“Senate Democrats used a must-pass military spending bill to push through a controversial measure Thursday extending hate-crime protection to gays .”
Does it strike anyone else as a bit queer that important legislation which couldn’t get passed any other way gets tacked on to other bills which seemingly “must” pass? Think about all the pork assembled and sold to the public as an “emergency” Stimulus Package that had to be passed if America was to survive the week.
“But Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said "nothing in this legislation diminishes an American's freedom of religion, freedom of speech or press or the freedom to assemble. Let me be clear. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act targets acts, not speech.”’
The bill is aimed at prosecuting folks who go around bashing homosexuals, physically assaulting a segment of society who, supposedly, are not protected or protected sufficiently; did you get that, not protected sufficiently by existing laws.
I said it back when the same approach was taken on the original Hate Crimes legislation and I’ll say it again; creating a specific victims category based on race, creed, color or gender runs contrary to everything America stands for. There is a divisiveness built into such a thought process, one which presumes or asserts that the laws of the land written to protect all individuals are somehow exclusive to/of certain manufactured groups based on race, creed, color or gender preference.
There are state laws which cover assault, assault with a weapon, assault with serious injury, assault with intent to commit murder and murder. If a person commits an offence of any state law under one of the listed levels or incremental stages against another individual the courts are directed to treat each case based on the evidence.
We have gone to great lengths to provide equal protection under the law to all individuals within the structure of law, equality to individuals without regard for race, creed or color. Legislating or creating groups of specific individuals, supposedly neglected or abused in the overall process reduce our appreciation for the entire judicial process, presupposing bias and prejudice in the issuance or in the judicial process. Instead of buoying up or making “a more perfect union”, such legislation actually destroys equality in favor of derision, a mockery of liberty for all.
If John Q. Public murders Erastus R. Phobic, a black homosexual, a murder was committed, a well known state law. Most folks already know murder is one of those things we’re asked not to do and would expect consequences for violating this moral code. Making it a federal hate crime too, boy oh boy, now John Q. Public is really in trouble now. Not only are we going to find you guilty of murder and send you to prison for life; now we’re going to make you attend mandatory sensitivity training classes when you could have been watching Dancing with the Stars on the wide screen plasma screen with your fellow inmates in the recreation room; and you can forget having tax payer money for your Arian Nation tattoo additions.
The federal government is in violation of constitutional restraints when it presumes to impose federal regulation on top of existing state laws, supposedly to insure individual rights. Individuals who happen to be black or homosexual should not have special laws to distinguish them as a group when laws written to establish equality for all individuals are already in place. The same is true for other “group distinctive” processes which usurp the individual, as if one group deserves distinctive treatment by virtue of federal decree.
The great experiment which is America rests on the greatness of our people, their ability to govern themselves with as little government intervention as possible along with a certain amount of faith in the character, moral fiber and spirit held by our elected leaders. When we lose faith if our most basic elements, our congress, our laws, our society; it is then that the experiment in self government comes to an end.
I recall the undercurrent of fear which swept quietly in back rooms all over the country when John Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for president. “Oh, my gosh! What will happen if we elect a Catholic?” The same was heard during the last primary battles, “Oh my gosh! Mitt Romney’s a Mormon, what will happen to America if we elect a Mormon to the presidency?” As you can see, we are all much better off with Barry Hussein Obama in the oval office; how’s that hope and change working out for you?
One consideration which looms on such a dark horizon would be that such steps lead to other more invasive federal legislative measures or inclusion of intent. In the case of special hate crimes against homosexuals, the next level of intrusion would be to limit what may be written or said in the public domain when referring to folks whose gender affiliation might run contrary to another individual or group of individual’s liking.
We’ve already heard the use of statements by the recently elected, “Sit down and shut up!” How much harder is it to imagine a time when the ruling party also decides that contrary opinions are not only unwanted; but criminal as well? Right wing extremists, placing myself in the crosshairs of the liberal left, have a tendency to have strong religious beliefs which often are brought into the fray when discussing the direction our country should take regarding moral issues.
George Washington had plenty of great thoughts which he shared throughout the time of his service to America; but one in particular is often over looked because our society has lost its connectivity with the soil; too many of us don’t plant gardens in order to enjoy the fruits of our labors, opting instead to eat at McDonalds.
“Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved.”
If you apply this thought to the adoption of bad legislation, the meaning becomes clear. We’ll spend lots of taxpayer money for something new to make sure of that which already has a mechanism in place and the result will not improve our society; if anything, it will rob us of that which we already have.
