Talk about the foxes guarding the chicken coop - a five to four majority on the Supreme Court has just chewed up any last vestiges of personal property rights guaranteed by the constitution.
In spite of the fact that our federal government has long subverted and misinterpreted our constitution, the recent "eminent domain" ruling by the Supreme Court was a clarion call to the citizens to rise up and take back our liberties. Not that it will happen - we have become way too complacent for that.
Our local radio talk show hosts have contended that this is conservatism or liberalism at its worst, depending on which one you listen to. They ended up in a compromise, saying it is neither, that neither side likes it and that the ruling came out of nowhere. I disagree. It isn't conservatism or liberalism at its worst, it is simply liberalism at its socialist core and we have been heading that direction on both sides of the political aisle for generations. It has just accelerated to an attention getting speed in recent years.
This isn't about empowering big land developers (which the liberal press mischaracterizes as a conservative idea), it is about the rights of individuals being usurped by the government for the supposed benefit of the collective - a purely liberal idea. I.E., "the government knows best."
Paul Harvey said it best, "The communism we defeated at the Berlin Wall has found a new home in New London, Connecticut." I would argue only that its new home is instead in the chambers of the Supreme Court justices. The justices on the majority side of this decision should be impeached for their blatant disregard of the constitution they are sworn to uphold. Then they should be disbarred for their blatant abuse of power and total lack of judicial ethics.
No wonder they keep trying to take away our guns and our pens.
Thomas Jefferson said, "And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
I only hope that there are enough patriots left to make a significant impact at the polls. Failing that, we are headed for either a second revolution, which, due to modern technology, is doomed to fail or to a life of servitude to a government that is supposed to serve us. I strongly suspect the latter.
Unfortunately, neither of the two major parties will well represent us in this struggle to regain our lost liberties. They are only interested in expanding their own power. And, unfortunately, "we, the people," are evidently too blind to realize that no political party has earned our loyalty.
The unfortunate truth is that we will continue to suck up the slop that the mainstream press flushes at us instead of making the effort to do some research, study history and think for ourselves. We will continue to vote Democrat or Republican like our parents did, just because they did. We seem to be incapable of learning from the past and switching our support to a more deserving third party.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Monday, June 06, 2005
SS Commandant Helmke and the Seatbelt Gestapo
Well, they're at it again - Big Brother is alive and well in Sheboygan County. As if it isn't bad enough that the meddling overlords at the state level are considering changing seatbelt use to a primary offense, we in Sheboygan County now have to deal with our own local SS enforcers.
While I disagree with all seatbelt laws in principal, those that protect minors from their irresponsible parents are at least understandable. Adult seatbelt laws, on the other hand, are totally unacceptable in a country that prides itself on its freedom. We even send our young men to die in foreign countries so that others can taste that freedom.
Yet, here we are, at a point in history where we seem to be willing to abdicate our freedoms for the sake of a relatively minor reduction in risk to our lives. What a bunch of whining, sniveling, cowards we have become. We are willing to frivolously throw away the liberty that our forebearers fought and died to obtain, for the unsubstantiated promise that we will be safe from all harm if we just let our government dictate our personal choices for us.
There are those of us who choose to resist, either passively by simply refusing to comply, or through diatribes such as this, which are themselves endangered by a proposed government decree. This is where Commandant Helmke and his ilk come in. It seems that those of us who choose to resist are making the local enforcement detail look bad. So even though it is a seemingly minor offense (secondary, meaning you must be stopped for another violation before they can get you for this one, and the fine is only ten dollars) Helmke and his crew have decided to make it a primary enforcement effort. We can't have the ordinary citizens making personal decisions for themselves. Why, they might not be under the good sheriff's control!
Why am I making such a big deal over this seemingly minor inconvenience? Because it isn't about the inconvenience. It is about the principal of freedom, limited government control and right of adult citizens to make choices for themselves without the government's interference. Its that simple. And, the small encroachments on our freedoms lead to ever larger encroachments. The freedoms we enjoy today are less than half those that were enjoyed by citizens of this country a century ago.
From helmet laws for cyclists and seatbelt laws for motorists to how long you can let your grass grow and what color you may paint your house, our individual choices are being usurped by local, state and federal government officials in the name of the public good. I submit that these erosions of liberty and freedom are not in the public interest, regardless of the perceived benefits we obtain. The greatest of those uncertain benefits is not as valuable as the least of the lost freedoms. After all, no one is sacrificing their life to make sure we all have to wear our seatbelts. Maybe if that were what it cost they would reconsider the necessity of their effort.
While I disagree with all seatbelt laws in principal, those that protect minors from their irresponsible parents are at least understandable. Adult seatbelt laws, on the other hand, are totally unacceptable in a country that prides itself on its freedom. We even send our young men to die in foreign countries so that others can taste that freedom.
Yet, here we are, at a point in history where we seem to be willing to abdicate our freedoms for the sake of a relatively minor reduction in risk to our lives. What a bunch of whining, sniveling, cowards we have become. We are willing to frivolously throw away the liberty that our forebearers fought and died to obtain, for the unsubstantiated promise that we will be safe from all harm if we just let our government dictate our personal choices for us.
There are those of us who choose to resist, either passively by simply refusing to comply, or through diatribes such as this, which are themselves endangered by a proposed government decree. This is where Commandant Helmke and his ilk come in. It seems that those of us who choose to resist are making the local enforcement detail look bad. So even though it is a seemingly minor offense (secondary, meaning you must be stopped for another violation before they can get you for this one, and the fine is only ten dollars) Helmke and his crew have decided to make it a primary enforcement effort. We can't have the ordinary citizens making personal decisions for themselves. Why, they might not be under the good sheriff's control!
Why am I making such a big deal over this seemingly minor inconvenience? Because it isn't about the inconvenience. It is about the principal of freedom, limited government control and right of adult citizens to make choices for themselves without the government's interference. Its that simple. And, the small encroachments on our freedoms lead to ever larger encroachments. The freedoms we enjoy today are less than half those that were enjoyed by citizens of this country a century ago.
From helmet laws for cyclists and seatbelt laws for motorists to how long you can let your grass grow and what color you may paint your house, our individual choices are being usurped by local, state and federal government officials in the name of the public good. I submit that these erosions of liberty and freedom are not in the public interest, regardless of the perceived benefits we obtain. The greatest of those uncertain benefits is not as valuable as the least of the lost freedoms. After all, no one is sacrificing their life to make sure we all have to wear our seatbelts. Maybe if that were what it cost they would reconsider the necessity of their effort.
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