|
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.
ping
In case folks want to encourage the Weare, N.H., selectmen who have the power to take Judge Souter's house by eminent domain so that it can be replaced by a higher-tax-paying hotel, here are the Selectmen's addresses.
That's so pretty devolve, it makes you feel like you're moving! [or maybe I've been sitting at the computer too long?]
Thanks for the ping!
Damn good idea!!!! Where do Jane Fonda and Alec Baldwin and their ilk live?
Let me see if can remember back to my political science class. One of the checks and balances of our bicameral government is that if one branch does some thing bad one of the other two can do something about it. For instance the pres can veto a bill if he so chooses and the leg can over ride the pres veto. There is checks and balances on what the SCOtUS did. The checks and balance on the judiciary from the legislature is to pass an amendment to constitution. Once Congresses passes an amendment and the states ratify, game over, SCOtUS over turned.
Reading between the lines, this ruling by the Soviet Court says that the primary purpose of an individual American citizen is to maximize the financial status of the state.
That goes against everything this country was founded on. And it gives us a good indication of how they will rule on future cases.
If the tyrants don't abide by the existing Constitution, what makes you think they will abide by a new one?
Make no mistake, a new one will be an abomination and will lack any meaningful Bill of Rights.
There was a thread on that today. The council members are laughing about it. They know that this ruling "really" only applies to us peasants. They think it's a freakin' game.
Yes. USG manual for my Moisin-Nagant T44 stated that the two rounds competed for both USG and Imperial Russian Govt. contracts at the turn of the century. For various reasons, USG chose one, and the Russians chose the other.
Ballistics very similar, tiny bit more oomph in the American round, and .308 slightly milder than either for the most part. All three have an edge over .303 and the German 7mm and 8mm calibers, and are about 30-40% more energetic downrange (at 200-300yd) than the venerable .300 Savage hunting round. (Savage Arms still offers one commemorative rifle in this caliber.)
Some of the hotter .308/7.62x51 rounds are peers of the .30-06 by the same criterion, and all of them make the "high-powered assault rifles" in 7.62x39 look sick by comparison, a point that seems to be perpetually lost on the Million Dense Moms, Charlie Schumer, and people like that.
Well, the whole point is, if you call a convention, you threaten the status quo, which is working pretty well for the various interests, right? And remember what David Horowitz noticed about the "Left" versus the "economic royalists" -- it all seems to come together at the top, and the Charlie Schumers and Howard Deans and Hillarys on one side and the Old Money owners of the Yacht Club wing of the GOP on the other, are just two hands on the same body, commanded by the same head.
So call the convention, force them to show their hand.......and let the unpleasantness begin, on your timing, and smoke them all out.
Then we'll see who's who and what's what.
What you need going in, is a team of dedicated investigators -- FBI men and Secret Service men and military people who took their oaths seriously -- and a road map to the Opposition: a Who's Who in Money, Law, High Society, and Politics. A wiring diagram, if you will, of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization called the American Establishment (and you ain't a member, if you don't know you are).
Smoke 'em out.....start there.
Rods of iron, and eternal vigilance against their interest....and their toadies, henchboys, and enablers.
Make no mistake, a new one will be an abomination and will lack any meaningful Bill of Rights.
If the wrong people write it, yes.......so you get on your state Lege to reject it (or Else)......and write another, with better attention to the original, and to kicking ass on the people who want to compromise the process, and you, and all of us, no matter what their nominal politics might be, and whether they tell you they're from the Left or the Right or Up the Middle.
We are the only ones who can convince them that we are not playing their game anymore.
Of course they do. They're like the Habsburgs, or a headless chicken. They think it's all still business as usual. So when does Weare hold elections? This ought to be interesting.
Send 5 emails with your address and signature.
Oh, I don't know. Our government did the exact same thing to the Indians, way back when.
It was only a matter of time before they did the same thing to everyone else.
Didn't the US Govt drive the indians off their lands and onto the reservations?
Guess who's next?
Trail of Tears, anyone?
In coming years, the media will highlight every case of a dispossessed American on the evening news.
The rallying cry will cause Walmart to run out of pitchforks.
Eventually the situation will be remedied and our governments reined in.
Or, thousands of years from now, we will be a future episode on Empire Part II.
BUMP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
