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Im afraid, and I dont scare easily. When I worked for The Associated Press in Chicago, I walked home from work many nights hours before sunrise. While reporting on a childs death, I walked alone into a gang-infested high-rise housing project a few miles away.

I once drove to church by way of a series of desolate Chicago neighborhoods where cab drivers would not venture. (I later found a congregation in a safer area.)

And in Conway, I did not let a murderers letter keep me away from work, even though he informed me he had read my article about his case and did not like it.

President Donald Trumps blatant instigations of violence against journalists didnt keep me away either, not even after the shooting deaths in the Capital Gazettes Maryland newsroom in 2018.

But Im scared nowfor our nations democracy, for my family, for people of color, for the hungry and the sick, for people whose religion differs from what self-proclaimed evangelicals profess to believe. Im even scared for Trumps unflinchingly loyal disciples, for they likely have no idea of the dangers that could await even them if our democracy fails.

I do not worry about the senators, the representatives and the judges, for they know whats in their best interest. They also know Trump doesnt care. Hes more worried about his latest tweet and his latest prenuptial agreement than whether the pregnant woman will get the prenatal care she needs and survive childbirth or whether the underpaid teacher with coronavirus will get adequate health care.

The problem with Trump is not that hes a powerful man but that hes a power grabber, a mirror grabber and, by his own admission, a vagina grabber. He will ultimately do what he believes is best for the man in the mirror. So I pray that someone convinces him that his best future does not involve violence or anything more irrational than what hes already done.

My concern extends to those who blindly worship Trump much as the uninformed masses and the military do in totalitarian countries. The would-be dear leader of the United States counts many though not all evangelicals and far too many racists and xenophobes among his followers.

Tomorrows dear leader might share that base of support, or he might prefer atheism, Mormonism, Judaism, Islam, Episcopal beliefs, or Catholicism and then seek to exclude everyone else. For once in power, totalitarian leaders can choose whatever religion, political party, and racial prejudice they want, and can demand that we share those views.

An authoritarian leader can and probably would ignore the U.S. Constitution. Forget ratification votes. After all, elections apparently dont matter to Trump, the man who says hes not a politician even as he brags of deal-making and panders to his political base.

A dear leader can revoke the Second Amendment. Thats the one that protects your hunting rifle, your handgun.

A dear leader also can singlehandedly revoke the First Amendment, the one that allows me to write this column and you to write a letter to the editor opposing it. And he can singlehandedly lock the doors to the church building, synagogue, cathedral or mosque where you worship.

I understand that Trump has much to lose by walking peacefully out of the White House. For one thing, he can be charged with a state crime even if he resigns early and Vice President Mike Pence pardons him of federal crimes.

For another, Trump reportedly has roughly $400 million in debt coming due during the next four years. If he waves the white flag, he may not have the power any longer to work out a deal with the lenders, foreign or otherwise, he owes. (I am tempted to use a stronger word than deal but shall refrain.)

Yes, Trump could leave this country as he has said he might. If hes

short on money, he could probably bunk with Edward Snowden in Russia. Of course, if Vladimir Putin or Putins pals are the ones Trump owes, that might not be a great idea. Ditto Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, and theyre certainly not the kind of friends Id want if I owed them money.

The longer Trump refuses to

acknowledge his defeat, the more irrational and more desperate he will appear. At this point, Trump would do well just to let the transition process begin. As it is, hes endangering our democracy and our national security, for enemy countries can gloat and take advantage of our weaknesses when we are at war with ourselves.

Weve had other close presidential elections. One was in 2016. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton quickly conceded. I didnt hear anyone saying we should give her more time to accept defeat. She is an adult and acted like one, not like an untrained toddler going back and forth between home and the playground.

If former President Barack Obama had even mumbled about hanging out in the White House longer than he was elected to serve, I can only imagine the outcry. Those Confederate flags would have been in the back of more pickups than we could count.

A few things Ive learned as a white woman who was single most of her life have become increasingly clear as Ive grown older and, I think, wiser or perhaps more realistic.

First, a Black man who dares to be powerful is in for a struggle and plenty of hate in this country. Too many white people just dont like the idea of a Black person telling them what to do.

Second, a woman of any color who dares to be powerful is in for both as well. If she is Black or Asian, she faces an even tougher fight. If she has ever openly had an affair, shes branded for life and will be subjected to smears years later. And if shes single, well, thats just not allowed.

But let an amoral white man come along with an ego problem, a penchant for lies and

an unquenchable

for money, power and sexual partners, and he wins the favor and forever-pardon of evangelicals, from Franklin Graham to Prosperity Gospel advocate Paula White.

