February 28, 2010
(The Swamp) -- No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The
Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment XIV, Section 1 b i-iii.
There are a lot of poverty pimps, Progressive Thug Buddies mostly, who are deathly afraid
of the "privileges or immunities" clause of the constitution. A Supreme Court ruling in the
1870's prohibited Southerners from throwing off the oppression of Northern soldiers and
their masters unconstitutional bankruptcy by invoking this clause. The fact is, though, that
people of good conscience liked other parts of the 14th Amendment - a lot. There was a subsequent
attempt to use the due process clause (XIV,b,ii, and the interstate commerce clause) in the 1950's which tried (unsuccessfully in S.C.) to end segregation.
At the time, the people who objected were cast in the wrong. The just pursuit of the end
to slavery and segregation clouded the other real constitutional issue of the privileges and immunities
clause: a local community cannot impose its will contrary to the constitution.
Now, both liberals and conservatives are hoping that the court will reinvigorate the
privileges or immunities clause. It's been a long time coming.
However, if we are to assure that America never returns to the days we are now enduring,
we must deny our progressive brethren a broad interpretation this clause.
The understanding of this principle, especially as applied to the 1st and 5th Amendments, is almost
self-evident. But the ACLU, Progressives, and other anti-liberty organizations want to eat their twinkie
and still hold it in their greedy hands. They're hoping that when the Supremes shoot down
the unconstitutional gun ban, imposed by Chicago on its unwilling citizens, they will be able
use the same rule to ok further confiscation of citizens' money for illegal purposes under the guise of a broad interpretations of "rights.". Public housing is one example of a similar misinterpretation.
But there is an easy, legal way to keep this from happening.
When the high court rules down the Chicago anti-gun law, and if they cite the privileges and immunities
clause of the 14th Amendment, they merely have to say, it applies only to stated items in
the constitution, such as guns and citizenship. No implication or loose inference should be
allowed.
The constitution keeps us from the errors of totalitarian government such as we are witnessing
today. It insures that law will prevail, even over zealots of governmental theft. Adherence
to the constitution may cause the law to grind exceedingly slowly, but it will surely grind
down the Reids, Pelosis, and Obamas inevitably, and eventually into tiny bits.
- Dick Anderson
