Saturday, June 28, 2008
THE MCCAIN COURT
John McCain has at least an outside chance of becoming the next President of the United States. The oldest member of the Supreme Court, John Paul Stevens, is eighty-seven. The next President will have the privilege of naming his successor. Mr. McCain has assured his conservative supporters that his court appointments will be just like those of his predecessor, George Bush, who appointed Justices Roberts and Alito. Roberts and Alito are predictably conservative judges. They consistently vote with the other two ultra-conservative judges, Thomas and Scalia. Justice Stevens votes predictably with the “liberal” justices: Breyer, Ginsburg, and Souter. The one justice who is somewhat unpredictable is Justice Kennedy.
Liberals tend to worry about the issue of abortion: right-to-life vs. choice. They worry that if Justice Stevens is replaced by a justice like Alito or Roberts, there will then be at least five and perhaps six votes on the court to revisit and overturn Roe vs. Wade. In that decision the court found a fundamental right of privacy in the federal constitution and from that concluded that a woman had a right to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason she chose. Conservatives and conservative justices have been railing against that decision and denying that the federal constitution grants a right to privacy, or a right not to have government make decisions for you.
Some persons take comfort in a statement that John McCain made some years ago. At the time he stated that he would not advocate overturning Roe vs. Wade. One can presume that he would not select judicial candidates who do favor overturning that decision. There’s always hope, and there’s always the possibility that swine will develop wings and take to the air.
Polls indicate that the selection of the next Supreme Court justice is an issue that excites liberals like me, but has no interest to voters generally classified as “independent.” Independent voters are excited by the price of gasoline and by the export of manufacturing jobs from such States as Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia, where labor unions are weak and workers’ wages are very low. Independent voters are not interested in the issue of “choice” vs. “right-to-life.”
Now, the decisions of the US Supreme Court have no effect on the price of gasoline and probably very little effect on the export of manufacturing jobs. They do have an effect of the lives of working people in this country, particularly people of color, females, and others typically subject to discrimination. For example, a recent decision by the conservative majority of the court has made it virtually impossible for a person to sue an employer for wage discrimination. The decision was that the suit had to be brought within 180 days of the actual discriminatory act. In most cases, a person won’t learn that he or she has been paid less than other equally qualified workers doing the same job until several years have elapsed. Another decision drastically reduced the punitive damages assessed against Exxon Mobile for the disastrous oil spill in Prince William Sound near Valdez, Alaska. These economic decisions were made by justices who were chosen to satisfy the fundamentalist Christian clamor for judges who would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade.
Conservatives rail against “liberal” judges who “legislate from the bench” or who “make law” instead of interpreting law. Clearly, legislating from the bench is in the eye of the beholder. Antonin Scalia claims that he interprets the constitution according to the original intent of the drafters. Sandra Day O’Connor was accustomed to think, according to an article I’ve read, about the effects of a court decision on the people. One of my friends says that Scalia really thinks about the effects his decisions will make on the lives of certain people. The difference between him and O’Connor is that he is concerned about the well being of a different group of people from the people she was concerned about.
I can believe that. Mr. Scalia does not find an implicit right of privacy in the constitution; therefore, Roe v. Wade was incorrectly decided. On the other hand, for 200 years the courts have not decided that the Second Amendment guarantees that an individual has an absolute right to own and use a fire arm. Here is the text of the amendment:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Mr. Scalia, in the decision that he wrote for the majority, finds in that statement an implicit right of individuals to own firearms. His finding depends on his interpretation of the amendment rather than on “original intent.” There is no obvious “original intent” that everyone should have the right to own a gun. One can just as easily interpret the “original intent” as giving each State the right to maintain an armed and well regulated militia, or National Guard, and that individual militia (Guard) members had the right to own their weapons. In fact, in 1789 the several States required their respective militia members to supply their own weapons. States didn’t have much money in those days.
It is clear to me which groups Mr. Scalia cares about. He cares about gun owners. He doesn’t care about pregnant women. He cares about business men who may be sued by employees who were underpaid in comparison with other employees. He doesn’t care about the underpaid employees.