All thats to say, I have what some may consider an outlandish idea. Maybe its time for Trumps evangelical supporters and President-elect Joe Bidens most liberal supporters to become a tad more ecumenical when it comes to our country.

After all, this is the United States. Its not a church, its not a business, and its not a kingdom. Its a democracy, at least for now.

Debra Hale-Shelton can be reached at [emailprotected] . Follow her on Twitter at @nottalking.

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OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: A democracy on the edge - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The U.S. militia movement has long been permeated by a peculiar-and undoubtedly mistaken-interpretation of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and civil liberties.

This is true of an armed militia group calling itself the Wolverine Watchmen, who were involved in the recently uncovered plot to overthrow the Michigan government and kidnap Gretchen Whitmer.

As I wrote in Fracturing the Founding: As the Old Right corrupts the Constitution published in 2019, the core of the militia movements devotion to what I have called the Old Right Constitution is a poisonous mixture of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths.

Private militias

The term militia has many meanings.

Article 1 of the Constitution refers to militias and authorizes Congress to provide for the organization, arming and disciplining of militias.

But the Constitution does not provide for private militias, such as the extreme right-wing Wolverine Watchmen, Proud Boys, Michigan Militia and the Oath Keepers, to name a few.

Private militias are simply groups of like-minded men-their members are usually whites-who profess a sometimes confusing set of beliefs about a miserly federal government hostile to whites and white heritage, and about the sanctity of the right to bear arms and private property. They believe that the government is under the control of Jews, the United Nations, international banking interests, leftists, antifa, Black Lives Matter and so on. There is no evidence of this.

On Thursday the FBI arrested six men, five of them from Michigan, and charged them with conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer. Shortly thereafter, state authorities accused another seven men of attempting to storm the Michigan Capitol and seek civil war. Among them were the founders and several members of the Wolverine Watchmen.

According to the FBI affidavit attached to the federal indictments, the six accused men claimed to be defense attorneys for the Bill of Rights. In fact, some of the men had participated in April rallies in the state capital of Lansing, where armed citizens tried to force their way onto the floor of the House of Representatives to protest Whitmers order to shut down the pandemic as a violation of the Constitution by a tyrannical government that wanted to sacrifice civil liberties in the name of the COVID-19 struggle.

According to the FBI affidavit, the conspirators wanted to create a society that adheres to the U.S. Bill of Rights and in which they can be self-sufficient.

The militiamen see themselves as the last true American patriots, the modern defenders of the United States Constitution in general and the Second Amendment in particular.

Thus the Bill of Rights-and especially the Second Amendment, which establishes the right to bear arms-play an important role in the United States Constitution. It is no coincidence that the first discussions about the overthrow of the so-called tyrannical governor of Michigan began at a Second Amendment rally in June.

According to most militias, the Second Amendment authorizes their activities and also makes them free from legal regulation by the state. In reality, the Second Amendment does nothing to authorize private armed militias. Private armed militias are expressly illegal in every state.

No limitation of rights

Another basic principle of militia constitutionalism is absolutism. In the world of militias, absolutism is understood as the idea that basic constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to property cannot be restricted or regulated by the state without the consent of the citizen.

The extreme right-wing reading of the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution which regulate freedom of speech and the right to bear arms respectively is based on a simple premise: Both amendments are literal and absolute. They believe that the First Amendment allows them to say anything, anytime, anywhere, to anyone, without consequences or accusations from the government or even from other citizens who disagree or are offended by their speech.

Similarly, advocates of old-fashioned gun ownership believe that the Second Amendment protects their God-given right to own a gun any gun and that government efforts to deny, restrict or even register their guns must be unconstitutional. They believe that the Second Amendment

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The conspiracy to kidnap Governor Mich. grew out of the constitutional falsehoods of the militia. - The Washington Newsday

Matt Grahn|The Bulletin

NORWICH Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said he gets asked by businesses if there are any large plots of land available in the city. His reply isoften "No" since most larger spaces are Brownfield sites, which are expensive to clean up.

However, if a land sale goes through, it will make large projects easier for businesses looking to come to the city.

I get calls throughout the almost three years Ive been mayor, and people are looking for 100 acres, 50 acres, Nystrom said. I dont have anything to offer them, yet they want to be in this central location between Boston and New York, as well as the proximity to the two casinos.

