Planting the Seeds of Mischief?
By Bham Posted in User Blogs — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Perhaps I'm just a worrier, but will we live to regret some of political and legal precedents we're establishing and defending?
Sooner (maybe much sooner) or later, the Dems will return to power. Saying that gives me no pleasure, please be assured. But the two parties have traded power intermittently for almost 150 years, and I believe in the mysterious power of regression to the mean.
When next the Dems prevail, what might they do with enhanced communications eavesdropping, financial monitoring and the suspension of habeas corpus we term "enemy combatant detention?"
For the greater part of his long incumbency, J. Edgar Hoover "served" Democratic administrations. And multiple historical accounts document Hoover's abuses of civil liberties. Perhaps this example cuts both ways: the Republic did survive Hoover, after all.
The recent Supreme Court decision upholding the DeLay-inspired, mid-decade Texas redistricting is clearly beneficial to Republicans short term, but what if every state with a Dem-controlled legislature, now and in the future, uses this precedent to attempt to Gerrymander Republicans into oblivion?
The Libertarian's refrain is that government powers tend to be strongly accretive -- once acquired, they are seldom revoked. As I think about next November and beyond, this makes me uneasy.
I've never taken antidepressants. Maybe I should start.
...your righteous anger.
To take the partisan tack, "Would you be comfortable if it were Janet Reno & Bill Clinton doing 'X'"?
In most cases, I find myself saying "H3LL NO."
If the Democrats were serious about prosecution of the GWOT and used all the tools at their disposal... I don't see it happening any time soon, though.
As far as redistricting goes, there's nothing wrong with it. Nowhere is it written that redistricting can't be done more often than once every 10 years. Elections have consequences.
I hope you're all Republicans! - Ronald Reagan
The recent Supreme Court decision correcting the Frost+other TX D's-inspired, three-decade illegal Texas redistricting is clearly beneficial to Republicans short term, but what if every state with a Dem-controlled legislature, now and in the future, uses this precedent to attempt to Gerrymander Republicans into oblivion?
Legal precedents are a good thing, no? Put down the pill bottle and take a short walk. It should do you some good.
Rs and Ds, I can tell you from experience that the one thing the Rs never get is the adage, when the enemy is in range, so are you. They see all these nice toys that they'd like to play with and give no thought to what the Ds might do with the same toy.
The most important lesson of power is to learn that just because you can is not a reason that you should.