The conclusion is, I hope and pray that John McCain doesn’t win election. I hope and pray that Barack Obama will choose judges who care about workers and pregnant women more than about Wall Street, wealthy businessmen, and religious fundamentalists.
Liberals tend to worry about the issue of abortion: right-to-life vs. choice. They worry that if Justice Stevens is replaced by a justice like Alito or Roberts, there will then be at least five and perhaps six votes on the court to revisit and overturn Roe vs. Wade. In that decision the court found a fundamental right of privacy in the federal constitution and from that concluded that a woman had a right to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason she chose. Conservatives and conservative justices have been railing against that decision and denying that the federal constitution grants a right to privacy, or a right not to have government make decisions for you.
Some persons take comfort in a statement that John McCain made some years ago. At the time he stated that he would not advocate overturning Roe vs. Wade. One can presume that he would not select judicial candidates who do favor overturning that decision. There’s always hope, and there’s always the possibility that swine will develop wings and take to the air.
Polls indicate that the selection of the next Supreme Court justice is an issue that excites liberals like me, but has no interest to voters generally classified as “independent.” Independent voters are excited by the price of gasoline and by the export of manufacturing jobs from such States as Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia, where labor unions are weak and workers’ wages are very low. Independent voters are not interested in the issue of “choice” vs. “right-to-life.”
Now, the decisions of the US Supreme Court have no effect on the price of gasoline and probably very little effect on the export of manufacturing jobs. They do have an effect of the lives of working people in this country, particularly people of color, females, and others typically subject to discrimination. For example, a recent decision by the conservative majority of the court has made it virtually impossible for a person to sue an employer for wage discrimination. The decision was that the suit had to be brought within 180 days of the actual discriminatory act. In most cases, a person won’t learn that he or she has been paid less than other equally qualified workers doing the same job until several years have elapsed. Another decision drastically reduced the punitive damages assessed against Exxon Mobile for the disastrous oil spill in Prince William Sound near Valdez, Alaska. These economic decisions were made by justices who were chosen to satisfy the fundamentalist Christian clamor for judges who would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade.
Conservatives rail against “liberal” judges who “legislate from the bench” or who “make law” instead of interpreting law. Clearly, legislating from the bench is in the eye of the beholder. Antonin Scalia claims that he interprets the constitution according to the original intent of the drafters. Sandra Day O’Connor was accustomed to think, according to an article I’ve read, about the effects of a court decision on the people. One of my friends says that Scalia really thinks about the effects his decisions will make on the lives of certain people. The difference between him and O’Connor is that he is concerned about the well being of a different group of people from the people she was concerned about.
I can believe that. Mr. Scalia does not find an implicit right of privacy in the constitution; therefore, Roe v. Wade was incorrectly decided. On the other hand, for 200 years the courts have not decided that the Second Amendment guarantees that an individual has an absolute right to own and use a fire arm. Here is the text of the amendment:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Mr. Scalia, in the decision that he wrote for the majority, finds in that statement an implicit right of individuals to own firearms. His finding depends on his interpretation of the amendment rather than on “original intent.” There is no obvious “original intent” that everyone should have the right to own a gun. One can just as easily interpret the “original intent” as giving each State the right to maintain an armed and well regulated militia, or National Guard, and that individual militia (Guard) members had the right to own their weapons. In fact, in 1789 the several States required their respective militia members to supply their own weapons. States didn’t have much money in those days.
It is clear to me which groups Mr. Scalia cares about. He cares about gun owners. He doesn’t care about pregnant women. He cares about business men who may be sued by employees who were underpaid in comparison with other employees. He doesn’t care about the underpaid employees.
The conclusion is, I hope and pray that John McCain doesn’t win election. I hope and pray that Barack Obama will choose judges who care about workers and pregnant women more than about Wall Street, wealthy businessmen, and religious fundamentalists.
Labels: abortion rights, Antonin Scalia, Barack Obama, employee lawsuits, export of jobs, gasoline, John McCain, second amendment
HANDGUNS FOR PROTECTION?
