Summary: Elections, The NSA, & The Real History of Gun Rights! This week on Talking Left, we gave you our take on the news you won't hear in the Sunday morning corporate media! In the first hour, we continued our summer series on amending the Constitution, and got in to the real history of the Second Amendment. This week, Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns was struck down as a violation of the individual right to keep and bear arms. However, you may be surprised to learn that this wasn't even considered an individual right until about 1960. For nearly 200 years in our nation, gun rights were only protected for members of a "well-regulated militia" - but the NRA got involved, and today many courts refuse to place any limitations on gun rights. We know that 90 percent of Americans agree with background checks and other gun regulations, so perhaps we need to update the Second Amendment to protect our right to regulate weapons of war. In hour two, we gave you our take on CIA Director John Brennan finally admitting that the CIA spied on Senate staffers. While Brennan apologized for the CIA spying, we must ensure that he - and anyone else involved - is held accountable. Forty years after President Richard Nixon resigned over Watergate, we're still learning about ways he broke the law. However, because President Ford pardoned Nixon, we were never able to hold him responsible for his crimes. The same thing happened with Scooter Libby and the Bush Administration, and with President Obama's refusal to hold Bush and Cheney responsible for war crimes. We can't allow this to happen again. Our nation can't act like a moral leader when we refuse to hold officials accountable for their crimes. Brennan should be criminally charged, along with every current and former official who is guilty of a crime. In the third hour we talked about Darrell Issa, the House Rules Committee, and the 2014 elections. And, we had the opportunity to speak with Becky Bond of CREDO Action and CREDO Super PAC about their efforts to save the Senate. In addition to fighting for progressive issues like immigration, women's rights, and more, CREDO is setting up shop in five states to help the Democrats maintain the majority in the upper chamber. You can help their efforts by getting involved at their local offices in one of these states, or by phone banking from home where ever you are. Thanks to Rocky Mountain Mike for writing and producing our incredible theme music! Please check out his amazing Sound Cloud! Thanks to We Act Radio - 1480AM WPWC, Netroots Radio, SoFlo Radio, and Radio or Not,- for helping to ensure all listeners have corporate-free, independent radio! You can also follow all of the news about upcoming topics and guests on our Facebook page and on Twitter @TalkingLeft. And you can subscribe to Talking Left free on iTunes! As always, thanks for listening!
