Category: general freedom

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Common Sense crime and punishment general freedom government transparency national politics & policies U.S. Constitution

Swarms of Officers to Harass

Playing cards

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

It’s simple but true. And, as a corollary, let me add that using the power of the federal government to harass individuals or groups one happens to dislike or disagree with is wrong.

You might recall that our Declaration of Independence rebuked King George for sending “hither swarms of Officers to harass our people.” Or consider the recent civil-​rights-​violating behavior of the IRS against conservative groups during President Obama’s administration.

Yesterday, I proposed to end all taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood. Obviously, I’m not a fan of the organization. And neither are the Republican presidential candidates — especially Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

“Planned Parenthood had better hope that Hillary Clinton wins this election,” Jindal boasted at last week’s JV presidential debate hosted by Fox News, “because I guarantee you that under President Jindal, January 2017, the Department of Justice and the IRS and everybody else that we can send from the federal government will be [looking] into Planned Parenthood.”

Speaking with reporters after the debate, Mr. Jindal doubled down, suggesting there might also be a role for the Environmental Protection Agency and perhaps other tentacles of the federal Leviathan.

Jindal has removed Planned Parenthood from Louisiana’s Medicaid program. That’s within his legitimate power. But directing an assault against anyone using the IRS and other federal agencies is both wrong and … against the law.

It promises not change but the same rotten, rights-​robbing, goon-​squad government we have now. Just with a different color shirt.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Playing cards

 

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Common Sense general freedom ideological culture national politics & policies

Abort the Subsidy

12 Week old fetus

Common Sense generally steers clear of the abortion issue. Arguably, for “common sense” reasons.

I’ve always been pro-​life, but I’ve also been skeptical of government’s ability to improve the situation, to save unborn lives via the criminal justice system.

No law forces women to have abortions; it’s voluntary. I’ve long hoped that ultrasounds and other technological advances will change hearts and minds, nudging couples to choose to abort less often, making abortion even more rare than when it was illegal. I gladly note that the number of abortions has fallen 12 percent since 2010.

Certainly, I’ve prioritized my political action in a different direction: affecting greater representation, better government, via citizen-​initiated checks on power.

Yet, the recent videos showing doctors and other Planned Parenthood personnel chatting about the sale of fetal body parts implicates a lot more than just abortion. For starters, the footage triggered my gag reflex, and then my sense of justice for the unborn, and sense of decency in the treatment of their remains.

And what about justice and compassion for people deeply offended (myself among them) at being forced to fork over $528.4 million tax dollars each year to an organization performing the most abortions?

Let’s be pro-​choice and abort the taxpayer subsidy to Planned Parenthood.

Those who continue to approve of Planned Parenthood’s work would remain free to support it. Personally. Voluntarily. Likewise, if you revile the organization, you should also be free to not fund it.

Isn’t such respect for each others’ heartfelt beliefs also just common sense?

I think so. I’m Paul Jacob.

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12 Week old fetus

 

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Common Sense general freedom ideological culture national politics & policies responsibility

Supremacist Progressives?

Bernie Sanders and Black Lives 2

“Thank you, Seattle, for being one of the most progressive cities in the United States of America,” socialist-​cum-​Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders shouted to the large crowd in the City of Goodwill.

Seconds later, two women with a local Black Lives Matter group jumped the stage, threatening to shut down the event. Quickly, they were rewarded for their extortion-​by-​tantrum. Sen. Sanders and company relinquished the microphone, podium and stage.

The kidnapped crowd booed the violation, only to be screamed at by Marissa Johnson, one of the protesters, as “a bunch of screaming white racists,” who practice “white supremacist liberalism.”

“I was going to tell Bernie how racist this city is, filled with its progressives, but you did it for me,” Johnson added.

Angry audience members yelled, “How dare you?!” and “How dare she call me a racist.”

“You guys are full of bull-$@%# with your ‘black lives matter,’” she chided, acknowledging that the event had already recognized the anniversary of Michael Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

What a fascinating marriage of outrage and entitlement!

And yet … real grievances abound.

“Welcome to Seattle,” Johnson told Bernie, “where our Seattle Police Department has been under federal consent decree for the past three years, and yet has been riddled by use of force, racial profiling, and scandals throughout the year.”

Sen. Sanders doesn’t even stand up for his own speech rights, much less ours. Apparently fearing the loudmouths, he proved unwilling to confront them or address their complaints.