On Sept. 30, the latest amendment to the Agreement of Sale of land from Byron Brook Country Club, LLC and M&A Holdings, LLC to the Norwich Community Development Corp. (NCDC) was signed, and was made public last Friday. NCDC, along with Norwich Public Utilities, has been working on developing a second business park in Norwich. The amendment states that NCDC has until Dec. 15, 2022, to make sure that the land is feasible for construction, which is currently when the decision to buy will be made.

We negotiated a period of time to make sure the land is suitable and can be developed as a business park, said attorney Mark Block, representing NCDC.

Blockbelieves its important for the city to have more land with the development.

If the city is going to attract any business or industry, we need areas that can be developed for the industries and businesses to locate, Block said.

Currently, Block said, that they are still checking the feasibility of the land.

Were doing all the studies that are necessary to determine the suitability of the property, Block said.

The Agreement of Sale, first signed on July 31, 2019, stated that the total property sale, 272 acres over eight tracts, was worth $3.55 million, and initially required a $65,000 deposit. More deposits have been made, with a $10,000 deposit in the first amendment and $100,000 in the second amendment, and $150,000 in the fourth amendment, with half paid in January, and half in July.

The land in question held by Byron Brook Country Club, LLC and M&A Holdings LLC is in Occum. The properties in particular are on Scotland Road, Lawler Lane, Canterbury Turnpikeand Bromley Lane.

The owners originally bought the land for building 658 apartments with a golf course and country club, which was expected to cost $200 million. However, due to the economic downturn in 2007, the developer tried to change the project. The project was officially cancelled in 2011, after Norwich released $1.5 million in bonding back to the developers.

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Business park in Occum still in the works - Norwich Bulletin

This matter goes well beyond a second amendment right. We are not looking for Cleveland Heights Police Department to challenge a second amendment right, as long as those same rights and perspective of the law is given to a black person, should he also wish to demonstrate those very same rights. What we are addressing however, is the law(s) that were actually violated which includes making terroristic threats, and ethnic intimidation. Even more so, outside of state law, Cleveland Heights charter requires an arrest, or at the least charges being filed against anyone who violates sections 537.09 and 537.06 of their municipal ordinances. Open carry and freedom of speech is one thing, but what this person said out of his own mouth; and if what is stated that he said is factual, then Cleveland Heights Police along with the Prosecutors office should act on this according to both state and local law

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Man walking around Cleveland Heights with long-gun quoted as saying Hes going to kill Black people - Cleveland 19 News

Opinion

North Carolina -(AmmoLand.com)-It can be exhausting for Second Amendment supporters when their champions face tough re-election battles. In the Tarheel State, one such race is taking place for the United States Senate.

As of this writing, RealClearPolitics has the race as a toss-up, with Cal Cunningham having a 2.3-point lead in the RCP average.

While the 2016 election shows that polls can be very wrong, that same election did see North Carolinians vote out a pro-Second Amendment governor and put anti-Second Amendment extremist Roy Cooper in at the same time the state gave Donald Trump its 15 electoral votes.

So, this is a race that cannot be taken for granted.

In the state legislature of North Carolina, Tillis voted to preserve the confidentiality of concealed carry permit holders and backed a comprehensive improvement for law-abiding gun owners, among other actions. When he ran against Kay Hagan in 2014, he made a strong statement in support of the Second Amendment and challenging Hagans support for various restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.

As a Senator-elect, he followed up with another statement, and in the Senate has stood in defense of the Second Amendment. In addition to that, he has voted for judges who would uphold our rights, and also stood against the court-packing schemes that some have pushed. At this point, regardless of who opposed him in the general election, he has earned a second term.

The fact is, though, his opponent makes the decision to back Tillis even easier. Cal Cunningham has the endorsement of multiple anti-Second Amendment groups, including Bloombergs Everytown and the Giffords group originally formed by Mark Kelly. You can bet that if he is elected, he will gladly work to take away your rights.

In addition, he will be a reliable vote against the types of judges who would uphold our rights, would support various campaign finance reform schemes that would silence the grassroots activism of Second Amendment supporters, and his first vote in the 117th Congress would be to make Chuck Schumer the Senate Majority Leader. Second Amendment supporters can do without a Senator like that.

While polls show Cunningham has a lead, his campaign has been staggered by scandal.

Loyal AmmoLand News readers and Second Amendment supporters check out the campaign site for Senator Tom Tillis here.

In addition, they can donate generously of both time and money to the NRAs Political Victory Fund and to Grass Roots North Carolinas Political Victory Fund to help elect pro-Second Amendment candidates for office in North Carolina and across the country.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics, and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.

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Tarheel State Second Amendment Supporters Should Trust Thom Tillis With 2nd Term - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News