Posted on 06/30/2005 8:33:04 AM PDT by Georgia_JimD
"Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." – Frederick Douglass
While this June has been filled with many “one brick short of a full load” Supreme Court decisions, clearly Kelo v. New London takes the cake. As readers of this website are already acutely aware, the Supreme Court decided to disregard basic property rights in favor of powerful special interest groups. Now is time to do something about it.
On June 15, 1215 A.D., in Runnymede, England, a piece of parchment was signed called Magna Carta – a crucial document which limited the power of the monarchy and affirmed the basic rights of the people in England. This one piece of paper is perhaps the most important single influence to the Constitution of the United States.
Article 39 of Magna Carta read, “No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, banished nor shall we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land.”
The pertinent word in the sentence above is ‘disseise’, which is defined in this manner, “To put out of actual seisin or possession; to dispossess (a person) of his estates, etc., usually wrongfully or by force; to oust.”
From this, the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment of our Constitution was derived. It reads, “[No person shall] …be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
With five swift strokes of their collectivist pens, the Supreme Court overturned nearly a millennium of tradition and common law with respect to private property ownership. In Kelo v. New London, the justices decided that not only may the government apply eminent domain in order to construct government roads and buildings, but they may now boot you out of your house if Wal-Mart or the local land developer wants your property.
In so doing, they have granted special status to the feudal lords of the 21st century, namely major corporations, development companies and local government fiefdoms – reverting our system of property ownership back to the dark ages.
Our Constitution is essentially the contract between the people and our government. While the government frequently reneges on this trust, this is perhaps the most egregious case since the birth of our nation. Many are already stating that the decision in Kelo renders the contract null and void.
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men, generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to put out its faults, and do better than it would have them? Why does it always crucify Christ and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?”
In this spirit, his and our predecessors dumped tea in the Boston Harbor. Already, many are calling for civil disobedience. One man is attempting to use this decision to force Justice David Souter from his home -- so that he may establish the "The Lost Liberty Hotel" and "Just Desserts Café" in its place.
All of us may not have the opportunity to dispossess the Supremes of their fine homes. While humorous, some of us may even have moral qualms about the stealing part – even if it is from the enemy.
However, we have the opportunity to act in a totally moral and lawful manner in order to express our discontent. Let’s throw some serious sand into the gears of the government machine. They have asked for real property, so let us send it to them.
Real property (land) is composed primarily of dirt. The entire incident in Kelo is over who possesses a bunch of dirt.
The people in the area in which I live are proud of their soil – as is the case in most other places. Perhaps this eminent domain issue may be remedied by providing the landgrabbers a lot of dirt – enough dirt so they won’t have to steal it from the poor and the elderly again.
Radio talk show host Neal Boortz recently stated, “All property isn't dirt”. However, in this case, it is. Let’s give ’em some!
Some addresses to which you may mail your dirt are:
Dave Goebel Chief Operating Officer New London Development Corporation 165 State Street, Suite 313 New London, CT 06320
Richard M. Brown City Manager City of New London 181 State Street New London, CT 06320
Justice John Paul Stevens One First Street N.E. Washington, DC 20543
Justice David H. Souter One First Street N.E. Washington, DC 20543
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg One First Street N.E. Washington, DC 20543
Justice Stephen G. Breyer One First Street N.E. Washington, DC 20543
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy One First Street N.E. Washington, DC 20543
Stephen P. Gordon is a communications consultant specializing in political, public education, media relations and fundraising campaigns. He is the founder and President of Alabamians for Compassionate Use and the Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Alabama. He recently served as Communications Director for the Badnarik/Campagna 2004 campaign.
Good post, and interesting. I was listening to Micheal Savage after Regan's funeral. He was going nuts (as is normal), but he made a good point. Savage said to pay attention to the people sitting in the front of the funeral. The power structure of both the DNC and GOP was there, acting like old friends.
He repeatedly said that it shows there is no functional difference between the two parties, they go to the same parties, belong to the same clubs, run in the same circles, etc.
We don't need to smoke em out, they are already out. We need to find a way to beat them before we all end up as slaves. The scary thing is it may be to late.
Worth repeating, many times.
Welcome to the new USSA, comrade.
If a Con-Con is called, and everything is on the table, I fear that our new "bill of rights" would look more like the USSR Constitution: freedom from hunger, guaranteed housing and jobs and medical care, etc. Socialist, through and through.
I personally think the War Between the States was the real beginning. Another one was Teddy Roosevelts progressive movement. I think TR was one of our greatest presidents and greatest men, but he started a lot of government intrusion.
I personally think TR himself would have disapproved of what his square deal programs eventually led to and some reforms were necessary but still that was another step.
FDR was another, but the real giant step was the Warren Court and the civil rights cases. Whatever the merits of the civil rights movement, many of the decisions, effectively granted government control over private businesses.
It just keeps going. Even Reagan didn't really turn it around, only slowed government takeover.
Soryy - I set them up for quick loading on mini-pages for 56K dialup users like myself
From my old circa 2000 56K dialup RCA WebTV Plus
It loads that in a heartbeat on MSN 56K dialup
http://pr.lookingat.us/ParkingLot.html
You may have noticied that the WSJ and property rights activists have picked up this "Paved Paradise" theme now - I posted this right after the New London, CT - SCOTUS decision
"Somebody" is visiting FR out there - I know - because I talk with some at WABC 770am NYC and elsewhere
Try these :
http://00access.tripod.com/TalibanTeddy.html
http://pr.lookingat.us/Deaniac.html
http://pr.lookingat.us/Yaa.html
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