“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” --Thomas Jefferson
This Planned Parenthood atrocity will confuse everyone. First, it is another example of one man's vision, essentially the tyranny of one. It underlies philosophies, revolutions, religions and art. It is the hallmark of the seeker of truth, from the hermit to the zealot. This has always been a problem in the world and especially in this nation which has been created to protect the minority from the majority. (Jefferson said a democracy was mob rule.) Second, it raises the problem of freedom vs. security, the essence of the justification for autocracies and monarchies.
Obama said immediately "Enough is enough" and launched on gun ownership. So constitutional guarantees have to be withdrawn. This is in opposition to the freedom of strangers to come to this country--at some at least theoretical risk to its citizens-- which apparently is sacrosanct and cannot be challenged. While this is clearly inconsistent and irrational, that is not an unusual position for Obama.
This Planned Parenthood atrocity will confuse everyone. First, it is another example of one man's vision, essentially the tyranny of one. It underlies philosophies, revolutions, religions and art. It is the hallmark of the seeker of truth, from the hermit to the zealot. This has always been a problem in the world and especially in this nation which has been created to protect the minority from the majority. (Jefferson said a democracy was mob rule.) Second, it raises the problem of freedom vs. security, the essence of the justification for autocracies and monarchies.
Obama said immediately "Enough is enough" and launched on gun ownership. So constitutional guarantees have to be withdrawn. This is in opposition to the freedom of strangers to come to this country--at some at least theoretical risk to its citizens-- which apparently is sacrosanct and cannot be challenged. While this is clearly inconsistent and irrational, that is not an unusual position for Obama.
But it is also beside the point. The point is freedom, an inalienable right. Regrettably security is not, it is only an effort and a hope. It is a desire where freedom is a fact. Freedom is the national agent, security is a hoped for effect.
Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, wrote, "They have elevated safety -- which is a goal of government -- to the level of freedom -- which created the government. This common and pedestrian argument makes the creature -- safety -- equal its creator -- freedom. That is a metaphysical impossibility because it presumes that the good to be purchased is somehow equal to the free choices of the purchaser.
Liberty is the default position. Liberty is the essence of our natural state. Liberty cannot possibly be equal to a good we have instructed the government to obtain.
It cannot be balance, because liberty and safety are not equals, as one created the other. It can only be bias -- a continual predisposition toward and preference for freedom.
Every conceivable clash between the free choices of persons and their instructions to their government to safeguard freedom must favor the free choices because freedom is inalienable. Just as I cannot authorize the government to take away your freedom any more than you can authorize it to take away mine, a majority of all but one cannot authorize the government in a free society to take freedom from that one individual. So if somehow freedom and safety do clash, it is the free choice of each person to resolve that clash for himself, and not one the government can morally make."
Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, wrote, "They have elevated safety -- which is a goal of government -- to the level of freedom -- which created the government. This common and pedestrian argument makes the creature -- safety -- equal its creator -- freedom. That is a metaphysical impossibility because it presumes that the good to be purchased is somehow equal to the free choices of the purchaser.
Liberty is the default position. Liberty is the essence of our natural state. Liberty cannot possibly be equal to a good we have instructed the government to obtain.
It cannot be balance, because liberty and safety are not equals, as one created the other. It can only be bias -- a continual predisposition toward and preference for freedom.
Every conceivable clash between the free choices of persons and their instructions to their government to safeguard freedom must favor the free choices because freedom is inalienable. Just as I cannot authorize the government to take away your freedom any more than you can authorize it to take away mine, a majority of all but one cannot authorize the government in a free society to take freedom from that one individual. So if somehow freedom and safety do clash, it is the free choice of each person to resolve that clash for himself, and not one the government can morally make."
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