"Leftists love smartphones and hybrid cars, but they don’t want to develop the mineral resources that make those products possible."

The headline comes from an interesting read at Powerline called "Civil War In The Democratic Party."

I remember getting into long arguments with a guy named garage mahal on the Althouse blog about iron mining in northern Wisconsin and then also about silica mining elsewhere in Wisconsin. Garage perfectly embodied the preservationist mentality -- don't develop and eschew conservation -- i.e., smart development.

The treaty's Article 5 requires nations to "establish and maintain a national control system"...

including a "national control list." Article 10 requires signatories "to regulate brokering" of conventional arms. The treaty offers no guarantee for individual rights...

 From an excellent article by John Bolton and John Yoo in the WSJ, concerning the UN Arms Trade Treaty, which President Obama has promised to sign.

But surely this treaty is entirely concerned with arms trade between nations, right?

Gun-control advocates will use these provisions to argue that the U.S. must enact measures such as a national gun registry, licenses for guns and ammunition sales, universal background checks, and even a ban of certain weapons. The treaty thus provides the Obama administration with an end-run around Congress to reach these gun-control holy grails.

(Bold for emphasis mine.)  Remember when garage mahal laughed off any suggestion that any Democrat at any level intended to advance gun control?  Paranoid wing nuts, he said.  Good times.

But wait -- how could the President implement elements of a treaty that seeks to impose unconstitutional restrictions on our liberty?

...treaties therefore aren't textually subject to the limits on Congress's power. Treaties still receive the force of law under the Supremacy Clause, which declares that "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land." Some have argued over the years that this difference in language between laws and treaties allows the latter to sweep more broadly than the former.

... President Obama could issue executive orders for a gun registry and background checks, on the claim that he is implementing the treaty.

 But we still have a chance:

Fortunately the Framers required that the president submit all significant international agreements to the Senate...

 ...Whooo, that's a relief.  The senate....where the Democrats have a 52-46 majority; plus "independents" Bernie Sanders and Angus King (that makes 54).  Oh, and those 46 Republicans include 16 RINOs that voted to proceed with gun control legislation in April.

Tonight, we drink.  We drink tequila.  Prepare yourselves.