The recent Supreme Court decision that the Second Amendment grants a personal right to own a firearm contains some reasoning that I regard as specious. Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion, repeated the plaintiff’s argument who asserted that he needed a hand gun for protection against the criminals and murderers who infest Washington, DC. Justice Scalia, who does not find a “right of privacy” in the constitution, does find a “right of self-defense” there. Further, ownership of firearms provides individuals with this right of defending themselves.
All of this heavy thinking leads me to express another of my opinions. Remember that the title of this blog is “Al’s Opinions.” In my opinion, the ownership of a hand gun does not provide a sure defense against a thief, mugger, or murderer. Here’s a typical scenario: I am walking on a busy street in a city. I have my handgun in my pocket, concealed, and I feel somewhat safe against any criminal who decides to rob me. I pass many people on the street; it is busy and there are many people. I decide that most of them are not criminals, but just ordinary citizens like me. I also know that I am carrying a lethal weapon and I feel safe and complacent.
A stranger approaches me from behind. He walks a bit faster than I do. When he is just behind me, I feel something pressed against my back. He tells me it is a gun and that he will shoot me if I try to turn or reach in my pocket for my own gun. He has the drop on me and I am helpless. I go with him into an alley, where he empties my pockets. He takes my money and my handgun. He then gags and binds me and runs away. Eventually I free myself and am able to call for help.
In my opinion, the previous scenario is much more likely than one in which I am able to extract my weapon from my pocket, turn on my attacker, and shoot him before he can shoot me. Therefore, I argue, the mere ability to own and carry a loaded handgun is not very good protection against a determined and clever criminal. I would say, based only on my opinion, that ninety percent of the time the victim who tries to confront the criminal ends up getting shot and perhaps killed. The plaintiff’s (and Justice Scalia’s) argument in the recent Washington, DC case does not convince me.
All of this heavy thinking leads me to express another of my opinions. Remember that the title of this blog is “Al’s Opinions.” In my opinion, the ownership of a hand gun does not provide a sure defense against a thief, mugger, or murderer. Here’s a typical scenario: I am walking on a busy street in a city. I have my handgun in my pocket, concealed, and I feel somewhat safe against any criminal who decides to rob me. I pass many people on the street; it is busy and there are many people. I decide that most of them are not criminals, but just ordinary citizens like me. I also know that I am carrying a lethal weapon and I feel safe and complacent.
A stranger approaches me from behind. He walks a bit faster than I do. When he is just behind me, I feel something pressed against my back. He tells me it is a gun and that he will shoot me if I try to turn or reach in my pocket for my own gun. He has the drop on me and I am helpless. I go with him into an alley, where he empties my pockets. He takes my money and my handgun. He then gags and binds me and runs away. Eventually I free myself and am able to call for help.
In my opinion, the previous scenario is much more likely than one in which I am able to extract my weapon from my pocket, turn on my attacker, and shoot him before he can shoot me. Therefore, I argue, the mere ability to own and carry a loaded handgun is not very good protection against a determined and clever criminal. I would say, based only on my opinion, that ninety percent of the time the victim who tries to confront the criminal ends up getting shot and perhaps killed. The plaintiff’s (and Justice Scalia’s) argument in the recent Washington, DC case does not convince me.
Labels: Antonin Scalia, handguns, second amendment
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Odd Thoughts for a Saturday Morning
My friend M, whom I consider to be a complete right wingnut, trades insults with me by e-mail at least twice a week. In his latest, he included this comparison between "conservative" and "liberal." I will leave it to you to decide which of us is the nuttier.
First, his definition is not new; I'm sure I've seen it before.
Conservative Beliefs:
Liberal Beliefs:
What's new to me is that the RW nuts have added the line on global warming to make it a political issue. It shouldn't be.
