The New Yorker has the post by Jeffrey Toobin So You Think You Know the Second Amendment?

For more than a hundred years, the answer was clear, even if the words of the amendment itself were not. The text of the amendment is divided into two clauses and is, as a whole, ungrammatical: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The courts had found that the first part, the “militia clause,” trumped the second part, the “bear arms” clause. In other words, according to the Supreme Court, and the lower courts as well, the amendment conferred on state militias a right to bear arms—but did not give individuals a right to own or carry a weapon.

You will have to read the rest of the article to see how this interpretation got turned around.  It’s hard to tell if enough people will change their minds on this issue.

The Real News Network has the first installment of a series on The Making of “Untold History of the United States”. The article has a transcript of the video below and links  to related article.

The actual series on Showtime sounds like it holds some promise. Part of the series depends on the history of Henry Wallace, an historical figure whose name I know and of whose history I am completely ignorant.

Henry Wallace was as progressive a mainstream politician as this country ever saw, and becomes vice president at a critical period.

There are links on The Real News Network to more information about Henry Wallace. Two of the items are WHEN THE AMERICAN VP WAS PROGRESSIVE and IS THERE ANY ‘WALLACE’ LEFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY?