Supporting Liberty and Guns - the L and the G - and why I support the T - LGBT 4th of July contest

What follows is taken from my first submission to Steemit, just over two short weeks ago. The article was entitled:

Grace under Fire: Congressman Mo Brooks and the Baseball Field Shooting

His demeanor is focused. His account is chilling. It is June 14th, 2017, Alexandria, Virginia.

Mo Brooks is unshakable.

I am struck by his composure, his confidence, and the frank, thoughtful responses to the questions he answers in part, no doubt, out of respect to the citizenry he serves, honoring the office he holds.

I know nothing of congressman Brooks’ politics as I write this. What I know is that this is a man who only minutes ago was under fire, and has survived an urban combat situation. He kept his wits long enough to stay alive and render aid to a profoundly injured colleague. He is the person I would want close by should I encounter similar circumstances. He makes me proud to be an American.

And he has reminded me that we have a democracy worth reclaiming.

When asked if the shooting changed his views on the “gun situation” in America, Congressman Mo Brooks responded - to his credit:

“Not with respect to the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, is to help ensure that we always have a republic. And as with any constitutional provision in the Bill of Rights, there are adverse aspects to each of those rights that we enjoy as people. And what we just saw here is one of the bad side effects of someone not exercising these rights properly.

But we’re not going to get rid of freedom of speech because some people say some really ugly things that hurt other people’s feelings. We’re not going to get rid of this Fourth Amendment, search and seizure rights, because it allows some criminals to go- free who should be behind bars.

These rights are there to protect Americans, and while each of them has a negative aspect to them, they are fundamental to our being the greatest nation in world history. So no, I’m not changing my position on any of the rights we enjoy as Americans.”

This is what struck me most about Representative Brooks: he is unabashedly committed to upholding the rights of US citizens. I consider myself fortunate - despite the situation that brought him to my attention - to have become acquainted with him, through the online world.

Update and author's note: Today is July 2nd, 2017.

Congressman Steve Scalise was critically injured by a sniper during practice for a charity baseball game in the shooting referred to above. He is, thankfully, recovering from his wounds and multiple surgeries, is improving, and his condition has been upgraded to fair effective June 21st.

Now this is the reason I support the T.

President Trump, to his credit, made a trip to MedStar, with his personal physician in tow, to visit Steve Scalise. He flipped the presidential bird to the dark underbelly in broad daylight.

He let the public, the press, and Dr. Jack Sava know that he's keeping tabs on Scalise. Way to go.

Mo Brooks is standing up for liberty. Without liberty there is no right to free speech, nor is there a right to bear arms.

Donald Trump is standing up to the deep state, at least as far as Steve Scalise is concerned. It's a good first step. He has my support should he continue to take a stand against the dark machinations that go bump in the night.

Let's hope he does. I said this earlier, and I'll say it again: we have a democracy worth reclaiming.