Does it strike anyone else as a bit queer that important legislation which couldn’t get passed any other way gets tacked on to other bills which seemingly “must” pass? Think about all the pork assembled and sold to the public as an “emergency” Stimulus Package that had to be passed if America was to survive the week.
“But Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said "nothing in this legislation diminishes an American's freedom of religion, freedom of speech or press or the freedom to assemble. Let me be clear. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act targets acts, not speech.”’
The bill is aimed at prosecuting folks who go around bashing homosexuals, physically assaulting a segment of society who, supposedly, are not protected or protected sufficiently; did you get that, not protected sufficiently by existing laws.
I said it back when the same approach was taken on the original Hate Crimes legislation and I’ll say it again; creating a specific victims category based on race, creed, color or gender runs contrary to everything America stands for. There is a divisiveness built into such a thought process, one which presumes or asserts that the laws of the land written to protect all individuals are somehow exclusive to/of certain manufactured groups based on race, creed, color or gender preference.
There are state laws which cover assault, assault with a weapon, assault with serious injury, assault with intent to commit murder and murder. If a person commits an offence of any state law under one of the listed levels or incremental stages against another individual the courts are directed to treat each case based on the evidence.
We have gone to great lengths to provide equal protection under the law to all individuals within the structure of law, equality to individuals without regard for race, creed or color. Legislating or creating groups of specific individuals, supposedly neglected or abused in the overall process reduce our appreciation for the entire judicial process, presupposing bias and prejudice in the issuance or in the judicial process. Instead of buoying up or making “a more perfect union”, such legislation actually destroys equality in favor of derision, a mockery of liberty for all.
If John Q. Public murders Erastus R. Phobic, a black homosexual, a murder was committed, a well known state law. Most folks already know murder is one of those things we’re asked not to do and would expect consequences for violating this moral code. Making it a federal hate crime too, boy oh boy, now John Q. Public is really in trouble now. Not only are we going to find you guilty of murder and send you to prison for life; now we’re going to make you attend mandatory sensitivity training classes when you could have been watching Dancing with the Stars on the wide screen plasma screen with your fellow inmates in the recreation room; and you can forget having tax payer money for your Arian Nation tattoo additions.
The federal government is in violation of constitutional restraints when it presumes to impose federal regulation on top of existing state laws, supposedly to insure individual rights. Individuals who happen to be black or homosexual should not have special laws to distinguish them as a group when laws written to establish equality for all individuals are already in place. The same is true for other “group distinctive” processes which usurp the individual, as if one group deserves distinctive treatment by virtue of federal decree.
The great experiment which is America rests on the greatness of our people, their ability to govern themselves with as little government intervention as possible along with a certain amount of faith in the character, moral fiber and spirit held by our elected leaders. When we lose faith if our most basic elements, our congress, our laws, our society; it is then that the experiment in self government comes to an end.
I recall the undercurrent of fear which swept quietly in back rooms all over the country when John Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for president. “Oh, my gosh! What will happen if we elect a Catholic?” The same was heard during the last primary battles, “Oh my gosh! Mitt Romney’s a Mormon, what will happen to America if we elect a Mormon to the presidency?” As you can see, we are all much better off with Barry Hussein Obama in the oval office; how’s that hope and change working out for you?
One consideration which looms on such a dark horizon would be that such steps lead to other more invasive federal legislative measures or inclusion of intent. In the case of special hate crimes against homosexuals, the next level of intrusion would be to limit what may be written or said in the public domain when referring to folks whose gender affiliation might run contrary to another individual or group of individual’s liking.
We’ve already heard the use of statements by the recently elected, “Sit down and shut up!” How much harder is it to imagine a time when the ruling party also decides that contrary opinions are not only unwanted; but criminal as well? Right wing extremists, placing myself in the crosshairs of the liberal left, have a tendency to have strong religious beliefs which often are brought into the fray when discussing the direction our country should take regarding moral issues.
George Washington had plenty of great thoughts which he shared throughout the time of his service to America; but one in particular is often over looked because our society has lost its connectivity with the soil; too many of us don’t plant gardens in order to enjoy the fruits of our labors, opting instead to eat at McDonalds.
“Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved.”
If you apply this thought to the adoption of bad legislation, the meaning becomes clear. We’ll spend lots of taxpayer money for something new to make sure of that which already has a mechanism in place and the result will not improve our society; if anything, it will rob us of that which we already have.
No comments:
Post a Comment