protecting the American people should only go so far...

Okay, so maybe Holy Joe Lieberman does want to revoke the citizenship of any American affiliating with foreign terrorist organizations rather than face up to the fact that there is de facto such a thing as an American terrorist, but I think we need to at least give the guy a few points for consistency. Joe also wants to restrict the second amendment rights of anyone who's on the Terrorist Watch List, and a lot of people who supported his first proposition view his second one as going one step too far. Our latest high profile terrorist, Faisal the Incompetent, bought himself a shiny new handgun during the execution phase of his attempted mayhem and had it with him as he drove towards his aborted getaway. In reality, that gun in his hand was far more dangerous than the bomb in his car. Now to be honest, Faisal wasn't on the watch list when he bought his firearm, but it wouldn't have made any difference because being a suspected terrorist isn't a problem at the gun shop. You might think that no one could possibly have an objection to closing this legal loophole, but I suppose the very fact that you're reading this at FGAQ has already led you to the conclusion that you're sadly mistaken. Yesterday Lieberman's Homeland Security Panel had a hearing on the matter where NYC Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Kelley made the case for preventing terrorism suspects from purchasing guns and explosives. Pro-gun panel members Tom Coburn, Jon Tester, John Ensign, and Maverick McCain refused to attend. An invited spokesman for the Liberty Coalition proclaimed that "the bill should be titled the Gun Owners Are Probably All Terrorists Act." The NRA preemptively originated that bizarre conspiracy meme back in December 2009 in response to the Fort Hood shootings in an epistle that seemingly argues against even having a watch list. To wit: "Politicians who hate the Second Amendment know that some of the good Americans who are erroneously on the list, or who get incorrectly flagged by the list, are gun owners. And, because the FBI won’t reveal its watchlisting criteria, those politicians think that more gun owners can be placed on the list over time, by like-minded bureaucrats making arbitrary determinations about who ought to have guns." Unlike the Maverick, Lindsey Graham at least had the balls to attend the hearing and voice his objections in person. "We're talking about a constitutional right here," said the Senator who isn't the least bit soft on terrorism. "I am all into national security... Please understand that I feel differently not because I care less about terrorism." Lindsey needn't worry. Legislation is given very little chance of ever reaching the Senate floor.