Sanders and his “progressive” Democrat comrades (governing cities like Baltimore and Seattle) must take responsibility for the results of their policies, and admit that the black voices shouting against racism are shouting at them.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Bernie Sanders and Black Lives

 

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Common Sense general freedom ideological culture media and media people national politics & policies Popular

Are Democrats Socialists?

Deer in the Headlights

Does it matter that the chair of the Democratic National Committee doesn’t know if her party is socialist?

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was grilling Debbie Wasserman-​Schultz on the meaning of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s popularity within the Democratic Party. Mrs. Wasserman-​Schultz responded by boasting that the Democrats “really are a Big Tent Party.” Then Matthews veered out her comfort zone of horse-​race politics and self-​congratulatory posturing.

“What is the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist?” he asked.

Mrs. W‑S chuckled. Uncomfortably.

“I used to think there was a big difference,” Matthews went on. “What do you think it is?” Mrs. W‑S evaded, blathering on how it is that the difference between Democrats and Republicans is what will really count in the upcoming election.

Karl Dickey, at the Examiner, holds that Democrats, today, are socialists: “one only needs to look at the Democratic Party’s platform to understand that it is a socialistic political party.”

Meanwhile, Juan Williams, discussing the issue on Fox News’s The Five, argues that there is a big difference between Democrats and socialists: Dems just like regulation and redistributing wealth; socialists want to nationalize industry and run everything through a central bureau.

And that is the definition that anti-​socialist economists Yves Guyot and Ludwig von Mises settled on. Technically, Williams is right.

But the fact that the head of the Democratic Party waffled on the distinction says more about the party than a definitive answer would have.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Deer in the Headlights

 

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free trade & free markets general freedom individual achievement

Call for Great Communicators

Great Communicators Tournament

Money can’t buy me love. So, the $10,000 first prize in the Second Annual Great Communicators Tournament doesn’t matter to me at all. Nor does the $5,000 second prize entice me, and certainly not the $2,500 for third place.

You, however, may be fond of money.

And if you can effectively communicate the freedom message, this contest is well worth joining. But the deadline — THIS FRIDAY, August 7 — is fast approaching.

The tournament’s “goal is to identify … and promote individuals who can effectively and persuasively discuss and defend the free market and the founding principles.”

It’s the brainchild of the folks at Think Freely Media — the good souls who sponsor this Common Sense program. They know that liberty advocates must take the moral high-​ground in making the case for freedom, and not merely argue by empirical analysis.

The competition is easy to enter. No later than midnight this Friday provide a 1 – 3 minute video of yourself addressing one of several issues listed on the contest website.

“Videos should be … clear and concise, make sure … that you use moral, not material, arguments,” contestants are informed. “We’re looking for solid arguments and messages, not flashy production value.”

Your video will be posted, so a combination of public voting and deliberations by the Think Freely staff and judges will identify twelve semi-​finalists. These twelve will then compete in person for the top prizes at the State Policy Network’s Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in September.

Why not see just how talented a communicator you are? And perhaps get even better … at growing liberty.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul McCart … er, Paul Jacob.

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Great Communicators Tournament

 

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Common Sense crime and punishment general freedom

Ultra Anti-​Civilization

Against tolerance

The stabbing event at a Thursday “Gay Pride” march in Jerusalem reveals an element of the much-​talked-​about “clash of civilizations” not often discussed any longer. But it used to dominate the conversation.

Why? It was not a Muslim jihadist who stabbed six people and ultimately killed one of them, a 16-​year-​old girl (she died in the hospital this weekend).

It was an Orthodox Jew.

That is, the man arrested at the event, identified as Yishai Schlissel, certainly looked Orthodox, when I saw him on TV, briefly, in an early report. The BBC now refers to him an “ultra-Orthodox Jew” (“ultra” theirs; emphasis, mine). He had previously carried out a similar attack in 2005.

“Israel’s government would have ‘zero tolerance’ for Jewish extremists, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a security cabinet meeting on Sunday,” according to a BBC report.

What suspect Schlissel shares with other terrorists is not merely a rock-​hard belief that certain other people are sinful and corrupt, etc. He somehow also believes that he may assume the role of judge and executioner … of people he only knows by their differences.

This is beyond “ultra.” Schlissel repudiates not only the rule of law (since he acts outside it), but a basic idea that has grown in Western civilization — from roots found in his own religion.

Liberty.

The essence of liberty? Leaving peaceful people you disagree with alone.

It is more than possible for the religiously orthodox to get along with the un-​orthodox. We can all get along if we respect each others’ rights, regardless of our differences.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Against tolerance