Rightfully Alarmed

I got some splainin to do.

On my post “Disappearing Property Rights,” I ended by saying I oppose the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court on the grounds of property rights.  After analyzing more of her decisions, and through the employment of utilitarian justification, I need to retract that statement… somewhat.

With respect to her decision condoning eminent domain in the Didden case, which I found important enough to write Senator Cornyn about, she supported the political thuggery of  ”state-sanctioned extortion” (along with New York state law); I still think this is the primary reason for opposing her nomination.  This case has potential, and could be a focal point, if the supposed “racist” charges against Sotomayor are dismissed.

It’s worth noting that Judge Sotmayor has nearly 4000 judicial opinions, about 100 of which deal with racial discrimination, of which, about 85% were overturned.  Furthermore, she has been mum on abortion, and her stance on gun rights is equally ambiguous. 

Basically, Judge Sotomayor has tried each case before her individually, leaving behind a left-of-center, relatively moderate record.  Sure, she is an admitted liberal who values her experiences as richer than others, but in the trade-out of Souter for Sotomayor, “Right Wingers” could be getting a better deal.  So while I don’t support Sotomayor, I am no longer opposed to her nomination; I’m simply casually indifferent.

Now, about that “Right Wing,” generally speaking.  I have pointed out time and time again that in the report “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” the Department of Homeland Security, under the leadership of Secretary Janet Napolitano, purposefully disenfranchised social conservatives, veterans, and libertarians alike from identifying with other “Right Wingers.”  Even I, as such, disenfranchised with any particular group of like-minded folks, discovered through the writing of my post “Party of One” that the only group I could rightly identify with is the “Right Wing” of political ideology, thus, making me a target of the current Administration.

With yesterday’s horrific Holocaust Museum shooting, coming ten days after the assassination of abortion doctor George Tiller, a lockstep media was eager to marginalize the “Right Wing” as homegrown-terrorists-in-waiting by lumping the Republican Party with extremist groups advocating anti-abortion violence and white supremacy, even claiming that these extremists are fueled by Conservative Talk Radio.  I watched it unfold last night:  predictably, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow were chomping at their collective bit to spew on and on about this despicable Right Wing, with headlines like “Right Wing Terror Strikes America” (Olby) and “Are extremists emboldened by recent acts of terror?” (Madcow).  Nevermind which ‘wing’ has been historically pro-Israel; if it behooves these individuals to perpetuate their special interests with an opportunity to libel their opponents, they’ll take it.

With these criminal acts evolving into hate crimes, and possibly into the definition of terrorist acts, the conversation went a bit further when CNN’s Campbell Brown asked, “Are we focusing on the wrong bad guys?  In targeting Al Qaeda, are we ignoring a greater threat here at home?”  It went even further when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews claimed that the shooting at the Holocaust Museum was due to loose gun laws in the United States.  Throughout the night, both the 1st and 2nd Amendment were on the chopping block, with arguments of “outlawing certain kinds of speech,” and blaming guns for violence, with Chris Matthews saying, “It’s easier to get a gun in the United States than it is to get somebody to make you a waffle.”

Really?  I will gladly make you a waffle, Chris.  Come on by the house.  But please, let’s not blame the 2nd Amendment, that is, the guarantor of the 1st Amendment, for the evils in this world.  No guns were used in the 9/11 Plot.  As my wife immediately (and astutely) pointed out, the Jewish people memorialized at the Holocaust Memorial had neither 1st or 2nd Amendment rights.  What if those rights had not slowly been taken from them?  How would history have been different?  We must exercise eternal vigilance, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, and stand for these liberties today, even in hard times, to guarantee our freedom tomorrow.

I admittedly enjoy the Holocaust Museum, if “enjoy” is the word for it.  It is so strikingly moving that I found it important enough to tour the weekend before the 2008 Presidential Election, which I documented on my post, “The (R)eckoning Part 2,” back in November.  We should never forget what it stands for.  The issues epitomized by the Holocaust Museum are as prescient today as ever.  I realize that it is not right to portray acts of violence with any particular political “wing.”  Extremists of all stripes stand ready to do harm to fellow Americans.

Within 24 hours of the assassination of abortion doctor George Tiller, two Army recruiters in Arkansas were shot by Abdulhakim Muhammad, who was “mad at the U.S. military because of what they had done to Muslims in the past.”  One of the soldiers, Private William Long, was killed, and Private Quinton Ezeagwula was injured.  Was this left-wing extremism, encouraged by the anti-war “Special Comments” of Keith Olbermann?  Absolutely not, and saying so would be slanderous.  Why, then, is it accepted practice to defame half of the political spectrum, the ”Right-Wingers,” and our civil liberties guaranteed under the 1st and 2nd Amendments, when whackos attack specific targets for political reasons?

While others have been emboldened to use these events as political hammers, I have already become much more cautious in my selection of words.  I shouldn’t feel this way, but I can’t help but think that while my security is threatened by these acts of violence, my freedom is also endangered by the subsequent responses to the acts.  I hope that in these difficult times we can look beyond the crimes to see the importance of due diligence in the protection of our liberties, the true source of our security.  It’s evident to me there’s a lot at stake.

“I like defending this country.” – 18 year old Pvt Quinton Ezeagwula, in a CNN interview