I am not familiar with any "liberal" comparison of "liberal" with "conservative." I won't try to construct such a list myself. Rather, I choose to punch a few holes in my friend M's definition of the two. First, it's big news to me that free enterprise, freedom of speech, self reliance, and freedom of religion are beliefs that only conservatives have. There's a question about the meaning of the second amendment right to bear arms: is that an individual right or is it the right of the States to have their own independent militias? That's still an unsettled question. At any rate, conservatives in cities like Los Angeles are just as appalled as liberals whenever an innocent child is killed by gunfire from a street gang member, and when the police find that gangs have superior weapons to the ones we provide to our policemen.
My point is that, according to M's list, nearly all of us are "conservative." The only persons not included are some criminals and a few hard-core dedicated communists. Even communists believe in self-reliance. A fundamental flaw in M's list is that it isn't useful as a means of classifying opinions.
Now, what does M have to say about liberals? Obviously he regards them with scorn and contempt. Don't worry; that's just one of M's insults. I get even with him in the next round of e-mails. Aside from that, what is wrong about the list for liberals?
Government Regulation: Contrary to what Libertarians and the Cato Institute would have us believe, private enterprise does not remain competitive without some rules. Monopolies are forbidden. Conspiracies to fix prices are forbidden. Companies are required to label their products and provide printed warnings of any hazards regarding a product. These are sensible rules that we all agree with. Someone has to enforce them. An impartial policeman is needed to keep free markets free and competitive. We all pay the policeman to do that; it is one of the functions of government. You may argue that some regulations are unnecessary and burdensome. No one disagrees with that possibility. The necessity of a particular regulation must be settled by the public and not by industry.
The Government takes care of everyone: I certainly hope that government would treat everyone fairly. A great man, our sixteenth President, said that government should do for people what people can't do for themselves. Perhaps M favors a government that takes care of only a select few. We have a tendency toward such a government now. The Bush Administration is concerned about caring for the wealth of the rich, by keeping their taxes low, and caring for the feelings of the christian fundamentalists by forbidding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and by advocating against abortion and gay marriage. It's not greatly concerned about the lives of the volunteers who are fighting Bush's War in Iraq nor about the lives of their families. The care or neglect is shown in the funding priorities of the administration.
Only Government has (controls) guns: People who call themselves liberals have all sorts of attitudes regarding the ownership and use of guns. You attitude depends on where you live. A farmer uses a gun to protect his chickens from the hawk. Men in small towns and on farms in some States like to go deer hunting in the fall. Rural people tend to regard a gun as a useful and necessary tool. City folk don't shoot at hawks and don't spend their vacation time hunting deer. To them, a gun is something a policeman uses to protect them, or something a mugger uses to rob them, or something gang members use to kill each other. City folk would feel more comfortable if guns didn't exist. If they didn't exist, the police wouldn't need them, either. There are certainly some liberals who passionately desire strict regulation of hand guns, dealing with who is allowed to own or use one, how they are marketed and sold, the kind of ammunition available for them, and what type of gun is allowed to be sold to the public. A lot of the controversy has to do with automatic or semi-automatic weapons: weapons that can fire many bullets for one pressing of the trigger. Farmers have no interest in such weapons. Neither do deer hunters. Gangs and other criminals like them. The police generally do not carry such weapons.
Freedom of speech you agree with (witness the treatment of conservative speakers on campus): It's just plain nutty to conflate the behavior of rude, impolite college students with liberalism. I suspect that what the students object to is not the "conservative" content of a particular speech but the obvious lies and half-truths that so many "conservative" speakers utter. If a speaker states that he believes in a society in which everyone has an equal chance for success but must achieve success through his or her own efforts, I don't see why anyone would object. However, if the speaker goes on to say, as Milton Friedman once said before a college audience, that there is no poverty and there are no poor people in the United States, he deserves to be booed.
Blind Belief in the Only True Religion (Global Warming): Now, there is an assertion that is just plain nutty. I won't bother to respond to it.
Recently, M, H, S, R, and other friends have been e-mailing me and each other about global warming and universal health care. Now I admit that universal health care is a rather radical idea. I'm not sure it's a liberal idea. It's probably to the ideological left of many liberals. However, the existence of Global Warming has been condeded by almost everyone except James Inhofe, a Senator from an obscure mid-western State. It is not sure what the consequences will be. One prediction is that the levels of the oceans will rise several feet.
