To Arms!

Yesterday's shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, like the killings in Aurora, Colorado over a week ago, inevitably raise questions of the Second Amendment. The discussion these days invariably misrepresents the Second Amendment, takes it out of its historical context and leads the discussion into paths that need not be followed.

The Second Amendment was really the anti-Redcoat provision. Written less than fifteen years after the "shot heard round the world," the object really was to insure the United States would not have a large standing army. The revolutionists believed standing armies were destructive of freedom. The unstated, but clear presumption, was that militias under state control could defend against a small standing federal force, should it be necessary.

Justice Antonin Scalia proudly claims to be an "originalist," meaning judicial decisions should be informed by the original meaning of words in a law or constitution.

Two Sundays ago on Fox News Sunday, Justice Scalia revealed his ignorance of historic terms of art in the profession of arms and his superficial grasp of original meaning. The interviewer, Chris Wallace, asked Justice Scalia about the Second Amendment in light of the mass killings in Aurora, Colorado. Could there be any limits on the right to bear arms? Wallace asked. Scalia answered that, if a weapon can be hand-held, it probably still falls under the right to “bear arms”:

WALLACE: What about… a weapon that can fire a hundred shots in a minute?
SCALIA: We’ll see. Obviously the Amendment does not apply to arms that cannot be hand-carried — it’s to keep and “bear,” so it doesn’t apply to cannons — but I suppose here are hand-held rocket launchers that can bring down airplanes, that will have to be decided.
WALLACE: How do you decide that if you’re a textualist?
SCALIA: Very carefully.

Obviously?

Obviously Antonin Scalia has never borne arms. To bear arms is a term of art, ancient in origin, which means "to serve in the armed forces." Military personnel keep and bear arms. The term is not limited to arms a person can carry. Legally, under the International Traffic In Arms (ITAR) regulations, the term can apply to items not normally thought of as arms, like encryption programs. To "keep arms" does not mean to have in one's possession. It means to maintain in good order, as for example a lighthouse keeper does for a lighthouse.

These are things the average person understood in 1789.

Some definitions:

"arms [ɑːmz]pl n

1. (Military / Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance & Artillery) weapons collectively See also small arms

2. (Military) military exploits prowess in arms

3. (History / Heraldry) the official heraldic symbols of a family, state, etc., including a shield with distinctive devices, and often supports, a crest, or other insignia

bear arms

a.  (Military) to carry weapons

b.  (Military) to serve in the armed forces

c.  (History / Heraldry) to have a coat of arms

(Military)

in or under arms armed and prepared for war

(Military)

lay down one's arms to stop fighting; surrender

(Military)

present arms Military

a.  a position of salute in which the rifle is brought up to a position vertically in line with the body, muzzle uppermost and trigger guard to the fore

b.  the command for this drill

(Military)

take (up) arms to prepare to fight

to arms! arm yourselves!

up in arms indignant; prepared to protest strongly"

Civilians do not bear arms - soldiers and sailors do.

To bear arms includes to equip one's force with or operate any kind of  weapon, including: sword, spear, pike, rifle, pistol, howitzer, bomb, torpedo, airplane, tank, warship, even military trucks, jeeps, or other logistical equipment for military uses.


On a linguistic note, I wonder if Scalia's native tongue is English.  In English (and Judges are expected to be very careful with language), there is a vast difference between "people" and "the people." "People" can refer to a collection of individuals - "people like football," for example. "The people" is always a collective noun and never refers to individuals. The drafters of our constitution invariably used the word "persons" when they referred to an individual right, though "people" might have also served the purpose. So when the drafters of the Second Amendment wrote "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," as a matter of language, they were not referring to an individual right.

Scalia's insistence that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms is deficient as a matter of English grammar, reflects an inaccurate understanding of original meaning, and presents him with a logical dilemma, because he apparently recognizes that there must be some limits.

But he is wrong about cannon (and also ships, planes, rockets, bombs, torpedoes, missiles, etc.). They are all arms, and the people who maintain and operate them are engaged in keeping and bearing arms.

Which neither Antonin Scalia nor any other sitting Justice has ever done.

Why Is It So Hot In Oklahoma?

In case you were wondering about the heat in Oklahoma and in Texas, here's a link to a Washington Post article that explains: 

Climate change is here — and worse than we thought

Wind Comes Sweeping Down The (Very Hot) Plains

My home state of Oklahoma has become a very hot, very windy, convection oven. Here's the report from Weather Underground's Dr. Jeff Masters:

"Historic heat wave in Oklahoma
A second day of destructive fires affected Oklahoma on Saturday, thanks to extreme heat and drought, low humidities, and strong winds in advance of an approaching cold front. At 3 pm CDT Saturday, Oklahoma City had a temperature of 107°, a humidity of 19%, and winds of 16 mph gusting to 22 mph. The Oklahoma fires have destroyed at least 125 homes. The high temperature in Oklahoma City on Saturday reached 109°, the 12th warmest temperature recorded in the city since records began in 1891. Friday's high of 113° tied for the warmest temperature in city history.


