U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) who is also the Deputy Chair of the Democratic Committee, made a statement recently that North Korean “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un has been more responsible in his recent actions than our President, Donald Trump.

U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice (D-NY) has stated that the National Rifle Association in general, and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch in particular are “Quickly becoming a national security threat”. Rice is on the House Committee on Homeland Security, and is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. This is a woman with considerable power in government. What are these supposedly responsible people thinking?

Kim Jong-un is a dictator who presides over a rogue nation that, from it’s very inception as a communist led country in 1945 has done nothing but threaten it’s neighbors and subjugate and starve a very significant portion of it’s population. In 1950 it invaded South Korea and precipitated a conflict which lasted until 1953 and caused the deaths and wounding of hundreds of thousands of human beings. It has systematically violated every agreement negotiated to limit it’s nuclear weapons development program. Against all United Nations resolutions on the subject, it has continued to conduct nuclear weapons testing and development of missiles to deliver them. Recently, it has stated it’s intentions to attack Guam, Hawaii and the United States Mainland with nuclear missiles. Mr. Ellison, you consider that responsible behavior?

As to Representative Rice. Does she really believe that an organization whose main goal is to protect the Second Amendment to our Constitution, who has NEVER proposed, endorsed or sanctioned violence to accomplish it’s goals, is a threat to our national security? Are Dana Loesch, and the millions of Americans who agree with her positions to be labeled as subversives? What type of police state is she envisioning?  One of the first acts of every dictatorship is to disarm the citizenry “for their own protection”. The concentration camps and “Gulags” follow shortly thereafter.  Unfortunately the “Patriot Act”,  passed by the Bush administration after the tragedy of 9/11, created a new agency, the Department of Homeland Security, which was supposed to better protect the homeland. Unfortunately, that has blossomed into a host of bureaucrats, like the Transportation Security Administration, who have extraordinary powers to violate our Constitutional rights without legal recourse on the part of citizenry.

As the seemingly inexorable assault on our personal liberties continues we would be wise to remember the quote from President Ronald Reagan:

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’