I keep trying to think of a model for a system of universal health care. Some Republicans (e.g., Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger) think of the model of auto insurance. Everyone is required to carry liability insurance for his car. Why not require everyone to buy health insurance? For those who can't afford the premiums, the State will provide a subsidy. Mr. Bush proposes that the federal tax code be modified to allow health insurance premiums to be counted as deductions. (They were allowed until about 1970).
One model I think of is fire protection. In Los Angeles City and County, everyone is protected by fire departments who try mightily to protect homes threatened by wildfires. We don't buy insurance so that the fire crew will come; we pay taxes that pay for the fire departments. We do have fire insurance on our homes, but that is to pay for repairing the damage done, not to pay the fire crew to come to extinguish the fire. If we followed this model, we would set up numerous free health clinics where people could get treatment for various medical problems. The free clinics would also encourage people to participate in preventive medicine, just as fire departments encourage us to install smoke and fire alarms, give us advice on how to protect out houses from wildfires, how to build houses that resist burning, and the like. Really serious medical problems would be dealt with in hospital emergency rooms. As to health insurance, that would pay for expensive treatment needed to restore good health.
I'm not sure I like this model very much, but it would be an improvement over what we have now. It would be like the health care system in Los Angeles in 1960, when the county had funds to operate free health clinics. My wife and I used to go to such a clinic every year to get our flu shots.
Anyway, that's enough odd thinking for a Saturday morning, especially as it is almost noon.
First, his definition is not new; I'm sure I've seen it before.
Conservative Beliefs:
- Free enterprise.
- Self reliance
- Second amendment right to bear arms.
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of religion
Liberal Beliefs:
- Government regulation.
- The government takes care of everyone.
- Only government has (controls) guns
- Freedom of speech you agree with (witness the treatment of conservative speakers on campus).
- Blind belief in the only true religion (Global Warming)
What's new to me is that the RW nuts have added the line on global warming to make it a political issue. It shouldn't be.
I am not familiar with any "liberal" comparison of "liberal" with "conservative." I won't try to construct such a list myself. Rather, I choose to punch a few holes in my friend M's definition of the two. First, it's big news to me that free enterprise, freedom of speech, self reliance, and freedom of religion are beliefs that only conservatives have. There's a question about the meaning of the second amendment right to bear arms: is that an individual right or is it the right of the States to have their own independent militias? That's still an unsettled question. At any rate, conservatives in cities like Los Angeles are just as appalled as liberals whenever an innocent child is killed by gunfire from a street gang member, and when the police find that gangs have superior weapons to the ones we provide to our policemen.
My point is that, according to M's list, nearly all of us are "conservative." The only persons not included are some criminals and a few hard-core dedicated communists. Even communists believe in self-reliance. A fundamental flaw in M's list is that it isn't useful as a means of classifying opinions.
Now, what does M have to say about liberals? Obviously he regards them with scorn and contempt. Don't worry; that's just one of M's insults. I get even with him in the next round of e-mails. Aside from that, what is wrong about the list for liberals?
Government Regulation: Contrary to what Libertarians and the Cato Institute would have us believe, private enterprise does not remain competitive without some rules. Monopolies are forbidden. Conspiracies to fix prices are forbidden. Companies are required to label their products and provide printed warnings of any hazards regarding a product. These are sensible rules that we all agree with. Someone has to enforce them. An impartial policeman is needed to keep free markets free and competitive. We all pay the policeman to do that; it is one of the functions of government. You may argue that some regulations are unnecessary and burdensome. No one disagrees with that possibility. The necessity of a particular regulation must be settled by the public and not by industry.
The Government takes care of everyone: I certainly hope that government would treat everyone fairly. A great man, our sixteenth President, said that government should do for people what people can't do for themselves. Perhaps M favors a government that takes care of only a select few. We have a tendency toward such a government now. The Bush Administration is concerned about caring for the wealth of the rich, by keeping their taxes low, and caring for the feelings of the christian fundamentalists by forbidding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and by advocating against abortion and gay marriage. It's not greatly concerned about the lives of the volunteers who are fighting Bush's War in Iraq nor about the lives of their families. The care or neglect is shown in the funding priorities of the administration.
