The morons have been out in force in DC this week, sad to say.
First on the agenda is the old standby. Stuck in a rut? Declining popularity numbers? No domestic agenda to speak of? Failure to plan your war coming back to bite you? What can you do?
I know! Wrap yourself in the cloak of false patriotism and pass a Constitutional amendment banning flag desecration. Thanks, Republicans, for making sure this pressing issue gets the attention it deserves. I know it’s a top priority, considering that I read that there was once instance of flag burning last year.
That’s on top of the fact that people supporting this amendment are putting far more value on the symbol than on the ideals that the symbol represents. People who burn the flag are generally being morons, but the freedoms America provides (provided?) protect said moronity. Besides, with this amendment, you really start getting into intent and motivation behind the act, which is something that Republicans generally decry when the subject is “hate crimes.” Hopefully the Senate will have enough sense to kill this thing dead, though with the current Senate leadership, I’m not too hopeful.
An extra-special “fuck you” to California Rep. “Duke” Cunningham of San Diego, who shat this particularly choice quote: ““Ask the men and women who stood on top of the [World] Trade Center. Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment.”
Actually, I’m pretty sure they would have said “Hey, Dubya, pull yourself away from vacation long enough to pay attention to terror warnings BEFORE we all die.” But thanks for playing, Duke. There needs to be a special form of cockpunch for people who invoke 9/11 to cover the fact that their proposals can’t stand on their own merits.
Hm, Duke, why would you be up there spouting jingoistic phrases? Could it be because you’ve recently been busted because you sold your house to a defense contractor you helped funnel contracts to, who turned right around and sold your house for a loss? And you’ve been living on said contractor’s yacht in DC? And your real estate agent on that sale and the purchase of your new $2+ million house, making her first two real estate transactions ever, was another one of your big campaign contributors? Check the recent archives at Talking Points Memo for the details on Duke and his real-estate connections.
Asstard.
Showing that fuckwittery isn’t limited only to the right, you had the liberal wing of the Supreme Court rule in the majority today that your local governments have the power to sieze your property under eminient domain, and give that property to private corporations for use that will “improve the public good.” Until this ruling, the 5th Amendment’s scope was limited to eminent domain for public use (highways, what have you), which was bad enough. Now, though, if Wal-Mart wants to put a MegaSuperBargainCenter on your family’s farm, and your local government likes the tax dollars that the company will bring, they can just take your land, give you below-market compensation, and that’s that.
Sandra Day O’Connor raised the good points when she wrote, in her dissent, “Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.”
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