Figure 3. Highway 48 is covered in smoke as flames continue, Saturday, Aug 4, 2012, east of Drumright, OK. Image credit: Associated Press.

The only comparable Oklahoma heat wave: August 1936
The only heat wave in Oklahoma history that compares to the August 2012 heat wave occurred during the great Dust Bowl summer of 1936, the hottest summer in U.S. history. Oklahoma City experienced three days at 110° that summer, and a record streak of 22 straight days with a temperature of 100° or hotter. Those numbers are comparable to 2012's: three days at 110° or hotter, and a string of 18 consecutive days (so far) with temperatures of 100° or hotter. The weak cold front that passed though Oklahoma Saturday will bring temperatures about 10° cooler over the next few days, but high temperatures are still expected to approach 100° in Oklahoma City Sunday through Tuesday. It's worth noting that Oklahoma City has experienced only 11 days since 1890 with a high of 110° or greater. Three of those days were in 2011, three in 2012, and three in the great Dust Bowl summer of 1936."

Bend It Like Beckham

Anyone who has seen the really hilarious and entertaining movie, "Bend It Like Beckham," knows that Sikhs aren't Muslims and that they are a very peaceful people embodying many traditional virtues. Tragically, there's always that ten percent who didn't get the word.

Since 9/11, the handful of Sikhs in this country have been objects of persecution by ignorant, hate-filled racists. It is certainly too early to confirm the motives of the Wisconsin shooter, but it's reasonable to surmise that is what happened today.

Those of us a bit far along in years have a favorable image of Sikhs, based on the cartoon character Punjab, who was "Daddy Warbucks" right hand man and protector of Little Orphan Annie.

The word "guru," by the way, comes from Sikhism. The religion was founded in South Asia some five hundred years ago by Guru Nanak Dev. There have been ten subsequent Gurus.

Sikhism is monotheistic and is the world's fifth largest religion. Its adherents are enjoined to engage in social reform through the pursuit of justice for all human beings.

Seventy Years Ago: 27th Air Depot Squadron

While marines and supporting Navy forces were on their way to Guadalcanal in early August 1942, the 27th Air Depot Group was finishing its period of Preparing for Overseas Movement (POM) in Mobile, Alabama.

The Air Depot Group was a new organizational concept, planned to provide fourth echelon (whatever that means) services to air combat forces near forward areas. The concept of having air depot groups in the forward area was new. So new that the table of organization (T/O) was not issued until June, 1942. Efforts to organize for going overseas couldn't be completed until the T/O was available.

Here is a standard organizational chart an Air Depot Group issued June 15, 1942.



By early August, 1942, the 27th Air Depot Group was substantially organized in Mobile, Alabama. By mid-month the group and all of its equipment was staged for shipping by train to San Francisco.

My father, then a Tech Sgt. in the US Army Air Forces, was among the officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted men who left Mobile in mid-August. Destination: the South Pacific.

Gabby

So why am I keeping my eyes open as midnight approaches, to see which remarkably talented young woman wins the all around gold medal in gymnastics?

I don't know.

I enjoyed seeing Gabby Douglas win.

But the silver and bronze medalists and the others who competed were all pretty amazing.

Gabby is a winner!

But the truth is, there isn't a loser among them.

Three cheers for the whole bunch.

Seventy Years Ago: Operation Watchtower

At a time before public relations operatives were allowed to name military operations, code names were intended to conceal the purpose being undertaken.

In June of 1942, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff created a new command, the South Pacific Theater, commanded by Vice Admiral Robert V. Ghormley. Objective: offensive operations against Japanese forces in the Solomons. Code name: Operation Watchtower.

Seventy-five warships and transports gathered near Fiji on July 26, held one rehearsal landing, and departed July 31 for the objective area.

Targets: Florida Island, Tulagi and Guadalcanal. Officer in Tactical Command: Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, embarked in USS Saratoga (CV-3); Amphibious Force Commander: Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner; Commander of the Landing Force: Major General (Marines) Alexander Vandegrift.

D-day: August 7, 1942.

London, 1939

One benefit of Olympic coverage is that we sometimes learn a bit of illuminating history. I put the 1939 British slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" in that category. What a useful evocation of an earlier time!

A good thing to remember from a time when national survival was really at stake.

We need no hysteria. Just get on with it!