Only Government has (controls) guns: People who call themselves liberals have all sorts of attitudes regarding the ownership and use of guns. You attitude depends on where you live. A farmer uses a gun to protect his chickens from the hawk. Men in small towns and on farms in some States like to go deer hunting in the fall. Rural people tend to regard a gun as a useful and necessary tool. City folk don't shoot at hawks and don't spend their vacation time hunting deer. To them, a gun is something a policeman uses to protect them, or something a mugger uses to rob them, or something gang members use to kill each other. City folk would feel more comfortable if guns didn't exist. If they didn't exist, the police wouldn't need them, either. There are certainly some liberals who passionately desire strict regulation of hand guns, dealing with who is allowed to own or use one, how they are marketed and sold, the kind of ammunition available for them, and what type of gun is allowed to be sold to the public. A lot of the controversy has to do with automatic or semi-automatic weapons: weapons that can fire many bullets for one pressing of the trigger. Farmers have no interest in such weapons. Neither do deer hunters. Gangs and other criminals like them. The police generally do not carry such weapons.
Freedom of speech you agree with (witness the treatment of conservative speakers on campus): It's just plain nutty to conflate the behavior of rude, impolite college students with liberalism. I suspect that what the students object to is not the "conservative" content of a particular speech but the obvious lies and half-truths that so many "conservative" speakers utter. If a speaker states that he believes in a society in which everyone has an equal chance for success but must achieve success through his or her own efforts, I don't see why anyone would object. However, if the speaker goes on to say, as Milton Friedman once said before a college audience, that there is no poverty and there are no poor people in the United States, he deserves to be booed.
Blind Belief in the Only True Religion (Global Warming): Now, there is an assertion that is just plain nutty. I won't bother to respond to it.
Recently, M, H, S, R, and other friends have been e-mailing me and each other about global warming and universal health care. Now I admit that universal health care is a rather radical idea. I'm not sure it's a liberal idea. It's probably to the ideological left of many liberals. However, the existence of Global Warming has been condeded by almost everyone except James Inhofe, a Senator from an obscure mid-western State. It is not sure what the consequences will be. One prediction is that the levels of the oceans will rise several feet.
I keep trying to think of a model for a system of universal health care. Some Republicans (e.g., Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger) think of the model of auto insurance. Everyone is required to carry liability insurance for his car. Why not require everyone to buy health insurance? For those who can't afford the premiums, the State will provide a subsidy. Mr. Bush proposes that the federal tax code be modified to allow health insurance premiums to be counted as deductions. (They were allowed until about 1970).
One model I think of is fire protection. In Los Angeles City and County, everyone is protected by fire departments who try mightily to protect homes threatened by wildfires. We don't buy insurance so that the fire crew will come; we pay taxes that pay for the fire departments. We do have fire insurance on our homes, but that is to pay for repairing the damage done, not to pay the fire crew to come to extinguish the fire. If we followed this model, we would set up numerous free health clinics where people could get treatment for various medical problems. The free clinics would also encourage people to participate in preventive medicine, just as fire departments encourage us to install smoke and fire alarms, give us advice on how to protect out houses from wildfires, how to build houses that resist burning, and the like. Really serious medical problems would be dealt with in hospital emergency rooms. As to health insurance, that would pay for expensive treatment needed to restore good health.
I'm not sure I like this model very much, but it would be an improvement over what we have now. It would be like the health care system in Los Angeles in 1960, when the county had funds to operate free health clinics. My wife and I used to go to such a clinic every year to get our flu shots.
Anyway, that's enough odd thinking for a Saturday morning, especially as it is almost noon.
Labels: auto insurance, fire damage to homes, fire insurance, liberal vs. conservative, Libertarian, Milton Friedman, second amendment, Universal health care
