FeedThu 26 Jun 2008
Wisdom from Livejournal
Posted by Big Fat Hairy Dave at 2:23 pm under Politics and Web links
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Apparently it’s both!
By Will, June 26th, 2008 at 14:51Not seen so far: freedom, liberty, tyranny. Only a few more words and I’ll win this game of libertarian bingo.
By Big Fat Hairy Dave, June 26th, 2008 at 14:54Next thing you know, you’ll start insisting that words have meanings and that those meanings don’t mean what I think they ought to mean! Down with Canadian linguistic tyrrany!
By Christopher, June 26th, 2008 at 15:12Ah-ha! I finally understand. Socialism and fascism are cousins!
By Big Fat Hairy Dave, June 26th, 2008 at 15:51Well, the opposite of fascism is anarchy and the opposite of socialism is economic liberalism, so it could easily be both. Right?
By itchwoot, June 26th, 2008 at 17:39stay out of america, infidel.
By irl lulz, June 26th, 2008 at 19:24Gun control is rational. No wonder the extreme right hates it.
By libhomo, June 26th, 2008 at 20:22Regardless of what it is, it’s just another excuse to keep right-wing assholes from letting Washingtonians exercise legal self-determination in their own city.
Of course, if crime rates go up, they won’t blame themselves for stripping our laws and our rights to enforce them, they’ll just go on and assume that people who live in the District are too primitive to even eat with utensils and eventually just legislate the city government into non-existence.
(I’m usually on the other side about gun laws, but the Supreme Court ruling has absolutely incensed me. For people who feel the need to classify human beings of any kind as essentially lacking particular rights, the constitution has apparently provided a convenient loophole to keep half a million people easily subjugated.)
By Daniel M. Laenker, June 27th, 2008 at 2:51The problem with the gun ban, aside from some actually pertinent 2nd amendment issues, is that it didn’t work. In 1975, the per 100,000 murder rate in DC proper was 32.8; the next year, when the handgun ban went into effect, murders ticked down to 26.8, and then worked their way up to 35.1 by 1981. After another dip in the mid-80s, the murder rate hit 59.5 in 1988 and 80.6 in 1991. In fact, the only year in the 1990s-2000s when the murder rate actually returned to pre-gun ban levels was 2005 (29.1) (FBI Uniform Crime report here).
So, aside from not doing much to stymie murders in DC and putting a serious dent in DC residents’ 2nd amendment abilities, I have to wonder what real purpose did the gun ban have other than to make people simply feel as if something was being done about crime and social decay when reality is/was quite different.
One can hope the Supremes now move on to restoring Washingtonians’ 4th amendment rights (the city checkpoints) and giving DCers Congressional voting rights, but I’m not holding my breath.
By Bullneck, June 28th, 2008 at 10:33Regardless of whether this law was effective or even fair, I find it outrageous that Congress and the courts can rewrite whatever of the District’s laws they see fit without any real discussion from the metropolitan government itself. And that’s what I’m concerned about here.
By Daniel M. Laenker, July 3rd, 2008 at 2:47“Regardless of whether this law was effective or even fair, I find it outrageous that…the courts can rewrite whatever of the District’s laws they see fit without any real discussion from the metropolitan government itself.”
Um, JD: That’s kind of what the Supreme Court was designed to do — plenty of other cities, states, Congressional laws, and presidents have been smacked down by the Supremes. That’s their job!
Congressional involvement in DC government is another matter, but DC certainly does itself no favors by re-electing Marion Barry; the fact that the Federal seat of government occupies 1/3rd of the city will also always explain Congress’ continual interest in DC laws and management.
By Bullneck, July 3rd, 2008 at 23:54A third of the District is occupied by Arlington County, too. Does that give Virginia overriding interest in DC government as well?
By Daniel M. Laenker, July 4th, 2008 at 4:59Beyond this, what the hell does Marion Barry have to do with anything? And does the existence of cartoonish, licentious and stupid politicians all over the country (Jesse Ventura, David Duke, hell, Ted Kennedy or whatever) justify withholding voting rights from Minnesota, Louisiana, Massachussetts…?
Besides, Barry represents only one ward of the city - one that no one else really thinks about or visits. I have no idea why he keeps getting elected, unless no one is opposing him in Ward 8, or unless he’s actually done things for them that they feel grateful about. Maybe both of these things are true. I don’t know. Frankly, I wish I didn’t have to care. But it’s immaterial.
By Daniel M. Laenker, July 4th, 2008 at 5:04Everything south of the Potomac that used to be the District was retroceded back in full to the state of Virginia in the 19th C.; Arlington and Alexandria are no longer part of the district and VA has no pull on DC gov’t aside from its Congressional delegation.
It’s not immaterial that folks like Marion Barry are still involved in DC elections as yes, JD, the Feds and other higher authorities have most definitely moved in to intercede in local affairs (whether it’s DC, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Detroit, wherever) when it’s clear the locals are electing corrupt felons or people with severe conflicts of interest between their crime activities and gov’t duties. That’s what separates Barry from Ventura, Duke and Teddy, as morally unappealing and cartoonish as that trio may be.
By Bullneck, July 4th, 2008 at 9:01But there are several instances of lawmakers committing felonies, and none of their constituents were intentionally and explicitly disenfranchised - at least not in the sense that their voting rights were suspended.
By Daniel M. Laenker, July 8th, 2008 at 16:40