Monday, April 26, 2010
By The Time I Get To Arizona
In the category of "don't do me any favors," Rev. Al Sharpton is promising a march on Arizona to protest the new anti-illegal immigration law. Now, there's a great way to prevent any genuine support building against the law! Because, Sharpton is so, um, persuasive.
Of course, you don't have to be a pal of Rev. Al not to realize that this law is fraught with peril. Civil libertarians on the right and the left should find problems with the legislation -- the biggest of which is yes, the demand that those suspected of being illegal need to carry their documentation with them at all times. This is a blatant invitation for abuse by agents of the state, i.e., the police. As "Saturday Night Live" pointed out quite adroitly this weekend, "Show me your papers" is a phrase that has too many ugly connotations. Well, one, actually:
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Of course, you don't have to be a pal of Rev. Al not to realize that this law is fraught with peril. Civil libertarians on the right and the left should find problems with the legislation -- the biggest of which is yes, the demand that those suspected of being illegal need to carry their documentation with them at all times. This is a blatant invitation for abuse by agents of the state, i.e., the police. As "Saturday Night Live" pointed out quite adroitly this weekend, "Show me your papers" is a phrase that has too many ugly connotations. Well, one, actually:
Read more »
Labels: Arizona, civil liberties, Illegal Immigration
Monday, June 09, 2008
A Bob Barr Opening?
The libertarians can't be happy about this development:
Hmmm...but I believe Obama is still against the idea of providing ID before voting.
It might be interesting to have him ask why it's OK to demand taht people involved in mortgages have to provide fingerprints to prevent fraud -- but people who are voting don't have to prove they are who they say they are.
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Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) authored a bill (with 11 co-sponsors, including Sen. Barack Obama) that was incorporated into a housing bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee 19-2 before the Memorial Day recess — a bill that creates a national fingerprint registry.
According to a Martinez press release, the language merely “create[s] national licensing and oversight standards for residential mortgage originators.”
One of the standards, John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says, may “require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds.”
Hmmm...but I believe Obama is still against the idea of providing ID before voting.
It might be interesting to have him ask why it's OK to demand taht people involved in mortgages have to provide fingerprints to prevent fraud -- but people who are voting don't have to prove they are who they say they are.
Labels: Barack Obama, civil liberties, mortgages
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"Don't Tase Me, Bro!"...
...is this week's official slogan of Ragged Thots.
Meet Andrew Meyer, the UF student coralled with arguably extreme methods -- as he was questioning John Kerry. RT commenters have already begun the discussion of this incident in the previous post's thread. However, one question did pop in my head: Was Kerry conflicted over who's side he should be on?
On a serious point: Given that this guy decided to bum-rush the line and then dominate the Q&A, removing him from the proceedings might have been legitimate (thus putting aside the free-speech argument; at an open forum such as that, no one is guaranteed the opportunity to speak).
However, unless someone is clearly violent and a danger to the police, him/herself or others, there's no excuse for a Taser to be used. Meyer is a relatively big guy, but he didn't seem to pose that level of threat.
Student Tasered at John Kerry Speech ... Right or Wrong?
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Meet Andrew Meyer, the UF student coralled with arguably extreme methods -- as he was questioning John Kerry. RT commenters have already begun the discussion of this incident in the previous post's thread. However, one question did pop in my head: Was Kerry conflicted over who's side he should be on?
On a serious point: Given that this guy decided to bum-rush the line and then dominate the Q&A, removing him from the proceedings might have been legitimate (thus putting aside the free-speech argument; at an open forum such as that, no one is guaranteed the opportunity to speak).
However, unless someone is clearly violent and a danger to the police, him/herself or others, there's no excuse for a Taser to be used. Meyer is a relatively big guy, but he didn't seem to pose that level of threat.
Student Tasered at John Kerry Speech ... Right or Wrong?
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Labels: civil liberties, John Kerry, protest
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Politics Makes For Strange...
|Friday, August 17, 2007
Aye, Aye, Captain
Ed Morrissey has a completely reasonable take on the Jose Padilla case and Thursday verdict.
Andrew addresses the more disturbing issues related to Padilla's lengthy detainment and "non-torture torture."
Previous RT thoughts on the whole Jose Padilla mess can be found here and here.
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Andrew addresses the more disturbing issues related to Padilla's lengthy detainment and "non-torture torture."
Previous RT thoughts on the whole Jose Padilla mess can be found here and here.
Labels: civil liberties, Jose Padilla, war on terror
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Andrew, Andrew...
Clearly, Mr. Sullivan is confused:
Honestly, where does he get these things? Maybe he comes from some country where they don't understand that what the leader of the country says goes, you know?
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Here's a pretty revealing statement:Well, duh, Andrew! Why wouldn't you trust the judgment of the president to be correct in all matters? Next thing you'll be saying that he or his advisers could possibly be wrong in their assessment of who is or isn't an enemy combatant -- or, heaven help us, that the administration might just switch designations to avoid court scrutiny!By a 2-1 ruling, the court held that an alien terrorist who is lawfully in the United States may not be held without trial as an enemy combatant.Notice that Andy McCarthy knows that someone is an alien terrorist - before any trial or any due process. How does he know? Because the president has said so.
Honestly, where does he get these things? Maybe he comes from some country where they don't understand that what the leader of the country says goes, you know?
Labels: Andrew Sullivan, civil liberties, enemy combatant
