to Hamas. In exchange for the approximately 70 Israeli women and children, about 120 Palestinian women and children will be released by Israel.

CNN:

As CNN previously reported, in the deal currently being discussed, hostages would exit Gaza in stages on a rolling basis – with priority placed on extra vulnerable groups like children and women. The process is expected to take multiple days.

Only a handful of hostages – including two American citizens – have been released so far since the start of the war. After their exit, Biden revealed that Israel had agreed to a brief pause to secure their release.

One of the complications in the ongoing talks has been verifying the list of names of both hostages and Palestinian prisoners that Hamas and Israel would respectively release as part of the deal, two officials told CNN. Israel wants to make sure none of the prisoners released are connected to Hamas and has been scrutinizing names proposed as part of the process.

Related: Biden's Pledge to 'Stand With Israel' Fraying Around the Edges

Sources for these stories stress that this is not a done deal and that it could blow up at any time at any point.

One of the sticking points is that Hamas itself does not hold all the hostages. Affiliated groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold an unknown number.

Washington Post:

The Israeli official said his government is committed to freeing all the hostages, including roughly 90 male civilians and a smaller group of soldiers, whom Hamas probably sees as the most valuable. “We want as many as possible, as quickly as possible, and no one stays behind,” the official stressed.

Hamas has told the Qataris that its operatives seized only Israeli soldiers, but the Israeli official said this claim is false. Hamas holds the “vast majority” of the hostages, including a small number of dead bodies that were taken into Gaza by the terrorists, the Israeli said. Some hostages are kept by other groups, in disparate locations, but Hamas has the power to negotiate for nearly all of them, he argued. One smaller group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad holds about 35 captives, and a militia known as the “shabiha” and other smaller groups hold a few dozen more, the high-ranking Israeli said.

The unnecessary complexity of the negotiations has a purpose; Hamas wants to be able to interpret whatever deal emerges as the most advantageous to them. Then again, this could all be a psychological ploy by Hamas to play with the emotions of the Israeli people to force them to put even more pressure on the government to end the attempt to annihilate Hamas.